Diocese of Fall River
The Anchor
F riday , November 14, 2008
Defending life: What now?
Leading priests offer hope
New strategies emerge
President-elect Barack Obama was called the most radically pro-abortion candidate ever, and yet millions of Catholics voted for him. One of his campaign pledges was to champion the Freedom of Choice Act, which would nullify every state abortion regulation. The Anchor asked two leading Pro-Life priests to comment: Father Frank Pavone, diTurn to page 18
The Pro-Life movement can and must regroup, stressed national lay leaders and political experts during a post-election teleconference and webcast. Moderator Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life urged people to regularly network through ProLifeStrategy.com. Highlights culled from the November 5 panel discussion: Turn to page 18
By Gail Besse, Anchor Correspondent
By Gail Besse, Anchor Correspondent
Theologian calls people to Pauline faith
‘Fireproof’ a success with all faiths By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff
SEEKONK — An independent feature film financed and produced by the Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., is fanning the flames of marriage advocacy groups of all denominations across the country. “Fireproof,” which was made on a shoestring $500,000 budget and has already grossed more than $21 million since its September 26 theatrical release, is based on the best-selling book titled “The Love Dare,” and focuses on a firefighter’s struggle to save his seven-year-old marriage. The movie’s simple but poignant message of how it takes both faith in God and an unconditional love for your spouse to make a marriage work — even when that love may not be acknowledged or reciprocated — has certainly resonated with audiences nationwide. The movie has also garnered the attention and support of Catholic organizations like the National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage — both of which are linked as resources on the film’s supporting Website, Turn to page 12
By Michael Pare Anchor Staff
APOSTOLIC MISSION — Students of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, Taunton confirmation class, carry statues of St. Andrew and the Blessed Mother on the unity walk prior the inaugural eucharistic celebration at the newly-formed parish. The first Mass was celebrated October 26, and Bishop George W. Coleman installed Father Timothy P. Reis as pastor at a Mass November 2. (Photo by Bill Breen)
Marian Medals for unheralded works to be awarded Sunday
By Deacon James N. Dunbar
FALL RIVER — When Bishop James L. Connolly presented the newly-minted Marian Medal for the first time in January 1968, 78 parishioners from churches across the diocese stepped forward to receive the prestigious award for outstanding service.
In the 40 years since, thousands of deserving laymen and laywomen have received the venerable Diocesan Service Medal for their dedication in a variety of charitable works, devotions and ministries. On Saturday at a 3 p.m., prayer service and Benediction, Bishop George W. Coleman will present the 2008 awards to 83 recipients in St. Mary’s Cathedral on Spring Street, as their families, friends and pastors who nominated them look on. Among those receiving the
Complete list of recipients on page 14
medal in 1968 was Mrs. Virginia Carey, wife of retired Superior Court Justice and fellow medalist William H. Carey, who are members of St. Mary’s Parish in South Dartmouth. In a chat with The Anchor last week, she recalled the events. Turn to page 14
NORTH DARTMOUTH — Dr. Peter Kreeft, a professor of philosophy and the eminent lay theologian at Boston College, delivered a simple evening message to a crowd of about 300 at St. Julie’s Parish on Slocum Road November 7: “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” “That’s faith,” he said. The author of more than 50 books, including his latest, entitled “Jesus-Shock,” Kreeft’s lecture celebrated the Year of Saint Paul. It was called “The Power of Paul’s Spirituality: the Certainty of God’s Love.” Kreeft is a sought-after speaker whose ideas draw heavily from religious and philosophical tradition, especially Thomas Aquinas, Socrates, G.K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis. Kreeft has writings on Jesus Christ, Socratic logic, the sea, the Summa Theologiae, angels, Blaise Pascal, heaven, and the problem of evil. Born a Calvinist, Kreeft regarded the Catholic Church “with the utmost suspicion.” A crucial turning point was when he was asked by a Calvinist professor to investigate the claims of the Catholic Church that it traced itself to the early Church. He said on his own, he “discovered in the early Church such Catholic elements as the centrality of the Eucharist, prayers to saints, devotion to Mary, an insistence on visible unity, and apostolic succession.” The Church fathers such as Augustine and Jerome were Turn to page 13
News From the Vatican
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November 14, 2008
Pope sends congratulatory message to president-elect VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI sent a personal message to President-elect Barack Obama, congratulating him and offering his prayers for Obama and for all the people of the United States. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said that because the November 4 message was addressed personally to Obama, the Vatican did not plan to publish it. At the same time, Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the U.S. Catholic bishops, congratulate Obama on his “historic election” as the first African-American to win the White House. The pope congratulated Obama, his wife and family, Lombardi said. “He assured him of his prayers that God would help him with his high responsibilities for his country and for the international community,” Father Lombardi said. Asked if the pope mentioned any specific issues he was concerned about, Father Lombardi responded, “peace, solidarity and justice.” The pope also prayed that “the blessing of God would sustain him and the American people so that with all people of good will they could build a world of peace, solidarity and justice,” the spokesman said. The message to Obama was
sent through the office of Mary Ann Glendon, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, he said. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, also sent a message. Father Lombardi said it is likely a formal message also will be sent on the occasion of Obama’s January 20 inauguration; in past years, the Vatican custom has been that the pope congratulates a new U.S. president only when he formally takes office. Cardinal George said “the people of our country have entrusted you with a great responsibility,” the cardinal said in a letter to Obama on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “As Catholic bishops we offer our prayers that God give you strength and wisdom to meet the coming challenges.” “The country is confronting many uncertainties,” he said. “We pray that you will use the powers of your office to meet them with a special concern to defend the most vulnerable among us and heal the divisions in our country and our world. “We stand ready to work with you in defense and support of the life and dignity of every human person,” he added in the letter, released by the USCCB in Washington November 5. “May God bless you and Vice President-elect (Joseph) Biden as you prepare to assume your duties in service to our country and its citizens,” Cardinal George said.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The beauty and promise of life cannot be understood without the experience of suffering, Pope Benedict XVI said. At a recent weekly general audience, the pope focused on St. Paul’s emphasis on the resurrection as the key to understanding Christ and the eternal life to which all people are called. The death and resurrection of Jesus have important consequences for the way Christians
are called to live, he said. “We are called to participate with our whole being in the entire event of the death and resurrection of Christ,” Pope Benedict said. “We have, the apostle says, died with Christ, and we believe we will live with him.” The affirmation that those who have been baptized into Christ’s death will rise with him implies that there will be suffering, but that suffering and death will not have the last word, the pope said.
Pope says experience of suffering needed to understand beauty of life
The Anchor
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 52, No. 43
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. Subscription price by mail, postpaid $14.00 per year. Send address changes to P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA, call or use email address
PUBLISHER - Most Reverend George W. Coleman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Father Roger J. Landry fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org EDITOR David B. Jolivet davejolivet@anchornews.org NEWS EDITOR Deacon James N. Dunbar jimdunbar@anchornews.org OFFICE MANAGER Mary Chase marychase@anchornews.org ADVERTISING Wayne Powers waynepowers@anchornews.org REPORTER Michael Pare michaelpare@anchornews.org REPORTER Kenneth J. Souza k ensouza@anchornews.org Send Letters to the Editor to: fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org POSTMASTERS send address changes to The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722. THE ANCHOR (USPS-545-020) Periodical Postage Paid at Fall River, Mass.
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN — Pope Benedict XVI kneels as he prays in front of Pope John Paul II’s tomb on All Souls’ Day at the Vatican November 2. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano, via Reuters)
Unforgettable: Popes remain influential figures after death
By John Thavis Catholic News Service
ing a “period of reflection,” but sainthood causes are in fact active for all of the previous five VATICAN CITY — A conpopes. fluence of anniversaries this fall Pope John was beatified in has turned the Vatican’s atten2000. Pope John Paul I’s cause tion to deceased popes, who still passed a recent milestone, with loom large in the Church’s livapproval of the diocesan phase ing memory. of investigation. Pope Paul’s In a seemingly continual procause has also reached the Vaticession of conferences, films, can. liturgies, speeches, books and The push to canonize dearticles, four late pontiffs in ceased popes is a relatively reparticular — Popes Pius XII, cent trend. Over the last 700 John XXIII, Paul VI and John years, only two popes were dePaul II — have been celebrated, clared saints. praised, defended and, in some Luigi Accattoli, cases, proposed for a respected Italian sainthood. ope Benedict XVI has been in the journalist who has On some days, the forefront of the commemorations, covered the Vatican Vatican newspaper, giving speeches and celebrating special for decades, wrote afL’Osservatore Romano, has carried more Masses for his predecessors, and drawing ter the death of Pope John Paul II that papal news about departed frequent lessons from their teachings. canonizations were popes than on the cur“pointless” and that rent occupant of the chair of Peter. liness of Pope Pius and defend the Church would better spend Pope Benedict XVI has been him from accusations of failing its energy by looking for less rein the forefront of the com- to do enough to save Jews dur- nowned saints. Accattoli’s views are not memorations, giving speeches ing World War II. and celebrating special Masses In October, it was Pope John shared widely by Vatican saint for his predecessors, and draw- Paul II’s turn, with major cele- makers. Jesuit Father Paolo Moing frequent lessons from their brations, conferences and papal linari, who until recently was teachings. messages marking the anniver- the postulator for the cause of Why does the Church keep sary of his election in 1978, cul- Pope Paul, said it was a misconlooking back? minating in the premiere screen- ception that “every pope today “Because tradition is funda- ing at the Vatican of a new film has to be named a saint.” The primary requisite for mental for the Church. We look about his life. to the past so that we can look to Later in the month, Pope opening any sainthood cause the future,” said Giovanni Ma- Benedict led memorial prayers is “fama sanctitatis,” Latin for ria Vian, director of the Vatican at the tomb of Pope John, whose “reputation of holiness,” which newspaper. election in 1958 was marked must be recognized widely The period of August-Octo- in countless Italian newspaper among the faithful. Some think ber this year marked the 50th and magazine articles, as well that tends to favor popes, who anniversary of the death of Pope as a new film and a popular TV live on the world stage. But Father Molinari said Pius and the election of Pope miniseries. John, and the 30th anniversary The cause of Pope Pius is global celebrity does not guarof the “year of three popes,” perhaps the most well-known antee a reputation for holiness, with the death of Pope Paul, the and the most controversial, with even for popes. “It can work election and death of Pope John his cause currently on hold dur- both ways,” he said.
P
Paul I, and the election of Pope John Paul II. But the memorializing really began in July, with the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul’s encyclical, “Humanae Vitae” (“Of Human Life”). Pope Benedict not only strongly defended its teachings against birth control, but also went out of his way to praise Pope Paul’s courage and “far-sightedness” in promulgating a position that would inevitably be criticized by many. In September a massive campaign began to highlight the ho-
November 14, 2008
The International Church
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Gaza faces ‘growing humanitarian crisis,’ says Irish Nobel laureate
MEAGER EXISTENCE — Survivors of an earthquake are seen by makeshift tents near their collapsed houses in Ziarat, Pakistan. Pakistani army helicopters scoured mountains for survivors after a 6.4 magnitude quake struck in late October, killing more than 200 people. (CNS photo/Athar Hussain, Reuters)
Catholics begin to distribute aid to Pakistanis affected by quake
By Catholic News Service
QUETTA, Pakistan — Catholics have begun distributing aid to people affected by the recent earthquake in a remote part of Balochistan province. Parishioners of St. Pius X Church in Quetta traveled nearly 50 miles northeast to Wam, and distributed aid they collected among themselves. Quetta is the capital of Balochistan, considered Pakistan’s most underdeveloped province. “Announcements were made in church for the collection of essential commodities for the quake victims. After visiting the affected families for a few hours, we handed over packets of lentils, tea and sugar,” Father Maqsood Nazir, the parish priest, told the Asian church news agency UCA News. He said the November 1 delivery was the first aid response from the Catholic Church following the October 29 earthquake. The priest led a group of seven parishioners who traveled overnight to reach Wam, one of the worst-hit villages. “It was a dangerous journey on narrow and winding roads in the mountains,” he said. “Village children started following our vehicle as we came close to the rubble of mud houses.” About 300 people died and an estimated 40,000 were left homeless when the magnitude 6.4 quake struck before dawn. It flattened mud-brick houses as people slept, and continuing aftershocks forced survivors to sleep outdoors at altitudes
of 8,200 feet in very cold temperatures. Sallah-ud-din Khan, a Muslim, told UCA News his wife lost her leg while saving their children from their collapsing mud house. “We were sleeping when suddenly the earth shook. My wife and I were trying to take our four children out of the house. The house collapsed during our efforts and rubble fell on her,” he recalled. Kashif Daud of the Catholic aid agency Caritas Pakistan went to the affected area the day of the quake. “I was talking with the local people, finalizing plans for the relief distribution, when the second tremor (an aftershock) struck in the evening,” he said. “The mountains roared right in front of me, and by the time the vibrations reached us we were all terrified to death.” Meanwhile, religious organizations and political parties have set up collection centers across the country for donations of money and warm clothes. The All Pakistan Minority Alliance, a Christian political party, set up two centers in Quetta. Jafar George, party president in Balochistan and a Catholic, told UCA News the alliance had collected clothes, food items and about $430. “We plan to take at least one relief truck this month to the affected areas in the northeast of the province,” George said. He added that his party is al-
ready helping deserving Christian families, including Quetta residents “whose houses were partially damaged by the aftershocks, which continued for the next few days.” The recent disaster came shortly after the third anniversary of the magnitude 7.6 earthquake in northern Pakistan and parts of India that killed 74,000 people and displaced 3.5 million in October 2005. Quetta was devastated in 1935 by a magnitude 7.5 quake that killed about 30,000 people.
JERUSALEM (CNS) — The situation in Gaza constitutes a “growing humanitarian crisis,” said Irish Noble peace laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire during a fourday visit to the Gaza Strip. She arrived in Gaza as part of a 27-person contingent on a boat carrying activists who oppose Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The boat, part of the Free Gaza Movement, left Cyprus October 28 and docked at Gaza a day later without interference from Israel. Earlier, Israel had warned that it would not allow the boat to reach Gaza. It was the second such boat from the Free Gaza Movement to reach the Palestinian territory since August. “I wanted to see the situation in Gaza for myself and I am absolutely shocked and appalled. The suffering is enormous,” Maguire said in a phone interview from Gaza. “I decided to come by sea and break the siege. I wanted to help challenge the international community about their silence about what is happening in Gaza.” She said the Israeli closure of Gaza was “collective punishment.” Israel instituted the closure almost a year ago following an escalation of Palestinian missile attacks into Israeli border towns. The densely populated coastal region was already suffering from an international boycott instituted after the militant group Hamas took over the Gaza Strip from the Fatah movement some two years ago; the closure has plunged the region into a bigger crisis. Maguire said the Gaza infrastructure is in a shambles and sewage is running through the streets in the Rafah refugee camp. Raw
materials needed for repairs cannot reach the Gaza Strip and hospitals cannot obtain necessary parts to fix broken equipment or complete the construction of new sections, she said. Sanitary conditions in Gaza were a “recipe for the spread of disease,” said Maguire. “People are dying because they can’t get out of Gaza to get proper medical treatment abroad or in Israel,” she said following a memorial service for about 230 Palestinians who have died during the closure for lack of proper medical treatment. Maguire said she would in be in Israel in mid-November and has asked to meet with Israeli government leaders to discuss the situation.
