10.07.11

Diocese of Fall River

The Anchor

F riday , October 7, 2011

N.H. refuses Planned Parenthood funds, feds send money anyway

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent

BOSTON — Planned Parenthood caught the attention of Washington politicians twice last month but for very different reasons. First, the Obama Administration restored some funding that had been withheld by New Hampshire, and then, Congress announced an investigation of the abortion provider.

On July 1, New Hampshire became the eighth state to turn down Title X funds destined for Planned Parenthood when they refused $1.8 million. The Executive Council, which oversees state contracting in New Hampshire, voted 3-2 in favor of

the repeal. On the same day, the council approved 10 other family planning contracts with organizations that do not perform abortions.

Soon after, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent the state a letter to complain, stating that New Hampshire jeopardized compliance with federal rules to provide access to family planning care.

The total amount states have denied Planned Parenthood is about $60 million. Of the eight states that have tried to deny Planned Parenthood funds, three — North Carolina, Kansas and Indiana — have had federal Turn to page 14

Annual Procession and Mass for Peace is October 10

By Dave Jolivet, Editor

FALL RIVER — It’s been 10 years since the horrific terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, and the world has been in constant turmoil since.

With those disturbing facts as a backdrop, faithful across the Diocese of Fall River are set to take to the streets of Fall River on October 10 to participate in the 37th annual Procession and Mass for Peace.

Bishop George W. Coleman will again walk in the procession that begins at St. Mary’s Cathedral on Spring Street at 6 p.m. and ends at St. Anne’s Church, 818 Middle Street where he will be the main celebrant of a Mass there.

The procession that takes approximately one hour travels west on Spring Street to South Main Street, where it will head south until it reaches St. Anne’s Church.

Several individuals will carry a statue of Our Lady of Fatima at the front of the procession, a vis-

ible sign that Catholics seek the Blessed Mother’s intercession in times of war and conflict.

All are invited to join in the procession, which takes place rain or shine. Participants are asked to bring their own candles, with a limited number of candles available at the cathedral.

Also, as in the past, parish groups are encouraged to bring banners and flags.

In a flyer sent to all parishes, the bishop also invited all priests to attend, and if so to bring an alb and white stole to concelebrate the Mass. The entire procession and Mass is scheduled to conclude at about 8:30 to 9 p.m.

The flyer also recommends that parishes utilize busses to transport parishioners to the event, instructing bus drivers to drop off passengers at Rodman Street near Second Street.

Persons who are ill or handicapped are instructed to proceed directly to St. Anne’s Church, where a special area will be designated for them.

well worth the effort — The youth group from Annunciation of the Lord Parish in Taunton made its annual appearance at the Respect Life Walk to Aid Mothers and Children in Boston last weekend. A wonderful moment occurred when a young mom, shown in the center, came over to the group and shared her personal story. With tears in her eyes, she told the youth she herself had been adopted at six weeks of age after her 17-year-old mother chose adoption over abortion. She was adopted into a loving family and went on to tell the group that if it had not been for that decision, she would not be holding the beautiful baby she had in her arms, nor have her daughter at home. She then thanked the youth for being a witness to the faith.

Youth across the world armed with Mary’s Rosary this October

By Dave Jolivet, Editor

EASTON — Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and thanks to the efforts of Holy Cross Family Ministries in Easton, this year the Blessed Mother has armed thousands more Catholic youth with the powerful weapon of the Rosary. At this summer’s World Youth Day event in Spain, more than half a million Rosaries were given to young people from around the world. The 600,000 Rosaries were donated by Family Rosary, part of the Holy Cross Family Ministry family. During this month of the Rosary it’s safe to assume that many more people will be meditating on the 20 mysteries spanning the life of Jesus Christ.

Family Rosary had a strong presence at the 2012 WYD, having created, in collaboration with the Knights of Columbus, the House of Mary Chapel, a place where pilgrims could gather, and spend time together in prayer and meditation.

The ministry, founded by the Rosary Priest, Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton also hosted a Marian Music Festival, several panels and other events.

“The whole experience was exhilarating,” Holy Cross Father John P. Phalen, president of Holy Cross Family Ministries told The Anchor.

“So many young people were on

fire with the Gospel.” He said that while many venues at WYD were “hard-driving Jesus-centered rock music,” the Family Rosary site was contemplative. “To the soothing sound of music written by Luis Alfredo Diaz, our director of Fam-

ily Rosary in Spain, young people sat or knelt on the floor mats while video enactments of the Luminous Mysteries were portrayed on four screens which formed the walls of the tent-like structure. Then each

decade was prayed aloud by the group as the music continued instrumentally. Very prayerful and meditative. A great help for folks to go deeper into the significance of these great mysteries.”

“Holy Cross Family Ministries had a very good presence at the World Youth Day events,” Father Willy Raymond, director of Family Theater, also a member of the Holy Cross Family Ministry Family.

“The House of Mary and the vocation center have been particularly successful with a lot of traffic and discussions. All the priests have been in demand for the flood of pilgrims seeking confessions.”

The numbers point to a very rewarding and inspirational result.

The House of Mary Chapel averaged 4,000 visitors per day at the WYD event; there were generally lines at the confessionals; 15,000 individuals attended each morning catechesis at the Palacio de Deportes in Madrid; and 600,000 sets of Rosary beads were distributed.

“I know the Holy Spirit was at work,” said Father Phalen. “Many sought and found conversion of heart, hope and peace. An A-plus experience.”

The mission of reaching more young people with the joy and hope of praying the Rosary didn’t Turn to page 15

News From the Vatican

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October 7, 2011

Pope reviews trip to Germany, says it was ‘festival of faith’

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI said he was happy to see that “the faith in my German homeland has a young face, is alive and has a future.”

At his weekly general audience September 28 in St. Peter’s Square, the pope told an estimated 10,000 pilgrims and visitors about his trip September 22-25 to Germany.

While the pilgrims were awaiting the pope’s arrival by helicopter from Castel Gandolfo and again at the end of the audience when he was greeting cardinals and bishops, the crowds were entertained by the Angelus Domini children’s choir and nine little dancers from Cheongju, South Korea. Even while the children were singing, a violinist met the pope and played a quick tune for him, standing right in front of him.

In his audience talk, the pope said his trip was a true “festival of faith,” and his liturgies and Masses, meetings with public officials, other Christians and Jewish and Muslim representatives “helped us see once again how it’s God who gives the deepest meaning and true fullness to our lives; in fact, He alone gives us, gives everyone, a future.”

Pope Benedict said it was “particularly moving” to meet briefly in Erfurt with the 98-year-old Msgr. Hermann Scheipers, “the last surviving priest from the Dachau concentration camp.” The Nazi camp had a special section for imprisoned priests and ministers who had spoken out against the Nazis. Msgr. Scheipers was arrested for ministering to forced laborers

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from Poland. More than 2,500 Catholic priests were imprisoned in Dachau, and more than 1,000 of them died there.

The pope also spoke briefly about his meeting in Erfurt with five victims of clerical sexual abuse. He said, “I wanted to assure them of my sadness and my closeness to them in their suffering.”

Pope Benedict said he was honored to be the first pope to address the German parliament and he wanted to lead the legislators and all citizens in a reflection about the relationship between faith and freedom, and about the importance of moral values having an impact on the way people live together in society.

The 84-year-old pope said that since he was a young man “I had heard people talk about the region of Eichsfeld — a strip of land that always has remained Catholic despite various historical events — and about its inhabitants who courageously opposed the dictatorships of Nazism and communism.”

Visiting the Marian shrine at Etzelsbach and celebrating vespers, the pope joined generations of people who “entrusted to Mary their requests, concerns and sufferings, receiving comfort, grace and blessings,” he said.

The final leg of the pope’s trip took him to Freiburg, a deeply Catholic region of Germany.

The trip, he said, “offered me the occasion to meet the faithful of my German homeland and to confirm them in faith, hope and love, and share with them the joy of being Catholic. But my message was addressed to the entire German people to invite them to look with hope toward the future.”

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 55, No. 38

Member: Catholic Press Association, Catholic News Service

Published weekly except for two weeks in the summer and the week after Christmas by the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River, 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, MA 02720, Telephone 508-675-7151 — FAX 508-675-7048, email: theanchor@anchornews.org.

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on the move — Pope Benedict XVI arrives in his popemobile to lead his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican recently. (CNS Photo/Alessia Pierdomenico, Reuters)

Vatican calls for ‘courageous’ decisions on Palestinians

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — adopt creative initiatives to pro— The archbishop appealed Addressing the United Nations, mote a new round of peace talks. for protection of religious mia Vatican representative called Archbishop Mamberti’s norities, stating that in today’s for “courageous decisions” to- speech to the General Assembly world “Christians are the reward the two-state solution for was far-ranging, touching on a ligious group that suffers the the Holy Land after Palestinian number of international issues: greatest persecution because of leaders requested full U.N. mem— He urged an increase in their faith.” He said intolerance bership for the Palestinian state. international humanitarian aid and discrimination on account of Archbishop Dominique to the Horn of Africa, where religion were increasing. Even in Mamberti, the Vatican’s top for- drought and famine have pro- countries that theoretically proeign affairs official, did not say voked the exodus of millions of tect religious freedom, there is a whether the Vatican tendency to marginalexplicitly supported ize religion and its conhe archbishop called on the Unit- tribution to social life, the Palestinians’ U.N. initiative. But he said ed Nations to work with determi- he said. the Vatican viewed the nation to achieve “the final objective, — Reiterating what Palestinian bid “in the Pope Benedict XVI has which is the realization of the right of said in recent months, perspective of efforts to find a definitive so- Palestinians to have their own indepen- Archbishop Mamberti lution” to the Israeli- dent and sovereign state and the right told the United NaPalestinian question — of Israelis to security, with both states tions that the current an issue addressed by a financial crisis provided with internationally recognized global U.N. resolution of 1947 stemmed in part from that foresaw the cre- borders.” a “deficit of ethics” in ation of two states. the modern economic “One of them has system. The economy already been created, while the people, most of them women and cannot function solely accordother has not yet been estab- children. ing to the laws of the market or — He said the world com- the interests of the powerful, he lished, although nearly 64 years have passed. The Holy See is munity has a responsibility to said. He called for “a new global convinced that if we want peace, intervene in places of humani- model of development” that is it is necessary to adopt coura- tarian suffering when individual able to diminish poverty, relieve geous decisions,” he said Sep- states are unable to manage the the suffering of the weakest and crisis or where there are serious better protect the environment. tember 27.

The archbishop called on the human rights violations. But he — The archbishop said the United Nations to work with de- said there was a risk that such arms industry continues to contermination to achieve “the final situations might be used as a sume the resources of many objective, which is the realiza- “convenient” pretext for mili- countries, with a series of negation of the right of Palestinians tary intervention, which must tive repercussions, including to have their own independent always be a last resort after all reduced human development, and sovereign state and the right diplomatic efforts have been ex- increased risk of conflict and of Israelis to security, with both hausted. instability, and promotion of a “It is worth repeating that culture of violence that is often states provided with internationeven the use of force that com- linked to criminal activities like ally recognized borders.”

He said the response of the plies with U.N. principles must the drug trade, human trafficking United Nations to the Palestin- be a solution limited in time, a and piracy. ian proposal would not resolve measure of real urgency that is He said the Vatican supports the long-standing conflict, which accompanied and followed by a U.N. efforts to reach a new and must be settled through good- concrete commitment to peace,” effective treaty governing the faith negotiations. He urged he said. He did not mention spe- import, export and transfer of the international community to cific countries. conventional arms.

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October 7, 2011

The International Church

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Report: Facebook, Google, Apple censor religious speech

defender of life — Moe Maraachli and his 13-month-old son, Joseph, are pictured in a hospital room at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis this past March. The boy who was at the center of an end-of-life debate died at home September 27. (CNS photo/courtesy of SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center)

‘Baby Joseph,’ focus of end-of-life debate, dies at home in Ontario

WINDSOR, Ontario (CNS) — A 20-month-old Canadian boy who was at the center of an endof-life debate died at home September 27.

Joseph Maraachli died with his parents, Moe and Sana, by his side, six months after receiving a tracheotomy at a Catholic hospital in St. Louis. The procedure allowed him to return home to be cared for by his family.

A graveside service for Joseph, who was baptized Catholic, was held September 28.

Franciscan Brother Paul O’Donnell, a friend and spiritual adviser to the Maraachli family, told Catholic News Service that death came suddenly for “Baby Joseph,” as he became known.

“I visited the family about 10 days ago and recent doctor reports said he was doing well, so this came as a surprise to them,” Brother O’Donnell said.

He posted an announcement of the child’s death on the Save Baby Joseph Facebook page late September 27. Words of condolence

and prayer offerings immediately flooded the site.

Born in January 2010, Joseph had a history of health problems.

He was admitted in October 2010 to the London Health Sciences Centre. Hospital officials, who called the boy’s condition fatal, wanted to take the child off his feeding tube and ventilator, allowing him to die.

The Maraachlis refused.

In March, Joseph and Moe were flown to SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis, where the tracheotomy was performed.

Doctors also diagnosed Joseph with Leigh’s disease, a progressive neurological disease that usually strikes children between the age of three months and two years. It causes the degradation of motor skills and eventually death.

“The doctor (in London) said he would never be able to support his head on his own, but he was able to do that. Doctors in London said his brain would never grow, but he underwent an MRI last month and his brain had grown seven centi-

meters,” Brother O’Donnell said.

The Maraachli family was assisted in their journey to St. Louis by Father Frank Pavone and Priests for Life.

In a September 28 statement, Father Pavone offered his support to the family and thanked supporters who joined with his organization in helping the Maraachlis.

“This young boy and his parents fulfilled a special mission from God,” Father Pavone said.

“Amidst a culture of death where despair leads us to dispose of the vulnerable, they upheld a culture of life, where hope leads us to welcome and care for the vulnerable.”

