12.24.99 by The Anchor

FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS VOL. 43, NO. SO • Friday, December 24, 1999

FALL RIVER, MASS.

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lliEANCHOR-Diocese ofFall River-Fri., Deeember24, 1999

Christmas Giving Program's success is founded on love ~

Catholic Social Services' version of the Giving Tree will bring the Spirit of Christ to more than 6, 000 people in the Fall River Diocese this year. By JAMES N. DUNBAR

FALL RIVER - There are elves and there are special elves. Special elves don't have to be of any particular size or age, nor do they have to wear stripped shirts and red shoes turned up at the toe. You can ten them by what lhey do -

exude a fantastic feeling for making others happy at Christmas and working diligently, on their own time, to bringing that dream to reality. Last week, I met two of the special elves - Mary Lou Frias and Julianne Jones - as they sorted out thousands of donated toys, games, clothing and cuddly, stuffed animals in a huge room on the first floor of St. Mary's Cathedral School. It looked like the North Pole headquarters of St. Nicholas. Clothing that included shoes, shirts, socks, sweaters, coats, boots, scarves, hats of every color had been sorted into neat, orderly piles by size. Thousands of games, fresh in their wrap-

pers, filled massive cardboard boxes sorted and labeled by users' age. Stuffed animals, many with drooping ears and looking for a good home smiled down from shelves lining every wall of the empty, former classroom. Frias, a volunteer at the Fall River Diocese's Catholic Social Services, is in her second year coordinating The Christmas Giving Program the agency sponsors. Jones, who hails from St. Joseph Parish in Dighton, is in town to be with family and decided to do something extra to help those less fortunate to have a brighter Christmas. ''What you see is only the first day of what is coming in from at least 20 parishes in the diocese who are committed to the effort," Frias said on Dec. 13, as she and Jones took donated items from arriving containers and sorted them. "For five hours every day this week and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Dec. 20 through 22, there win be many volunteers coming here to help us out." What happens, Frias explained, is that the individual parishes had asked its needy members to fill out

Daily Readings JOYS R US - Mary Lou Frias, top, and Julianne Jones are framed by the gifts collected for The Christmas Giving Program that brought happiness to thousands of needy but deserving people this week.

Dec 27 Dec 28 Dec?9

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1 In 1:1-4; Ps 97: 1-2,5-6,11-12; In 20:2-8 1 In 1:5-2:2; Ps 124:2-5,7b-8; Mt 2:13-18 1 In 2:3-11; Ps 96:1-3,5b-6; Lk 2:22-35 1 In 2:12-17; Ps 96:7-10; Lk2:3640 1 In 2:18-21; Ps 96:1-2,11-13; In 1:1-18 Nm 6:22-27; Ps 67:2-3,5-6,8; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21 Is 60:1-6; Ps 72:2,7-8,10-13; Eph 3:2-3a,5-6; Mt2:1-12 1 In 3:22-4:6; Ps 2:7-8,10-11; Mt 4: 12-17,23-25 1 In 4:7-10; Ps 72:2-4ab,7-8; Mk 6:34-44 1 In 4:11-18; Ps 72:2,10-13; Mk 6:45-52 1 In 4:19-5:4; Ps 72:2,14, 15bc,17; Lk 4:14-22a 1 In 5:5-13; Ps 147:12-15,19-20; Lk5:12-16 1 Jn5:14-21; Ps 149:1-6a,9b; In 3:22-30 Is 42: 1-4,6-7; Ps 1a,2,3ac4,3b,9b-1 0; Acts 10:34-38; Mk 1:7-11

1I11111111111111111111111111111 THE ANCHOR (USPS-545.Q20) Periodical Postage Paid at Fall River, Mass. Published weekly except for the first two weeks in July an:! the week after Chrisnnas at 887 Highlan:! ' Averrue, Fall River, Mass. DZnOby the Catholic Press of the Diocese ofFall River. Sublcription price by mail, postpaid $14.00 per year.

POSTMASTERS seoo address changes to The Aochor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA

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a card telling what they need by way of gifts for a child or adult, and submit those to the parish office. "It's much like the Giving Tree program set up in some parishes, when people take tags off a tree and fulfill the needy person's request outlined on the tags," she said. A parish chairman, the only one who knows who is on the list, then compiles a final sheet with sizes and items sought and forwards those listings to the CSS's Giving Program. "Each parish helps out by forwarding gifts to help fulfill the wish lists, and we receive lots more from businesses, merchants and industries," said Frias. "We prepare the individual gift package to go back to the parishes to be handed out there prior to Christmas." - According to Jones, 13 volunteers were about to arrive to help on the first night, with volunteers coming in over the coming days and nights including students from Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth and Holy Name and St. Stanislaus schools in Fall River.

"This is also an ecumenical effort because we have workers coming in from the South Dartmouth Congregational Church too," Frias added. What does it all come down to? "Every child on the list will get a great toy and a great clothes outfit, and we'l\ also be including extras like hats, gloves and scarves," said Frias. "We're planning on giving gifts to approximately 6,000 children and adults this year, as compared with half that last Christmas." How does it feel to be doing this loving kind of giving work at Christmas when most people are tied up tightly with family, planning and shopping? "Greatl" shouted Frias and Jones, sounding much like Tony the Tiger in the cereal advertisement "Our Christmas is happening right now," Frias added. "It couldn't be better." After taking a quick photo of the happy duo, I left. "Elves," I said to myself as I walked through the parking lot, "truly special elves."