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The Church in the U.S.
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November 14, 2008
Catholic voters mirror general electorate in support for Obama By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON —- Catholics pretty much voted the way the rest of the country did November 4, even backing Democratic Sen. Barack Obama a little more strongly than the electorate overall, according to exit polls. What the exit polls don’t explain, however, is whether efforts by bishops in some dioceses to direct Catholic voters to base their vote only on the abortion issue are responsible for some deviations from the general trend. Typically, the majority of Catholic voters mirrors the majority of the electorate overall. But this time, in a couple of battleground states that Obama won but where some bishops were particularly visible on the topic of how to vote, a majority of Catholics backed Republican Sen. John McCain. Nationwide, 54 percent of Catholics supported Obama and 44 percent voted for McCain. Of the total population, 52 percent voted for Obama and 46 percent for McCain. By comparison, 52 percent of Catholics in 2004 supported Republican President George W. Bush and 47 percent voted for Democratic Sen. John Kerry. The total vote in 2004 was 51 percent for Bush and 48 percent for Kerry. In 2000 Catholics also lined up with the popular vote
and supported Vice President Al Gore by 50 percent to the 47 percent who backed Bush that year. Bush won the electoral vote but not the popular vote. Political and sociological analysts in several interviews and teleconferences November 5 pointed out that Obama’s vote among Catholics reflected a sevenpoint increase over the Catholic vote for Kerry.
The exit polls divided voters into “all Catholics” or white, non-Hispanic Catholics. In the latter group, the shift toward the Democratic candidate was less pronounced than among Catholics overall. Fifty-two percent of white Catholics supported McCain, and 47 percent voted for Obama. Majorities of white Catholics also voted for Bush in both his elections, by 56 percent in 2004 and 52 percent in 2000. Approximately 40 percent of U.S. Catholics are Hispanic and another three percent are African-American. Asian and Pacific Islanders constitute about four percent. Latinos nationwide voted for Obama by 67 percent to 31 percent for McCain. African-Americans voted for Obama by 95 percent to four percent. Asians supported Obama by 62 percent to 35 percent.
In some states, Obama’s gains among Catholics were more substantial than the general picture. In Indiana in 2004, for example, Catholics supported Bush by 56 percent to 43 percent. This year in that state, Catholics were split evenly between Obama and McCain. Although McCain won a majority of voters who attend church most frequently, Obama also made substantial inroads into that group, noted John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, in one of several teleconferences in which he spoke. The Republican advantage of 64 percent to 35 percent of those voters in 2004 shrank to just 55 percent McCain voters to 46 percent Obama voters. The analysts agreed that voters based their election choices primarily on issues such as the economy, health care and the war in Iraq, rather than on issues typically identified as major religious concerns: abortion and same-sex marriage. What distinguishes those states, is that in each at least one bishop issued statements that leaned strongly toward telling voters they should vote only for candidates of the party that supports overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion virtually on demand. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in its political responsibility statement, “Faithful Citizenship,” emphasized the importance of abortion in voting. But it also left open the possibility that Catholics might in good conscience support candidates who do not favor overturning Roe. “Voting in this way,” it says, “would be permissible only for truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental moral evil.”
WACO, Texas (CNS) — Bill Moyer, a member of the Central Texas Fellowship of Catholic Men leadership team, is the new executive director of the National Fellowship of Catholic Men. The organization was established in 2001 to help Catholic men grow in their spiritual lives, their marriages, families and jobs through the ongoing support of other Christian men. It has been based in Gaithersburg, Md., for several years but now will be based in Waco, where Moyer lives. Getting the post was “an answer to prayer,” Moyer said in a statement. “There is so much potential to make a difference in men’s lives that will positively impact their parish family, and community, and I accept that challenge with humility and joy.” He succeeded Maurice Blumberg, who held the post since 2001. Before accepting his new position, which was effective September 2, Moyer spent 23 years as a corporate officer in the Paul J. Meyer companies. He also is a successful entrepreneur who has built two start-up companies of his own. But he said the most important thing
in his life has been his Catholic faith since he joined the Church in April 1988 through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. His life was “changed forever” after he received “the precious body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ for the first time,” he said. “I became a better dad, a better husband and a better man and experienced a peace that you can only achieve by knowing the Lord.” He has taught a confirmation class for 17 years. He and his wife, Rose, were youth ministers at St. Jerome Parish in Waco for 14 years. He helped start the Central Texas Fellowship of Catholic Men. The national fellowship serves local and regional Catholic men’s fellowships by providing resources, leadership training and communications support. It distributes podcasts to 5,000 men every week and now holds more than 50 regional conferences each year. More information about the National Fellowship of Catholic Men is available on the organization’s Website, www. catholicmensresources.org.
National Fellowship of Catholic Men has new executive director
November 14, 2008
The Church in the U.S.
A GOOD SIGN — Vivi Morris, Mary Morris, Alex Case and Ninie Case talk under a “Yes on 8’’ sign at a pro-Proposition 8 election party in Irvine, Calif., November 4. Californians approved Proposition 8, defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, overturning a recent California court decision legalizing gay marriage. (CNS photo/Fred Greaves, Reuters)
Church view on same-sex marriage prevails; other ballot efforts fail
By Nancy Frazier O’Brien Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON — In voting on 2008 ballot questions across the country, the Catholic Church’s view against same-sex marriage prevailed, but most Catholic efforts to influence voting related to abortion, assisted suicide, embryonic stem-cell research and gambling failed. Voters approved California’s Proposition 8, which would amend the state constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin. Similar proposals were approved in Arizona (57 percent to 43 percent) and Florida (62 percent to 38 percent). Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles thanked the Catholic community for the passage of Proposition 8. He said the success also was the result of “an unprecedented coalition of many faith
communities and other citizens who understood the importance of maintaining the bedrock institution of marriage as has been lived out since recorded history.” California is one of three states where same-sex marriage is currently allowed. On a range of other issues, however, voters turned down the Church-supported position on ballot questions. In Connecticut, where the Supreme Court ruled in October that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, 59 percent of voters turned down an effort to call for a constitutional convention, where the question could have been reconsidered. The state’s Catholic bishops had urged a vote in favor of the convention. Church-supported proposal to require parental notification, or a judicial bypass, 48 hours before a minor’s abortion. A South Dakota measure that would have banned
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abortions in the state, except for victims of rape and incest, also failed, 55 percent to 45 percent. In Colorado, Catholic leaders had taken a neutral approach to
the Colorado Personhood Amendment, which would have defined “any human being from the moment of fertilization” as a person under the state constitution. Voters rejected the proposed amendment, with only 27 percent for it and 73 percent against it. Washington became the second state in the nation to allow physician-assisted suicide with a 59 percent to 41 percent vote in favor of Initiative 1000. The state’s Catholic bishops had said the proposal did not have adequate safeguards and its approval would threaten “the dignity of all human life regardless of frailty or social definitions of usefulness.” In Michigan, voters agreed by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin to expand embryonic stem-cell research and “prohibit state and local laws that prevent, restrict or discourage stem-cell research, future therapies and cures.” Paul A. Long, vice president for public policy of the Michigan Catholic Conference, said the vote amounted to “the creation of a new industry structured around the unregulated destruction of human life.” The results were mixed on proposals to expand opportunities for
5 gambling in Maryland, Arkansas and Ohio. A move to allow up to 15,000 slot machines in Maryland, with funds targeted for use in public education, had been strongly opposed by Catholic leaders but was OK’d by voters, 59 percent to 41 percent. The Catholic Conference of Ohio had opposed a proposal in that state to permit one privately owned casino in southwest Ohio, and it failed, 37 percent to 63 percent. In Missouri, for example, Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph criticized a proposed constitutional amendment to require all government meetings in the state be conducted in English. The proposal passed overwhelmingly, 86 percent to 14 percent. In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, representatives of Catholic Family Services were elated with the passage of measures in two counties of the archdiocese creating what they called a “safety net for children.” In St. Louis County, the quarter-cent sales tax for children’s services passed with 62 percent of the vote. In Franklin County, it passed with 59 percent of the vote.
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The Anchor A sleeping giant awakes
“Those who would legislate the composition of our families won some disturbing victories on Election Day,” began Sunday’s editorial in the New Bedford Standard-Times. The newspaper lamented the fact that on November 4, California, Arizona and Florida joined almost 40 other states in banning the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples. It accused black voters in California of being bigots, for turning out in huge numbers to elect Senator Barack Obama in a triumph against racial bias while simultaneously voting overwhelmingly in favor of Proposition 8, which defined marriage to require, shockingly, a man and a woman. It finished by saying that it is a “good time” to live in Massachusetts whose judges showed the “wisdom to allow same-sex couples to live in peace with equal rights.” Apparently the editors believe that the only people who should have a right to determine “the composition of our families” should be activist justices with liberal social agendas, the type of “wise” judges who are enlightened enough wantonly to declare whatever they don’t like unconstitutional. This is what happened in Massachusetts, Connecticut and California — all by 4-3 margins — before California voters rejected the hubris of their justices and overturned their decision. Massachusetts and Connecticut voters have not yet had a chance to vote by public referendum, Bay State voters being stymied repeatedly by similarly “wise” members of a legislature who think that the proper use of their office is to prevent those who elected them from having a chance to vote directly to overturn similar judicial abuses. The 70 percent support of the black community for California’s Prop 8 was a sign that, despite their huge support for Obama, they do not share many of the aspects of his radical social agenda, which included opposition to the proposition. Those who have suffered through the civil rights struggle have rejected the attempts of the gay community to fool people into thinking that the opposition to the gay agenda is equivalent to the evil of racism. African-Americans have, after all, never sought to use their skin color as a means to justify behavior that the vast majority of Americans find sinful and unnatural. They have recognized that the human and civil rights owed to us according to our dignity and citizenship and for which they have fought so long do not include the so-called “right” to “marry” people of the same-sex and receive all the benefits given to traditional families in exchange for the benefits that flow to society from the family. While the editors of the Standard-Times accuse California blacks of hypocritically making “acceptance a one-way street in California,” by voting for someone who may bring an end to their struggle while voting against the struggles of those pushing the gay agenda, it’s clear that African-Americans in the Golden State are simply far more nuanced and politically-savvy than the politically-correct editors of a Massachusetts newspaper want to acknowledge. Not to let their advocacy of same-sex marriage end on a sour note, however, the StandardTimes printed a lengthy op-ed by John Corvino, a gay philosophy professor from an obscure Detroit college, which argued that, despite the election day losses, “one thing is clear: [the cultural shift undeniably underway] is on the side of gay and lesbian equality.” That’s an admittedly bold conclusion even for an extreme gay activist. Since the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court forced its own notion of marital morality on the rest of us five years ago this month, voters in 27 states have passed constitutional marriage amendments banning gay marriage and 41 state legislatures now have statutes banning gay marriage. The only places where same-sex pseudomarriage is allowed is where judges have basically overturned their constitutions to mandate it. So the question needs to be asked: if a sports team were 0-27, or worse 0-41, would it be credible for a sports columnist to argue, “one thing is clear: momentum is on our side”? The only possible momentum that those pushing for a redefinition of marriage can point to, it seems, is to activist judges willing to try to get away with what their colleagues have done in three states. That’s one of the reasons why what happened in California, in particular, is so heartening to those who care about defending the institution of marriage from those who want to dismantle it. In California, so much was stacked against Prop 8. The attorney general reworded the petition in order to try to turn as many as possible against it. All the major newspapers became propaganda machines attacking it. The national gay lobby poured in close to $40 million to defeat it. Many Hollywood stars not only came out against it but some, like Brad Pitt and Ellen DeGeneres, gave more than $100,000 each to its cause. Gov. Schwarzenegger campaigned against it. The elites in universities railed against it. And a coalition of ordinary people, like David against Goliath, organized and defeated it. It’s one thing when states in the Bible Belt vote to ban same-sex marriage. It’s quite another when the largest state in the country, with a huge reputation for secularism, with contains the same-sex capital of the world, and which for the last two decades has voted to elect nothing but liberal senators, governors, and presidents, votes to ban same-sex marriage. If same-sex marriage cannot pass the voters in California — especially with all the advantages on its side — then where can it pass, when voters actually have a chance to deliberate the issues and vote on it? The majority of voters in California were not fooled by the propaganda that the gay lobby used here in Massachusetts to con our Beacon Hill legislators. When gay activists tried to argue, “How will my gay marriage affect you?,” there was a long list of evidence that they now could cite. They knew from here, Canada and their own state that, once same-sex marriage is approved, gay activists seek to start indoctrinating kids, as early as kindergarten, with books depicting kings kissing kings and princesses espousing princesses — all without parental consent or even knowledge. They were aware of “gay days” in school to fight “intolerance” and celebrate samesex marriage. They were familiar with the fact that every employer becomes required to cover same-sex couples in insurance coverage and other benefits. They were conscious of photographers sued for unwillingness to film same-sex nuptials. They remembered that Boston Catholic Charities needed to get out of the adoption business so as not to violate Church teaching about gay adoption. They were also familiar with the shocking case of evangelical pastor Stephen Boisson in Alberta, Canada, who, for a rather tame letter to the editor in his local newspaper stating that homosexuality activity was sinful, was ordered in May to pay a $5,000 fine, write a letter of apology to a gay activist, and agree to “cease publishing in newspapers, by email, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals.” They knew that same-sex marriage affects everyone. Moreover, the majority of California voters had come to realize that same-sex marriage isn’t really even about marriage. Surveys in places where same-sex marriage is legal reveal that 96 percent of adults with same-sex attractions do not get married when given the opportunity and do not want to do so. As many honest gay activists have publicly stated, what they are after is not so much marriage as governmental validation of the gay lifestyle. “Including homosexuals within marriage,” Andrew Sullivan wrote recently, “would be a means of conferring the highest form of social approval imaginable.” Once governments confer legal approval, social validation comes next, through the pedagogical aspect of the law or, for those who resist their re-education, through lawsuits based on the new laws. California voters said no to same-sex marriage and to the cultural transformation it’s designed to bring. In the process, a sleeping giant was awakened from a long slumber and isn’t likely to fall asleep again soon. Rather than “disturbing” news, this is good news of great joy to all the people.