“From my first conversation with Baby Joseph’s parents, they expressed to me their trust in God. They had no demands of Him regarding how long their son would live. They just wanted to fulfill their calling to love their child unconditionally and to protect him from those who considered his life worthless,” Father Pavone said.

Joseph is also survived by a brother, Ali, seven.

Madrid, Spain (CNA/Europa Press) — Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela of Madrid, Spain, together with his auxiliary bishops, expressed sadness over the shooting of a pregnant woman as she prayed before Mass at a Madrid parish.

The bishops gave “thanks to God” for the actions of emergency responders who saved the life of the pregnant woman’s child.

The incident occurred September 29 at approximately 8 p.m.

The Spanish newspaper ABC reported that the gunman, wearing a straw hat, casual clothing and carrying a pistol inside a sports

racket cover, walked into the Madrid church and shot dead 36-yearold Jazmin Rocio Piñeiro at point blank range as she sat in a pew before Mass. She was only days away from giving birth. Rocio’s husband, who came to the scene, had to be treated by doctors.

The gunman then turned the weapon on himself.

Paramedics were unable to save the mother but did manage to deliver her unborn baby by emergency caesarean section. The baby boy went into cardio-pulmonary arrest at birth but the medical team was able to resuscitate him with a heart massage.

In their September 30 statement the bishops expressed sorrow over the tragic incident and offered condolences to the woman’s husband and family members. Priests at the parish were able to administer last rites to the mother and baptize the baby.

The bishops also offered prayers to God for the eternal repose of the victim, “that the Lord may grant the gift of consolation and hope in eternal life to her husband, her newborn son and their family.”

They also prayed for the speedy recovery of a third shooting victim in the church and for God’s forgiveness for the shooter

Cardinal laments murder of pregnant woman in Madrid church

Nashville (CNA) — Major Internet media platforms and service providers have policies that hinder Christian evangelization and censor speech on controversial issues of the day like abortion and marriage, a new report says.

“Christian ideas and other religious content face a clear and present danger of censorship on webbased communication platforms,” said the National Religious Broadcasters’ report “True Liberty in a New Media Age.” If Christian content is “censored” by new media platforms like the iTunes App Store, Facebook, Google, or Internet service providers, “the Good News of the Gospel could become one more casualty of institutionalized religious discrimination,” the broadcaster organization’s president Frank Wright said in the report’s foreword.

The National Religious Broadcasters was founded in 1944 to oppose government regulations and policy decisions by major broadcast networks which impeded the ability of evangelical ministers to buy radio airtime.

Some media companies have banned Christian content, and others have public positions that make censorship “all but inevitable.”

Except for the microblogging service Twitter, all the new media platforms and services examined have policies “clearly inconsistent with the free speech values of the U.S. Constitution,” the report said.

New media companies are responsive to “market forces” and the

demands by “pressure groups calling for censorship” of otherwise lawful viewpoints.

As examples of “anti-Christian censorship,” the report cited the Apple iTunes App Store’s removal of the Manhattan Declaration app that defended traditional marriage.

The store also removed an app from Exodus International that said that homosexuality is inappropriate conduct which can be changed through a spiritual transformation.

Internet search engine giant Google refused to accept a ProLife advertisement from a Christian organization in England and its China-based Internet service has blacklisted some religious terminology. The company’s advertising guidelines explicitly bar the phrase “abortion is murder” on the grounds it is “gruesome language.”

The report also cited Facebook and other outlets for a policy that bars ads for “politically religious agendas.”

Meanwhile, Facebook has partnered with gay rights advocates to halt “anti-homosexual” content and it is participating in gay-awareness programs. This suggests that Christian content critical of homosexuality, “gay marriage” or other practices will be at risk of censorship.

Apple, Facebook, MySpace, Google, Comcast, AT&T and Verizon all prohibit “hate speech,” which the National Religious Broadcasters report called a “dangerously undefined and political correct term” that is often applied to “stifle” Christian communicators.

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The Church in the U.S.

October 7, 2011

More comments filed objecting to HHS mandate, religious exemption

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic organizations filing comments on the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate that health insurance plans cover contraception and sterilization and a proposed religious exemption registered their strong disapproval.

The latest round of comments echoed objections raised in those filed earlier by, among others, attorneys for the U.S. bishops and the Catholic Health Association.

The comment deadline was September 30, the last day of a 60-day comment period for the mandate and proposed exemption announced August 1 by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

In describing as “narrow” a religious exception from the proposed mandate, Catholic Charities USA president Father Larry Snyder, in a 13-page September 28 memo to an HHS administrator, said the mandate will “force organizations that oppose contraception for religious reasons to choose between (1) offering these services in violation of their religious beliefs, and (2) facing the prospect of substantial fees if they choose not to offer health insurance coverage. This lose-lose choice would impose a ‘substantial burden’ on these organizations’ exercise of religion.”

Under the HHS proposal, to qualify for a religious exemption, an organization would have to meet four criteria: “(1) has the inculcation of religious values as its purpose; (2) primarily employs persons who share its religious tenets; (3) primarily serves persons who share its religious tenets; and (4) is a nonprofit organization” under specific sections of the Internal Revenue Code.

Catholic Charities has been the principal social services agency of the U.S. Church for more than a century. “Throughout our history, we have always been able to serve those in need while maintaining our religious identity,” Father Snyder said. “These federal regulations, if implemented, would compromise in unprecedented ways the ability of our agencies in local communities across America to provide these services.”

In a September 28 letter to Sebelius, Holy Cross Father John Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame, reminded her that when President Barack Obama spoke at Notre Dame’s commencement ceremony in 2009, he had spoken of “a sensible conscience clause” on such matters.

“May I suggest that this is not the kind of ‘sensible’ approach the president had in mind when he spoke here,” Father Jenkins said.

“It runs contrary to a 40-year history of federal conscience statues that

have been in effect to protect individuals and organizations like ours from being required to participate in, pay for, or provide coverage for certain services that are contrary to our religious beliefs or moral convictions.”

He suggested an alternative definition for a religious employer already found in the IRS code that such an organization “shares common religious bonds and convictions with a church. This definition more adequately defines religious employers to include all organizations that work in ministries of the Church,” Father Jenkins said.

Catholic University of America president John Garvey, in a September 30 op-ed essay in The Washington Post, lodged his objections to the contraception mandate.

“The regulations that HHS unveiled in August will require Catholic University to offer its students sterilization procedures and prescription contraceptives, including pills that act after fertilization to induce abortions,” Garvey said. “If we comply, as the law requires, we will be helping our students do things that we teach them, in our classes and in our Sacraments, are sinful — sometimes gravely so.”

He added, “In objecting to these regulations, our university does not seek to impose its moral views on others, What we ask is respect for the religious beliefs we try to impart to our students.”

On September 29, 18 other Catholic colleges and universities, along with Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Curry of Los Angeles, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Catholic Education, had appealed to the White House to exempt all religious institutions and individuals from the proposed mandate, saying the exemption were “potentially so narrow as to be not only nearly inconsequential but insulting to religious entities, in particular to Catholic colleges and universities.”

The Catholic Health Association, in comments dated September 23, also criticized the HHS proposal.

“Requiring our members to cover contraceptive services, including sterilization and drugs with an abortifacient effect, would put them in an untenable situation,” said Sister Carole Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is CHA president and CEO. The federal government’s mandate that all health insurance plans cover contraceptives and sterilization free of charge “represents an unprecedented attack on religious liberty” and creates “serious moral problems” that require its rescission, attorneys for the U.S. bishops said in a 35-page comment submitted to HHS August 31.

oh the inhumanity — People hold a banner and signs on the steps of the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta during a vigil for death-row inmate Troy Davis before his September 21 execution. More than 200 Catholic theologians, scholars and social justice advocates cite the executions of Troy Davis in Georgia and Lawrence Brewer in Texas in mid-September as prompting their call for abolishing the death penalty (CNS photo/Michael Alexander, Georgia Bulletin)

Moral theologians issue call to abolish death penalty

WASHINGTON (CNS) — More than 200 Catholic theologians, scholars and social justice advocates cite the executions of Troy Davis in Georgia and Lawrence Brewer in Texas in midSeptember as the impetus for their call to abolish the death penalty.

In “A Catholic Call to Abolish the Death Penalty,” posted September 26 on the website Catholic Moral Theology, the signers said they protest the state-sanctioned killings of the two men and call for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States.

They said Davis’ execution is “particularly troubling for it shines a stark light upon many long-standing concerns about capital punishment.” While noting that they mourn the death of Mark McPhail, the Savannah, Ga., police officer Davis was convicted of killing, “we believe that a grave miscarriage of justice took place with Davis’ execution.” Serious doubt remains about Davis’ guilt, they said, and he maintained his innocence to his last breath.

The failure of Georgia’s Board of Pardons and Paroles and of state and federal courts to grant Davis a new trial “reveals a deeply flawed justice system,” they said. They called on lawmakers and President Barack Obama to repeal the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, “which created the legal conditions for executing a man whose guilt was not established beyond reasonable doubt.”

The letter said that even those “who do not share our faith convictions ought to recognize, as Justice William J. Brennan put it, ‘the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discrimi-

natory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are innocent.’”

They cited studies showing that black defendants are more likely than whites to receive the death penalty and that defendants accused of killing whites are three to five times more likely to be executed.

“In states that retain the death penalty, 98 percent of district attorneys are white and only 1 percent are black,” they said.

“Execution is also irrevocable, and innocent people have likely been victims of it.” They said since 1973, 138 people on death row have been exonerated, most of them nonwhites who were poor.

The statement quoted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as saying the application of the death penalty “is deeply flawed and can be irreversibly wrong, is prone to errors and is biased by factors such as race, the quality of legal representation and where the crime was committed. We have other ways to punish criminals and protect society.”

Though Catholic tradition “acknowledged the necessity of capital punishment, in rare cases, to protect citizens from threats to the common good,” in current times “with more secure prison facilities that give us the means to offer such protection without executions, our Church leaders have affirmed the need to eradicate the death penalty,” the statement said.

Among the theological reasons for their stance, they pointed to Blessed John Paul II’s argument that “the new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally Pro-Life ... in every situation.

A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.”

The pointed to 20th century theologian Karl Barth’s observation that “now that Jesus Christ has been nailed to the cross for the sins of the world, how can we still use the thought of expiation to establish the death penalty?”

The Gospel teaches to forgive and to love one’s enemies, to show love, not hatred and revenge, they said. “We need to forgive and love, both in fidelity to the Gospel and for our own well-being.”

“Therefore, in concert with our recent popes and bishops, we oppose the death penalty, whether a person on death row is guilty or innocent, on both theological and practical grounds,” the statement concluded. “While we especially deplore and lament the killing of Troy Davis, we also decry the death sentences of the more than 3,200 inmates on death row and the 1,268 executions since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976. We urge our nation to abolish capital punishment, and we also implore our churches to work unwaveringly to end it as well as all other threats to human life and dignity.”

Signers of the statement included members of the faculties of The Catholic University of America, the University of Notre Dame, Fordham University, Villanova University, Providence College, the University of San Diego, St. Louis University, Georgetown University, the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, the University of Dayton and dozens of others.

October 7, 2011

The Church in the U.S.

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PBS to broadcast ‘Catholicism’ series by Chicago priest

missal patrol —Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George blesses copies of the new English translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal at Liturgy Training Publications in Chicago September 26. The new English version of the Roman Missal will be implemented in the U.S. on the first Sunday of Advent, November 27. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

Catholics obligated to defend right to life, emphasizes cardinal

Washington D.C., (CNA/ EWTN News) — Respect Life Month is a time for prayer, reflection and action to advance the right to life and to resist efforts to “silence” moral truth and violate religious liberty, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of GalvestonHouston has said.

“We will voice our opposition to the injustice and cruelty of abortion on behalf of those victims whose voices have been silenced,” he said. “At the same time, we will remind the living victims of abortion — the mothers and fathers who grieve the loss of an irreplaceable child — that God’s mercy is greater than any human sin.”

“Catholics must not shrink from the obligation to assert the values and principles we hold essential to the common good, beginning with the right to life of every human being and the right of every woman and man to express and live by his or her religious beliefs and well-formed conscience,” the cardinal said in a September 26 letter marking Respect Life Month.

The Respect Life Program began in 1972 and is observed in the 195 Catholic dioceses in the U.S. It began on Respect Life Sunday, the first Sunday in October.

Cardinal DiNardo, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, reflected on the month’s theme “I came so that all might have life and have it to the full,” Jesus’ words from John 10.

“Jesus refers both to our hope of eternal life, to be restored through His death and

Resurrection, and to our life in this world,” he added.

The cardinal contrasted unselfish love with the view of life as a “zero sum” game of advancing one’s own interests.

The latter can lead to “callous unconcern” for anyone who is “especially weak, defenseless, and in need of our help.”

The weak include the unborn child, an aging parent seen as a “burden” on the medical system, the “excess” embryo in the fertility clinic, the disabled, and the severely cognitively impaired.

Each of these persons is at risk of being dismissed as a “life unworthy of life,” the cardinal warned.

Jesus’ promise of abundant life is “especially poignant” when American culture and, sometimes, government, promote values “inimical to the happiness and true good of individuals and society.”

“We face increasing attempts to expunge God and religious discourse from public life. This promotes the dangerous proposition that human beings enjoy no special status by virtue of their God-given humanity,” he said.

The cardinal also criticized a “selfish and demeaning view” of human sexuality promoted by advertising and entertainment media. This view has no place for openness to new life, he said.

“Hence contraceptives are promoted even to young teens as though they were essential to women’s well-being, and abortion defended as the ‘necessary’ back-up plan when contracep-

tives fail. And fail they do.”

Both distorted sexuality and disdain for religion are seen in the Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to mandate insurance coverage for surgical sterilization and contraceptive drugs and devices, including the abortifacient drug “ella,” he charged.