In Your Prayers Please pray for the following priests during the coming week NECROLOGY DecemberrT 1956, Rev. Thomas 1. Stapleton, Pastor, Corpus Christi, Sandwich 1970 Rev. Msgr. Annand Levasseur, Pastor Emeritus, SI. Anne, New Bedford 1995, Rev. Manuel Andrade, Catholic Memorial Home, Fall River

December 28 1955, Rev. Charles R. Smith, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River 1987, Rev. Edward J. Sharpe, Pastor, SI. Patrick, Somerset 1987, Rev. Clement Paquet, O.P., Assistant, SI. Anne. Fall River

December 30 1991. Rev. Thomas C. Mayhew, Pastor, Our Lady of MI. Carmel, Seekonk

January 1 '1955. Rev. Jose Valeiro, Pastor. SI. Elizabeth, Fall River 1956, Rev. Antonio M. Fortuna, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, New Bedford 1968, Rev. Francis R. Connerton, SS.STD., SI. John's Seminary, Plymouth, Michigan . 1975, Rev. Leo T. Sullivan, Pastor, Holy Name, New Bedford January 4 1961, Rev. Eugene L. Dion, Pastor. Blessed Sacrament, Fall River 1999, Rev. Joseph L. Powers. Founder, SI. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish. No. Falmouth January 5

1994, Rev. William ~cClenahan, SS.CC.

January 6 1906, Rev. James F. Roach, Founder, Immaculate Conception, Taunton 1997. Rev. Rene G. Gauthier, Pastor, SI. Jean Baptiste, Fall River January 7 1970, Rev. Alfred R. Forni,' Pastor, SI. Francis of Assisi. New Bedford 1989, Rev. Gustave Gosselin, M.S., La Salelte Shrine, Attleboro January S' 1885, Rev. John Kelly, Founder, St. Patrick, Fall River 1940, Rev. Alfred J. Carrier. Founder, SI. Jacques, Taunton 1944, Rev. Arthur C. Lenaghan, Chaplain, United States Anny

January 9

1982, Rev. William F. Morris, Pastor, Corpus Christi. Sandwich

PRIESTS CURRENTLY SERVING - December December December December December January I January 2 January 3 January 4 January 5 January 6 January 8 January 9

27 28 29 30 31

Rev. Rev. Rev. Rev. Rev. Rev. Rev. Rev. Rev. Rev. Rev. Rev. Rev.

John M. Sullivan Matthew Sullivan, SS.CC. Richard H. Sullivan CSC. Pawel A.Swiercz Msgr. Antonino C. Tavares Evarist<i'Tavares Ralph D. Tetrault Msgr. Ronald A. Tosti Horace J. Travassos Marc P. Tremblay Marek S. Tuptynski James C. Tuxbury, OFM Bernard Vanasse

Jubilee Year 2000 celebrations

for Fall River Diocese announced ~

Events begin today and will continue into the year 2001.

many on Nov. 9-10, 1938. "Kristallnacht" means "Crystal Night" or "the night of the broken glass," referring to the glass left on the streets of German cities from the shattering of windows of Jewish By JOHN E. KEARNS, JR. synagogues, homes and businesses ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, DIOCESAN during the riots. OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS Youth and young adult memFALL RIVER - In union with bers of the diocese will gather with Pope John Paul II, Bishop Sean their peers from throughout MasO'Malley, OFM Cap., will open sachusetts and New Hampshire at the designated holy door at St. Fenway Park, Boston in April for Mary's Cathedral tonight, ChristPilgrimage 2000, a day-long celmas Eve, to mark the beginning of ebration of prayer, music, witness the celebration of reflections, Mass and the Jubilee of the reconciliation. Its in• Year 2000 in the Fall tent is to foster in that CHRISTMAS MASSES TO BE BROADCAST River Diocese. The age group a deeper bishop will celebrate commitment to Jesus Bishop Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap., will the rite of opening at Christ and the Church. the start of the 4 p.m. Some 30,000 are exbe principal celebrant of the Christmas Christmas Eve Vigil pected to attend from Mass to be televised on Mass tonight. the five participating WLNE-TV, ABC ChanThe bishop will dioceses. repeat the rite later in The centerpiece of nel 6 on Christmas Portuguese at Midthe Jubilee Year activimorning, 10:30-11:30 night Mass at Our. ties in the diocese will a.m. It will be a delayed Lady of Mount be a Eucharistic ConCarmel Church in gress. Beginning on broadcast of the New Bedford. Sunday evening, June Christmas Vigil Mass In Rome, the pope 18, 2000, and continucelebrated at 4:00 p.m. will open the Holy ing each night through Door at St. Peter's Friday, June 23, prayer on Christmas Eve at St. Basilica tonight, forservices and evenings Mary's Cathedral. mally initiating the of reflection, each oriAlso, the Christmas Midnight Mass to Holy Year for the uniented around a particuversal Church. lar theme, will be ofbe celebrated by Bishop O'Malley at Our Long a tradition fered in different reLady ofMount Carmel Church, New Bedassociated with Jubigions of the diocese. ford, will be aired on the Portuguese lee or Holy Years, The week-long Conholy doors date back gress will culminate on Channel at 7:00 p.m. on Christmas Day. to 1500 when Pope the Feast of Corpus The Portuguese Channel is carried by Alexander VI began Christi, Sunday, June many cable television systems in the area. the practice of open25, with an outside liting and closing them urgy at Kennedy Park, in the four major baFall River, followed by silicas in Rome on a Eucharistic proces"At the Manger 2000 Years Later: successive Christmas Eves. New Families for a New Millen- sion. It will happen in unison with Now, at the dawn of the third nium," the letter was published in the International Eucharistic Conmillennium, the Church is invit- the Dec. 17 issue of The Anchor as gress in Rome. ing her people to cross the thresh- well as in five daily newspapers in Prominent throughout the Holy old of the holy door to signify a regions of the diocese on Sunday, Year celebration will be the notion new start, a new beginning for him Dec. 19. of pilgrimage. The pope wrote in - or herself, and for his or her reAt midnight on New Year's Eve/ "On the Coming of the Third Millationship with God and neighbor. Day (Jan. 1,2000), which is the So- lennium" ("Ad Tertio Millennio In his papal decree on the Great lemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Adveniente"), that "The whole of Jubilee of the Year 2000, entitled bishop will celebrate a Mass at St. Christian life is like a great pilgrim"/ncarnationis Mysterium" ("The Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum age to the house of the Father." InMystery of the Incarnation"), the Road, North Dartmouth. All are indeed pilgrimage has always been a pope states that this Holy Year, a vited to attend. Prior to the Mass, at significant part of the life of the celebration of 2000 years of Chris- 11 p.m., there will be a Holy Hour in faithful as a devotional practice and tianity, is a time to "let faith be anticipation of the beginning of the a testimony of faith. refreshed, let hope increase and let New Year. Since it is not possible for all to charity exert itself still more," A prayer service for calling an undertake pilgrimages to Rome or The Christmas Eve Vigil Mass end to racism in the Church and in the Holy Land, the Church grants at the cathedral will be videotaped the country will take place at 3 p.m. to the bishop of a diocese the perby WLNE-TV, ABC 6 and aired on on Sunday, Jan. 16,2000, the eve of mission to designate certain Christmas morning from 10:30 to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, churches including the Cathedral church and other places to which II :30 a.m. The Portuguese Chan- at St. Mary's Cathedral. nel will air the Midnight Mass A prayer service with members the faithful may undertake sacred from Mount Carmel Church on of the Jewish faith is planned for pilgrimages accruing unto themChristmas Day at 7 p.m. Nov. 5, 2000, near the anniversary selves spiritual benefits, the same The Jubilee observance will of Kristallnacht, a night of Nazi-or- spiritual benefits as if the pilgrims continue throughout the year, ganized anti-Jewish riots in Ger- were to undertake a pilgrimage to coming to an official close on the Feast of the Epiphany in January 2001. The Jubilee themes ofrepentance, spiritual renewal and celebration will be woven into the many annual events that comprise yearly diocesan and parish calendars. It will also be at the heart of a number of special liturgies and programs. In this season of Christmas, the celebration of Jesus' birth into the human family at Bethlehem, Bishop O'Malley has written a pastoral letter calling for a rebuilding of family life in the new millennium. Entitled