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November 14, 2008
A much-decorated veteran of the ongoing World War
A short time later, when he was 20, the n Tuesday we celebrated the feast of one of the most famous and influential Roman army in Gaul won a decisive victory saints of the early Church, St. Martin of Tours. against the barbarians. When the soldiers went His conversion story, charity, reputation for ho- to receive their bounty, Martin stepped forliness, and defense of the faith in fourth-centu- ward and stated that rather than war spoils he ry Europe made him a model for Christians in wished to receive a more lasting treasure. “Up succeeding centuries and it’s unsurprising that until now, I have served you as a soldier. Let so many families in various Christian countries me now serve Christ. Give the bounty to these named their sons Martin because of devotion others soldiers but I am a soldier of Christ.” He was accused of cowardice, but he said he was to him. In many places today, however, particularly prepared to go unarmed into battle and advance in Europe, his memory has been eclipsed by alone in the name of Christ, much like David cultural associations that not only have little to did against Goliath. He was thrown into prison do with the events of his life but against which but eventually, in a general amnesty, was rehe probably would preach if his strong voice leased and discharged. He traveled to Poitiers could still be heard. Just as many people cari- in order to advance in faith under the guidance cature St. Francis of Assisi as little more than a of St. Hilary, who embraced him with joy. After a while, filled with zeal for the faith, Medieval Doctor Doolittle, so many have reduced St. Martin to an early Christian Bacchus, he decided to cross the Alps and bring the Gospel to his family, who lived in present-day Huna patron of wine and partying. There are three reasons for this. The first is gary. His mother and siblings converted, but somewhat historical. St. Martin and the monks his father did not. While preaching the Word of who associated themselves with him did plant God in surrounding villages, he discovered that the Arian heresy vines in the fertile was rampant. soil of western Condemned at France, became the Council of experts in pruning Nicaea in 325, them, and seem Arianism taught to have origithat Jesus was nated the Chenin not really God Blanc grape from By Father but merely the which most of Roger J. Landry greatest creature the white wine who ever lived. of the Touraine Martin preached region comes. The two principal reasons have little to do against the Arians with so much zeal that he was with history. One is that his feast day, Novem- arrested, publicly scourged, and forced to leave ber 11, is traditionally the day when, after the the country. He went to Italy where he learned fall harvest and crushing of the grapes, the that the Arians had spread through France and grape must converts into wine. For that reason, had even gotten St. Hilary banished. Eventually it was a day to taste the “new wine” and to toast when St. Hilary was able to return in 360, Martin went with him, desiring to support Hilary by the saint of the day. The other is that during the Middle Ages, his prayers as a monk within his diocese. Soon Martin’s reputation for holiness bethere was a 40-day Advent fast that began on November 12 and extended to just before gan to attract many other men around him and Christmas. St. Martin’s feast day became, there- the first monastery in the history of France, fore, a type of “Carnival” featuring all types of the present Solesmes, was formed. He spent a eating, drinking, costumes and gift-giving that decade forming his monks and with them gopeople in our country normally associate with ing out to preach the Gospel in the countryside “Mardi Gras.” St. Martin predictably became against both pagan and Arian ideas. In 371, the favorite saint of many who often did not after the people of Tours clamored for him to become their bishop, he was compelled against seek to follow the saints’ example. The real life of St. Martin, however, is more his will to accept it and was ordained. He continued to live as a monk in a cave uplifting than anything one can consume from close to Tours, but would leave his cell and a glass. The son of a pagan high-ranking Roman travel by foot, donkey and boat to reform each army officer, he was compelled to join the of the areas of his diocese, rooting out paganarmy at 15. One brutal winter he was stationed ism and planting the seeds of the Gospel. When the heresy of Priscillianism began to in Amiens in northern France. As he was passing through the city gates during a snow storm, spread — another version of the gnostic and he saw a half-naked poor man shivering as he Manichean dualistic falsities that taught that was begging for alms. The passers-by were all matter was evil — Martin traveled as far simply ignoring him as they passed on with as Spain to refute it. When the emperor, howhaste. Touched with compassion, Martin want- ever, wanted to execute the Priscillianists for ed to give him some alms, but all he had was the spiritual toxins they were spreading, Martin his weapons and his clothes. So he took out his interceded to preserve their lives. It was enough Roman lance, removed his fine Roman cloak, for him that they be declared heretics and exand sliced it in two. He gave half to the poor communicated in the hope of their conversion man and wrapped himself in the other like a and to remove all scandal. He ferociously hated shawl, which elicited mockery from some of the sin but compassionately loved the sinner. Martin had once covered the Lord in his the bystanders for a Roman soldier’s dressing Roman cappa, but spent the rest of his life as like a woman. Later that night, Martin had a dream in which a soldier of Christ, dressed in the whole armor Jesus appeared to him. Martin already knew of of God, with truth as his belt, holiness as his Jesus despite his pagan upbringing; on his own breastplate, faith as his shield, the Gospel as initiative he had enrolled as a candidate for bap- a his shoes, salvation as his helmet and the tism at the age of 10 but, because of the constant Word of God as his sword (see Eph 6:11-17). moving of his family and then of his own regi- Like a soldier, he knew there was a war, who ment, he had not yet had the opportunity to fin- the enemy was and what means would defeat ish the catechumenate. In the dream, Jesus ap- him. There’s great fittingness in God’s eternal peared dressed in the half-cape Martin had given to the beggar and said, “Martin, who is not yet providence that Veteran’s Day falls on his feast. St. Martin battled for decades against spiritual baptized, has covered me with his garment.” Martin discovered in an indelible and barbarism — and he won. Now it’s our turn to life-changing way the truth of Jesus’ words, celebrate him, not by drinking, but by enrolling “Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, in that same army St. Martin did and following you do to me,” and after this encounter with the his example. Father Landry is pastor of St. Anthony’s Lord in a shivering disguise, an early biograParish in New Bedford. pher tells us, he “flew to be baptized.”
Putting Into the Deep
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‘One Mass all day?’
hat did you do truck accompanied by three stutoday?” asked my dents from the Marie Poussepin father when I called home last Center for Girls. They live in the week. “We had a Mass in the village and received permission village of Los Lopes this afternoon.” “One Mass all day? It sounds as though you’re on vacation!” he responded. We laughed because he By Father knows well from his Craig A. Pregana visit to Guaimaca that celebrating Mass in a village can be an all-day from Sister Marta, director of event. the Center, to make the trip to On that particular day we see their families. had scheduled a Mass in one As we left the parish it was of the mountain villages of Los cloudy and drizzling lightly Lopez which is approximately but we didn’t think much of it. an hour-and-a-half distance Unfortunately, we were unaware from Guaimaca. We left around that the rain was part of tropical 9 a.m. with Alexis driving the
Our Mission
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depression, not quite a hurricane, which was passing over Honduras. As is our custom, we offered a prayer before leaving. We live in an extremely poor area so people are at the mercy of the weather. The rain and sun can drastically affect the crops, travel, and living conditions. While the months of June, July, and August are “summer months” back home, in Honduras it is the beginning of winter and September brings the rain. Every afternoon around 4 o’clock it rains a lot. The wind picks up, the dust from the road blows in every direction and people make their way indoors.
The meaning of St. Paul’s sword
or the most part, we plate; shoes represent readiness think about St. Paul as an to preach the Gospel of peace. Apostle. He is the preacher of Faith is a shield; salvation acts the Gospel par excellence. He as one’s helmet. “And take […] pours out his life spreading the the sword of the Spirit, which Word. is the word of God!” (Cf. Eph When artists sculpt or paint 6:14-17). an image of St. Paul, they usuSt. Paul isn’t the first author ally depict him with a sword in his hand to identify him. In a similar Living the way, St. Peter almost always holds the keys of Pauline Year the Kingdom — the keys for binding and loosing By Father in heaven and on earth. Karl C. Bissinger Paul’s sword, however, is the two-edged sword of the Word. The New Testament tells us, “Indeed, in the Bible to use such imagthe Word of God is living and ery. In the Old Testament, we effective, sharper than any two- find it in Isaiah’s Second Seredged sword, penetrating even vant Song: “[The Lord] made between soul and spirit, joints of me a sharp-edged sword” (cf. and marrow, and able to discern Is 49:2). In this case it is God’s reflections and thoughts of the servant who is the sword; the heart” (Heb 4:12). This is the Almighty uses him as a secret Word Paul preached. weapon — indeed, as one who Another scriptural verse will be God’s representative and helps us connect Paul’s sword his messenger. with the Word of God. In the Still, we may find it odd to Book of Revelation, St. John associate any of the Apostles sees a vision of “one like a with a lethal instrument of war. son of man.” It is the person There are many reasons for whose voice he hears (cf. Rev this. First, Paul was never a 1:12-13). Strangely, he reports soldier. He had been a Pharisee “A sharp two-edged sword before he became a Christian. came out of his mouth” (cf. He describes himself and his Rev 1:16). Again, this sword companions as “working with represents the words that come our own hands” (1Cor 4:12), forth from the lips of one who “in order not to burden any of preaches Christ. Paul did this you” (1Th 2:9). Furthermore, with gusto. from the Acts of the Apostles, We also find this image in the we learn that in Corinth St. Paul words of the Apostle himself. practiced the peaceful trade of In the letter to the Ephesians, tent-making with his disciples he compares spiritual virtues Priscilla and Aquila (cf. Acts with the battle gear of a soldier. 18:2-3). Third, he was a healer, In this way he describes the rather than an attacker. It is weapons of spiritual warfare. safe to assume that when Paul “Put on the armor of God,” he alludes to his “mighty deeds” says (cf. Eph 6:11,13). Truth is (Gal 3:5) and to the “signs and a belt; righteousness is a breast- wonders” he accomplished by
the power of the Spirit (cf. Rom 15:19), he is referring to at least some healings. Lastly, Paul ends his career as a prisoner, held by the Romans in chains. In this way, he is someone who is physically weak, not one who would wield a heavy blade. Finally, we should not overlook the fact of the Apostle’s martyrdom. He was beheaded with a sword at the place in Rome called the Three Fountains. Very often, artists depict saints with the means of their execution. Instead of being sources of gruesome shame, these instruments become their trophies. St. Andrew bears an X-shaped cross on his shoulder; St. Lawrence holds his gridiron to his chest. St. Paul leans on the sword that gained him eternal life. So what can we say about the sword after all? Does not the sword as the Word of God challenge and judge us as much as it gives us comfort, divides us as much as it unites? Did not our Lord promise, “I have come not to bring peace but the sword” (Mt 10:34)? Besides, we notice it has a double edge. It cuts both ways. In one direction, the preacher’s words are aimed at the people, but they also apply to himself. St. Paul never said anything to the Church that he had not already taken to heart. Therefore, the sword represents the preacher, the Word he preaches, and even martyrdom for the sake of that Word. St. Paul’s sword is the Gospel. Even more, that sword is Christ. Father Bissinger is vocation director of the Diocese of Fall River and secretary to Bishop George W. Coleman.
Then the rain starts. It washes down the dirt roads and makes mud of everything. Since the level of the streets is higher than the land, the rains wash down into the homes. Unfortunately, most houses do not have proper foundations, or doors that keep out the rain. People are accustomed to putting plastic sheets in front of the door, or simply mopping up after the rains. In October the rains are usually much more severe than during other times of the year. Instead of rain in the afternoon, it may rain for days and people must simply endure it. The rain stopped for a while on our trip to Los Lopez and the sun began to shine. It was a blessing because the roads are difficult to travel. Large ruts are carved by the water washing down the mountain paths. There are times when passing on a particular road is simply impossible. On this day, the sun was a welcome sign that the road trip would be safe and easy. We arrived at the house of Digna and Jesús, a young couple who were married about a year ago. Photos of their wedding appeared in The Anchor because a parishioner of St. Mary’s in New Bedford had donated their wedding rings. They, and their new baby, received us with open arms. They had prepared a lunch of rice and beans. The girls from the Marie Poussepin Center were glad to see their families.
As Mass began, so did the rain again, only this time not a light drizzle, rather a torrential downpour that lasted the entire time of the Mass. The water could be seen rushing down the dirt road, making travel simply impossible. (I knew that the couple would welcome us to stay in their humble home but it was not something I had planned on doing, and besides, my toothbrush was back in Guaimaca.) After Mass, everyone stayed around and talked and sang. It was another graced moment for all of us. The rains eventually lightened and we were able to make our way down to Guaimaca. Living at the mercy of the weather is not an option for the poor in Guaimaca. They do the best they can to survive but sometimes there seems no end to what they must endure. As the rains come to New England in the fall months, think of the blessing we enjoy in our comfortable homes. In receiving what we have as a blessing, we then can bless the lives of others. Yes, it may have been only one Mass celebrated that day, but it filled each of us with the comfort of knowing that Christ is still present in his word, in the Eucharist, and in the community gathered to celebrate. For more information, visit us at: www.FallRiverMissions. com
WASHING OF THE FEET — The “pila” outside of the house where one of the girls washes mud from her feet after walking down to the house. Heavy rains can make traveling difficult in Guaimaca. (Photo courtesy of Father Craig A. Pregana)
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n his book, “Everyday Greatness,” Stephen Covey affirms that occasionally the world witnesses a heroic feat or discovers a person with a truly rare and remarkable talent. Every now and then a scientist makes a pivotal discovery, an engineer designs a remarkable device or a politician manages to sign a bold piece of legislation. Usually we have celebrations to reward significant talents and accomplishments in every field. These people and events often make headlines and enjoy a few moments of media fame. But, Covey says, most people are aware of another type of greatness, a quieter version that rarely makes the evening news. Covey calls this “everyday greatness.” Everyday greatness is a way of living, not a one-time event. It attests to who a person is rather than what they have; it centers on motives and small and simple deeds rather than
The Anchor
November 14, 2008
Our everyday greatness
grandiose ones. Everyday greatstewardship of that gift. This ness is precisely that quality accounting, as Jesus indicated in reflected in the worthy woman several parables, is not something featured in today’s first readthat can be pulled together at the ing from the book of Proverbs. last minute. It is not a final exam This poem celebrates the value for which believers can cram the of wisdom over physical beauty night before. Rather, the God and of generous care over fleeting charm. Paul picks up a Homily of the Week similar theme in today’s Thirty-third Sunday second reading where he of Ordinary Time encourages the Thessalonians to stay alert and By Father not be caught sleeping as James Morse others do. This watchful waiting may seem difficult to maintain for our community that is almost who stands at the beginning and two millennia removed from the the end and the center of our life Christ event. Watching for Jesus should figure into every word and waiting to welcome him and work of every day and night. even after 2,000 years is to proThen our accounting will simply claim the belief that God stands be the summing up and drawing at the beginning and the end and together of a life spent in service the center of our life and that all of God and others, like the people who enjoy that gift of life woman of wisdom and generous will be asked to account for their care in our first reading.