The regulation offers an exemption that is “so extremely narrow that it protects almost no one.” It also treats pregnancy as a disease, and not “the normal, healthy state by which each of us came into the world.” The regulation does not show respect for women’s health or freedom, or respect for the conscience of those who do not want to provide such services.

“All these misguided efforts to foster false values among our youth, to silence the voice of moral truth in the public domain, and to deprive believers of their constitutionally-protected right to live according to their religious convictions, must be resisted by education, public advocacy, and above all by prayer,” Cardinal DiNardo concluded.

He called for prayer and reflection on how each Catholic might renew his or her commitment and witness to “respecting, promoting and teaching the transcendent nature of the human person.”

CHICAGO (CNS) — Television viewers across the country will get a glimpse into the rich history, culture and tenets of the Catholic faith this fall when 90 public television stations across the country air episodes of a series called “Catholicism” that was developed by a Chicago priest.

The series is hosted by Father Robert Barron, who runs the Chicago-based Word on Fire ministry.

It includes 10, hourlong DVDs, leader and group study guides and a 300-page stand-alone book of the same title. Episodes also will be broadcast on the Eternal Word Television Network.

The priest’s goal was to show the history and treasures of the Catholic Church. The series was filmed in high-definition and spans more than 50 locations in 15 countries.

The global media ministry Word on Fire — which aims to “educate and engage the culture” — pitched all 10 episodes of “Catholicism” to PBS, but the network opted to run four shows: the revelation, God becomes man; the mystery of God; Mary, the mother of God; and Peter and Paul as missionaries. (Check local listings.)

No money was exchanged under the agreement, Father Barron

said, and Word on Fire will promote the full DVD set and program at the end of each episode.

Father Barron, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and a professor of faith and culture at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/ Mundelein Seminary, said he was surprised PBS agreed to air “Catholicism.”

“I thought that maybe they would think it was too Catholic. They loved it right away,” he told the Catholic New World, Chicago’s archdiocesan newspaper.

The goal of “Catholicism” has always been to evangelize the culture, and media seemed the best vehicle to accomplish that, he added.

The priest also wants to reach people outside of the Catholic Church, such as fallen-away Catholics, secularists, non-Catholics and disinterested Catholics.

“That’s why I love that PBS is broadcasting it,” he said.

Father Barron said the program reveals a broad view of the church including its growing presence in Africa and Kolkata, India.

More information about the series is available at www. wordonfire.org and www. catholicismseries.com.

6

The Anchor Pushing the reset button

In February, President Obama instructed the Justice Department to stop defending in federal court the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. This act specifies that under federal law marriage is to be understood exclusively as the legal union between one man and one woman and decrees that no state would be required to recognize as a marriage a same-sex relationship considered a “marriage” in another state. According to Attorney General Eric Holder, the president’s rationale for no longer defending the law was because he deemed section three of it unconstitutional, the section that states, “In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.”

In other words, President Obama, a constitutional law professor who during the campaign repeatedly affirmed that he supported the traditional definition of marriage, is now claiming that DOMA’s definition of marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman is contrary to the Constitution. Not only was he apparently unaware of this unconstitutionality three years ago, but also it must have totally eluded all 85 Senators and 342 Congressmen from both parties (many of whom are lawyers) who overwhelmingly supported it in 1996, not to mention President Clinton (a Yale Law School graduate) who signed it into law.

It was alarming enough when President Obama chose to ignore his oath of office and neglect his constitutional responsibilities faithfully to execute and defend the laws of the United States. Over the summer, however, his administration decided to go a step further, filing legal arguments to have DOMA struck down by the federal courts as a form of unconstitutional sexual orientation discrimination. In a court case against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Justice filed a brief arguing that support for the traditional definition of marriage — which is based on recognizing the sexual complementarity between man and woman as a defining and worthwhile component of marriage — constitutes an unconstitutional animus that harms a vulnerable class of people.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, brought news of this troubling shift in the administration’s policy to the attention of Catholics throughout the country in a “respectful, but frank” public letter released on September 20. Archbishop Dolan made the missive public because neither President Obama nor any member of his administration had responded to two private letters sent to him by Archbishop Dolan and his predecessor at the USCCB, Chicago Cardinal Francis George.

Archbishop Dolan told President Obama that he was writing “with a growing sense of urgency” because of recent actions taken by the administration “that both escalate the threat to marriage and imperil the religious freedom of those who promote and defend marriage.” He noted with concern the administration’s “intensification of efforts” to undermine DOMA and the institution of marriage, stating, “The Justice Department has shifted from not defending DOMA — which is problem enough, given the duty of the executive branch to enforce even laws it disfavors — to actively attacking DOMA’s constitutionality.” He said that he, his fellow bishops and Catholics “cannot remain silent … when federal steps harmful to marriage, the laws defending it and religious freedom continue apace.”

Archbishop Dolan noted that the administration’s actions “contrast sharply” with the president’s “excellent” 2011 Mother’s Day and Father’s Day proclamations. In the Mother’s Day proclamation, the president acknowledged “the extraordinary importance of mothers in our lives” and affirmed that “mothers are the rocks of our families and a foundation in our communities.” In his Father’s Day declaration, President Obama called on all citizens, as a national priority, “to recommit to supporting fatherhood in our families, in our communities, and across our nation,” observing that a father’s absence “is felt by children, families, and communities in countless ways, leaving a hole that can have lasting effects.”

Archbishop Dolan commented, “In these perceptive and heartening statements, you correctly emphasize the critical role played by both a mom and a dad in a child’s life. … The Mother’s Day and Father’s Day proclamations display a welcome conviction on your part that neither a mom nor a dad is expendable.” The Church’s teaching on the importance of marriage, as well as the very active movement in the country in support of marriage as the institution of one man and one woman, are based, the archbishop said, on this conviction that “every child has the right to be loved by both a mother and a father,” a belief that he says President Obama’s Mother’s and Father’s Day proclamations imply that the president shares. Institutional situations that treat as a positive good a home in which a father or a mother is by definition absent — as occurs by government promotion of marriage or adoption by same-sex couples — contradict this rational principle and much-documented finding about the importance of both a mother and a father in the upbringing of children.

Such a position, however, is now being treated in the Justice Department’s hostile and aggressive attacks on DOMA as unconstitutional bigotry. Archbishop Dolan indicated that it is “particularly upsetting” that in court documents and institutional policies the administration “attributes to those who support DOMA a motivation rooted in prejudice and bias. It is especially wrong and unfair to equate opposition to redefining marriage with either intentional or willfully ignorant racial discrimination, as your administration insists on doing.” As an analysis prepared by USCCB staff argued, “The Justice Department’s position denigrates the considered judgment of the American people. In every state where citizens have been allowed to vote on state constitutional versions of DOMA, 29 states in all, voters by sizable majorities have affirmed marriage as the union of a man and a woman. A total of 41 states have statutory or constitutional DOMAs on the books. Equating the approval of these state laws with racial bias wrongly treats the millions of voters in those states as if they were bigots, who refuse to redefine marriage only out of hostility against those who experience same-sex attraction. It falsely imputes the same supposed bigotry and hostility to the substantial, bipartisan majorities in Congress — and to President Clinton — who were responsible for the passage of DOMA only 15 years ago.”

Archbishop Dolan suggested that the way to end one alleged bias is not by federally enshrining an obvious one, raising a moral disagreement up to a constitutional violation. “Our federal government should not be presuming ill intent or moral blindness on the part of the overwhelming majority of its citizens, millions of whom have gone to the polls to directly support DOMAs in their states and have thereby endorsed marriage as the union of man and woman. Nor should a policy disagreement over the meaning of marriage be treated by federal officials as a federal offense — but this will happen if the Justice Department’s latest constitutional theory prevails in court. The administration’s failure to change course on this matter will … precipitate a national conflict between church and state of enormous proportions and to the detriment of both institutions.”

The USCCB analysis specified the foreseeable damages of a failure to change course. “Based on the experience of religious entities under some state and local governments already, we would expect that, if the administration succeeds, we would face lawsuits for supposed ‘discrimination’ in all the areas where the Church operates in service to the common good, and where civil rights laws apply — such as employment, housing, education, and adoption services, to name just a few. Even if religious entities prevail in such cases, we will face an additional layer of government punishments, such as the cessation of long-standing and successful contracts for the provision of social services, and other forms of withdrawn government cooperation. Society will suffer when religious entities are compelled to remove themselves from the social service network due to their duty to maintain their institutional integrity and not compromise on basic moral principles.”

For all these reasons, Archbishop Dolan urged President Obama to “push the reset button” on his administration’s approach to DOMA and “end its campaign against DOMA, the institution of marriage it protects, and religious freedom.” If the administration doesn’t, then the large majority of Americans’ thoughts on marriage would now get them branded as bigots under federal policy may feel little alternative that to try to rise up in a year and press the reset button on the administration.

A

October 7, 2011

The Sacrament of Baptism

Another effect of the Sacrament of s I mentioned last week in the Baptism is the washing away of original article “Sacred Signs,” today I begin a reflection on the first of the seven sin (the sin that each of us inherits from Sacraments, Baptism. As is the case with our first parents). When water is poured over the head or the persons are suball of the Sacraments, the Sacrament of Baptism is filled with rich symbolism and merged in water, they are really cleansed of both original sin and any personal sins imagery, with deep theological meaning that they may have committed during and significance, but most importantly it has a profound impact upon our soul and their life up to the point of their Baptism. our relationship with Jesus Christ and His The water being poured and the words (“I baptize you in the name of the Father, Church. of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”) being In one of our Lord’s last encounters with His Apostles recorded in the Gospel, solemnly proclaimed truly and really wash the stain of sin.

He gives them the “Great Commission,” A third effect of the Sacrament is in which He says, “Go therefore and that is gives us the strength (known as make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son “grace”) that we need to live our lives as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. A white and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all garment is placed upon us reminding us that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always until the end of the that we have been purified by the Sacrament, but we are also exhorted to keep age” (Mt 28:18-20). From this moment that garment free from any stain of sin forward, the Sacrament of Baptism has until we are called home to God. been understood as one’s entrance into We are the Church and also given a the primary lit candle that means for is lit from the attaining salvaPutting Into Paschal candle tion. the Deep that is lit every We should Holy Saturday not, however, night. This fall into the

By Father reminds us trap of thinkJay Mello that Christ ing that this Jesus has Sacrament conquered sin and death and that He is the isn’t any different than an induction ceremony into an organization. Certainly, light of the world. It also reminds us of our responsibility to bring the light of Christ there are similarities. For example, when into the world that is often in darkness and people join an organization, a fraternity or sorority, they participate in a ceremony consumed with the things of this world.

In the Sacrament of Baptism we are that uses symbols, gestures and words given so much! We are set free from the that communicate what the organization power of sin, we become members of the is about. There may even be rather anCatholic Church and we are given the cient customs involved. What makes the grace and strength that we need to follow Sacrament of Baptism so fundamentally Christ and to be heralds of His Gospel. different from these induction ceremoBut with these great gifts that we have nies, however, is that it changes our very received also comes a great responsibility. being.

In being received into the Church We see a biblical explanation of this through Baptism, we take on the responin the words of John the Baptist who sibility of being active members of the explained that the ceremony of Baptism he was conducting, unlike ours, was sym- Church and not passive members that come to the Church when they need or bolic. It symbolized one’s desire freely want something. Baptism charges us with to turn away from sinfulness by coming to John to be submerged under water and the responsibility of living out our faith in such a way that other people know that exiting the water as if they were born again. But John himself distinguished that we are Christians by what we do and say, from the Baptism Jesus would inaugurate: but also by what we do not do or say.

Baptism conforms us to the person “I baptize with water,” he noted, but the and mission of Jesus Christ; this is why One coming after him would “baptize you might occasionally hear a person say with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 3:16).

It is specifically because the Holy Spir- that a baby was “Christened” or made it is intimately involved in the Sacrament more like Christ. Sin deforms that image, which is why we have other Sacraments of Baptism (and all the Sacraments for like Reconciliation and the Eucharist to that matter) that we can understand that they are not just ceremonial and symbolic repair that image and keep us on the path of holiness and fidelity. gestures. Something is really happenOften, especially when a Baptism is ing in the life of the person receiving the celebrated for a baby, there is a tendency Sacrament. I would like to turn to these to forget about these very important things things that really happen when a person is baptized, even though we are unable to that happen, probably because we can’t physically see them. There is a great dansee them. ger in allowing a Baptism to be reduced to When a person is baptized, an “indela mere ceremonial rite of passage. ible” mark is placed in the soul. This In the next several articles, I will invisible, yet permanent mark identifies reflect more on the Sacrament of Bapthe person as a disciple of Jesus Christ tism and some of the different elements, and as a member of His Church. This gestures or symbols, so that we can move is symbolized by the gesture of making away from any form of empty ritualism, the sign of the cross on the forehead and and into a deeper and more profound the words, “N., the Christian community welcomes you with great joy. In its name understanding and appreciation for this great Sacrament of initiation.

I claim you for Christ our Savior by the Father Mello is a parochial vicar at sign of His cross. I now trace the cross on St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth. your forehead.”