Rome or to other places in the Holy Land. Accordingly, Bishop O'Malley has designated the following locations as pilgrimage sites during the Jubilee Year: Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, Fall River; St. Anne Church, Fall River; La Salette Shrine, Attleboro; St. John Neumann Church, East Freetown; St. Mary Church, Mansfield;

Sean P. 0' Malley, OFM Cap. At 11 p.m., prior to the Mass, a Holy Hour in anticipation of the beginning of the New Year

2000 will begin. The public is invited to attend the Holy Hour and Mass on this Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.

Christ the King Church, Mashpee; Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, New Bedford; St. Pius X Church, South Yarmouth; St. Anthony Church, Taunton; Holy Trinity Church, West Tum to page J3 - Diocese

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Bishop to celebrate New Year's Midnight Mass A special Liturgy on New Year's Eve at midnight will be celebrated in St. Julie Billiart Church, North Dartmouth, by Bishop

THEANCHOR- Diocese ofFall River- Fri., December 24, 1999

I I I I I I

TIffiANCHOR- Diocese ofFall River- Fri., December24, 1999

the moorins.-,

the living word .

Renewing our faith As we enter into the celebration of the final Christmas of this century, it would be well for all of us to once more reflect on the reason for the season. It is so very easy to become distracted with the' comings and goings of the secular world that so often take us away from Bethlehem. We need to be still and truly know that the joy of Christmas is to be found in the Lord. There really can be no Christmas without the Christ. Much of our world today does not by law allow the spiritual reality to be manifested. Even here in our country, public institutions must ban recognition of the sacred. Much of what we are forced to live with in this regard is our own fault. We simply fail to appreciate the gift of the Incarnation, the human heart of Jesus. The reason for this mystery of faith is that each year, more and more, Jesus may be born in our souls. As St. Thomas Aquinas reflected, "It is not for His sake that the Son of God became Man but in order to make us as if we were gods by His grace." He is the head, we are the 'members. With the Lord in us we are always being born anew. The many manger' scenes are but a reminder of this great event in history. They are but a means of enlivening our faith. It is this light that dispels the darkness; it is this light that will renew our souls; it is this light that our world desperately needs as it enters the new millennium. Christmas gives us the opportunity to come home to Bethlehem. There are so many in our faith community who have left this home. The many problems that we have to deal with on a daily basis are due to the faithlessness that has permeated our social order. This is an act that has led many not only from God, but also themse,lves. The desire for God is written in the human heart. Man is created by God and for God, and God never ceases to draw man to Himself. The true dignity of the human person is that he or she is called to commune with God. What are the implications of believing in God? It means coming to know the majesty and beauty of all creation; it means knowing the unity and dignity of all men and women; it means making good use of created things; it means a spirit of trust and confidence. So many today have turned their backs on these spiritual concepts. They live in a limited and confining world of their own making. As a result, so many are fragile and broken people. Christmas is a wonderful time to be healed and helped. The response of faith is the first step in a process that truly will make us whole and holy. This is what our world needs. Yet, it will not happen on a mere collective basis. Each individual must walk a journey of faith. A belief in one's own person rests upon a faith路 in a God who loves us. God does not abandon us. When we run from God, we enter into a dark night of the soul. Again, allowing the light of faith in the person of Jesus to renew and refresh us can dispel this darkness. Yet, God will not force us. We are creatures of free will. In faith, the human intellect will cooperate with the desire. After all, believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved through grace. Many need to be moved. Christmas is a time to open our minds and hearts to the light of God. As we prepare to come home for Christmas, may the words of Evening Prayer ring in our souls: "0 marvelous exchange! Man's creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity."

CHILDREN ENJOY A WALK THROUGH THE GROUNDS OF LA SALETTE SHRINE, ATTLEBORO, DURING THE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS.