In the Gospel Jesus is reminding us that each of us has been given a special talent, a uniquely personal gift that we are to discover and develop and utilize to the fullest extent possible. Although our results will vary, each of us, like the first two servants in this Gospel reading, is to make the most of what we have, and in the end, the returning Jesus will judge our best efforts and decide our future. The story centers on the willingness on our part to place ourselves and our gifts at the service of God through God’s people. Our willing service will require a daring attitude that the first and second servants accepted as part of their responsibility. Perhaps it is this last servant who buried his master’s gift that has the hardest lesson to teach us. Our culture makes it
so easy to withdraw from the low risky business of service to the Gospel, claiming that our gifts are insignificant or even unwelcome. We may think, “When others can serve better, why should I try?” We may say, “Surely there are others with more time, more treasure, more talent than I. Surely they are the ones who should be out doing their best.” But here is where we can come back to Covey’s idea of every day greatness of those small and simple deeds rather than the great grandiose ones. Today’s Scripture readings challenge us to look at all we have received and acknowledge that all is gift. Then, rather than waste or hoard those gifts, we are challenged to do what we can, for whomever we can, for as long as we can, realizing that we have only the present moment to do so. Father Morse is pastor of St. Stephen’s Parish in Attleboro.
Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Nov. 15, 3 Jn 5-8; Ps 112:1-6; Lk 18:1-8; Sun. Nov. 16, Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Prv 31:10-13, 19-20,30-31; Ps 128:1-5; 1Thes 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30 or 25:14-15,19-21; Mon. Nov. 17, Rv 1:1-4; 2:1-5; Ps 1:1-4,6; Lk 18:35-43; Tues. Nov. 18, Rv 3:1-6, 14-22; Ps 15:2-5; Lk 19:1-10; Wed. Nov. 19, Rv 4:1-11; Ps 150: 1b-6; Lk 19:11-28; Thu. Nov. 20, Rv 5:1-10; Ps 149:1b-6a,9b; Lk 19:41-44; Fri. Nov. 21, Rv 10:8-11; Ps 119:14,24,72,103,111,131; Lk 19:45-48.
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ather Christian Troll, a German Jesuit, is one of the Catholic Church’s leading students of Islam and a key figure in the Catholic-Islamic dialogue launched by Pope Benedict XVI’s September 2006 Regensburg Lecture. Speaking recently at Cambridge University, Father Troll laid out a series of questions that must be faced in any serious conversation between Catholics and Muslims: 1. Liberation through conversion and repentance: Can Catholics and Muslims speak frankly about such “abiding
Adult interreligious dialogue realities” of the human condiand Muslims “share an awaretion as “forgetfulness of God ness of our need to be liberand rebellion against him, or ated by God into the freedom oppression in the sense of exof His gift of love?” Are we ceeding the appropriate limits agreed that we must all repent of behavior in dealing with of the times when coercion others, while violating their essential human rights?” Is instruction in the dual commandment of love of God and love of neighbor sufficient to overcome the human propensity By George Weigel for wickedness toward the “other”? Or is something more required — that is, do Christians has been used to advance the cause of God? Is self-criticism part of the spiritual selfawareness of both Christians and Muslims? 2. Faith-and-Reason: Is it possible for Catholics and Muslims to study their sacred texts with piety and “critical rigor”? Is it possible to create a “critical ChristianMuslim scholarship marked by the will to understand out of love?” Does the application of modern scholarly methods to analysis of the origins and character of ancient texts involve a betrayal of faith? 3. Human Rights: Do we agree that God himself has inscribed human rights “into the nature of man”? Are we agreed that “human rights and divine rights cannot be played off one against the other”? If what we mean by “human
The Catholic Difference
rights” is the recognition and protection of the “minimal conditions” under which “the human dignity ... due to the human person as creature of God” is protected, then can we agree that “to recognize and respect human rights is nothing but obedience to the will of God”? Is the protection of human rights thus a fulfillment of the dual commandment of love of God and love of neighbor? If “Islam” means “submission to the will of God,” and if respect for the dignity of the human person is of the will of God, then does Islam by its very nature require Muslims to recognize basic human rights? (And if that is not the case, why isn’t it?) 4. Religious Freedom: Doesn’t love of neighbor require, as a religious obligation (and not merely a practical political accommodation), respect and legal protection for the religious convictions of others, so long as those convictions do not compromise the common good? Do Muslims agree that that principle holds even if Muslims regard what the “other” believes is false? Can we agree that the institutional separation of religious and political authority is good for the state (because it prevents the state from sacral-
izing itself) and for religion (because it prevents the misuse of religion for political purposes and creates social space for faith and the workings of conscience)? Christians now recognize that the attempt to create “Christian states” was a failure that involved “great costs on all sides.” Are Muslims prepared to recognize that the attempt to create “Islamic states” will likely lead to the same bad results, for both justice and faith? 5. Violence and Reciprocity: Can Islam understand its faith in such a way that Muslims reject violence in the name of God, not only in terms of a cleansing of conscience about the past but as a commitment to the future? Can this commitment extend to those who leave the House of Islam for other faiths? The Koran teaches that no one may be forced to believe; can Muslims agree that that principle “only comes to fruition if it guarantees the freedom also to abandon the faith, to understand it differently, or even to despise it”? As Father Troll asks, “Am I right to think that it is only God’s affair to judge the weight of such matters?” That is interreligious dialogue for adults. George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
The not-so-faithful departed
Tuesday 11 November — Areager to keep the day, even if mistice ending WWI begins at 11 the absence of a priest precluded a.m. but thousands die needless- Mass. ly before receiving the order to I presided at the All Saints stop fighting, the war was over. Day Mass this year although, ertified saints, the famous sadly, there were only a handand the obscure, had their day on the first of November. It was a “non-obligatory” solemReflections of a nity this year because the Parish Priest date happened to fall on By Father Tim a Saturday. It seems to me that we’ve lost it with Goldrick these designations of holy days of obligation and holy days without obligation. ful of people in the assembly. I Why we are not obliged to annu- would have celebrated the feast ally celebrate the great feast days even if I were the only one presof the Church? Why do we need ent. I wanted to express solidarto be obliged in the first place? ity with my ancestors in the faith We’ve been observing All Hal— that great “cloud of witnesslows tide since the ninth century. es” who have gone before me One would think we would be and now encourage me on my
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The Anchor
November 14, 2008
The Ship’s Log
own journey of faith. They guide me as I make my way through life. They are further along in the journeying than I am, and some of them now worship before God face-to-face. Our worship here on earth is a participation in their heavenly liturgy. This unity is called the “Communion of Saints.” It’s an article of faith. I understand that long before we had a process of official certification (beginning in the 12th century) people acclaimed their saints by consensus. The very first to be named saints were those who gave their lives for the faith. People were so inspired by the deaths of the martyrs that they were convinced martyrs went directly into God’s pres-
Kind and honest people
the case. n our very busy lives, in About three years ago, I the hustle and bustle of was in a local Stop and Shop our days, one thing that we getting a few last minutes all must do is keep track of items for a party that evening. our “things.” Wallets, purses It was about 1 p.m. I had with or currency, backpacks and me a little zipper wallet which sweaters, coats and keys, etc. contained my driver’s license, For if we lose these items, we credit cards and cash. When I are at the mercy of the kindfinished my transaction with ness and honesty of those who the cashier, I put my wallet in find them. the top of one of the bags of For many people the aphorism, “finder’s keepers, loser’s groceries. When I left the store, I weepers” points to an occasionally gray area of ethics. Many people may feel to some degree that if they find something, it is somehow “theirs” if no owner is in sight. OthBy Greta MacKoul ers will always seek to turn it in to the nearest authority. must have turned the shopping The decision to keep things cart in such a way that the that we find may vary dependcontents of the bag shifted, ing upon the value of what we because the wallet fell out of find and the place where it is the bag. After putting all of found. my grocery bags in the trunk, Loose change on the I looked for my wallet, but it ground may be something we was not there. I retraced my can easily pick up and keep, steps along the sidewalk, to unless we decide to leave it the front door of the store and there for someone who may exactly to the check stand. It need it more. was not there. Finding five, or 10 or 20 I asked the girls at the dollars on the floor of a grocheck stand if they had found cery store, we may feel comit. They had not. I went to the pelled to turn it in to the store customer service desk. No manager. Yet finding five, 10 luck. or 20 dollars in the middle of I asked God, “Why today a forest, we may conclude that God? Why today?” Unforit was just our lucky day. tunately, it was one of those In regards to purses and days. In a matter of minutes wallets, expensive coats or the wallet had disappeared cameras, we would all hope and was nowhere to be found. that people would be kind and I gave my name and phone honest if they’re found and number to the customer turn them in to the proper auservice desk and decided that thority, but this is not always
Our Journey of Faith
I had to get home to continue preparations for the party. I tried to put the situation out of my mind, but the lost wallet remained “front and center.” All I could do was hope and pray. About an hour later, I called the store. Again, the wallet had not been turned in. The situation was beginning to feel quite hopeless. I decided to call one more time at about 3 p.m. and then something mysterious happened. The girl at the customer service desk said that “Yes, a wallet with that description had just been turned in.” I was cautiously optimistic as I got into the car to drive to the store. By this time it would be understandable if things were missing from the wallet. When I got to the store and looked inside the wallet, everything was there, even the 80 dollars in cash. It was hard to believe that although the wallet had been missing for more than two hours, nothing had been taken. During the month of November we may reflect upon many people and gifts from God that we are thankful for. I would like to add a note of thanks for the kindness and honesty of people we do not know, for in our world, this anonymous kindness and honesty can make all of the difference and strengthens our faith in the goodness of others. Greta and her husband George, with their children are members of Christ the King Parish in Mashpee.
ence. Over the centuries, types of heroic witness other than martyrdom were recognized and the list of official saints grew. The process of canonization became lengthy and more complicated. The late Pope John Paul II not only made beatification less onerous but also greatly increased the roster of canonized saints, taking care to reflect in their naming the variety found in the Church on earth. There is a wild diversity among the saints in heaven and also in the parish community with which you worship. God loves variety. Saints got to be saints because of their humanity, not in spite of it. None of us are called to be more than human, but then neither are we called to be less. Any reading of the lives of the saints will show that they had all the usual personality and emotional problems, failures, mistakes, errors of judgment and even, at times, sin. The saints were far from perfect, but they were both holy and wholly human. They show us it is possible to be human and holy at the same time. The difference is that, in spite of their unworthiness, the saints kept putting one foot in front of another until God came down and carried them up the stairs to heaven. They become saints not by what they did for God but by what God did for them. Sainthood is not about personal perfection. It’s about the needs of the Church community. When there was some great issue, some huge problem, some overlooked ministry in the Church of their day, God chose a person with just the right talents and abilities to meet the need.
God raised them up to show all of us the way. The saints were not perfect but they were perfectly suited to the task at hand. In this parish, as in so many others, we invite parishioners to inscribe the names of their beloved dead in a special book. These intentions are being lifted up in prayer throughout the month. I took special care to record in my own hand the names of parishioners in former parishes and in this new one who had died during the past year. On All Soul’s Day, I chanted their names and petitioned God for the repose of their souls. The assembly responded in song, “Lord, hear our prayer.” When we include the dead in our prayers, they include us in their prayers. The entire month of November is dedicated to remembering the dead, not just the first and second day. The number of souls in heaven is uncountable and we honor them all, even those who have long ago been forgotten. Just as none of the saints were perfect in every way, so none of our own relatives and friends, living or deceased, are perfect in every way. If your family is anything like mine, there are the “Faithful Departed” and there are the “Not-so-Faithful Departed.” I have photographs of my ancestors all the way back to the great, great, great generation. Many are the “Not-So-Faithful Departed.” No problem. During November, the Church includes the Not-So-Faithful Departed in the circle of prayer as well. Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dartmouth.
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History repeats
ext Wednesday will mark the 140th anniversary of one of the most notable orations ever delivered by a U.S. president. In less than 300 words, the great Abraham Lincoln called for this nation to unite, “That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ....” The poignant Gettysburg Address was delivered on the site of one of the bloodiest battles on American soil. The Civil War will always remain one of the darkest eras in the history of this nation. The conflict lasted four years and approximately 700,000 Americans lost their lives ... at the hands of other Americans. It also cost the life of one of the most righteous
My View From the Stands By Dave Jolivet leaders we ever had. The war was literally brother against brother, father against son, neighbor against neighbor. Movies may glorify and romanticize this disaster, but the facts remain that thousands of men, women and children were killed by hunks of lead, large and small, swords, disease and exposure to the natural elements. None of these were peaceful deaths. The wounded survivors? They had the pleasure of living out their lives with missing limbs, deep painful physical and mental scars, and other debilitating injuries. Brother against brother, father against son, neighbor against neighbor. Lincoln told the nation it was founded on the proposition that “all men are created equal.” And he prayed that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the face of this earth.” The Civil War ended in 1865, and there was some good that resulted, most notably, the abolition of slavery. The United States learned a great lesson from the catastrophe of a war among itself.
Or did it? The first volleys of a second Civil War in this country were fired on January 22, 1973. Ironically, it was the government itself that initiated the war with the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. The conflict has lasted more than 35 years. The death toll to date is more than 52,000,000 killed. Not unlike the first Civil War, this battle is mother against son, mother against daughter, father against son, father against daughter, father against mother. Not unlike the first Civil War, the deaths are horrific. Children in the womb, children with hearts and toes and fingers and feelings are sucked into vacuum cleaners, sliced to pieces, surgically ripped apart limb from limb, poisoned with toxins, and partially delivered only to have the skull penetrated and the brain extracted. There are very, very few survivors of these painful executions. Americans against Americans. There will be no hallowed battle ground on which to pay these casualties honor — unless you want to count the dumpsters, trash bags and hazardous waste disposals that have become their final resting places. At Gettysburg, Lincoln hoped “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.” No future American president will ever be able to say the same for the millions of unborn Americans who were victims of this nation’s second great Civil War. All of these children have died in vain. The only saving grace is that they are all in the loving arms of the Almighty, where they can never be hurt again. This January we will inaugurate a new president. Most indications point to his not putting an end to this Civil War. It’s now our job to pray for a conversion in this country. For everyone to realize that all men are created equal — including the unborn.