October 7, 2011

F

7

The Anchor

Sacred silence

irst Kings 19 recounts the story of the prophet Elijah as he flees from Israel and takes refuge at Mount Horeb. Having arrived at this “mountain of God” after 40 days and 40 nights of walking, he is told to stand on the mountain as the Lord is to pass by. While the story is properly understood in connection to God’s presence to Moses on this same holy mountain in times past, there is also a unique teaching to be found on how God is able to reveal Himself through what is ordinary, or even unimpressive. For, as Elijah stands on the mountain, there is a strong, rock crushing wind, an earthquake, and a fire; none of these perhaps overwhelming or fear-inspiring happenings serve to reveal God’s presence. Finally, in a fourth moment, God makes His presence known in “a tiny whispering sound.” Elijah is moved at the whisper-

ing, the second reading and ing sound to hide his face the homily, as the way to aid in holy reverence for God and promote meditation on the in his midst, who addresses spoken word. Later, the GIRM him with the commands that include going to anoint Elisha indicates that for the Prayer of the Faithful, there are options as prophet. beyond the typical peoples’ In thinking about the “hapresponse of “Lord, hear our penings” of the Liturgy, it is likely very easy for us to remember particular words that are spoken at every Mass, and the ritual movements that take place, each in their proper time. Yet,

By Father there are also deliberJoel Hastings ate moments of silence that are meant to take place. Are we aware of when prayer,” including the option each of these moments of of the people simply praying silence are to be found? silently for a moment at the In the words of the Church end of each prayer intention. from the General Instruction Finally, silence is invited for of the Roman Missal, or the a time after the priest returns “how to” document regarding to his chair after Holy Comthe celebration of the Mass, munion. These moments of we are told of the ritual mosilence, as defined as part of ments of silence. During the the ritual, offer individual readings, moments of silence worshipers times to pray and are fitting after the first read-

reflect during the Mass itself on the works of God that are being accomplished, or for any fitting meditation that they may have based on the prayers or readings of the Mass.

Like the more noticeable parts of the Mass, silence is meant to aid us in becoming open to encountering God more fully. An earlier article has already considered how the reality of listening well can aid us at Mass.

Likewise, the moments of silence which are built into the Mass are able to serve us in coming to know God’s presence more fully, that we may be more perfectly drawn into His divine life.

Silence also affects words — for it is clear that without proper silence, words can not be understood. As we begin praying the Mass in the new translation, we are encouraged

to make the greatest use of all of the silent moments that are offered. In particular, those silent moments that are given within which we are specifically invited to meditate on the very words of prayer as they are being spoken (such as during the Eucharistic Prayer itself, when the people are to “listen … with reverence and silence”), can serve us to not only hear and respond well, but to be caught up in an encounter with God. For God Himself has revealed in Scripture that He is able to show His greatness even in tiny whispering sounds. By our own attentiveness to silence, we open ourselves to encountering Him in ways that are only noticed when we are silent and still.

Father Hastings is Director of the Office of Liturgy and Worship of the Diocese of Duluth and pastor of St. Rose Parish in Proctor, Minn.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Stem-cell research is once again making news in Congress and the courts. But this time, it’s on the sports pages, too.

And instead of the embryonic stem-cell research that was once all the rage, the news is in the field of adult stem-cell research, which does not involve the destruction of human embryos, which the Catholic Church teaches is immoral.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, sidelined with a neck injury, reportedly went to an unidentified European country in recent weeks to obtain a treatment involving adult stem cells that is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.

Free-agent wide receiver Terrell Owens, whose football career was put on hold because of knee surgery, went to South Korea for the collection and storage of his own stem cells in an effort to speed his return to the NFL. It remains to be seen how successful those treatments will be, but adult stem-cell researcher Theresa Deisher knows that the two football players chose “the clinically superior solution” over research involving stem cells derived from human embryos.

Deisher is working to develop better delivery techniques for adult stem-cell therapies.

Researchers in Europe and elsewhere “are doing very well treating patients” with their own stem cells, but “they have some

delivery issues,” she told CathoThe pressure has only served panel of the Court of Appeals lic News Service in a telephone to solidify her conviction that “it for the District of Columbia and interview from Seattle, where is morally wrong to exploit an- later dismissed the lawsuit. she runs AVM Biotechnology. other human being.”

In mid-September, attorneys “If we could improve delivery, “It’s only a tiny clump of cells for Deisher and Dr. James Sherwe could have even better out- that you can’t really even see, ley of the Boston Biomedical comes.” and it can be difficult for people Research Institute filed notice of When his or her their intent to appeal the own stem cells are innstead of the embryonic stem-cell dismissal. jected into a patient’s Seeking to achieve research that was once all the rage, heart tissue, for exa similar goal through ample, “that patient’s the news is in the field of adult stem-cell a different route is the (likelihood of) sur- research, which does not involve the de- bipartisan Patients First vival is improved and struction of human embryos.

Act, reintroduced in the very significantly,” U.S. House of Represaid Deisher, who sentatives September holds a doctorate in molecular to embrace the importance of 20 by Reps. J. Randy Forbes, and cellular physiology. But 90 something like that,” Deisher R-Va., and Dan Lipinski, D-Ill. percent of the stem cells “are said. “But that is a human beThe legislation would direct sequestered in the spleen” and ing, and once you start exploit- NIH “to prioritize stem-cell re“what we are working on is to ing any human being you open search that has the greatest potenfigure out how to block that ac- the door to exploiting all human tial for near-term clinical benefits, cumulation in the spleen,” she beings and that is wrong, to treat by directing both basic and clinisaid. human beings as commodities.” cal research toward what is curDeisher, who is Catholic, was Deisher believes the Obama rently showing benefits in treatcommitted to adult stem-cell administration’s moves to ex- ing patients” — in other words, research from the beginning be- pand federal funding of embrycause of her belief that life be- onic stem-cell research violates gins at conception. the Dickey-Wicker amendment, “My faith kept me from which bars any funds for reworking with them,” she said. search that destroys human em“But over time my objections bryos. She is one of two plainalso became scientific and clini- tiffs judged to have standing in cal and economic — embryonic a lawsuit against the National stem cells are outrageously ex- Institutes of Health’s revised pensive.” criteria that permits funding of The researcher said she has embryonic stem-cell research. faced increasing pressure in reAlthough Chief Judge Royce cent years to become involved C. Lamberth of U.S. District in embryonic stem-cell research Court for the District of Columand when she has declined she bia initially ruled that the lawsuit has found that proponents of the was likely to prevail and briefly use of embryos “want to try and stopped all NIH funding of emuse people’s morals to destroy bryonic stem-cell research, he their scientific credibility.” was overturned by a three-judge

adult stem-cell research, which has made advances in the treatment of spinal-cord injuries, Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and heart disease.

“As public servants, we have the responsibility to consider both the medical and ethical implications of the research we support with U.S. tax dollars, particularly at a time of budgetary constraints,” Forbes said in a news release.

“The Patients First Act recognizes that the twin goals of scientific advancement and the protection of human life are not mutually exclusive; rather they should be one in the same,” he added. “By setting aside divisive political battles and prioritizing research with proven clinical success, we can finally make long-awaited progress in beating dreaded diseases, from diabetes to breast cancer.”

Praying the Mass Anew

Adult stem cells making news in courts, Congress and on football field

I

8

October 7, 2011

The Anchor

I

n the ancient Middle East, wedding feasts were among the most important of all events. The unity of a man and woman in fidelity was a sign of the relationship God had with the people. The couple was a sign of a creation that would bring new life into the world.

Today the prophet Isaiah envisions Heaven as a sumptuous wedding banquet of juicy rich food and pure choice wines. Wedding banquets are an image often used in the Gospel, too. John tells of Jesus beginning His public ministry at the wedding feast at Cana. This was not by coincidence. Jesus used the setting of a wedding feast to inaugurate His ministry as a sign of the new covenant He had come to establish between God and His people.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells of the king who prepared a sumptuous wedding banquet to celebrate the marriage of his son. When the guests were invited, they

Responding, well-dressed, to God’s invitation ignored the invitation. They hall was filled with guests went about their business when the banquet began. oblivious to the hospitality How is it that the king is now offered them. When the king particular about a guest not persisted in his invitation, wearing a wedding garment? they became exasperated: To the king the wedthey abused and even killed ding garment was important his messengers. because it showed appreciaAfter punishing the invited guest’s lack of gratefulness, the king Homily of the Week extends the wedding invitation to all peoTwenty-eighth Sunday ple. He sends his serin Ordinary Time vants to the highways

By Father and byways looking John M. Sullivan for people to share his hospitality. While the king’s invitation is conferred on strangers, he tion for his hospitality and still has expectations of his expressed the guest’s desire guests. He expects them to to show honor to the son. come clothed in a wedding By being properly dressed, garment as recognition of the even the most unsuspecting honor of an invitation to the guest was showing recognifeast. tion that their presence at the Our first reaction to this feast was a gift from the king expectation is surprise. After and an honor they could not all, the king invited many unrepay. suspecting guests. The king Jesus meant for us to rectold his servants not to be ognize the wedding garment particular but only insure the as the vestment of grace.

Through our Baptism, each one of us has been clothed in that vestment of God’s grace. At our Baptism, we were given a white garment as a sign of God’s grace. It symbolized God’s presence in our lives as a guide to the wedding feast of Heaven.

Today Paul’s Letter to the Philippians invites us to imitate him as he imitated Jesus. He tells us to put on that wedding garment and to follow the example of Jesus the Savior.

Putting on Christ will mean removing everything that impedes us from taking our place at the wedding banquet of Heaven. It means allowing ourselves to become open to positive change and conversion.

Conversion will cause us to look into our souls to see how God is calling us to imitate Jesus. It will mean we will stop minimizing our

sinfulness. Instead we will see the gift of grace as an opportunity to show our appreciation for the Son. If we take God’s invitation to put on our wedding garments and come to the wedding feast of Heaven, we will be receptive to the sanctifying grace God is so eager to share with us as we confess our sins and receive absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Each Liturgy of the Eucharist anticipates the glory of the banquet feast of Heaven. It gives us a foretaste of the banquet God has prepared for all the faithful to share with Him and the Communion of Saints in heaven.

Strengthened by God’s grace in the Eucharist, let all of us put on our wedding garment and together march to the wedding banquet of Heaven God has prepared for all His faithful ones.

Father Sullivan is pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Wareham.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Oct. 8, Jl 4:12-21; Ps 97:1-2,5-6,11-12; Lk 11:27-28. Sun. Oct. 9, Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Is 25:6-10a; Ps 23:1-6; Phil 4:12-14,19-20; Mt 22:1-14 or 22:1-10. Mon. Oct. 10, Rom 1:1-7; Ps 98:1-4; Lk 11:29-32. Tues. Oct. 11, Rom 1:16-25; Ps 19:2-5; Lk 11:37-41. Wed. Oct. 12, Rom 2:1-11; Ps 62:2-3,6-7,9; Lk 11:42-46. Thu. Oct. 13, Rom 3:21-30: Ps 130:1-6; Lk 11:47-54. Fri. Oct. 14, Rom 4:1-8; Ps 32:1-2,5,11; Lk 12:1-7.

T

wo weeks into the NFL season, ESPN ran a Sunday morning special exploring why the third-string quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Tim Tebow, had become the most polarizing figure in American sports—more polarizing than trash-talking NBA behemoths; more polarizing than foul-mouthed Serena Williams; more polarizing than NFL all-stars who father numerous children by numerous women, all out of wedlock.

Why does Tebow, and Tebow alone, arouse such passions?

Why is Tebow the one whom “comedians” say they would like to shoot?

A hint: it has nothing to do with Tim Tebow’s prospects as a pro quarterback.

Tim Tebow and Christophobia

For readers who don’t follow gelical pastor and spends some of his vacation time working the NFL, let me explain that Tim Tebow is a Heisman trophy with his father’s mission in the winner who led the University of Florida to two mythical national collegiate championships. Many consider Tebow the greatest college football player

By George Weigel ever, although there is a lot of skepticism about whether his skills will translate to Philippines. He famously wore the pro game. He is, by all aceye-black with Bible verses counts, a terrific teammate and inked on it in white during his a hard worker. Beyond these Florida career, and he is not bare facts of his sporting life, reluctant to share his Christian however, lie the beginnings of faith in other public ways. He an answer to the question of visits sick kids in hospitals; he why so many people hate Tim Tebow with an irrational hatred. has said that he is a virgin who Tebow is the son of an evan- believes in saving himself for marriage; he and his mother taped a Pro-Life commercial that ran during the Super Bowl. There is not the slightest evidence that Tebow has ever forced himself and his convictions on his teammates or on an unsuspecting public.

And if Catholics would find his theology a little questionable at points, there is nothing of which I’m aware that would suggest that Tim Tebow wouldn’t be interested in sitting down and having a serious conversation with knowledgeable

Be sure to visit the Diocese of Fall River website at fallriverdiocese.org The site includes links to parishes, diocese offices and national sites.

The Catholic Difference

Catholics about how God saves those who will be saved. A guy who can command respect in the moral and cultural free-fire zone of an NFL locker room (not to mention the Southeastern Conference, which hardly resembles a network of Carthusian monasteries) is not likely to be shaken by a serious conversation about his understanding of how the Lord Jesus and His Father might effect the salvation of those who do not explicitly avow faith in the Lord Jesus and His Father.

No, Tim Tebow is a target of irrational hatred, not because he’s an iffy quarterback at the NFL level, or a creep personally, or an obnoxious, in-yourface, self-righteous proselytizer. He draws hatred because he is an unabashed Christian, whose calmness and decency in the face of his Christophobic detractors drives them crazy.

Tim Tebow, in other words, is a prime example of why Christophobia — a neologism first coined by a world-class comparative constitutional law scholar, J.H.H. Weiler, himself an Orthodox Jew — is a serious cultural problem in these United States.

It is simply unimaginable that any prominent Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh quarterback, should such a fantasy of anthropology exist, would be subjected to the vileness that is publicly dumped on Tim Tebow. Tolerance, that supreme virtue of the culture of radical relativism, does not extend to evangelical Christians, it seems. And if it does not extend to evangelicals who unapologetically proclaim their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior and who live their commitment to the dignity of human life from conception and natural death, it will not extend to Catholics who make that same profession of faith and that same moral commitment.

Whatever we think of Tim Tebow’s theology of salvation, Tim Tebow and serious Catholics are both fated to be targets of the Christophobes.