"SEE WHAT LOVE THE FATHER HAS BESTOWED' ON US THAT WE MAY BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD!' 1 JOHN 3:1

A路 New' Year's wish By FATHER EUGENE HEMRICK CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

In his Pulitzer Prize winning book 'The Glass Bead Game," Herman Hesse's first chapter contiins an inspiring story which captures my New Year's wish for you. Hesse introduces us to Joseph Knecht, a talented young student being considered as a candidate for an elite school. Knecht is informed by his teacher that he will be tested soon by the music master tosee if he qualiThe Editor fies for the school. As Knecht anticipates the moment, his imaginative mind pictures the famous music master coming to school with the fanfare of a celebrity. But when the student does arrive, it is without commotion. Knecht's teacher quietly asks him to go to the music room OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER' where the music master waits. Published weekly by The Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River As Knecht enters, a white-bearded man gently greets him. P.O. BOX 7 887 Highland Avenue Fall River. MA 02720 Fall River. MA 02722-0007 "You are Joseph Knecht?" "Yes," the student answers. Telephone 508-675-7151 "So then, what would you like to FAX (508) 675-7048 play Joseph?" the music master asks. Send address changes to P.O. Box 7 or call telephone number above Knecht stumbles for a reply because he had anticipated being told, EDITOR GENERAL MANAGER NEWS EDITOR not requested, to play a required comRev. Msgr. John F. Moore Rosemary Dussault James N. Dunbar position. After some hesitation, he ~ LlAJlY "'E55 - 'ALL AlYEA chooses the school song.

theancho~

"Good," says the music master, "let's make music together." As the music master takes his seat at the piano, Knecht lifts his violin to his chin, and together they play the school song. After finishing, the music master turns to Knecht and asks, "Did you like that Joseph?" "Yes," he replies. 'Then let's play it again," and they do repeatedly. After each rendition comes the question, "Did you like that Joseph?" "Yes," he replies, and after every yes they hurl themselves back into the song. As they get further and further lost . in the music, Knecht begins to see notes dancing, rocking and swirling around as never before. Suddenly he fmds himselfcaptivated by a higherorder where opposites - such as law and freedom -complementeach other. The beauty of this new order so awes Knecht that he vows to dedicate his life to it. Later in his career Knecht would describe this extraordinary experience as a sacramental union. My NewYear's wish for you is that you experience such a sacramental union through your love for someone or some higher order路of things.

At the end of a year, I often hear people say that they did nothing inspirational during the preceding 12 months. Could it be that they never experienced asacramental union with the beauty in nature, never fully committed themselves to any single task, never became one with good friends or never really got close to God? The sacramental union I wish for you might be as simple as falling in love with nature. All it takes is to stop to smell the flowers, realizing that their beauty could only be a reflection of heaven. We need only to walk along the beach, climb a mountain or hike through a quiet forest to sense God's majesty and to awaken our desire to be united with it. This sacramental union may be between you and a friend. All it takes is creating a little more quality time to focus attention on another and to realize that this person is someone special to us. This sacramental union may be the ultimate of unions in which we give ourselves over to God without reservation. May the Year 2000 be an exceptional year in which you love God or one of his creatures with your whole heart, mind and soul.

Catholic newspaper selects image of contemporary Jesus with scarcely a mention of Jesus' ing as a "haunting image of a peasKANSAS CITY, Mo. (CNS) antJesus -dark, thick-lipped, lookThe National Catholic Reporter, a birth 2000 years ago. A panel of three art experts se- ing out on us with ineffable dignity, weekiy independent Catholic newspaper, has chosen a dark-featured in- lected 10 finalists for the contest and with sadness but with confidence." The nun confessed that at varidigenous figure as the winner of its Sister Wendy Beckett, a Carmelite contest seeking an image of Christ nun and art expert most famous for ous stages in the judging process five different works were by for the new millennium. --..,.._ _...., turn her "final" choice. As she The winning image, .--said, "such terms as winners "Jesus of the People," was one and losers are meaningless in of nearly 1,700 entries subthis context." mitted for the contest from all Michael Farrell, editor of over the world. The artist, Janet McKenzie from Island National Catholic Reporter, Pond, Vt., said her image of said of the winning entry: "There may be more to this Christ was one that simply came through her and that she dark, indigenous Jesus than meets the eye." is "only a vehicle for its existence." He said that when the The figure, modeled by a Church was "overwhelmingly woman, is an oil painting that a Western institution, we in the West made Jesus in our took the artist approximately likeness." But now that Christhree weeks to complete. tianity has spread to the ends McKenzie, who was raised of the earth, he added, "much as an Episcopalian, said she of the Church's energy, and does not have a "connection to one institution" at this point. new vocations, have moved In an interview with National from Europe and the USA to the Third World, so perhaps Catholic Reporter, based in this work of art is a preview of Kansas City, she described the painting as "really very how Christianity will flour____L.::i.:....ll.......:...-.....J ish, and what kind of divinity simple" and one that should "remind people of the imporA PAINTING of Jesus by artist Janet it will look up to, as the next tance of loving one another." McKenzie was selected as winner of an art millennium unfolds." "I hope people are able to contest sponsored by National Catholic One of the most striking go to the essence of the work," Reporter. (eNS photo from National Catho- aspects of the competition, she said, "which is kindness lie Reporter) according to editors at Naand peace." tional Catholic Reporter, The newspaper launched was the immense range of the the competition when its editors no- her several series on BBC television, images submitted in oil, acrylic, ticed that the millennium hype was made the final decision. mixed media, cloth, sculpture, drawall about parties and computer bugs, She described the winning paint- ings and computer crea~ons.

lHEANCHOR- Diocese ofFall River-Fri., December 24, 1999

La Salette Father Pelletier is named bishop in Madagascar AlTLEBORO - Pope John Paul crowning to the celebrations of 100 II has appointed La Salette Father years of La Salette missionary work in Madagascar," a Donald Pelletier, 68, bishop of spokesman for the Morondava,MadaProvince of the gascar. Immaculate Heart Bishop-Elect of Mary of the Pelletier, a missionMissionaries of ary in Madagascar Our Lady of La for 42 years, is a naSalette said. tive ofWoonsocket, Bishop-Elect R.I., and grew up in Pelletier made his Attleboro. religious profesThe November sion as a mission17 announcement ary of La Salette in from theVatican up1951. Following pointed Bishopstudies at the Elect Pelletier as Anglicum in . BISHOP-ELECT Rome, he was oradministrator and bishop of dained to the Morondava. DONALD PELLETIER MS priesthood on Oct. No date has yet been set for his 28, 1956 in the Holy City. In 1957 he ordination to the episcopacy, but left for Morondava, a mission on the sources at La Salette said it would be western coast ofMadagascar confided early in the millennium. 'The appoint- to the pastoral care of the La Salette ment of Father Pelletier is indeed a missionaries.