November 14, 2008
Sister finds calling in administering to the sick By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff
to volunteer in the church with blood pressure screenings, health fairs, and as a resource person FALL RIVER — What at first may have to visit the sick and nursing homes. So they’re seemed like conflicting callings — a desire to a great help to the leadership of the churches, become a nurse and also to serve God as a mem- because they help visit the sick.” ber of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation As a longtime and ardent advocate for nurse — actually turned out to be a blessing in dis- recruitment and training, Sister Mello was reguise for Sister Carole V.M. Mello, O.P. cently honored by the FRDCCN in having its Sister Mello, who now works as director of annual scholarship award, which provides about Mission Services at Saint Anne’s Hospital, has $1,500 annually to health care professionals, managed to bring those two divergent paths to- dedicated in her name. gether over the past three decades to become a “At a time when many organizations are undriving force in not only administering to the able to remain viable, Sister Mello has always sick, but in training been present to help us nurses to go out and to persevere,” said Joan service their own parish Morin of the FRDCCN. communities. “With all her respon“I’ve always wanted sibilities within our to be a nurse,” Sister diocese, she has always Mello said. “My provinmade herself available cial at one time asked to us. She has been a me: ‘If you weren’t driving force of our nursing, what would nursing organization you want to do?’ So I since 1980 and has been said I guess I’d like to a valuable resource to us be a hospital chaplain. in providing the nurses So a year after that, they and medical professionasked me to do it. It will als in our diocese with be 30 years next year.” beneficial educational Having previously and spiritual programs worked as nursing directo complement their tor at the diocese’s Marnursing practice.” ion Manor for 10 years, “I was surprised they Sister Mello began her named it after me,” Sistenure at Saint Anne’s ter Mello admitted. “I Hospital in 1979. As she told them I’m good at came in close contact ANCHOR PERSON OF THE WEEK — Sister getting money, so this with patients and their Carole V.M. Mello, O.P. (Photo by Kenneth may help them to get families, she sensed a Souza) more money for the need for both spiritual scholarship.” and medical guidance within parish communiAmong Sister Mello’s greatest challenges is ties throughout the diocese. It was from this idea finding enough hours in the day to get everything that the Parish Nurse Program was born in 1995 done. It’s for this reason that she’s taken to making under Sister Mello’s guidance. night calls at the hospital to maintain that one-on“I’ve been involved in the Fall River Dioc- one face time with patients and their families. esan Council of Catholic Nurses (FRDCCN) “I like taking night calls,” she said. “I enjoy program for a long time, so it just sort of hap- that because it gives me an opportunity to be pened naturally,” Sister Mello said. “A lot of the with the patients and their families. I’m happy Catholic nurses became parish nurses. Usually to be with them. That’s the nurse in me. My real what happens is the pastor or a nurse will ex- desire is to be bedside with patients.” press desire for a parish nurse, then they will It’s also during these quieter moments that start training … here at Saint Anne’s Hospital. Sister Mello gets to reflect on her ministry and They have to be endorsed by their pastor. It’s an how her work has strengthened her own faith. interfaith program, too. We really call ourselves “When you’re helping people, you get more a Congregational Health Ministry because it’s joy out of it than they do,” she said. “I think it’s not just Catholic parishes we serve. I guess like the hundredfold that Jesus promised: you we’ve trained about 200 nurses in the program. get the hundredfold plus eternal life, besides. Of course, there are other nurses that work with It’s very satisfying to help people. As nurses we them in the parishes. We also go outside the weren’t always successful, sometimes patients diocese … and have trained some nurses from died. But being a chaplain you’re able to bring Rhode Island and the Boston area.” both support and spirituality to them. I’ve always Sister Mello said that while many parishio- been very happy in my work.” ners have found a variety of activities to which It’s this joy that drives Sister Carole Mello they could volunteer their time and talents, everyday as she goes about administering to not nurses never had something they felt comfort- only the sick, but also those who work alongside able doing or to which their skills could be ap- her in same capacity at Saint Anne’s Hospital. plied. But with the Parish Nurse Program, this “I love people, so that comes easy to me,” Sisprovided an ideal outlet. ter Mello said. “And I love God — I’ve given my “As soon as they realized they could be a whole life to God. Since I love to serve people nurse and help with the parish, too, it’s amazing and to serve God, this is a natural fit. It makes how many people have come to us,” Sister Mello life easy when you love your work.” said. “We’ve had about 20 trainees a year since To nominate a Person of the Week, send an we began … this past year was the first time email message to FatherRogerLandry@Anwe only had five. It gives them an opportunity chorNews.org.
November 14, 2008
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DCCW planning holy hours for vocations
FALL RIVER — A series of holy hours to encourage parish communities to pray for vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life in various churches in the Fall River Diocese are planned. “Having met with Father Kevin Cook of the Vocation Office of the diocese and with the approval of Bishop George W. Coleman, we have compiled a calendar of services,” reported Gina Desmarais and Virginia Wade, cochairmen of the Church Commission of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women. “We believe that the strength of prayer for vocations is how we must this crisis,” they added. The holy hours will be anothNINETY YEARS AND STILL GOING — The Catholic Woman’s Club of New Bedford recently celebrated the 90th anniversary of its founding with a luncheon at the Hawthorne Country Club. Many members and friends attended, including the past and current president. From left: Annette Dwyer; Dorothy Curry; Pauline Fontes; Joanne Long; Marguerite Ronan; Ethel Cataldo; Mary Griffin; Brenda Dias; Lynne Kuczewski, current president; and Nancy Martin. The club currently has 143 members and meets six times during the year.
er facet of the DCCW’s program to realize more priests, which includes member’s presence outside parishes in the diocese at Sunday morning Masses to seek candidates to the ordained ministry and religious life. To date, the holy hours planned include: November 21, 7 p.m., St. Mary’s Church, 330 Pratt Street, Mansfield; February 5, 2009, 7 p.m., Annunciation of the Lord Church, 31 First Street, Taunton; March 3, 2009, 7 p.m., Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 235 Front Street, New Bedford; April 26, 2009, 3 p.m., Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, Fall River.
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CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” (Miramax) The eight-year-old son (Asa Butterfield) of a Nazi concentration camp commander (David Thewlis) befriends a captive Jewish boy (Jack Scanlon) and is gradually exposed to the horrors of the Holocaust. Writer-director Mark Herman’s luminous screen version of John Boyne’s award-winning novel for both children and adults contrasts its protagonist’s innocence with the brutal irrationality of the events he uncomprehendingly witnesses. Mature thematic material, including a disturbing but nongraphic mass extermination scene. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. “The Haunting of Molly Hartley” (Freestyle) Tedious horror tale about a teen-age girl (Haley Bennett) trying to recover from her mother’s (Marin Hinkle) inexplicable attempt to kill her with support from her weak-willed father (Jake Weber) and some of her classmates (Chace Crawford, Shannon Marie Woodward and Shanna Collins). Though there’s relatively little violence in first-time director Mickey Liddell’s inept chiller, its twisted portrayal of evangelical Christianity and implicit denial of free will and divine providence make it entirely unsuitable for young viewers and demand careful interpretation by adults. Troubling thematic elements, underage drinking, one use of the F-word, occasional crude language and brief skimpy costuming. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association
The Anchor of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” (DreamWorks/Paramount) Four animal friends (voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith), stranded on the titular island, try to fly home to their New York City zoo, but land instead on an African savanna where they must continue to adapt to life in the wild. Though occasionally marred by slightly crass humor, this generally amiable animated comedy, cowritten and directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, is visually lush and offers lessons about the need for self-confidence and the true nature of love. Also shown in Imax. Mild innuendo, a few slightly crude gags and some thematic elements that might frighten very young children. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. “Soul Men” (MGM/Dimension) Good-hearted but frequently crude comedy about two retired soul-music backup singers (Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac) who uneasily reunite and drive across the country to appear in a tribute to their recently deceased front man (singer-songwriter John Legend), joined along the way by the daughter (Sharon Leal) of the woman they both loved and a bumbling record company intern (Adam Herschman). Though director Malcolm D. Lee’s buddy movie — which also features the late rhythm-and-blues star Isaac Hayes as himself — affirms friendship, reconciliation and family responsibility, the strong collaboration of its leads fails to compensate for a formulaic plot and an excess of raunchy humor. Strong sexual content, including graphic nonmarital sexual activity, adultery, upper female and rear nudity, much sexual humor, pervasive rough and crude language, brief irreverence and a comic suicide attempt. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, November 16 at 11:00 a.m.
Scheduled celebrant is Father Thomas E. Costa Jr., a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Seekonk, and chaplain at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro.
November 14, 2008
WHERE THERE’S SMOKE — From left Ken Bevel, Carla Hawkins and Kirk Cameron star in Sherwood Pictures’ “Fireproof,” an independent film that has garnered support from Catholic groups for its positive message about marriage.
‘Fireproof’ a success with all faiths continued from page one
www.fireproofmymarriage.com. Fireproof is the story of firefighter Captain Caleb Holt (Kirk Cameron), who lives by the old firefighter’s adage: “Never leave your partner behind.” Sadly, he doesn’t apply this same philosophy to his own marriage. After seven years with wife Catherine (Erin Bethea), the couple comes to an impasse and is about to file for divorce. But Caleb’s father pleads with his son to try one last-ditch effort to save the marriage. That virtual “Hail Mary” pass arrives in the form of a 40day challenge called “The Love Dare,” wherein Caleb will be asked to do one selfless act for his wife each day as dictated through a diary-like book provided by his father. Although Caleb agrees to try it for his father’s sake, his initial lack of enthusiasm doesn’t bode well. But when his daily actions become more than just empty gestures, he soon learns what it takes to make a marriage succeed. “So many people face divorce and problems with their marriage and this (film) helps them take a look at themselves,” said Hilare Moniz of Dartmouth, who works with Newport Family Life and also was part of the grassroots “Action Squad” that helped bring the movie to the Showcase Cinemas on Route 6 in Seekonk. “The power of God is there in the movie. We could sit down and analyze plot and character, but it’s really the spirit of God that makes it work. It’s an outpost for him.”
Originally booked to play for just seven days at the Seekonk theater, Fireproof is now entering its third week and is still drawing brisk business, according to Wanda Whitson, director of Corporate Communications for National Amusements, the parent company of Showcase Cinemas. Moniz attributes this to the simple fact that there are so few honest and wholesome offerings in the cinema today. “People are so hungry for truth in the cinema,” Moniz said. “It’s hard to even speak to somebody about (their faith) unless they’re hungry. We’ve been hearing a lot of stories of changes that have come about through this movie.” “Fireproof” was co-written by brothers Stephen and Alex Kendrick, with Stephen also serving as producer and Alex serving as director — the same duo that previously produced the breakout hit “Facing the Giants,” also for Sherwood Pictures. It was the disappointment of being unable to see that 2006 movie in local theaters that ultimately led Andrea Gallagher and her husband, Matt, to becoming the point persons for the area’s Fireproof Action Squad. “We were on an email list (for Sherwood Pictures) and when “Fireproof” was announced, we realized it wasn’t scheduled to play here,” Gallagher said. “My husband and I read more about it and I guess God put it on our hearts to get involved since we’re involved with Family Life and it’s a movie about marriage.”
Gallagher said she’s very pleased with the response the film has received both locally and nationally and she thinks it offers an important, universal message for all couples. “People could go see this movie whether they have a good marriage or a marriage that’s on the brink and they’d still learn something,” she said. “The aspect of forgiveness is so huge. It’s not easy — as they clearly show in the movie. But that’s how the healing happens in marriage or in any relationship.” Gallagher also stressed how a solid relationship begins and ends with a strong faith in Jesus Christ. “No matter what denomination you are, marriage is a covenant between you and the Lord,” she said. “There are so many marriages out there that are struggling and this movie brings forth the fact that we all need forgiveness.” Although the film doesn’t have a uniquely Catholic perspective on the sacrament of marriage, its central message of two people bonded through the love of and for Christ is something that many Catholic groups have eagerly embraced. “I believe that the core message is one that can be profitably received by Catholic married couples and ultimately all married couples,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee on Marriage and Family Life in a recent CNS article. “In the end it is clear that their faith in God is central.”
The Anchor
news briefs
Uruguay prelates: No Eucharist for abortion backers point to canon law MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (Zenit.org) — Uruguayan bishops are recalling that those who vote in favor of abortion exclude themselves from communion with the Church. The prelates appealed to canon law in recalling the Catholic position on abortion during their November 5-12 plenary assembly. In a communiqué Friday, the bishops responded to a bill regarding “reproductive and sexual health” currently under consideration. They cited a declaration from last year, titled, “In Defending Human Life, All of Us Win.” There, the prelates affirmed, “Legalizing abortion doesn’t change bad into good. Once it is made concrete, things go badly for everyone. A human life is lost. The mother ends up with wounds that do not easily heal. The doctor goes against the essence of his noble profession. Society loses a life because of not opening its arms to receive it. The culture of life is attacked.” The bishops go on to say that no “honest law can justify the elimination of a defenseless being who has the right to life and to be born.” Regarding Catholics who promote and/or vote for laws in favor of abortion, they recalled that such a person breaks the link that unites them to Christ and the Church. While he remains committed to this position, the bishops affirmed, he is impeded from approaching Eucharistic Communion, according to what is established in the Code of Canon Law, canons 1341 and 1398. “Uruguayans need to multiply the signs of favor for human life in the midst of emigration and the demographic winter that compromises our future,” the prelates concluded. “The well-being of our people requires sons and daughters to bring joy to homes, to fill the classrooms and playgrounds. We are in favor of the integral development of human life, which as Catholic bishops we see from the perspective of Jesus Christ, who came to the world to bring worthy and abundant life.” November 21, is Pro Orantibus Day (“For Those Who Pray”) Next Friday, November 21, is Pro Orantibus Day (“For Those Who Pray”), honoring cloistered men and women. It is a day of thanksgiving, solidarity and support for contemplative religious who spend their lives in total dedication to God in union with Jesus and interceding for the salvation of all. Pope John Paul II established this worldwide ecclesial event in 997, to take place on the Memorial of Our Lady’s Presentation in the Temple, as a way to provide support to “the Church’s vanguard on the road to the Kingdom” who need spiritual and material support. He wanted to stimulate greater interest “in this silent, separated life as a leaven of renewal and of the presence of the spirit of Christ in the world.” Promotion of this annual celebration is being coordinated in the United States by the Institute on Religious Life. Special prayers to be offered on this day are available at www. cloisteredlife.com
Our readers respond
Losing our moral compass I can’t believe how anyone in good conscience would vote for a president that would deny help to a baby born out of a botched abortion. How inhumane. It if were a Greyhound there would be an earth-shaking outcry. I have had discussions with many of my Catholic friends who are completely out of touch with the Church’s expectations and are in denial of the violence and brutality of an abortion. What concerns me is that they are ignorant of the facts; they don’t want to acknowledge the horrors of abortion including Partial Birth Abortion. The fact is there are in this country alone an abortion every 23 seconds, 4,000 a day, and one
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November 14, 2008
million a year. Whey hasn’t the Church been speaking out about the cruelty of the situation, while people are paying tens of thousands of dollars in hopes of adopting a few available babies? It seem hypercritical that some people can be so adamantly opposed to war yet can be casual about the deaths of babies in and outside of the womb. What have we become as a people and a nation? We have lost our moral compass when we are reluctant to speak out about what I believe is the most evil act of the 21st century. God help us all. Dolores P. Howard Falmouth
Theologian explains Paul’s power; God’s absolute love continued from page one
clearly Catholic and not Protestant, he has stated. The “central and deciding” factor for Kreeft’s conversion was “the Church’s claim to be the one Church historically founded by Christ.” For he applies C.S. Lewis’ trilemma — either Jesus is a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord — to the Church: “either this is the most arrogant, blasphemous, and wicked claim imaginable, if it is not true, or else that he is just what he claims to be.” The depth and power of Kreeft’s conversion was on display at St. Julie’s. He quickly drew those in attendance to the story of St. Paul to help illustrate the power of God’s love. A focal point of Kreeft’s lecture was, in fact, explaining why St. Paul is such a powerful figure. Oddly enough, said Kreeft, Paul was a short and rather unattractive man. Physically Paul could not have been less imposing. But there was nevertheless a power about him. “Why did he influence Western Civilization more than anyone since Jesus Christ,” asked Kreeft? The answer, he said, was that Paul had an abundance of spiritual power. And those that met him or listened to him speak, felt that power. “In his power, you are magnetized,” said Kreeft. Kreeft opened his 45-minute talk by noting that Paul wasn’t so much about spirituality, but rather, was about religion. Religion, explained Kreeft, means relationship, which is just what Paul had with Jesus. “The secret of Paul’s power is the absolute certainty of God’s absolute and certain love,” said Kreeft. Kreeft said a real explanation of Paul’s power can be found in his — and our — relationship with God. A wonderful explanation of that relationship, he said, is illustrated in Romans, chapter 8: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose … If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?” Kreeft offered both a subjective and objective take on our relationship with God. Subjectively, he said, we must accept the gift that God gave us, his only Son. “We all have trouble ac-
cepting that … but Jesus took guilt away,” he said. “Suppose we were fearless? Pretend that you are really a movie and that nothing can hurt you … It’s all free. Believe that, and you will live a very different life.” Kreeft said that in accepting Jesus as our savior, egotism, fear, and guilt “should all be dead.” “Jesus releases us from fear of the future,” said Kreeft. “Jesus lives in the present. We are free of the past … God has no memory and no anticipation. God is present.” Kreeft also offered a more objective, theological explanation. Again, he turned to Romans 8 … “all things work for good for those who love God.” That Romans verse, said Kreeft, is built on three simple premises: God is good; God is wise; and God is powerful. “Any literary critic can get Hamlet wrong,” said Kreeft. “But Shakespeare can’t. He created Hamlet. God created us. He knows what is best for us. We don’t.” The power and strength of Paul, said Kreeft, is that he knows all this. He had a relationship with Jesus Christ. “He knows Jesus,” said Kreeft. “He has faith. Paul is concrete religion, not spiritual-
ity. He has met Jesus Christ. ” Kreeft said too often we worry about things about which we should not worry. We ask, for example, if there will there be clothes in heaven. Or will there be animals there? Perhaps, “but that’s just stuff,” said Kreeft. “God’s there. That’s enough.” Kreeft concluded the evening by taking questions from the audience. One woman asked about dealing with tragedy, about getting through dark nights of sadness. “God doesn’t give you highs all the time,” he said. “Usually, he gives you lows. He’s hallowing you out.” Kreeft recalled the words of Augustine, noting that God spends a lot of time taking the toys out of our hands because he wants us to be able to take hold of the special gift he has waiting for us. “You just have to trust him,” said Kreeft. Kreeft also reminded the audience to have a sense of humor. “Most of the time, we’re too serious,” he said. “We need to have a good laugh.” God, said Kreeft, certainly has a sense of humor. “He invented ostriches,” he said.