Wherever the Gospel is proclaimed with fervor, it draws opposition. The ultimate source of that opposition is the evil one, but we know what his fate will be. What we don’t know is how democracy can survive widespread, radical Christophobia.

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Another country heard from

Wednesday 5 October 2011 — Dighton Rock State Park — Republic Day, national holiday in Portugal t’s not very often, dear readers, you hear from the government of another country. I received an invitation from the Azorean Government, through its Department of Communities Abroad.

There was to be a festa celebrating the 500th anniversary of the landing of the Portuguese explorer Miguel Corte Real on the shores of the Taunton River.

Since Captain Corte Real never returned to Portugal, the only hard evidence of his local explorations is the message he left behind. The message is carved on

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The Anchor

October 7, 2011 the surface of an ancient rock.

The message reads: “Miguel Corte Real — 1511” and is embellished with a distinctive Portuguese symbol, the Cross of Christ. Also carved in the

rock are shorthand versions of the Portuguese royal crest. We call it “Dighton Rock.” Dighton Rock is no longer exposed to the ravages of the elements or the whims of vandals. The Dighton Rock Museum, which protects

Too weird

any of the events of the last five ow. My head still hours. The expectations were hasn’t stopped spintoo low coming in. ning since that dizzying night of That doesn’t mean there baseball closing the 2011 Major would be no disappointment League Baseball regular season. and anger. That came less than Usually, I settle in to watch 48 hours later when Sox skipper the Red Sox at 7 p.m. and end Terry “Tito” Francona and the up falling asleep by the fourth Boston “braintrust” agreed it inning. was time for Tito to move on.

Not that night. It was a script So many things went wrong, that would have fallen victim to and so many people could the “delete” button on any pubbe blamed for the September lisher’s keyboard, labeled with red letters: “Too weird to be believed.”

Our beloved Boston Red Sox were on the verge of the most monumental September baseball choke in history. But I wasn’t

By Dave Jolivet worried. I figured the Sox would find a way to mess that up too. implosion, but in my mind’s eye, They’d slither into the playoffs one of the few gentlemen inand be done ... 1, 2, 3. volved in this whole fiasco was A well-timed rain delay in the one who paid the price.

Baltimore allowed me to focus Within minutes of the breakentirely on the Tampa Bay-Yaning news, I jumped on Facebook kees game from the Sunshine and posted “Tito Francona was State. I was mesmerized as the a class act for eight years, and Rays battled back from a 7-0, it’s a shame that selfish players eighth-inning lead, forcing extra ultimately controlled his fate. innings.

Thanks Tito for all that you did Back to the Sox after a ... for being a good manager, 90-minute downpour. Again I baseball man, family man and sat mesmerized as the Sox blew person. You’re above the sorry the lead and the game in the souls who decided your future. bottom of the ninth. OK, quickly He was as classy as Joe Torre, over to the Rays. I didn’t have who met a similar fate. You the to force my burning eyes open man Tito.” much longer as Evan Longoria And within minutes I already launched the Rays past the Sox had several “likes” on the status. with a home run that had the I stand by that post, and I’m lowest trajectory of any roundvery sorry to see Tito go. If he tripper I’ve ever seen. was guilty of anything, it was I wasn’t crushed or even being too loyal ... to his playmildly disappointed. I turned ers and to those who signed his off the lights and drifted to sleep paycheck. If only it worked both without replaying in my head

My View From the Stands

the artifact, is the centerpiece of Dighton Rock State Park.

As fate would have it, I have lived for almost two decades in the shadow of Dighton Rock.

I’m writing this from St. Nicholas Rectory, directly across the Taunton River from the rock.

If I take a short stroll to the end of the street I can clearly see the rock’s location. Five hundred years of history is hiding right there in plain sight.

The year is 1511.

The landscape looked very different then. Perhaps a small band of the local Wampanoag tribe gathered on the banks of the river to watch the goings-on. I imagine the Portuguese caravel in the river, its sails marked with the emblem

ways.

Tito was thrown under the bus, falling victim to the new monster of the 21st century ... entitlement. It’s everywhere, in every walk of life, and it causes people to treat others like dirt.

Terry Francona was, and always will be, too nice a human being to be treated that way, but unfortunately, that’s life.

He’ll be fine, once he licks the many wounds amassed over the last eight years.

Wounds inflicted by a nasty press corps, one-dimensional players, and a less-thanacceptable backing by his bosses.

Tito was a victim of the numbers: losses in September; games behind the Yankees; anemic stats from his offense; gigantic stats from the mound; and even the expanding waistlines of some of his pitchers.

Well, if some numbers added up to his demise as manager, there are some that make him an icon in Boston sports lore: only the second Red Sox manager to win two world championships; an 8-0 World Series record; five playoff appearances in eight years; and an average of 93 regular-season wins per year. All those numbers should add up to 16, the number Tito wore on his back for eight seasons, and the number that should be retired by the Boston Red Sox. It would be great for Tito and the fans.

And all who cut his throat along the way can smile and pretend they’re happy for him at the Fenway Park ceremony. But that would be too weird to believe, wouldn’t it?

of the Order of the Cross of Christ. With my mind’s eye, I see a crew member, hammer and chisel in hand, pull a skiff up to the rock (which was then in the water), scurry atop the 40-ton boulder, and begin to carve the iconic symbols. Such carvings can be found worldwide, wherever the Portuguese explorers dared to venture. In 1511, the men did the carvings on-site, but in later years, the ships would carry in the hold a supply of precarved stone crosses, marked with the same universally recognized symbols.

As the tide rose, the ship sailed away. I wonder what the Wampanoag thought as they inspected the curious inscriptions the men left behind. I wonder where next the ship sailed. Nobody really knows. It sailed out of recorded history.

The rock is still there, covered as it is with layers of cryptic scribbling of uncertain origin. Some say there are Viking markings; others see Phoenician; still others Native American — and even Chinese.

I know an old man up the street who claims that, as a youth, he himself scratched graffiti on the rock. I look. I see the Portuguese markings underneath it all.

I find local and family history fascinating. I’ve read about the mysterious voyage of Miguel Corte Real and I’ll speak enthusiastically on the subject to anyone willing to listen. I know Miguel and his brothers were, like their father, world explorers. I also know that the family hailed from the Island of Terceira in the Azores. Although my own family (on my mother’s side) also came here from the Azores, albeit from the Island of Faial, my Azorean heritage is lost to me. Nevertheless, I feel a certain pride in the accomplishments of these brave Portuguese sailors who, for one reason or

another, have never received the recognition they deserve from either church or state.

I wondered why I would be receiving an invitation to come to the 500th anniversary celebration of the carvings on Dighton Rock. I don’t even speak Portuguese. Anyone who was anybody in the communities of Azorean descent in the United States and Canada would be there. There would be Portuguese music and folkloric dancing and plenty of ethnic food. There would be a parade and speeches by dignitaries.

Then awards of appreciation would be presented on behalf of the Azorean Government to historians, researchers, educators, scholars, medical doctors, writers, cultural luminaries, business people, and even a Nobel Prize winner of Azorean descent.

I spent two hours wandering around the festa. I didn’t understand a word, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Passing by the tent, munching a chourico sandwich, I heard my name mentioned from the podium. I was being called forward. I swallowed my sandwich, climbed over the chairs, and approached the dais. Dr. Maria da Graca Borges Castanho presented me a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the Azorean Government. People applauded.

Photographs were taken. I stood there dumbfounded.

I had to ask a passer-by to translate the document into English. It says, “For your contribution to the preservation of the Portuguese language in the United States.”

I suspect I was awarded somebody else’s certificate by mistake, but it’s the thought that counts. Muito obrigado.

Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dighton.

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The Anchor

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

NEW BEDFORD — Joseph David is a New Bedford native, currently living only 150 feet from where he lived for the first 35 years of his life. It was there growing up that he received the foundations of his faith, foundations that helped sustain him through the storms of life. He has now returned full circle to help maintain the foundations of those institutions that formed him.

David spent his first few years in the faith at Our Lady of Purgatory, a Maronite Roman Catholic Church in New Bedford, and recalls chanting beautiful prayers in Aramaic, “which planted the seeds,” said David.

When the church burned down in 1953, said David, it was the parishioners who began to build it back up.

“I remember my family — there were nine of us — we were carrying buckets of sand and bricks,” said David. “They had a contractor but they were cutting costs where they could.

Not just my family, but all the parishioners too, were helping.”

While the church was under construction, the family would attend Mass every Sunday at different parishes, which brought David to what would

Coming full circle

October 7, 2011

eventually become his second they knew I was lying until it? I was diagnosed with lifeparish home, St. Lawrence they lowered the boom. Don’t threatening cancer 16 years Martyr of New Bedford, where get me wrong, we always tell ago. I had brain surgery, had he received his first holy Com- these little white lies but since all-told two years of radiation, munion. This was also the be- that time — never again. I get and I can tell you this honestly ginning of an intense that I experienced schedule filled with and tasted the fires of a weeklong devotion hell.” to a Catholic educaWhen he was told tion topped off with he had a 40 percent attending Mass seven chance of surviving, days a week.

David said the first “I have a strong thing he did was to bond with both rites. light candles to his Five days a week patron saints. For 18 Mass at St. Lawmonths he underwent rence with my classtreatment. Then he mates, and Saturday began to volunteer at and Sunday Mass the oncology center in the Maronite rite by doing one-on-one in Aramaic. At the sessions with those time I was moaning who had been diagand groaning, ‘I’m nosed with the same always in church,’” type of cancer. laughed David of his “Jesus said that younger-self’s attiyou need to make a tude.

U-turn, smacked me During his forupside the head and I mative years, David got cancer. This may attended Catholic sound crazy, but it school right through was a blessing,” said high school. While David. “I started volhe appreciates all the Anchor Person of the Week — Joseph unteering, the more I lessons he learned, David. (Photo by Becky Aubut) volunteered the betthere is one that ter I felt.” sticks out more than He was so emmyself in trouble sometimes braced by those he helped that the rest.

“Not to lie, because I got for being too honest.”

David began to receive recogDuring his youth, David nition for his work, eventually caught in two beauties, one by the Sisters and one by my dad,” explained, he would attend speaking at a National Cancer recalled David. “I had no clue two Masses on Sunday and Survivors gathering in 1998. As every night a time went on, more and more Benediction. people began to tell David how The daily rou- his support was helping them, tine had David and then David himself had a contemplating revelation. entering the “That’s how I started to seminary but he come back. When they say it’s opted out at the your time, you get very relilast minute, and gious,” said David, adding he went to work didn’t stop volunteering after full-time. he began to recover; he stayed “I drifted because of hearing people tell away. I went to him “what a help I was to them.

Mass but just I would tell them, because it once a week. I was a stock answer at the time, didn’t do any- ‘My prayers were answered.’ thing for any- Finally I said to myself, ‘My body, except prayers were answered!’ The for myself,” first time I could taste somesaid David, un- thing after 18 months; the first til a moment in time I could actually swallow; 1995 snapped radiation pellets were planted in him back to my head, and then they took the his faith. “You pellets out of my nose and my know what did sinuses, and I could breathe.”

David paused to add that he has lost three siblings and his mother to cancer; “I know I’m blessed. I’m not in good health but there are people who are worse off than I am,” he said.

“Amen.”

David has never looked back.

He renewed his commitment to Our Lady of Purgatory and St. Lawrence Martyr, adding in new duties to St. Lawrence by maintaining the church and the rectory. He also helps do maintenance at Holy Family-Holy Name School in New Bedford, going well over the two hours he is paid for each day.

He doesn’t need to go to school or a parish to do his good deeds, either. For almost four years, he drove the father of his best friend to dialysis three times a week.

“Three-and-a-half years, and I did not miss one time,” said David. “The gentleman passed away almost a year ago, but I took him back and forth because he was in a wheelchair.

He used to call me ‘Old faithful.’”

David has also been part of the perpetual eucharistic adoration at Our Lady’s Chapel in New Bedford. On October 22, nine years after the group began, they will have logged in more than 50,000 hours.

“They are so faithful. It’s fantastic,” said David, who is trying to start a eucharistic adoration at St. Lawrence. “People have asked me, ‘When do you sleep? All you do is work and pray.’ I rest when I go to the chapel.”

David says he has come full circle. Not only is he living near where he grew up, he left and then returned to his faith, and is now set to make another tangible mark on his legacy after having spent his early years rebuilding the Our Lady of Purgatory Church. The Sisters of the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light purchased a property and are remodeling the building.

“Guess who volunteered to help?” said David.

To submit a Person of the Week nominee, send an email with information to fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org.

To advertise in The Anchor, contact

Wayne Powers at 508-675-7151 or Email waynepowers@anchornews.org

The Anchor

October 7, 2011

life — This photograph is of a baby within the womb at four months. Priests for Life is grateful to Professor Andrzej Skawina (Collegium Medicum Jagiellonian University, Krakow) and Dr. Antoni Marsinek, MD (Czerwiakowski Gynecological and Obstetrics Hospital, Krakow) for making these images available, and to the Zrodlo Foundation, Wychowawca Department, for the permission to use them.

My Baby’s Birth

By Madeleine Lavoie The time seemed so long Many challenges to face, Decisions to make, but God gave me the “grace” To carry my child And wait for this day, Despite all the trials Faced along the way.

Many said, “Why? You’re too young, abort now.”

But I prayed very hard And made to God a vow, That I would give “birth” Just as He gave me life, Then this “gift” I would give To a husband and wife, Who longed for a child But could have none of their own, So I knew that my baby Would have a good home.

Alas! It was time My baby was here!

When I heard a cry I, too, shed a tear.

But I made the right choice, For my baby, I know, Will be happy and cared for So I, too, can grow.

I’ll always remember The “love” that was shared, And pray that my baby Will know I still care ...

Madeleine Lavoie is a member of St. George’s Parish in Westport, a long-time member of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, and the Diocesan ProLife Apostolate.