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lHEANCHOR- DioceseofFall River-Fri., Decembet24,.1999

1999 was year of Catholic-Lutheran healing f'~..路';!路 .路;1. ~.

By JERRY FILTEAU CAlliOUC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGWN - For Catholics and Lutherans 1999 was the year in which their churches took a major step toward healing a rift nearly 500 years old. On Oct. 31, the same day tlflat Martin Lutherposted his 95 Theses in 1517, top Catholic and Lutheran officials together declared that their churches hold the same essential belief on justification by grace alone in faith. The joint declaration added that. neither sees in the present teaching ofthe other church the errors on justification their churches condemned in the 16th century. The sign of reconciliation among two major Christian bodies marked a fitting conclusion to a millennium characterized by the two m~or divisions of Christian history, the Great Schism of the 11th century and the Protestant Reformation of the 16th. It also brightened a year otherwise darkened by natural calamities. and human violence that killed thousands and displaced millions around the globe. Looming large among the year's tragedies were: - the Serb-led reign of terror against ethnic AIQanians in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo, where thousands were killed and hundreds ofthousands driven out oftheir homeland before NAW forces bombed Yugoslavia into submission; - systematic attacks by pro-Indonesian militias against the vast majority of EaSt Timorese before and after" their overwhelming vote for independence from Indonesia; - major earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan that leveled huge urban areas, killing thousands and making

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IN AN action reminiscent of Martin Luther's 1517 protest, Cardinal William H. Keeler nails the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" to the doors of the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin MarY in Baltimore Oct. 31. Looking on is Bishop George Paul Mocko of the DelawareMaryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. (CNS photo by Marty Lueders) tens ofthousands homeless, plus lesser affecting thousands in Mexico and Colombia; - massive flooding in Vietnam destroying 800,000 homes, in Mexico destroying 300,()()()homes and in North Carolina following Hurricane Hoyd, the worst disaster in the state's history; - the slow, arduous digging out and rebuilding in Nicaragua and Honduras in the wake of Hurricane Mitch in late 1998, which destroyed much of the economy of those two countries for years to come. Perhaps the most shocking act of violence toAmericans was the tragedy last April at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., where two students carried out the worst school massacre in U.S. history, killing 13 people and' earthqu~es

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wounding 23 before killing themselves. Pope John PaulIT, who has made the celebration of the jubilee year and bringing the Church into the new millennium one ofthe biggest- and possibly last - major projects of his pontificate, continued his world travels in 1999 despite growing signs of fading health and strength. //-: The pontiff, who tI,1rtiix;t 79 in,May, kicked off the new year with a Jahuary trip to Mexico and the United s!4tes in which he W.flIlled against giving ~n to a "culture of;death." : ! In Mexico City he offidially closed the 1997 Synod ofBishops America by issuing his postsynodaI apoStolic exhortation, "Ecclesia:i", Ame.rlca:' ('The Church in America''). Ending his trip with a one-day stop in St Louis, he celebrated Mass and met with thousands of young people from across the nation. In a private moment with the governor of Missouri, he obtained clemency for a convicted murderer originally Scheduled to be executed on the day of his visit. During the year the pope - who has repeatedly called capital punishment "cruel and unnecessary" - interceded for several other death-row inmates in the United States, one ofthe few Western nations that still imposes the death penalty. Numerous U.S. bishops also spoke out against executions, and the bishops' Administrative Board in April issued "A Good Friday Appeal to End the Death Penalty." Pope John Paul visited Romania ,in May at the invitation of Romanian Orthodox Patriarch Teoctist. Making his first visit as pope to a predominantly Orthodox nation, he paid homage to the Orthodox Church but also called for justice for the Catholic minority. The following month the pontiff made his seventh and longest visit to Poland, a marathon 13-day tour touch- . ing 21 cities in 16 dioceses. In Slovenia on a one-day visit in September, he urged Siovenians and other ethnic groups of the former Yugoslavia to replace "myopic nationalism" with a love of their own country and culture which does not rely on hatred toward others. The pope presided over the Synod of Bishops for Europe in October and in November traveled to India to deliver his postsynodal document, 'The

tor

Church in Asia," synthesizing the results of the Asian synod he had convened in 1998. In India, where local Christians have experienced increased violence at the hands ofHindu militants, advance fears of violent anti-papal demonstrations were not realized. There were only a few small, nonviolent protests. /~ghis {our-day/visitPO{ieJopn Paul calledfor a!lew program of evan~ /gelization and predicted "a gre3t har~ I vest offaith" inAsia in the next millen'onium.' But he told the continent's non~cllllli!'that ~ey'hayenothing to fear from/the Church, who$e-mission is "service,and love:' / // I" / F~om India the pope flew to Geor,gi~'a fonner Soviet ~ublic;\Vhere he celebrated Mass in the capital city of Thilisi, met with President Eduard Shevardnadze and Georgian Orthodox Catholicos Ilia IT, and spent the night in a Catholic-run shelter for the homeless. At one point in Georgia, before TV cameras that rebroadcast the scene to untold millions around the world, the pope's body shook intensely - presumably a symptom of worsening Parkinson's disease that has slowed his .walk to a shuffle, stiffened his facial muscles and increasingly slurred his speech. Health concerns have caused the Vatican to reduce somewhat the heavy papal schedule for Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, when Rome expects 25 million tourists. But'aides say the pope, who inaugurates the jubilee by opening the bronze Holy Doorat St Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve, remains mentally alert and still plans a schedule that includes presiding over more than 70 liturgical events as well as numerous meetings, audiences and appearances simply to bless pilgrims and pray with them. He also has tentative plans to visit the Holy Land in March and Portugal in May. The approaching religious jubilee year reached into the secular realm in an unusual way as millions ofordinary peoplejoined religious leaders in a global movement asking governments and international monetary institutions to grant deep, rapid debt relief to the world's most heavily indebted poor countries. By year's end major creditor governments and the governing bodies of