This Message Sponsored by the Following Business Concern in the Diocese of Fall River Gilbert C. Oliveira Insurance Agency
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Marian Medals to be awarded Sunday continued from page one
“Bill and I were members of St. Joseph’s Parish in Fairhaven at the time and assisted the late Father Raymond McCarthy in getting the Pre-Cana Conference program underway in Fall River,” she recalled. “We were close to Bishop Connolly and respected him and it was the work at Pre-Cana that brought about our nominations. There was a beautiful awards ceremony at the cathedral and it was a great honor, for which I am still very grateful,” Mrs. Carey said. “The medal was very beautiful one and I cherished it,” she added. “Unfortunately it was stolen along with other jewelry in a housebreak some years ago.” Bishop Connolly, who instituted the award, talked about those first selected to receive the medal he had cast in Attleboro, in a story that appeared on Jan. 4, 1968 in The Anchor. “The recipients dedicated themselves to the cause of Christ by sacrificing their time and consecrating their abilities to the service of others in order that the ideal of a Christo-centric diocese become a reality,” Bishop Connolly said. “Never contemplating any award, these men and women have given years of serve because of their intense love of neighbor,” he added. “Seeing Christ in their neighbors, they have dedicated their lives to others because of their deep love of God and their
realization of manifesting gratitude to the Almighty for the many blessings he has bestowed.” The sterling silver medal is embossed with an image of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal with the Latin inscription translated as “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.” Below the image is the date 1830, which reflects the year of the apparition of Our Lady to Sister of the Daughters of Charity Catherine Laboure. Later canonized, St. Catherine Laboure (1806-1876) was given the mission by the Blessed Mother to bring the miraculous medal to the world. The reverse side of the medal carries the diocese’s heraldic coat of arms. The shield has a cross in the center of which is a six-pointed star, symbolic of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, patroness of the Fall River Diocese — as well as the patroness of its mother church, the Cathedral of the Assumption, where the medals are usually awarded. Flowing across the shield is a ribbon of water representing the falling river that bisects the city — the Quequechan — the native Indian name from which Fall River takes its name. The shield is surmounted by a bishop’s mitre to indicate that the award comes from a Diocesan See.
November 14, 2008
2008 Marian Medal Award Winners
Recipient Parish
Megan Alley Maria Eduarda Araujo Henry J. Barros Aires Bettencourt John F. Birch Martha Bisaillon Ronald Boivin Jean Bonville Ernest Bourgeois Lee E. Bourgoin George Henri Brousseau Colleen Buckley Lawrence K. Burke Richard Camara Beverly A. Camerlengo Gilles J. Collins Jose Correia Merle T. Coughlin John Craveiro Mary A. Daly Duarte DaSilva Robert Desrosiers Patricia DuBois Jeanne Duggan Cecilia M. Felix Judith Fernandes Maria Filliman Fran Frias Raymond Edwin Garant Shelah Anne Gaudet Jon A. Glydon Julie Gomes Charlotte Goulet Norbert Graca Wayne Wendell Gray Philippe R. Gregoire Albert J. Hall Jr. J. Ward Harrigan Mary Healey Elizabeth D. Henry Kevan Higgins Deborah Houle Thad Irzyk Louise Kaczynski Marcel LaRue Claudette LeBlanc William LeBlanc Mary Leddy Carol Levesque Georgette Levesque Harry Mantos Hilda Medeiros Diane M. Mello Antonio Miguel Kathleen C. Murphy Manuel Negalha Marjorie Locke Noonan Evelyn Noone Betty Novacek John O’Callaghan Roy Owens Maria Fatima Pacheco Patricia Phillips Lucille Pimental Bert Raposo Phillip J. Raneri Frank A. Rezendes Janice Rosa Jacqueline Rozza Alphonse F. Saulino Roger R. Savaria Donna Scarnecchia Clotilde Simmons Stephanie Slapik Maria Carmen Sousa Donald L. Switzer Evelyn R. Sylvia Norbert Timmins Michael Edward Toolin Barbara A. Wenc Arthur T. Whittemore Mary Elizabeth Yelle Michael Zwolinski
Good Shepherd Parish Santo Christo Parish Our Lady of Assumption Parish Saint Anthony of Padua Parish Saint John the Evangelist Parish Saint Joseph Parish Saint Anthony of Padua Parish Saint John Neumann Parish Saint Julie Billiart Parish Saint Patrick Parish Saint Joseph Parish Saint Mary Parish Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption Saint Pius X Parish SS. Peter and Paul Parish Saint Anthony Parish Holy Family Parish Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Christ the King Parish Saint John of God Parish Saint Stephen’s Parish Saint Rita Parish Saint Francis Xavier Parish Saint Lawrence Parish Saint Mary Parish Saint Joan of Arc Parish Saint Mary’s Parish Saint Joseph Parish Saint Mary Parish Our Lady of Victory Parish Saint Patrick’s Parish Sacred Heart Parish Saint Nicholas of Myra Parish Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Saint Anne’s Parish Saint Joseph Saint Therese Parish Corpus Christi Parish Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Saint John the Evangelist Parish Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus Parish Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish Immaculate Conception Parish Saint Francis Xavier Parish Our Lady of Fatima Saint Michael Parish Saint Mark Parish Saint Bernard’s Parish Notre Dame Parish Holy Trinity Parish Saint Dominic’s Parish Saint John the Baptist Parish Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish O.L. of Guadalupe Parish at St. James Church Immaculate Conception Parish Saint Elizabeth Seton Parish Parish of the Holy Trinity Saint Patrick Parish Saint Anthony’s Parish Holy Cross Parish Saint John the Baptist Parish Saint Mary Parish Saint George Parish Espirito Santo Parish Saint Mary/Our Lady of the Isle Parish Saint Anthony’s Parish Sacred Heart Parish Saint Peter the Apostle Parish Saint Thomas More Parish Saint Mary’s Parish Our Lady of the Cape Parish Our Lady of Grace Parish Holy Rosary Parish Annunciation of the Lord Parish Immaculate Conception Parish Saint Mary Parish Holy Redeemer Parish Saint Louis de France Parish Holy Name Parish Saint Ann Parish Saint Mary’s Parish Saint Stanislaus Parish
Town
Vineyard Haven Fall River New Bedford Fall River Attleboro Fairhaven New Bedford East Freetown North Dartmouth Falmouth Attleboro North Attleboro Osterville Fall River South Yarmouth Fall River Taunton East Taunton Seekonk Mashpee Somerset Attleboro Marion Acushnet New Bedford South Dartmouth Orleans Taunton Fall River Seekonk Centerville Wareham North Attleboro North Dighton Swansea Fall River New Bedford East Sandwich New Bedford Pocasset South Attleboro New Bedford New Bedford Fall River Hyannis New Bedford Fall River Attleboro Falls Assonet Fall River West Harwich Swansea Westport New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford North Falmouth Fall River Somerset East Falmouth South Easton New Bedford Mansfield Westport Fall River Nantucket Mattapoisett Fall River Provincetown Somerset New Bedford Brewster Westport Taunton Taunton North Easton Fairhaven Chatham Swansea Fall River Raynham Norton Fall River
15
The Anchor
November 14, 2008
German-born pope says he still feels pain of ‘Kristallnacht’ By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
PRAYERFUL START — U.S. bishops join in prayer November 10 at the opening session of their general fall meeting in Baltimore. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)
Bishop’s conference opens with nod to historic presidential election
By Chaz Muth Catholic News Service
BALTIMORE — The historic significance of the election of President-elect Barack Obama dominated Monday’s opening address of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall general assembly in Baltimore. “Symbolically, this is a moment that touches more than our history when a country that once enshrined race slavery in its very constitutional legal order should come to elect an African-American to the presidency,” said Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the USCCB. “In this, I truly believe, we must all rejoice.” In his presidential address at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel before hundreds of U.S. bishops, Cardinal George said no political order conforms fully to the kingdom of God, but he prayed the incoming president will be able to succeed in his task for the good of all. “The odds against success are formidable,” he said. “We are as a nation internally divided and, in a global order, we will be less the masters of our economic and political fate.” Cardinal George also called on the bishops to rejoice that the hard work by heroic figures such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the slain civil rights activist, Catholic priests, women religious, bishops and laypeople helped bring about racial reforms in the U.S. “We can also be truly grateful that our country’s social conscience has advanced to the point that Barack Obama was not asked to renounce his racial heritage in order to be president, as, effectively, John Kennedy was asked to promise that his Catholic faith would not influ-
ence his perspective and decisions as president a generation ago,” he said. “We are, perhaps, at a moment when, with the grace of God, all races are safely within the American consensus,” Cardinal George said. “We are not at the point, however, when Catholics, especially in public life, can be considered full partners in the American experience unless they are willing to put aside some fundamental Catholic teachings on a just moral and political order.” Though racial justice is one pillar of the Catholic Church’s social doctrine, he pointed out that economic justice — especially for the poor in the U.S. and abroad — must be advocated by the faithful and that the common good can never be adequately obtained in any society that offers legal abortion. “If the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision that African-Americans were other people’s property and somehow less than persons” was still law, Cardinal George said, “Mr. Obama would not be president of the United States. Today, as was the case 150 years ago, common ground cannot be found by destroying the common good.” “The common good can never be adequately incarnated in any society,” Cardinal George forcefully added, “when those waiting to be born can be legally killed at choice.’’ Obama will need the prayers of all the bishops and the faithful to meet the tremendous challenges of the presidency in the coming years, including the global economic meltdown, the uncertainty of political regimes and the suffering of so many around the world, he said. Archbishop Pietro Sambi, ap-
ostolic nuncio to the U.S., said the U.S. bishops must also celebrate and support the Catholic laity in America, focus on ethical challenges in advances in science, promote the Church’s position that marriage should remain a lifelong union between one man and one woman, and reach out to those who have been sexually abused by clergy. “We need to rediscover the joy of prayer,” Archbishop Sambi said during his address to the bishops. “Time spent in prayer is never wasteful.” Cardinal George also stressed that a bishop’s primary duty is to strengthen his flock’s relationship with Christ. “We extend that pastoral concern, especially at the beginning of a new administration and a new Congress, to Catholics of either major party serving others in government,” he said. “We meet amidst enormous challenges to our Church, our country and our ministry, but that is, to some extent, always the case,” Cardinal George said. “Sometimes I’ve been tempted to think that bishops should be given, at their consecration, not crosiers but mops.”
VATICAN CITY — Germanborn Pope Benedict XVI said he still feels “pain for what happened” in his homeland in 1938 when Nazi mobs went on the rampage against Jews, an event that became known as Kristallnacht. The pope was 11 years old when, on the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938, “the Nazi fury against the Jews was unleashed in Germany.” Marking the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht — German for Night of the Broken Glass — the pope asked Catholics to pray for the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and he condemned all forms of anti-Semitism. Pope Benedict spoke about the anniversary during his midday Angelus address November 9 at the Vatican. During Kristallnacht throughout Germany “stores, offices, homes and synagogues were attacked and numerous people were killed, initiating the systematic and violent persecution of German Jews that concluded with the Shoah” or Holocaust, the pope said. “I still feel pain for what happened in that tragic circumstance whose memory must serve to ensure that similar horrors are never repeated again and that we commit ourselves, at every level, to fighting anti-Semitism and discrimination, especially by educating the younger generations in respect and mutual acceptance,” the pope said. He also asked Catholics to pray for the victims of the Nazis and “to join me in showing deep solidarity with the Jewish world.” The obligation to remember the Holocaust and to educate future generations in respect for all peoples also was reaffirmed by the secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education at a November 6 meeting of European education ministers. Meeting in Nuremberg, Ger-
many, site of many of the largest Nazi rallies and later the seat of the courts that tried Nazi war criminals, Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues said the city was witness to “the drama of an age in which freedom and justice were denied and human dignity was trampled.” The education ministers’ meeting focused on the importance of teaching about the Holocaust in European schools. Archbishop Brugues told the ministers, “Remembering the drama of the victims, paying homage to their memories,” means working to ensure that “such tragedies are never repeated in any angle of Europe or of the world.” “We risk falling into barbarity again if we do not have a passion for justice and liberty and if we do not make a commitment, each according to his or her ability, to ensure that evil does not prevail over good, as happened in the case of millions of the sons and daughters of the Jewish people,” the archbishop said. Education, he said, is the key to building a Europe marked by greater solidarity and democracy, “respectful of diversity and aware of its identity.”