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October 7, 2011

Five Diocesan Health Facilities Office employees complete bioethics course

right on course — Five employees of the Diocesan Health Facilities family recently completed a national course on bioethics.

There were, from left: Michael Medeiros, Sister Dorothy Scesny, Cindy Pelczarski, Mary-Ellen Murphy, and Susan Caldwell.

FALL RIVER — Five diocesan health care professionals recently completed a yearlong course administered by the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) in Philadelphia, and became certified under the National Catholic Health Care Ethics Program.

Mary-Ellen Murphy of Madonna Manor in North Attleboro, Cindy Pelczarski of Marian Manor in Taunton, Sister Dorothy Scesny of Sacred Heart Home in New Bedford, Susan Caldwell from the Diocesan Health Facilities Office, and Michael Medeiros of Our Lady’s Haven in Fairhaven, were sponsored by Msgr.

Edmund J. Fitzgerald, executive director of the Diocesan Health Facilities, the system of long term care facilities sponsored by the Fall River Diocese.

They join 10 other diocesan health care professionals in becoming certified by the National Catholic Health Care Ethics Program. The National Catholic Certification Program in Health Care Ethics provides a year-long program that deals with the major bioethical issues that arise in modern medical and research environments. Father Tad Pacholczyk is director of Education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia and a priest of the Fall River Diocese.

“I think that the certification program is very important because there are so many ethical health questions we deal with in our facilities,” Msgr. Fitzgerald said. “Being in the long-term care industry, we need to have an understanding of the ethical and religious directives and of

Catholic principles. We think it is a very important investment.”

The participants went through an intensive, yearlong course to achieve their certification that included weekly assignments, online interactions, and teleconferences and a final conference in Philadelphia where each person participated in a one-on-one interview, a mock ethics committee, and the presentation of a thesis paper on a specific topic of their choosing.

There are currently three Diocesan Health Facilities staff members enrolled in the bioethics certification program. They are Melandie Karol, RN, Madonna Manor; Lisa Cadime, RN, Sacred Heart Home; and Laura Mitchell, Director of Finance, Diocesan Health Facilities Office.

years of dedicated service — Area religious recently gathered at St. Julie Billiart Church in North Dartmouth for their annual Day of Recollection. Several individuals celebrating significant anniversaries were honored. With Bishop George W. Coleman are, from left, front: Sister Shirley Deyo, SUSC ( 70 years); Sister Ann William Publicover, MSBT (60 years); Sister Donald Marie Kerr, RSM (50 years). Middle row: Sister Cynthia Bauer, OP ( 50 years); Sister Catherine Frances Lamb, MSBT (60 years); Bishop; Sister Katherine McKenna, PBVM (50 years); Sister Sandra Marcoux, SUSC (50 years); Sister Patricia Mulryan, SUSC (60 years); Sister Mary Davida Dunne, RSM (60 years); Sister Mary Ellen Donohue, SUSC (60 years). Back row: Brother Andre Millette, FIC ( 70 years); Father William Condon, CSC (50 years); Brother Daniel Caron, FIC ( 50 years). Father Thomas McElroy, back, was a concelebrant of a Mass for the religious.

October 7, 2011

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.

“Abduction” (Lionsgate) Humdrum romantic adventure in which a party-loving Pittsburgh teen (Taylor Lautner) and the neighbor he’d like to make his girlfriend (Lily Collins) get caught up in international intrigue after the lad discovers that the couple who raised him (Jason Isaacs and Maria Bello) are not his real parents. In what is presumably intended as a date movie for the high school set, the newfound lovebirds take time out from dodging CIA agents (led

by Alfred Molina) and evading a Serbian assassin (Michael Nyqvist) to kiss, cuddle and coo. On the plus side, director John Singleton’s far-fetched expedition mostly eschews gore — though there are some bone-crunching martial arts encounters — while the central couple successfully resists the temptation to turn their unexpected journey into a premature honeymoon. Possibly acceptable for mature adolescents. Considerable, but largely bloodless, violence; brief nongraphic sensuality; at least one use of profanity and of rough language; and about a dozen crude or crass terms. The Catholic News Service classification is AIII — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be in-

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The Anchor appropriate for children under 13.

“50/50” (Summit) Ultimately touching but frequently crude tale of a young radio producer (Joseph GordonLevitt) whose diagnosis with a rare form of cancer leads him to reassess his relationships with his live-in girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard), his longtime best buddy (Seth Rogen) and his overprotective mother (Anjelica Huston). His efforts to come to grips with the grim situation — the title refers to his chances of survival — are further complicated by his romantic feelings for the plucky but novice psychologist (Anna Kendrick) who’s been assigned to counsel him. Though its underlying values are strong, director Jonathan Levine’s sometimes courageous blend of drama and comedy, drawn from the real-life experiences of screenwriter Will Reiser and enhanced by Gordon-Levitt’s delicately calibrated performance, nonetheless showcases one of its main characters’ debased view of sexuality and winks at using pot.

Brief graphic nonmarital sexual activity, cohabitation, drug use, much sexual humor, about a halfdozen uses of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language. The

Catholic News Service classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling.

The Motion Picture Association of America is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

“What’s Your Number?” (Fox) After reading a magazine article indicating that women who’ve had too many premarital partners may never find a husband, a recently fired Boston marketer (Anna Faris) tracks down the numerous paramours of her past to see whether any of them is now marriage material. Working from Karyn Bosnak’s novel “20 Times a Lady,” director Mark Mylod attempts to mine laughs from sexual promiscuity and a central character who is far too coarse and selfcentered to win sympathy. Acceptance of casual sex, fleeting upper female and rear nudity, a few uses of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language, frequent sexual references. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Catholic voters get new app

SOUTH BEND, Ind., (Zenit.org) — The company that put confession preparation on the iPhone now has a tool for Catholic voters: CatholicVote Mobile, aimed to mobilize and unify those who want to get the Church’s view to Congress.

Little i Apps, LLC, makers of “Confession: A Roman Catholic App,” collaborated with CatholicVote.org in the development of the new app.

The service provides a method to contact members of Congress, as well as offering mobile access to CatholicVote.org’s blogs and news.

A one-touch method allows Catholic voters to more easily participate in the political forum.

Based on a user’s GPS location or zip code, the app generates the contact information for their rep-

resentative and senators. Users can select to automatically add this information to their contact lists or simply tap to connect.

“It was an incredible opportunity for Little i Apps to be a part of this project. We are excited about the potential impact an app like this could have on American politics,” said Patrick Leinen, co-founder of Little i Apps. “Imagine what could happen if every Catholic voter used the Contact My Representative option to contact their congressional representative or senator before a critical vote. With the launch of this app, CatholicVote. org has given voters an incredible tool. We can’t wait to see how they use it!”

CatholicVote Mobile is free and is available on the Android Market and the iTunes Store.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, October 9, 11:00 a.m.

Vocation Awareness Sunday

Celebrant is Father Karl C. Bissinger, secretary to Bishop George W. Coleman, and director of the Diocesan Vocation Office

Revised and updated ...

2011-2012 Diocese of Fall River Catholic Directory ... Now Shipping!

Published by The Anchor Publishing Company P.O. Box 7, Fall River, Massachusetts 02722 Please ship _____ directories x $18 each, including shipping and handling. Total Enclosed $_____ NAME ____________________________________________ ADDRESS _________________________________________ CITY _____________________ STATE _______ ZIP _____ Please make checks payable to “Anchor Publishing” For more information, email theanchor@anchonews.org, call 508-675-7151, or order online at www.anchornews.org

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The Anchor

N.H. refuses Planned Parenthood funds continued from page one

judges attempt to overrule their decisions.

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England president Steve Trombley said in a July 1 statement that the state had “curtailed access to affordable birth control,” which would be result in fiscal costs.

“Without publicly-funded family planning services, expenses accrued by the state of New Hampshire will drastically increase. In 2008, our services and other family planning providers helped New Hampshire women prevent 6,600 unintended pregnancies, which could have resulted in approximately 2,900 unintended births. These New Hampshire services saved the federal and state governments $21,334,000 in 2008,” he said.

The federal government stepped in and granted a $1 million no-bid contract straight to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

“There is an urgent need to reinstate the services with an experienced provider that is familiar with the provision of Title X family planning services and applicable laws, regulations and administrative requirements, and has a history of successfully providing services in these areas of the state,” the contract said.

While the federal government and Planned Parenthood keep busy reminding people that Title X funds are not permitted to directly fund abortions, critics say the funds — used on administrative and other costs — free up dollars for the ending of

young lives.

In a statement, New Hampshire House Speaker William O’Brien responded to the funding by saying that the federal government had usurped the rights of the state.

“It’s clear that New Hampshire policies and traditions mean nothing to an Obama Administration that is fixated on delivering a liberal agenda and providing handouts to special interests that support the president,” he said.

Here in the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Family Institute president Kristian Mineau told The Anchor that the Obama Administration has repeatedly trampled the rights of states.

President Barack Obama and his secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius are “joined at the hip” with Planned Parenthood. Sebelius, in particular, has a “single-focus agenda to promote abortion,” which is a severe conflict of interest, he said.

“She is definitely marching to the drumbeat of Planned Parenthood, and certainly, that is not an organization that has women’s health in their best interests,” he added.

He called Planned Parenthood a “nefarious organization” that is also well politicized “wise serpent.”

“When you’re dealing with a snake like that, when you grab it by its tail, you need to watch out because it has venom-

October 7, 2011

ous activities elsewhere,” he said.

In September, Congress mounted an investigation of Planned Parenthood. Rep. Cliff Stearns, chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, wrote a letter that demanded the organization provide documentation on how it has spent federal funds. The letter questioned whether the abortion group had been handling those funds properly and whether it has followed federal guidelines on the mandatory reporting of underage sexual abuse.

Opponents of Planned Parenthood say the organization could never justify receiving millions of taxpayer dollars each year.

Rita Diller, director of the American Life League’s Stop Planned Parenthood project, told The Anchor, “Planned Parenthood kills an innocent human being by

abortion every 95 seconds. It does not deserve one penny of taxpayer money.”

In April this year, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Huston said in a letter to the U.S. Congress that during a time of painful budget cuts, Planned Parenthood should receive no taxpayer dollars.

He noted that abortions account for one-third of Planned Parenthood’s income and the organization has aborted more than five million children the 1970s.

The group also mounts “numerous legislative campaigns and litigation strategies” that oppose any limits on abortion, fight parental notification and refuse recognition of the conscience rights of healthcare workers.

“Whether to fund the largest abortion network in the country is not one of those hard choices,” he said.

From birth to death, everyone has guardian angel, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Guardian angels exist to protect every human life from its beginning to end, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“The Lord is always near and active in human history, and he also accompanies us with the unique presence of his angels, which the Church today venerates” on feast of the Guardian Angels October 2, he said before reciting the Angelus.

Guardian angels are “ministers of divine care for every person,” he said.

“From the beginning to the time of death, human life is surrounded by their unceasing protection,” the pope told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

He asked everyone to pray for the protection of all those who do the Lord’s work, especially for those who face religious intolerance.

The Gospel reading of the day’s liturgy, he said, recalled Jesus’ parable of the vineyard where the servants would harm or kill the vineyard workers, even the vineyard owner’s own son.

The reading “spurs us to pray for all

who work in the Lord’s vineyard, especially where they face violence and threats because of their faith,” he said.

After spending nearly three months at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo, the pope made his permanent return to the Vatican October 1.

Before leaving the hilltop villa, the pope thanked Vatican employees and security for their help in making his vacation unfold with “tranquility and serenity.”

In a September 29 audience with a delegation of town officials, parish leaders, local Italian security as well as Vatican employees and guards, the pope thanked them for their assistance and “qualified service.”

He also met with villa employees September 28, telling them how much he enjoyed being immersed in nature and silence, both of which help people get closer to God. In a quiet peaceful setting, “it’s easier to find oneself, listen to one’s inner voice — I would say the presence of God — that gives deep meaning to our life,” he said.

praying for her pooch — Serena Shea kisses her Yorkshire terrier, Champ, following the blessing of pets at Immaculate Conception Church in North Easton, Mass., in 2010. The blessing traditionally occurs on or close to the October 4 feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron of animals. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

October 7, 2011

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The Anchor

Bishops’ new ad hoc committee will tackle religious liberty concerns

a home away from home — At the “House of Mary” chapel at the Love and Life Center at WYD, pilgrims meditated on the Luminous Mysteries through wrap-around video screens and original music. It was sponsored by Holy Cross Family Ministries.

Youth armed with power of the Rosary continued from page one

end when WYD came to a close.

Closer to home, HCFM is reaching out to students at Stonehill College in Easton, next door neighbor to the Father Peyton Center.

Family Rosary hosted a Rosary Walk this morning on the grounds of the Father Peyton Center in observance of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The Rosary was prayed followed by a Mass at the chapel and lunch at the cafeteria.

“We host this every year,” Holy Cross Father Leo Polselli, a member of the Religious Staff at HCFM told The Anchor. “Usually it’s in the evening, but we changed it to morning this year because sometimes the weather at this time of year can keep some people away.”

Also new this year was the inclusion of recorded music by Anne DiSanto, who is currently a parttime campus music minister at Stonehill. “Anne is a great Catholic woman and her recordings are very meditative and inspiring,” said Father Polselli. “Anne announced the Rosary Walk at all Masses at the college to invite the students to take part this year.”

Father Polselli added that he feels more students are gaining a greater awareness and appreciation

for the Rosary. “Students are looking for a form of prayer and I tell them the Rosary is ‘the New Testament on a string.’ Each of the mysteries acknowledges the life and ministry of Christ.”

Family Rosary Ministries has also taken to Internet and social medias to bring the Rosary to as many souls as possible.

On its website, people can request a free Rosary. To date, more than seven-and-a-half million Rosaries have been given away. And more recently, Family Rosary has offered a mobile Rosary application for smart phones.