the International Monetary Fund and World Bank had taken major steps toward quicker, deeper debt relief for the worst-off nations - and, much more significantly from the standpoint of religious leaders' moral concern, had made human services and poverty relief for the people within those countries a central concern in the policymalcingprocess. . In late October the pope turned his advancing age into a pastoral moment with a "Letter to the Elderly," marking the United Nations 1999 Year of the Older Person. In the letter he offered his personal spiritual reflections on aging. . At theirNovember meeting inWashington the bishops dealt with a wide range ofother issues as well, including decisions on restructuring their na~ tional conference and an adult faith formation plan for the country. But the decision which most caught public attention was their approval of new norms for U.S. Catholic colleges and universities, including norms for theologians in those institutions to receive a "mandatum," or mandate to teach, from the local bishop. While 路theologians, bishops and university administration leaders have expressed wide consensus on the need to strengthen the Catholic identity of U.S. Catholic higher education, extensive disagreementremains whether the "mandatum" requirement will contributet6 thai goal or harm it The norms rriust still be approved by Rome before they will take effect. Another major controversy to hit the U.S. Church came in July when the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a public notice barring two U.S. religious who have been leaders'in gay ministry for nearly 30 yeaIS from any further ministry involving homosexual people. The notice said "errors and ambiguities" in their ministry have caused confusion and "harmed the community of the Church:' Salvatorian Father Robert Nugent said he accepted the Vatican order, but his colleague, SisterJeannine Gramick, aSchool Sister ofNotre Dame, said she would seek t9 appeal the decision. Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, head of the bishops' conference, issued a detailed response in which he reaffirmed the Vatican ruling and repudiated allegations that the Vatican action was intended to diminish or discourage the Church's ministry with homosexual people. , In other U.S. news in 19.99: - the nation saw the conclusion of more than a year of debate over sex, morality and public office as the U.S. Senate tried President Ointon in January and acquitted him of all impeachment counts; - the United States agreed, as urged by many religious leaders, to pay nearly $1 billion in back dues to the United Nations; - opponents of the School of the Americas - a U.S. training facility for Latin American military officers whose graduates include suspected and convicted human rights violators - won a major victory when the House ofRepresentatives voted to cut the school's funding. It turned out to be only a moral victory, however, as the funds were restored when the differences between House and Senatemeasures were recContinued on page seven - Year End

YearEnd

Continued/rom page six

onciled. More than 100 Catholic bishops signed a petition calling for the school to be closed, and thousands of protesters joined demonstrations against it; - Catholic health care was involved in struggles for health care policy reforms as Catholic hospitals continued to meet the challenges of mergers, acquisitions, closings and other changes in health care delivery. In an effort to guide unions and hospitals a task force under the u.s. bishops' Domestic Policy Committee issued a working paper on making Catholic health facilities fair and just work places. -American Catholics had their first opportunity to venerate the relics ofSt. Therese of Lisieux on U.S. soil as they arrived in Maryland in early October for a four-month U.S. tour. The coffin of the saintly nun, who died of tuberculosis in 1897 at age 24, drew crowds far larger than expected. On the world scene, both the Kosovo war in the spring and the antiindependence violence in East Timor in the summer had elements ofancient religious animosities along with the ethnic and political motives fueling the violence - Serbian Orthodox against ethnic Albanian Muslims and Catholics in Kosovo, and predominantly Muslim Indonesians against the almost entirely Catholic population of East Tlfl1or. Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' overseas development and reliefagency, was active in aiding refu-

gees in both pIa :es, while also making major contributions to the rebuilding ofHonduras and Nicaragua in the wake of Hurricane Mitch. In November Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla, chairman of the CRS board of directors, told the U.S. bishops that U.S. Catholics in 1999 gave CRS $30 million for relief work in Central America and another $30 million to help the half-million Kosovo refugees. In EastTlfl1or, Bishop Carlos Filipe Xirnenes Belo ofDili, 1996 co-winner ofthe Nobel Peace Prize, braved death threats as he tried to maintain peace in the weeks leading up to the Aug. 30 popular referendum on independence from Indonesia, which unilaterally annexed the territory in 1976. Anarchy reigned in the days following the pro-independence vote as Indonesian police and military forces stood by while anti-independence militias killed and burned at will in retaliation. Church workers and institutions were among top targets of attacks, and Bishop Belo was forced to flee the country after his home was torched and much of Dili destroyed. He returned after an Australian-led international force entered to restore peace. Civil strife continued in Sudan, Angola, Congo, Sierra Leone and several other African countries, and dozens of Catholic nuns, priests and catechists were among the civilians killed or kidnapped by opposing forces. In SierraLeone, two bishops were among

THEANCHOR- Diocese ofFall River- Fri., December24, 1999 those kidnapped by rebels. In Rwanda, Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikongoro was among the thousands arrested and facing trial on genocide charges in connection with 1994 massacres in which an estimated half-million Rwandans were killed. While sectarian violence festered in parts ofEurope,Africa andAsia, new hope came in Northern Ireland for an end to the decades-old strife there. In late November members of the Ulster Unionist Party approved a peace formula, forming a coalition govemment in which Catholics and Protestants will share power. The Church continued to suffer persecution under China's communist government, but China and the Vatican engaged in discussions about the Church's status there, and once-sharp divisions between the underground church loyal to Rome and the government-approved church grew more blurred. In neighboring Vietnam, however, the communist government issued a decree guaranteeing religious freedom and religious observers said the Church there continues to face restrictions but is no longer persecuted. The government allowed Rome to name several new bishops and permitted the ordination of nine seminarians in religious orders. When Vietnam's worst floods in decades destroyed some 800,000 homes and killed more than 600 people, Pope John Paul senta$100,000 donation to help with relief work.