HORRIFIC ANNIVERSARY — A Polish nun prays as Pope Benedict XVI gives his weekly Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican November 9, at which he recalled the anniversary of Kristallnacht. (CNS photo/Chris Helgren, Reuters)
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Youth Pages
November 14, 2008
Coyle and Cassidy High School Food Pantry receives Nally Award
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER — The kindergarten classes from St. Mary-Sacred Heart School, North Attleboro, recently went to Ward’s Berry Farm to learn what grows on a farm. They found out where popcorn comes from and where strawberries get their name ... when it gets colder farmers cover the berries with straw to protect them.
A COMMUNION OF SAINTS — Students at St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School in Hyannis, did their projects on the saint of their choice for All Saints Day and, after Mass, gave a short narrative on their saint. (Photo by Claudia Moniz)
MISSION POSSIBLE — Bishop George W. Coleman recently presented the annual St. Vincent’s 2008 Mission Awards in recognition of individuals who have made a significant contribution to youth and children at St. Vincent’s Education Center in Fall River. Standing from left, the bishop and recipients Father Genaro Aguilar, Brian Raposa, Yemi Ogunlesi, Nicholas Coleman, and Executive Director Jack Weldon. Seated, recipients Kellie Pearson and Susan McCarthy.
TAUNTON — The Coyle and Cassidy High School Pantry has been awarded the fifth annual Nally Award from the Greater Boston Food Bank. The award recognizes outstanding young volunteers in eastern Massachusetts who are taking action against hunger. It was named for Dan and Betsy Nally, a brother and sister from Westwood, who began an annual Turkey drive 12 years ago so that needy families would have a turkey on Thanksgiving. Student volunteers from Coyle and Cassidy’s Food Pantry, received the award at a recent appreciation luncheon at the Westin Copley Plaza. They were accompanied by Coyle and Cassidy President Dr. Mary Pat Tranter, Food Pantry director Michael Cote, and faculty volunteer Christina Burgmyer. Cote said this award is prob-
ably the highest and most meaningful commendation especially from the perspective of the students because “they’re being recognized by young people with an award that is specifically designed for young people who are involved in the fight against hunger in Massachusetts.” The Nally Award comes on the heels of an $8,000 grant from Project Bread and a $2,000 contribution from Taunton Attorney Thomas Percy in the same week. “What we do on that last Saturday of the month is simply offer a little bit of help with realistic understanding and goals, but with a sincere love in our hearts that we just want to help people out,” he said. “This is interwoven with our educational system which is first and foremost a Catholic high school, which speaks volumes about why we should be doing this anyway.”
AWARD WINNERS — Michael Cote, Coyle and Cassidy Food Bank director and student volunteers Ben Williams, Ian Phillips, Jacqueline Bergus, Michael Keyes, Joan Keyes, and faculty volunteer Christina Burgmyer, recently attended a dinner in Boston at which the Taunton school’s Food Bank received the prestigious Nally Award.
HOST OF ANGELS — Father Messias Albuquerque and his “Brazilian Angels” exit a recent Mass celebrated by Bishop George W. Coleman noting the Brazilian feast day of Nossa Senhora da Aparecida, at St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis. Father Albuquerque ministers to the Brazilian Community on Cape Cod and the Islands.
Youth Pages Trading places
November 14, 2008
I
would like to direct my column this month to all parents with children and young adults in Religious Education and faith formation classes. Your responsibility as a parent is an awesome one. God has gifted you with parenthood — a blessing to your children and a model for the Gospel of life. Everything your children need, you provide: a home for shelter, comfort and security, food for bodily sustenance, clothing for warmth … and the list goes on and on. In your own way, you are giving your children the corporal works of mercy they so much need. But is that all you provide? Just as important are your children’s spiritual needs — the spiritual works of mercy, especially prayer and instruction. Among your many roles
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as a parent, the one at the top way it must be. of my list from a ministerial Today, if Jesus were to perspective is your role of say, “Let the children come primary teacher of the faith. to me,” I believe his expectaAt your child’s baptism, with tion would be that the chilthe Church as witness, you dren know who he is. Then promised to raise your children in faith — the faith that begins with prayer and instruction at home. This is the faith that begins By Ozzie Pacheco the wonder and awe a child has for God and creation. This is the faith that gives a six-year-old he would look to you and say, courage to go to the front of “Thank you for making me the class and recite the sign of a part of their lives. Thank the cross and the Hail Mary, you for remembering me.” before any formal parish faith Let your children continue formation instruction has to go to Jesus: first, by gotaken place. This is the faith ing to Mass as a family every that warms a catechist’s heart Sunday, and not just Sundays and lifts a parish’s spirit. This when there are CCD classes; isn’t something new. It’s just secondly, by continuing your the way it ought to be. It’s the role as primary teacher of our
rich Catholic faith. No one can take your place in that role. This month of November we celebrate Catholic education. What a wonderful opportunity for parents to recommit themselves to the religious instruction and faith formation of their children. Your child’s first catechism bears witness to you as a good mother and a caring father. You are the first voice they hear that resounds the Good News of Jesus Christ. You are their first teachers in whom they place complete and unconditional trust. You are catechist. Just for a moment, put yourself in your child’s place. This weekend, in my parish, we are doing exactly that. Parents of our Faith Forma-
tion Program will be trading places with their children. Yes, parents will be the ones sitting in faith formation classes conducted by their child’s catechist, while, in the hall, their children will participate in our annual Catholic Jeopardy Challenge. Our parents not only see first-hand their children’s faith sharing environment, but they also see the sacrifice and commitment of the catechists they entrust their children to. Doing God’s work isn’t always easy — in fact, it’s very difficult at times. Ask any catechist. A profound love for God and Church carries them through their ministry. As parents, should you do any less? God bless. Ozzie Pacheco is Faith Formation director at Santo Christo Parish, Fall River.
involved four years ago with the Catholic Education Foundation, founded in 2001 by A. Joseph Indelicato, CEO of Caritas Consulting of Rochester. Indelicato’s concern, according to the priest, was that Catholic high schools were “pricing themselves out of existence.” Since it began, the group has provided 64 scholarships nationwide. Initially, Father Stravinskas served as the group’s national chaplain, but his role expanded from “whatever spare time he had” to nearly a full-time job. One of his initial tasks was to establish an episcopal advisory board, which currently includes 12 bishops. He said the support of bishops from across the country tells schools and donors that “this isn’t a maverick organization.” He also has initiated programs to help Catholic schools such as workshops to promote Catholic identity and to involve priests in the daily life of schools. Promoting Catholic identity is key, the priest said, because schools “have to look carefully at who they are” and see that as “a big selling point.” Although seminars on the role of priests in Catholic schools might seem unnecessary, Father Stravinskas said the advice is urgently needed. In a letter he wrote to members of the episcopal advisory board, Father Stravinskas said he frequently hears complaints from parents and teachers about the “near-total absence
he said, calling them the “big link in the chain” connecting what Catholic youths learn in elementary school and what they bring with them to college and their adult lives. These schools are not meant to keep students “in hibernation” from the outside world, either, he said. Ideally, they should equip students to “take a critical stance toward culture” and prepare them to “confront secularism,” he said. But that can’t happen if par-
ents can’t afford to send them there. And he doesn’t see an end in sight in the work to help this happen, especially for middleclass families. The priest doesn’t have to look further than some of his own friends to see the financial burden of Catholic high-school tuition. He said he knows couples who spend “35 (percent) to 40 percent of their combined income on high-school tuition.”
Be Not Afraid
Group hopes to make Catholic high school attainable for more students B y C arol Zimmermann C atholic News Service
WASHINGTON — When Father Peter Stravinskas went to Catholic high school back in the 1960s, tuition was initially $150 a year. By the time he graduated it had doubled. Now the school’s annual tuition of about $8,000 not only gives him pause but also keeps him extremely busy. The priest, a noted scholar, author and apologist, is also the executive director of the Catholic Education Foundation, a group based in Rochester, N.Y., that provides scholarships nationwide to Catholic high-school students. Several groups with the same name provide Catholic school scholarships to students within their own diocese or archdiocese. For example, there is a Catholic Education Foundation in Los Angeles, Kansas City, Kan., Joliet, Ill., Lansing, Mich., and Louisville, Ky. — to name a few. But the Rochester group is the only one that provides scholarships across the country. It also only focuses on high schools, something Father Stravinskas said is unique. “High schools tend to get lost in the shuffle,” he told Catholic News Service, noting that Catholic elementary schools tend to have more “things in place for financial aid.” Annual tuitions for Catholic high schools, according to the group, range from $4,000 to $15,000. Father Stravinskas became
of priests” in Catholic schools. Conversely, he said he has heard from many priests, most of whom did not attend Catholic school, who have said they were either not welcomed at schools or didn’t know what their roles should be there. As Father Stravinskas sees it, priests are not the only Catholics who need to reconnect with Catholic high schools. Catholics overall need to recognize what it is that these schools provide,
ALWAYS READY TO HELP — Several individuals from across the diocese were recognized by Bishop George W. Coleman for more than 30 years of service to Religious Education for adults and children, at the recent Faith Formation Convention at White’s in Westport. From left: Mercy Sister Donald Marie Kerr from Annunciation of the Lord Parish in Taunton; Timothy Mitchell, Our Lady of Guadalupe, New Bedford; Debbie Polselli, St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Fall River; Cecelia M. Felix, St. Lawrence Parish, New Bedford; Dorothy Taylor, St. Patrick’s Parish, Wareham; the bishop; Richard Boucher, St. Patrick’s Parish, Wareham; Marion Carrier, Good Shepherd Parish, Fall River; Deacon Bruce Bonneau, assistant director of Adult Faith Formation and Spirituality; and Bernadette Masterson, St. Anthony’s Parish in Taunton. Not pictured was Marie Bolger, Our Lady of Guadalupe, New Bedford.
18
The Anchor
Leading priests offer hope for defending life
Lessons learned: New strategies emerge
continued from page one
rector of Priests for Life, and Father Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International. Q. Is there hope for a strategy to defeat the Freedom of Choice Act? Father Pavone: “Yes, we can certainly defeat FOCA. It is so extreme, that provided members of Congress realize what it says, and provided their constituents are educated about it, they will realize that it’s totally out of step with where the American people are regarding reasonable restrictions on abortion. We’ll keep the public updated at Priestsforlife. org/legislation.” Father Euteneuer: “FOCA is a piece of legislation and must be fought in the legislative process. With a minority of legislators who are now Pro-Life, it seems that prayer and fasting may be the average person’s only real recourse to stopping this.” Q. About 80 U.S. bishops proclaimed abortion and life to be the defining issues in the election. Is this new-found courage of bishops speaking up a hopeful sign that there might again be a true Catholic vote in the future? Father Pavone: “Many were encouraged by the number of bishops speaking up, and I have been saying for years that the number of such statements would increase each year. This shows
hope that there will be a new effort to educate people on the abortion issue. Now that doesn’t mean there has to be — or even can be — a ‘Catholic vote’ on a whole host of issues, simply because on so many specific matters of public policy, there’s more than one proposal that is compatible with Catholic teaching. But that’s not the case with abortion. There’s no proposal of legal abortion that’s compatible with Catholic teaching, and therefore, on that issue, there can be a reliable Catholic vote.” Father Euteneuer: “The newfound courage of the bishops during this election season was certainly a welcome development. I do believe that such a show of leadership was too little, too late, but we’re all happy to see the change. It’s my hope that it will turn into an avalanche of conviction on the part of the bishops to use their God-given authority to draw a very clear line for politicians and parishioners alike and define more clearly what it means to be Catholic in word and deed.” Q. How can clergy reach young people who aren’t in church to hear the message? Father Pavone: “YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace have to be utilized, as well as new internet social networks like LoveToBeCatholic.com, which is the
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November 14, 2008
continued from page one
Catholic equivalent of You Tube. We’ve been utilizing these sites with great response. My videos on the abortion procedures, for instance, have been viewed in their entirety by more than half a million young people in the span of a few weeks.” Father Euteneuer: “The more our Church leaders show conviction and clarity of principles, the more the Church, which is perennially true and beautiful and good, will attract the young people of the modern age.” Q. Should we focus more on prayer and fasting for our president-elect’s conversion? Father Pavone: “We should always pray for all the pro-abortion public officials, that they may be converted. But politicians are converted by political pressure. One way we can pressure them is through the ‘Is this what you mean?’ campaign, by which we publicly quote the abortionists (graphically describing the dismemberment of babies), and then ask the proabortion official, ‘When you say the word ‘abortion,’ is this what you mean?’” Father Euteneuer: “We must always pray for the conversion of our leaders just as all the saints did, but the grace of conversion must be accepted in order for it to be efficacious, and unfortunately, Mr. Obama does not seem to need God because he believes he is one. Nevertheless, we will pray!” Note: To join Human Life International’s St. Michael Prayer Campaign for the Conversion of Abortionists, see HLI.org. PriestsforLife.org offers seasonal novenas, rosary meditations and liturgical resources. To sign a petition sponsored by Americans United for Life to oppose the Freedom of Choice Act, go to FightFOCA.com.