With the application, the user can listen to the Rosary with soothing audio and the text of each prayer. It allows those new to the Rosary to learn how to pray it and what each mystery is about.

It also allows the user to dedicate each Rosary to a cause or intention and to share that with friends and family on Facebook or Twitter.

For more information on the Mobile Rosary application; on how to obtain a free rosary or pledge a rosary; or for more information about Family Rosary visit www. familyrosary.org.

The Mysteries of the Rosary The Five Joyful Mysteries (Prayed on Monday & Saturday) The Annunciation The Visitation The Birth of Our Lord The Presentation of Our Lord The Finding of Our Lord in the Temple

The Five Sorrowful Mysteries (Prayed on Tuesday & Friday) The Agony in the Garden The Scourging at the Pillar The Crowning with Thorns The Carrying of the Cross The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord The Five Glorious Mysteries (Prayed on Wednesday & Sunday) The Resurrection The Ascension The Coming of the Holy Ghost The Assumption of our Blessed Mother into Heaven The Coronation of our Blessed Mother The Five Luminous Mysteries (Prayed on Thursday) The Baptism in the Jordan The Wedding at Cana The Proclamation of the Kingdom The Transfiguration The Institution of the Eucharist

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Saying they are increasingly distressed over government policies that promote contraception, abortion and same-sex marriage and amount to an assault on religious freedom, the U.S. bishops have established a committee to shape public policy and coordinate the church’s response on the issue.

The Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty was announced September 30 by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., was named chairman of the new committee.

“There is a common and factually grounded perception that religious liberty is increasingly under assault at the state and federal level in the United States, whether through unfriendly legislation or through rules and regulations that impede or tend to impede the work of the Church,” Bishop Lori told Catholic News Service September 30, explaining the motivation for forming the committee.

“Hopefully, we will raise up the issue for the entire Catholic community in the United States,” he said. “We will help educate about the issue and hopefully there will be good and effective action.”

Bishop Lori has been a public defender of religious liberty over the last year. In October 2010 he issued “Let Freedom Ring: A Pastoral Letter on Religious Freedom,” which carefully laid out an argument that some legislative efforts in

the government seemed to be aimed solely at the Catholic Church.

He also addressed the topic at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in April.

Bishop Lori said the USCCB has discussed its concerns about restrictions on religious freedom repeatedly, most recently at its June meeting in suburban Seattle and again when the administrative committee met in Washington in mid-September.

In his announcement, Archbishop Dolan said that committee members will work with a variety of national organizations, ecumenical and interreligious partners, charities and scholars to “form a united and forceful front in defense of religious freedom in our nation.”

“Never before have we faced this kind of challenge in our ability to engage in the public square as people of faith and as a service provider,” the archbishop said in a statement.

“If we do not act now, the consequence will be grave.”

Archbishop Dolan cited a series actions at various levels of government that pose dangers to the free exercise of religion.

Specifically, he pointed to the narrow religious exemption in New York in regard to same-sex marriage, the Justice Department’s recent argument that the support of traditional marriage as defined in the Defense of Marriage Act amounted to bigotry, and the requirement by the Department of Health and Human Services that the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services provide the “full range of reproductive

service” — including abortion and contraception — to trafficking victims in its cooperative agreements and government contracts.

He also repeated the U.S. bishops’ concern about Health and Human Services regulations that would mandate the coverage of contraception and sterilization in all private health insurance plans while failing to protect insurers and individuals with religious or moral objections to the mandate.

“As shepherds of over 70 million U.S. citizens we share a common and compelling responsibility to proclaim the truth of religious freedom for all and so to protect our people from this assault which now appears to grow at an everaccelerating pace in ways most us could never have imagined,” Archbishop Dolan said.

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Youth Pages

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October 7, 2011

a new year — Ashley, Makenna, and Victoria, middle school students at St. Joseph School in Fairhaven, stop to greet Sacred Hearts Father Gabriel Healy before he celebrated the first school Mass of the year. the eyes have it — The New Bedford Sheriff’s Department, with a little help from the students in the Legal and Protective Services Shop at New Bedford Voc-Tech, visited Holy Family-Holy Name School in New Bedford to collect iris scans from the students. While there, the students at HFHN were able to take a tour of the Sheriff Department’s Mobile Unit and learn what it is used for.

getting to know you — Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro, recently held a luncheon for scholarship benefactors and the students who receive them. Fortyfive students and 13 benefactors got to know each other a little better. From left, benefactors Dale McLanan and daughter-in-law Holly McLanan, who established a scholarship in the name of her late husband Keith, get to know senior Jeffrey Vogel.

fowl play — At St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro, the Buddy Program teaches the kids to respect and care for each other. It provides interactive activities between kindergarten and grade seven and grades eight and one, part of the service program whereby students give back to the school.

Eighth-grader Michelle Sheehan taps the head of Andrew Smith while Bryleigh Knight-Roakes and Benjamin Le look on during the game of “Duck, Duck, Goose.”

the answer is blowing in the wind — Students at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Taunton recently participated in an international art and literacy project, “Pinwheels for Peace” by planting” pinwheels with messages of peace on the school’s front lawn. The project is a way for students to express their feelings about what’s going on in the world and in their lives. The students created the pinwheels. On one side, they wrote their thoughts about peace, on the other side drawings that expressed their feelings. Tyrese and Erin take in the display.

Youth Pages

October 7, 2011

T

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Our Lady of the Rosary

oday is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, originally known as Our Lady of Victory. I love our Blessed Mother! I love that she comes to us, prays for us, encourages us, protects us, and all the while she is bringing us closer to her Son. I used to have a hard time with Mary. She seemed unapproachable to me. After all, she was born without original sin, gave birth to the Son of God, and is the model of perfect humility and obedience. How do you approach that? How does a sinful, imperfect, often selfish and rebellious child approach such a perfect woman?

Finally I figured it out. We approach her just like that — like a child approaches a mom.

Ever since that awakening, our relationship has really

taken off. I talk to her quite beyond friendship. I find in a bit and about everything. the Blessed Mother a source of Where once there were no hope, protection, and constant visual reminders of Mary, encouragement. Isn’t that just now there seems to be a statue or image in every room in my house! I have walked with her in the woods and on the beach, praying the rosary and meditating on the

By Jean Revil mysteries of the day.

There have been times when I couldn’t sleep and I would ask the Blessed like a mother?

Mother if I could put my head One year ago today, I was on her lap, and before I knew falsely accused of a crime by a it I was safe, secure, and former student and placed on sound asleep. I can’t call her administrative leave. The first a friend, because it’s not that thing I did that day was go dikind of relationship for me. rectly to St. Julie’s Church for It’s much more of a mother9 a.m. Mass. It was there that child bond than that of friends. I learned we were celebrating Her role in my life goes far the Feast of Our Lady of the

Rosary, Our Lady of Victory.

I knew immediately that she would stay with me throughout the ordeal. She is still with me now as I continue to heal from the trauma of that experience.

Beginning that day, I picked up my Rosary and prayed it daily, often multiple times a day. The Rosary would be in my hand during sleepless nights, and even when I had exhausted the Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s, I would just hold it tight and know that she was holding me, too.

I share this with you in the hope that you, too, will approach our Blessed Mother with all of the pieces of your lives. She’s right there, you don’t have to search her out.

Just start talking to her. If the Rosary is not part of your usual prayer, maybe it’s time to try it, or try it again. Let her take you by the hand and bring you to all of the events in the life of her Son, and in her life, that make up the mysteries of this wonderful devotion.

If you have never prayed the Rosary and don’t know how to start, may I suggest that you visit www.newadvent.org and search “how to pray the Rosary.” It is one of the most precise explanations I have seen. Mary will always lead us to Jesus, she is never far from His side. Take her hand and watch what happens!

Jean Revil teaches theology and is campus minister at Bishop Stang High School.

Comments welcome at: jrevil@bishopStang.com.

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) — As she talked to the elementary school children, Francesca “Chessie” LaRosa could have focused on how she is scheduled to sing in front of 25,000 young people who are expected to come to Indianapolis in November for the 2011 National Catholic Youth Conference.

Instead, the 18-year-old singersongwriter chose to share a defining moment from one of those tough, soul-searching times that most teenagers eventually face — a time when she had to decide what really mattered in her life.

It happened during the summer of 2008, a season of excitement, uncertainty and change before her freshman year at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis.

For most of her years at St. Barnabas School in Indianapolis, LaRosa didn’t have many friends.

She often considered herself as “weird” to her classmates and viewed herself as “shy,” “awkward” and “not good enough.” But that perception began to change in her eighth-grade year when she wrote a song called “We Are” that became her class’ theme song.

People began to see her in a different light. She found confidence and new friends. Soon, she also found herself facing a choice.

“A lot of people were telling me to be a certain way — to dress a certain way and act a certain way — to be popular,” LaRosa said. “I was really frustrated. It was killing me. I just really wanted to be with God and be for God. I started to realize my goal was to get to Heaven.”

So LaRosa did what she has done most of her young life. She poured her heart into the lyrics of a song, writing one called “Who I Want to Be.”

“It’s reaching out to the girls and guys who feel they aren’t good enough,” LaRosa told the students at St. Roch School in Indianapolis during a program about her music inside the parish church. “It’s about being who God wants me to be instead of who other people want me to be.”

Then LaRosa sat at the piano in the church and sang the song in the same way that she encouraged the children to live their lives — sharing from the heart and staying focused on God. “The world is telling me that I should change the color of my hair, “And everything about me “I’m supposed to wear the tight shirts, the short skirts “And change my personality “Why is the world so caught up in all this vanity?

“Why can’t I just be me?

“Lord, help me be who I want to be “Teach me how to live “My life the way You did “Help me put away

says she has always wanted to be involved in music.

Her mother, Chris, said her daughter could literally sing before she could talk. LaRosa started to play the piano when she was four.

By the third grade, she was singing at Masses at St. Barnabas Church with her father, Joseph.

She also began filling notebooks with song lyrics. And she had completed her first professionally produced CD of her music by her freshman year at Roncalli.

She also was chosen recently to sing the ballad version of “Called to Glory” — the theme song for the 2011 National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis No-

vember 17-19.

“I was really, really excited,” LaRosa said. “Singing brings me close to God. I can feel Him when I sing. I feel embraced by His love.”

Her selection also thrills Kay Scoville, the archdiocese’s director of youth ministry.

“I feel a sense of joy for the archdiocese to have such a witness of our faith be chosen for such an important role,” Scoville said.

“And the fact that it is a young person who felt called to evangelize in this manner affirms that we need to continue to reach out to our young people, and encourage them to share their gifts with the Church.”

Be Not Afraid

Teen chosen to perform NCYC theme song is grounded in her faith “The things that take away from giving my whole life up to You “Oh, Lord, just help me be who I want to be.”

Everyone who knows LaRosa

joyful noise — Singer Francesca “Chessie” LaRosa, is scheduled to sing a ballad version of “Called to Glory,” the theme song of the 2011 National Catholic Youth Conference, which will be held in Indianapolis. (CNS photo/John Shaughnessy, The Criterion)

The Anchor is always pleased to run news and photos about our diocesan youth.

If schools or parish Religious Education programs, have newsworthy stories and photos they would like to share with our readers, send them to: schools@anchornews.org

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Around the Diocese 10/7

The Fall River Area Men’s First Friday Club will meet tonight at the Parish of the Good Shepherd, 1598 South Main Street, Fall River. Following the 6 p.m. Mass celebrated by Father Freddie Babiczuk, there will be a hot meal in the church hall. The guest speaker is Joseph “Ben” Levesque, retired Capt. Fire Fighter, active in Knights of Columbus. Any gentleman wishing to attend may do so. Call Norman Valiquette at 508-672-8174 for guest seat reservations or with any questions.

10/7

The public is invited to join in a Rosary Prayer today at 11 a.m., at the Rosary Walk on the grounds of the Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington Street, Easton, in observance of the Feast of our Lady of the Rosary. Mass will be celebrated at noon in the chapel of the center.

For additional information call Holy Cross Family Ministries at 508-238-4095 or visit www.FamilyRosary.org.

10/8

Tomorrow, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Route 6 in Wellfleet, will hold its annual Holly Fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event will feature theme baskets, ornaments, toys, wreaths, a teacup raffle, quilts and paintings by local artists, baked goods, homemade items, silent auctions, a white elephant table, and much more. Refreshments including hot dogs, stuffed quahogs and chili will be served. Santa will also make an appearance from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Men’s Club and the Ladies Guild of St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, North Falmouth, will host “La Bella Notte” on October 12 at 6 p.m. Experience a beautiful Italian-themed night of live accordion music and food prepared onsite including fresh antipasto, scala bread and butter, chicken Parmesan, penne pasta, meatballs in marinara sauce and seasoned vegetables. Social hour is from 6 to 7 p.m. with complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres. Dessert will include Italian cookies and mini-pastries with coffee and tea. For tickets or more information call 508-457-6282.

10/12 10/13

A Healing Mass will be celebrated on October 13 at St. Anne’s Church, 818 Middle Street, Fall River beginning with recitation of the Rosary at 6 p.m., followed by Mass and Benediction and healing prayers immediately after.

10/14

The Ladies Guild of St. Mary’s Parish in South Dartmouth is hosting a Lobster Roll and Clam Chowder Supper October 14 from 5-7 p.m. in the parish center. For reservations or information, call 508-993-5716. Deadline for registration is October 10.

10/20

The Pope John Paul II High School Parents Association invites parents across Cape Cod to spend an evening with noted Catholic author and speaker James Stenson. He will tackle the critical issue of “Raising Men and Women of Character in Difficult Times” on October 20 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at 120 High School Road in Hyannis. The event is free and open to the public. Stenson is a writer and educational consultant based in Boston. He was co-founder of The Heights School in Washington, D.C., and a founder and headmaster of Northridge Preparatory School in suburban Chicago. Using his 20 years of experience with families, he has written five books for parents.