Illustrator paints iDlage of Mother Teresa for Franklin Mint plate By EMILIE AST

stars Marilyn Monroe, Kirby Puckett and Patsy Kline. He CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE has illustrated a number of book covers, most recently for ST. PAUL, Minn. - Commercial illustrator Dick a Christian romance-adventure publisher. Bobnick works in a home studio, with a steady stream Bobnick has painted several images for collectible plates sold by the Franklin Mint - images of Sean Connery as of talk radio to keep him company. He uses graphite pencil, pen and ink, and a water-based paint. No James Bond, for example, and scenes from the TV computers for him. "I'd rather work on show "Gunsmoke." paper with a pencil and brush than He now adds to his list Mother Teresa with a mouse:' he said. holding a rosary. He also works from photoThe image for the plate collection graphs, not live subjects. That came from Bobnick's admiration for can be tricky because many the nun whose beliefs he says are photographs are copy"steeped in traditional Catholic righted. For Mother values." Teresa, he wanted to creBobnick hopes the Teresa ate a unique pose: "I plate, which was released this worked from a number summer, will be popular of photos, a number of enough to warrant a full sixdifferent expressions ... plate series. and came up with He got the idea for the something that I plate after observing what he could not find exactly, described as "totally unbalanyplace." anced" reactions to Princess One of the first Diana's and Mother Teresa's people to see the comdeaths, which occurred within pleted image of Mother days of each other in 1997. Teresa was Bobnick's "Not to denigrate anything pastor at St. Agnes in St. (Princess Diana) did of a chariPaul, Msgr. Richard table nature, but it was just toSchuler. Knowing the tally out of perspective," Bobnick, priest's fondness for Mother a Catholic native of St. Paul, told Teresa, Bobnick presented a The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the copy to him at a Christmas party St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese. last December. "How could that ever be put on Bobnick is cona par with what Mother Teresa did for over 70 years? I mean, DICK BOBNICK created the artwork for the vinced that so many she got in the streets, she washed Franklin Mint collector's plate of Mother Teresa. people feel strongly about Mother Teresa bethe poor - the people that no- (eNS photo courtesy Franklin Mint) cause of her work with body wanted," he said. . the poor and her courage Bobnick, a commercial illustrator for almost 40 years, learned to draw from his father at age four and had his fIrst to speak publicly about her beliefs. "She stood up to Hillary Clinton and said abortion is art show when he was 10. He has painted subjects from CEOs to cereal. These wrong," he said. "She was the only person in the world days, he gets to do what he really loves: people, adventure who could do that, who had the moxie to do it. And I think and entertainment. His subjects range from presidents to tllat's why people love her."

The Anchor will not be printed on Dec. 31. It will return to your door on Jan. 7, 2000. The Anchor office will be open for business December 27-29.

Ghristmas~emmies As we experience tfie warmtfi and wonder of tfiis festive season, may all tfiat is Cfiristmas em6race you and yours.

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Last 1,000 years ()

THEANCHOR-DioceseofFaII River-Fri., December24, 1999

By JERRY FILTEAU CATHOUC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON - Here, chronologically, are some of the leading events or individuals that have shaped Catholic history over the past 1,000 years. Catholic News Service editors and writers, in consultation with

Church historians, developed the list and narrowed it to a selection of 25. 1054 Great Schism. Mutual excommunications harden centuries of growing rift between East and West, dividing mainline Christianity into the Orthodox churches of the East and the Latin Church of the West. 1096 Crusades begin. Campaign by Pope Urban II to retake Holy Land from Islam starts almost two centuries of intermittent religious wars there, ending in 1291 with Muslim recapture of Acre. With the Crusades came the birth of military and hospitaller religious orders, rising importance of pilgrimages in religious life and increased East-West trade.

1209-15 Mendi· cant orders. Itinerant preachers St. Francis ofAssisi and St. Dominic found the Franciscan and Dominican orders, which have deep LEO XIII served as pope 1878-1903. His 1891 encyc- impact on spiritual lical on labor, "Rerum Novarum;' marks the start of mod- . and intellectual life of the Church and ern Catholic social teaching. (CNS photo)

continue to thrive today. 1215 Fourth Lateran Council. Key medieval council formulates doctrine of transubstantiation and makes Church reforms, including obligation of annual confession and Communion at Easter time.

tin Luther posts his 95 Theses in 1517, challenging errors in the preaching of indulgences, is excommunicated four years later. His reform agenda, later systematically institutionalized by Calvin, marks the start of the second major division in Christianity. 1534 Act of Supremacy. Henry VIII establishes Church of England, invoking fullness of power over it by divine right.

1265·73 "Summa Theologiae." The most notable work of St. Thomas Aquinas, who articulated a theological synthesis that would influence Western Christian thought for centuries. 1452-55 Gutenberg Bible. First book printed with movable type marks beginning of mass media, a cultural revolution profoundly affecting religion, education, commerce, politics and culture.

1539·40 St. Ignatius of Loyola. Rule is approved for his Society of Jesus, an order with wide influence in Church life, especially in education.

1483-98 Spanish Inquisition. At height of its campaign against heretics under Torquemada, some 2,000 are executed, giving historical basis for later claims of Catholic cruelty and intolerance. 1492 Colonization of America. Columbus' voyage introduces Christianity in New World, starts global missionary expansion to Americas, Africa, Asia, Oceania; it also starts more than four centuries of European political and cultural colonialism. 1500s Renaissance art. Prodigious artistic and architectural output of figures like Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and many others under Church patronage exemplifies the cultural contribution of the Church's embrace of art and architecture as means of religious expression. 1517-21 Protestant Reformation. Mar-

ST. FRANCIS of Assisi founded the Franciscan order in the 13th century. (CNS photo)

1545-63 Council of Trent. The Catholic resp~nse to the Reformation brings Church reform legislation and spells out Catholic teaching on doctrines under challenge from the Reformat ion

simpler t~mes ofslower paces People met with smilingfaces, Greeting friends while children played, And for a Merry Christmas prayed. May the holiday season bring you and yourfamily happiness and joy!