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Michael Schwartz, chief of staff to Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn: “We can’t allow ourselves to be a subset of the Republican Party; we must be a two-party movement. Move the focus back to the states, because action doesn’t happen on the federal level until it happens there first. Every pro-abortion legislator should have a primary challenger in 2010.” Peggy Hartshorn, president Heartbeat International (HeartbeatInternational.org): “The Holy Spirit isn’t bound by who’s in power. Advertise the phone number 1-800-395-HELP and the Website PregnancyCenters.org everywhere to let people know assistance is nearby. Women see single parenthood and adoption as worse than abortion. Spread the message that children are a gift.” Joe Scheidler, director Pro-Life Action League (ProLifeAction. org): “It’s awfully hard to change laws until you change people’s hearts. We’re training more people in sidewalk counseling, in one-onone discussion. Although some oppose our use of graphics, they work powerfully. If everybody could bring one person around to the Pro-Life position weekly, the country would be converted.” David Bereit, national director 40 Days for Life Campaign (40DaysForLife.com): “Neither Utopia nor Armageddon will come through politics; this is a spiritual battle that we can win one baby at a time. Abortions don’t happen in the White House. You can take action where you live. Our last campaign saved at least 543 babies. Clinics closed for days and one shut down. We need to put our trust in God, pray and fast like we never did before, and work as a united front.” Janet Morana, co-founder Silent No More Awareness Campaign (SilentNoMoreAwareness. org): “We need more women and men to stand up and say that they regret their abortion. For every one of the 50 million babies killed, there’s a woman and man who’ve been affected. Many need help and healing. We aim to have a thousand people at the March for Life with us in January to show Obama that abortion has a face.” Brad Mattes, executive director Life Issues Institute, Inc. (LifeIssues.org): “We can’t give up, but we need to focus on what we can do. Make it a personal goal to educate five people a month. It’s crucial because education is the foundation on which we build legislative and political victories. We need to change hearts and minds; we cannot walk away from this life or death battle.” Daniel McConchie, vice-pres-
ident Americans United for Life (AUL.org): “Laws come about as a reflection of what’s happening in the culture. Remember William Wilberforce fought against the slave trade for 45 years before he prevailed. We can work incrementally to show people abortion is an atrocity. Get involved at the state legislative level; lawmakers there are rarely contacted by constituents so they listen. Go to AULAction.org to see what’s going on in your state.” Bryan Kemper, president Stand True (StandTrue.com): “We had 250,000 kids participate in our “Pro-Life day of silent solidarity” with the unborn. At least 56 girls cancelled their abortions. Using Facebook, MySpace, and other technology we can educate, equip and activate young people to stand up and be a voice for their generation.” Matt Locket, Bound 4 Life (Bound4Life.com): “You don’t see the growing youth movement on the news, but there is a passionate, consecrated remnant that God is raising up. He’s reeducating us on the importance of prayer and fasting for our leaders. Remember — the Apostle Paul’s prayer and fasting helped mature the early Church. I see a determination in young people who realize this is more important than ever.” Kristen Hawkins, executive director Students for Life of America (StudentsForLife.org): “The campus Pro-Life movement is strong and growing. We’ve started 254 new groups, a 35 percent increase, in two years. Reaching out to feminists, at least starting a dialogue with them, is necessary, because 45 percent of all abortions are done on women in college. We need to build our movement’s infrastructure for political action in 2010 and 2012, and work on getting Congress to defund Planned Parenthood.” A quote from the late Congressman Henry Hyde concluded Hawkins’ message: “When the time comes, as it surely will, when we face that awesome moment, the final judgment, I’ve often thought, as Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote, that it is a terrible moment of loneliness. You have no advocates, you are there alone standing before God — and a terror will rip your soul like nothing you can imagine. But I really think that those in the Pro-Life movement will not be alone. I think there’ll be a chorus of voices that have never been heard in this world but are heard beautifully and clearly in the next world — and they will plead for everyone who has been in this movement. They will say to God, ‘Spare him, because he loved us!’”
November 14, 2008
Around the Diocese Eucharistic Adoration:
Eucharistic Adoration
ACUSHNET — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Church, 125 Main Street, Mondays from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., ending with Evening Prayer and Benediction. EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place First Fridays at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, following the 8:30 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 p.m. NEW BEDFORD — Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place at St. Joseph-St. Therese Church, 51 Duncan Street, Mondays following the 8:30 a.m., Mass until 1:30 p.m. For more information call 508-995-2354. 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. TAUNTON — Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord Church, 31 First Street, immediately following the 8 a.m., Mass and continues throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m., concluding with recitation of the rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m. 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. WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street, holds perpetual eucharistic adoration. For open hours or to sign up call 508-430-4716. Miscellaneous: Miscellaneous ACUSHNET — St. Francis Xavier School, 223 Main Street, will host a Holiday Vendors’ Sale, tomorrow from 10 a.m., to 2:30 p.m. It will feature items crafted by area businesses. and to register call 508-222-8530. CHATHAM — A Tridentine Mass is celebrated 11:30 a.m. every Sunday at Our Lady of Grace Chapel on Route 137. EAST TAUNTON — A Holy Hour of Prayer for Life will take place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, November 20 at 7 p.m. Dr. Mark Conrad, president of “A Woman’s Concern,” will be guest speaker. His organization’s ministry, which is carried on in southeastern Mass., is dedicated to caring for women and couples in pregnancy distress and women and men suffering emotionally and spiritually from experiences with abortion. All are welcome. Light refreshments follow. FAIRHAVEN — Our Lady’s Haven, 71 Center Street, will hold a Holiday Craft Fair November 22, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the lobby and dining room. Crafters will have a wide range of handmade items for sale including watercolor originals, blown glass pendants, and baked goods. A quilt will be raffled and the kitchen will offer a variety of food. FALL RIVER — Bishop Connolly High School, 373 Elsbree Street, will hold a placement exam for prospective students November 22, 8 a.m. For more information call Director of Admissions Anthony Ciampanelli at 508-676-1071, ext. 333. FALMOUTH — “November Means Remembering” will be the topic addressed by Mercy Sister Dympna Smith, November 23, following the 11:30 a.m., Mass in St. Patrick’s Church. Refreshments will be served. INDIA — Father Paul Cruz is seeking donations of pens, pencils, rosaries, used cards, used magazines, and statues for the three schools in his diocese, attended by 5,000 students. Send donations to Father Cruz at P.O. Box — 691571, Kottiyam — P.O., Kollam — 691571, Kerala, India. FALL RIVER — A healing Mass will be celebrated at St. Anne’s Church November 20 at 6:30 p.m. The rosary will be recited at 6 p.m. Benediction and healing prayers will take place following the Mass.
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The Anchor Sister Edna M. LaRose SUSC
FALL RIVER — Holy Union Sister Edna Marie LaRose, 90, a resident of the Catholic Memorial Home, died October 30 after a brief illness. Born Marie Aurore Rhea LaRose in Pawtucket, R.I., the daughter of the late Arthur and Aurore (Heroux) LaRose, she entered the Holy Union Sisters in Groton in 1947 and pronounced her vows on March 20, 1950. She received a bachelor’s degree from Rivier College in Nashua, N.H., and she also studied business administration at Notre Dame University in Indiana. She served and taught at ele-
mentary schools in New York and Massachusetts, including Sacred Heart School in North Attleboro, and was a pastoral assistant at St. Martha’s School in Plainville. Her many assignments included administration and communications Holy Union Sister for her conEdna Marie LaRose gregation in Rome, province secretary and treasurer, missionary to Appalachia, work with the Indo-Chinese Advocacy
Program and the AIDS ministry. In 2006 she joined the Holy Union Community at The Landmark in Fall River until poor health forced her to take residence at the Catholic Memorial Home. Besides her Holy Union Sisters, she leaves a sister, Edna Beaulieu; sister-in-law Margaret LaRose; nieces, nephews; and grandnieces and grandnephews. She was also the sister of the late Leo LaRose. Her Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated October 31 at the Catholic Memorial Home. Burial was in Notre Dame Cemetery in Pawtucket, R.I.
By Barb Arland-Fye Catholic News Service
Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had concurred with the finding of an ecclesiastical court this summer that the 61-year-old Msgr. Shafer, a priest of the diocese for 35 years, was not guilty of sexual abuse. Bishop Amos said in a statement that he was “pleased the Holy See has brought this case to a conclusion” and welcomed Msgr. Shafer “back into ministry after his long absence.” He said he would “review assignment options with Msgr. Shafer and the Priest Personnel Board in the near future.” In compliance with the U.S. bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” the diocese is making every attempt to ensure that Msgr. Shafer’s good reputation is restored. In the minds of many, Msgr. Shafer was a “shining light with the capacity for greater leadership in the Church,” said Ed Rogalski, past president of
St. Ambrose University where Msgr. Shafer once served as a vice president. The diocese has the opportunity to put his talents to use again. “He has much to offer the faithful,” Rogalski added. “Now that he’s been exonerated, there ought to be a celebration and we ought to focus on the positive,” said longtime friend Deb Bly of Prince of Peace Parish in Clinton. “He’s a wonderful priest. Now he can get back to what his calling is.” Msgr. Shafer said he is open to whatever the bishop and his advisers decide. “I believe I was and am a good priest who has many gifts and talents that are God-given that I would like to share with the diocese and with the people of God,” he said. “Throughout my priesthood I’ve been in pastoral, academic and campus ministry and in administration. I’m open to any of those things.”
Ex-vicar general exonerated on sex abuse charges in Davenport Diocese
DAVENPORT, Iowa — More than five years after he took a leave of absence because of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, Msgr. Drake Shafer, former vicar general of the Diocese of Davenport, has been exonerated and will return to active ministry. “After all this time I cannot say how happy I am to have the fact that I did not sexually abuse anyone be recognized and affirmed,” he told The Catholic Messenger, Davenport diocesan newspaper. “This has been a long five and a half years in which I have sought to be as forthcoming and cooperative as I could.” Davenport Bishop Martin J. Amos announced that the
In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks
NEW BEDFORD — The annual Mass for deceased members of the Daughters of Isabella will be celebrated November 18, 6 p.m. in Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church on Mt. Pleasant Street. The regular meeting will follow in the church hall. For more information and how to become a member call Elizabeth Almeida at 508-7289483.
Nov. 17 Rev. Henry R. Canuel, Former Pastor, Sacred Heart, New Bedford, 1980
NEW BEDFORD — Our Lady of Purgatory Parish will hold its annual Christmas Bazaar tomorrow, 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., in St. Mary’s School gym, 115 Illinois Street. It will include door prizes, an auction, children’s table and games and traditional Lebanese foods and pastries.
Nov. 18 Rev. William Beston, C.S.C., 2004
NEW BEDFORD — The annual Holiday Craft Fair will be held Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., in St. Joseph-St. Therese Church, 51 Duncan Street.
Nov. 19 Rev. Msgr. Lester L. Hull, Retired Pastor St. Mary, Our Lady of the Isle, Nantucket, 1982 Rev. Philodore H. Lemay, M.S., La Salette Provincial House, Attleboro, 1990
NEW BEDFORD — The United Nations’ International Pilgrimage Image of Our Lady of Fatima will be at St. Kilian’s Church from November 21-23. The image will arrive at 9 a.m. on Friday. Open adoration and prayer will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., with a vigil Mass scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CCD children will be praying the rosary on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., with a Mass with the re-consecration of the parish and parishioners to Christ the King beginning at 11 a.m. (12:30 p.m. in Spanish). Open prayer will again be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Sunday. For more information visit www. wafatima-ri.org. SOMERSET — The St. John of God Women’s Guild is holding its annual Harvest Fair tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the parish center. TAUNTON — St. Jude the Apostle Parish, formerly St. Jacques and Immaculate Conception, will hold its annual Penny Sale, including a turkey raffle, November 22, at 6 p.m., at 249 Whittenton Street.
Support Group NEW BEDFORD — Courage, a group for people who are experiencing same-sex attraction and would like to live the Church’s teachings of chastity, will meet November 22 at 7 p.m. For location information call Father Richard Wilson at 508-992-9408.
Pro-Life
ATTLEBORO — Concerned faithful are needed to pray the rosary outside Four Women, Inc., an abortion clinic at 150 Emory Street, Thursdays from 3-4 p.m., or 4-5 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:30-8:30 a.m. For information call 508-238-5743.
Nov. 21 Rev. Stephen J. Downey, Retired Pastor, Holy Ghost, Attleboro, 1975 Rev. James F. Kenney, Retired Pastor, Corpus Christi, Sandwich, 1994 Nov. 23 Rev. James E. Smith, Retired Chaplain, Bethlehem Home, Taunton, 1962 Rev. Msgr. Christopher L. Broderick, Retired Founder, St. Pius X, South Yarmouth, 1984
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The Anchor
November 14, 2008
Diocesan Council of Catholic Nurses holds seminar, awards scholarships
FALL RIVER — The Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Nurses recently sponsored a seminar on domestic violence. One of the main purposes of the meeting was to update the attendees’ knowledge on signs and symptoms of possible abuse and available resources in the community for survivors. Also announced at the seminar were the recipients of four $500 scholarships awarded in 2008. The recipients were Megan Oliveira of Somerset, Stephanie Mortarelli of Middleboro, Robyn Lee of Taunton, and Paige Littlefield of Centerville. The scholarships are awarded
to students who will be continuing their education in the health care field. The council was pleased to announce that future scholarships, beginning in 2009, will be given in Dominican Sister Carole V.M. Mello’s name. The honor was given to Sister Mello as a thank you for years of service in advancing the cause and mission of the Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Nurses. For information and/or scholarship applications, contact Delores Santos, council president, at 508-775-3371. The yearly deadline for applications is March 1.
BRAZILIAN CELEBRATION — Bishop George W. Coleman recently visited St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis for a Mass celebrating the Brazilian feast day of Nossa Senhora da Aparecida. A reception and dinner were held in the St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School gym following the Mass. From left: the bishop; Father Daniel Lacroix; Father Messias Albuquerque, a priest ministering to the Brazilian Community on Cape Cod and the Islands; Father Jack Oliveira, Father Karl Bissinger, and Joe Ryan.
Bishops vote on blessing service for children in the womb By Nancy Frazier O’Brien Catholic News Service
A SPECIAL THANK YOU — Joan Morin, left, president of the New England Council of Catholic Nurses, and Delores Santo, right, Fall River Council president, presented a plaque and flowers to Dominican Sister Carole V.M. Mello, for her years of service to the Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Nurses.
BALTIMORE — To fill a gap in existing prayer books, the U.S. bishops took up consideration November 10 of a liturgical service in English and Spanish for blessing newly conceived children in the womb. Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, introduced the document on the first day of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. He said the blessing, which had been approved both by his committee and by the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, “was prepared to support the parents awaiting the birth of their child, to encourage in the parish prayers for and recognition of the precious gift of the child in the womb, and to foster respect for human life within society.” The blessing can be used in the context of a Mass or outside a Mass, and for an individual mother or a group of expectant parents.
Bishop Serratelli said the ProLife committee had received requests from “a number of dioceses” for such a document. The blessing includes intercessions “for our civic rulers that they may perform their duties with justice and compassion while respecting the gift of human life” and “for a safe and healthy pregnancy for all expectant mothers and for a safe delivery for their children.” It also expresses concern “for children who are unwanted, unloved, abandoned or abused, that the Lord will inspire his people to protect and care for them.” If used as a blessing outside Mass, the service includes introductory prayers, Scripture readings, intercessions, the actual blessing of the mother and child, and a concluding rite. “May almighty God, who has created new life, now bless the child in your womb,” the blessing says. “The Lord has brought you the joy of motherhood: May he bless you with a safe and healthy pregnancy. You thank the Lord today for the gift of your child: May he bring you and your child one day to share in the unending joys of heaven.” There are also optional prayers for fathers, for families and for the parish community. If approved, the blessing will be included in future editions of the Book of Blessings when that liturgical text is revised. But Bishop Earl A. Boyea of Lansing, Mich., asked that consideration be given to putting the blessing also in the book “Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers” so that it could be used in other than Church services. “It could be useful to those marching outside abortion clinics, to bless the mothers and children inside,” he said.