10/22

The Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Nurses is sponsoring a presentation about conquering the day-to-day challenges as an Alzheimer’s caregiver entitled, “Entering Their World, Their Reality. How Would I Feel?” at White’s of Westport on October 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The presenters will be Mal Allard, LPN and Alzheimer consultant Ellen McCabe, RN, CHPN, from Alzheimer’s Services of Cape Cod and the Islands. Morning refreshments and lunch are provided. Five nursing contact hours will be awarded. Deadline for registration is October 15. To register contact Betty at 508-678-2373.

11/4

St. Theresa’s Christmas in the Village Bazaar will be held on November 4 from 5-8:30 p.m. and November 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the church basement on 18 Baltic Street, South Attleboro. Included will be a 50/50 Christmas Cash, giant theme baskets, used books, grandma’s attic, grandpa’s tool shed, knit goods, Christmas décor, etc. Santa will visit at the “North Pole” and there will be a village duck pond, children’s games, Christmas chance and instant raffle. The village bakery will be open and lunch or dinner will be served in the village eatery, where there will be delicious meat pies, etc.

11/12

The Women’s Guild of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Osterville is sponsoring a Holiday Fair November 12 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. There will be hand-knit items, hand-crafted items, a gift table, jewelry table, a bake sale, a “second-hand Rose” table, and a raffle. For information call the parish at 508-428-2011.

The Anchor Archbishop Hannan dies at age 98

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) — Retired Archbishop Philip M. Hannan of New Orleans, a World War II paratroop chaplain who befriended and secretly counseled John F. Kennedy during and after his historic run for the White House as the first U.S. Catholic president, died September 29.

Archbishop Hannan had become increasingly frail in recent months because of a series of strokes and other health problems. He moved in June from his private residence in Covington, La., to Chateau de Notre Dame, a senior apartment complex and elder care facility he first envisioned and then dedicated in 1977 to provide for seniors in archdiocese.

“From the time Archbishop Hannan came here right after Hurricane Betsy in 1965, he truly made New Orleans his home,” Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans added. “This was his parish and his archdiocese, and it had no boundaries. He was there for anyone and everyone.

That was his goal in life. He always quoted St. Paul, and he truly believed that his mission and ministry was to preach the Gospel untiringly both in actions and in words.”

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks Oct. 8 Rev. Roger J. Nolette, Our Lady of the Assumption, Osterville, 2006 Oct. 9 Rev. Paul J. Dalbec, M.S., La Salette Shrine, Attleboro, 2000 Oct. 10 Rev. James C..J. Ryan, Assistant, Immaculate Conception, North Easton, 1918 Rev. Boniface Jones, SS.CC., Chaplain, Sacred Heart Home, New Bedford, 1987 Rev. Joseph A. Martineau, Retired Pastor, St. Theresa, New Bedford, 1990 Oct. 11 Rev. James A. Downey, Pastor, Holy Ghost, Attleboro, 1952 Oct. 12 Rev. Felician Plichta, OFM Conv., Parochial Vicar, Corpus Christi, East Sandwich, Former Pastor, Holy Cross, Fall River, 1999 Oct. 13 Rev. David I. Walsh, M.M., Maryknoll Missioner, 1999 Rev. James J. Doyle, C.S.C., Holy Cross Residence, North Dartmouth, 2002 Rev. Marc Hebert, C.S.C., Holy Cross Residence, North Dartmouth, 2006 Oct. 14 Rev. Dennis M. Lowney, Assistant, Sacred Heart, Taunton, 1918 Rev. Msgr. Edward B. Booth, Retired Pastor, St. Mary, North Attleboro, 1972 Rev. Frederick G. Furey, SS.CC. Former Pastor, Our Lady of Assumption, New Bedford, 1999 Rev. Andre P. Jussaume, Pastor, St. Louis de France, Swansea, 2003

October 7, 2011

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese

Acushnet — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — St. Joseph Church holds eucharistic adoration in the Adoration Chapel located at the (south) side entrance at 208 South Main Street, Sunday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Brewster — Eucharistic adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays following the 11 a.m. Mass until 7:45 a.m. on the First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and Mass. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m. Mass.

East Freetown — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Nations Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

East Sandwich — Eucharistic adoration takes place at the Corpus Christi Parish Adoration Chapel, 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Also, 24-hour eucharistic adoration takes place on the First Friday of every month.

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On First Fridays, eucharistic adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, following the 8 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 p.m.

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has eucharistic adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at noon. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration. Refreshments follow.

Fall River — Espirito Santo Parish, 311 Alden Street, Fall River. Eucharistic adoration on Mondays following the 8:00 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Notre Dame Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has eucharistic adoration on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the chapel.

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has eucharistic adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has eucharistic adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has eucharistic adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass until 6 p.m. in the Daily Mass Chapel. There is a bilingual Holy Hour in English and Portuguese from 5-6 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

Falmouth — St. Patrick’s Church has eucharistic adoration each First Friday, following the 9 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 4:30 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

HYANNIS — A Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration will take place each First Friday at St. Francis Xavier Church, 347 South Street, beginning immediately after the 12:10 p.m. Mass and ending with adoration at 4 p.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of eucharistic adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and Confessions offered during the evening.

NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the Rosary, and the opportunity for Confession.

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and every Friday from noon to 5 p.m., with Benediction at 5 p.m.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has eucharistic adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

Taunton — Eucharistic adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass.

WAREHAM — Adoration with opportunities for private and formal prayer is offered on the First Friday of each month from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, High Street. The Prayer Schedule is as follows: 7:30 a.m. the Rosary; 8 a.m.

Mass; 8:30 a.m. exposition and Morning Prayer; 12 p.m. the Angelus; 3 p.m. Divine Mercy Chaplet; 5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer; 7 p.m. Sacrament of Confession; 8 p.m.

Benediction.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual eucharistic adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All from other parishes are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

WOODS HOLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Joseph’s Church, 33 Millfield Street, year-round on weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No adoration on Sundays, Wednesdays, and holidays. For information call 508-274-5435.

The Anchor

October 7, 2011 TAUNTON — John E. Kearns Sr. died peacefully September 29, surrounded by his family after a brief illness. He was 79 years old and was the devoted husband of Dolores (Koss) for 55 years. He was the father of John E. Kearns Jr., director of the Diocese of Fall River’s Office of Communication.

Born in Taunton, he was the son of the late William C. and Mary A. (Gaffney) Kearns. He was a graduate of the former Msgr. James Coyle High School, Class of 1949.

After serving in the Korean Conflict, he returned home and earned a bachelor’s degree from Bryant College. He worked for 40 years for Texas Instruments in Attleboro and in Waltham.

John, or Jack as he was known by most, will be remembered as a warm, friendly and caring man. He most enjoyed spending time with

Elvira Souza

John E. Kearns Sr.

his family and friends, working in his yard and supporting activities at his parish church.

He was a dedicated member of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in Taunton, where he was an extraordinary minister of holy Communion, the longtime president of the St. Maximilian Kolbe Guild, co-chair of the annual Polish Picnic for its 25-year run, and a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

He was recognized for his work at his parish with the Marian Medal of the Fall River Diocese in 1986.

In recent years, he was a member of the Korean War Veterans of Taunton and of the Polish-American Citizens’ Club of Taunton and enjoyed organizing reunions for his high school class.

In addition to his wife and son John, he is survived by his daughter Linda A. Kanabay and her husband Michael. He was a

19

loving grandfather to Susan L. (Kanabay) Lima and her husband Nelson, and to Michael J. Kanabay Jr. and his companion Caitlin Yecker, and a loving great-grandfather to Austin M. Kanabay and Jackson M. Lima.

He also leaves his sisters, Mary E. Ryan of Stoughton and Alice S. Comerford of Westfield and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brother William C. Kearns Jr. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in Taunton on October 3. Burial was at St. Joseph Cemetery in Taunton.

The Sowiecki Funeral Home in Taunton was in charge of the arrangements.

Expressions of sympathy in his memory may be made to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, P.O. Box 4072, Pittsfield, Mass., 01202 or to a charity of one’s choice.

FALL RIVER — Elvira “Eva” (Farias) Souza 83 of Plymouth Avenue, Fall River, died September 26. She was the wife of the late Manuel P. Souza and the mother of Kenneth J. Souza, a staff member of The Anchor.

Born in Fall River, she was the daughter of the late Filomena (Amorin) and Manuel Farias. She had worked as an LPN at the former Fall River General Hospital. She was a recipient of the Marion Medal while a parishioner at the former Our Lady of Health Parish. After its closing, she became a member of Espirito Santo Parish in Fall River.

She is survived by her children Kenneth, Robert Souza of Fall River, Geraldine Mathieu of Dartmouth, and Rosemary Souza of Fall River. She also leaves nine grandchildren and several great grandchildren. She was the mother of the late Linda Mathieu and sister of the late Joseph Farias.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Espirito Santo Church in Fall River on October 3. Burial was at Notre Dame Cemetery.

A.F. Almeida and Sons Funeral Home in Fall River was in charge of the arrangements.

To advertise in The Anchor, contact Wayne Powers at 508-675-7151 or Email waynepowers@ anchornews.org

20

The Anchor

October 7, 2011

Young author says Catholic Church must engage in new media

Orlando, Fla. (CNA) — Twenty-five-year-old author and Catholic convert Brandon Vogt has a message for the Church: utilize new media or fail to reach the American population and much of the rest of the world.

“These new media tools have already infiltrated our culture, our way of communication, in ways that are mind boggling,” Vogt told CNA on September 16.

“They are not a trend, they are not a passing fad and are therefore necessary for the Church to engage in,” he underscored.

“If this digital continent is where people are then the Church needs to be there too.”

In his new book, “The Church in the New Media” (Our Sunday Visitor), Vogt describes a planet with more than 750 million Facebook users, countless blogs and over three billion YouTube video views per day.

Last year, Americans alone sent more than one trillion text messages and nearly 13 percent of online adults in the U.S. have Twitter accounts.

“I’ve seen intense, deep discussions about religion or faith or morals” on these mediums, Vogt said, “so I’ve seen the tip of the iceberg on how powerful these tools are.”

However, “when I look at the Church — especially her institu-

tional arm as a whole — I saw that we were really not engaging these tools on any level compared to other spheres of life.”

Vogt estimates that the Catholic Church is “a good two to three years” behind most Protestant communities in using new media and when it comes to the secular world, “we’re a good half decade behind.”

In writing his groundbreaking new book, Vogt said he wanted to use his own expertise and that of other online Catholics “to help the Church as a whole to engage this digital revolution.”

The book outlines what Vogt calls the four main uses the Church should have for new media: evangelization, Faith Formation, community building and mobilizing for the common good.

He marveled that for the first time in history, educating the faithful “is no longer a Sunday only activity or constrained to Religious Education classes.”

“We can really educate Catholics in their faith every second of every day — all the information is completely available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

Aside from Faith Formation, however, Vogt said that the greatest area of potential for the Church is using new media for the common good.

“Catholic social teaching places a strong emphasis on the theme of solidarity. With these tools we have a primary chance to engage solidarity like we never have before.”

He cited the example of advocacy group 40 Days for Life, which has grown from a handful of people in a few short years to one of the biggest Pro-Life movements in the world.

“Anybody can connect with anybody in the world in a matter of seconds, especially for free, and so we can build movements for good.”

However, there are dangers to new media use, Vogt noted, explaining that more and more research is showing that the Internet is actually rewiring the human brain, making us constantly distracted.

But he addressed the fear some have within the Church that Catholicism could be dumbed-down or reduced to sound bites through media tools.

“I don’t think the danger is the competition between the distracted online culture and religion,” he said.

Rather, “I think religion, Catholicism in particular, is the antidote to digital distraction.”

People in modern society are having an increasingly hard time engaging in deep, contemplative practices offline, Vogt said. And “I think that’s the perfect pastoral opportunity for the Church.”

Through new media, he explained, the Church can point to ancient practices like eucharistic adoration, contemplative prayer and lectio divina.

“The Church can come to these people and say, ‘yeah, we know you’re overwhelmed by this torrent of content online, we know that you’re hungry for something deeper than the shallow Facebook messages and tweets you receive.

Come to this fountain of depth and sustenance that the Church offers.’”

Vogt said that Catholics should take their cue from Pope Benedict, who recently made headlines when he tweeted for the first time.

“I thought it spoke monumental volumes to the world — I don’t see any other major religious leader doing something like that.”

Although the Vatican has had some “tough love” moments in learning the need to stay current in their communication practices, the tweet “was a great sign of confirmation that the Vatican, from the very top, from our 84-year-old pope, sees the value and importance of using these tools.”

But Vogt said he’d like to see more involvement in new media by U.S. bishops, many of whom may be intimidated by rapidly expanding technology and communication methods.

“It can be overwhelming with

the new media tools because there are so many — even if you just look at the prominent ones, we’re talking blogs, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.”

Vogt recommends that bishops “just pick one that you’re not doing and dive in — explore and test out different ways of posting and interacting with the commentators.”

He said that by engaging in new media, bishops have the power to alter young people’s inaccurate perceptions of the Church.

“A lot of people my age, especially in the young adult generation, are disenfranchised with the Church for many reasons — one of which is they kind of picture the Church to be this distant, inhuman, disconnected organization,” he said.

“I think new media is the perfect way for bishops to change that perception. They can put a real face and real persona behind the Church’s image.”

“This is a Church filled with real people, with real emotions and interactions.”

For those who are “still unsure, still hesitant, still fearful about engaging in the digital world because of all of its inherent dangers,” Vogt said, “I would echo the roar of Pope John Paul II — do not be afraid.”

“I think that is the voice that the Church needs to hear at this moment in time more than any other.”