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f Catholic history Postconciliar reforms included establishment of seminaries, liturgy reform and a universal catechism. 1596 Union of Brest. Agreement uniting Ruthenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches of Poland becomes chief Roman model of restoration of Church unity with the Orthodox for nearly 400 years. 1633 Galileo condemned. Vatican declaration that the heliocentric teaching of Copernican astronomy contradicts Scripture sets a framework of tension and antagonism between Church and modern science lasting into 20th century. 1789路1801 French Revolution, Concordat of 1801. Monarchy is overthrown, Church disestablished and secular government formed in formerly Catholic state; concordat guaranteeing freedom of worship and letting Church name bishops ends wars between anti-Christian and Catholic forces, but papacy continues to condemn principles of the revolution for more than a century. 1848-70 Loss of Papal States. Nationalist movements in Italy diminish Papal States, culminating in 1870 with capture of Rome as Italian capital and restriction of papacy to the tiny enclave in Rome known as the Vatican. 1850s-1960s Marian dogmas and devotion. Papal definitions of Mary's Immaculate Conception (1854) and Assumption (1950) and new Marian apparitions (Lourdes 1858, Knock 1879, Fatima 1917) fuel intense Catholic devotion to Mary. Marian devotions spread, new religious orders are named for her, lay sodalities and Legion of

THEANCHOR-DioceseofFallRiver-Fri.,December24,1999

Mary are popular, Marian congresses are held. Other Christians consider new dogmas and Catholic Marian piety ecumenical obstacles. 1869-70 First Vatican Council. The first ecumenical council since Trent, it affirms and formally defines the full, ordinary, immediate jurisdiction of the pope over the whole Church and the infallibility of the pope when he solemnly defines Catholic teaching on faith or morals. 1878-1903 Pope Leo XIII. He launches Catholic intellectual revival in 1879 by ordering teaching of the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas in all seminaries; his 1891 encyclical, "Rerum Novarum" (on the condition of labor), marks start of modern Catholic social teaching.. 1939-45 Holocaust. Hitler's World War II extermination of six million Jews provokes profound rethinking, in postwar decades, of Catholic and Christian attitudes towards Jews and Judaism. 1945-90 Rise and fall of communism. Religious persecution that started with Russian Revolution in 1917 reaches its zenith following World War II as communist hegemony spreads across Eastern Europe and into China, North Korea and North Vietnam, creating a new age of martyrs. Communism's collapse in Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union restores religious freedom to millions of believers. 1960-?? Catholic ecumenism. Catholic Church's entry into 20th-century ecumenical movement transforms Catholicism and the whole Christian unity movement. Col-

POPE PAUL VI guided the Church during its post-Vatican II transition until his death in 1978. (CNS photo) laboration, shared prayer, dialogue and joint declarations of common faith replace separatism, apologetics and emphasis on what divides. 1962-65 Second Vatican Council. Reform council seeks to re-engage Church in contemporary world and to renew liturgy, Scripture study and virtually every other aspect of Catholic life, including better appreciation of other Christians and other religions; reformulates traditional teachings

on religious freedom and the state's role in religious matters. 1978-?? Pope John Paul II. First nonItalian pope since 1523 sets implementation of Vatican II and new evangelization for third millennium as agenda of his pontificate, oversees new codes of Church law, new universal catechism, Catholic-Lutheran declaration of agreement on justification. He travels over 700,000 miles, more than all previous popes combined.

Reverend Robert C. Donovan, Pastor Reverend William ~ Campbell, Mass Assistant Reverend Mr. James Marzelli, Jr., Deacon Reverend Mr. Leonard C. Dexter, Jr., Deacon and the Parish Staff

SCHEDULE OF MASSES FEAST OF CHRISTMAS FEAST OF MAR~ MOTHER OF GOD Christmas Eve: 4:00, 7:00 and Midnight New Year's Eve: 4:00 p.m. and Midnight Christmas Day: 8:00, 9:30 and 11 :00 a.m. New Year's Day: 8:00, 9:30 and 11 :00 a.m.

Astronomer says Christmas star was 'eclipse' of Jupiter

THEANCHOR- Diocese ofFall River- Fri., December24, 1999

eNS movie capsules NEW YORK - Following are recent capsule movie reviews issued by theU.S. Catholic Conference Office for Film and Broadcasting. "Anna and the King'"' (20th Century Fox) Lavish historical drama set in 1862 Siam where the absolute monarch (Chow Yun-Fat) and the widowed English schoolteacher (Jodie Foster) he hired to teach his 58 children about the West learn much from each other even as a duplicitous general plots to kill the king and all his heirs. After a sluggish start, director Andy Tennant goes beyond sumptuous visuals in exploring contrasting East-West cultures and beliefs while maintaining suspense about the assassination plot. Sporadic violence and references to polygamy and concubines. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-II adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association ofAmerica rating is PG-13 - parents are strongly cautioned that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. "Snow Falling on Cedars" (Universal)

Ponderous drama in which the internment of Japanese-Ameriams during World War II has resonance when one (RickYune) is put on trial formurder in 1950 and a reporter (Ethan Hawke) hesitates to reveal evidence

helpful to the accused because he is still obsessed with memories of a love affair with the man's wife (Youki Kudoh) when they were both teenagers. Director Scott Hicks' visually evocative film exploring racial prejudice is flawed by an excess of flashbacks to the affair which stagnate the courtroom drama Discreet sexual encounters, wartime violence and an instance of rough language. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-ill -adults. The Motion PictureAssociation ofAmerica rating is PG-13. '''The Green Mile" (Warner Bros.) Prison drama set in 1935 Louisiana where a death-row head guard (Tom Hanks) comes to believe in the innocence of a huge, gentle black man (Michael Clarke Duncan) whose miraculous healing powers affect those around him in startling ways. As adapted by director Frank Darabont from the serialized 1996 Stephen King novel, the movie is slow-moving but presents affecting character studies of good and evil men with spiritual undertones and a sobering depiction of capital punishment. Some violence including a horrific electrocution, occasional profanity and intermittent rough language. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-ill adults. TheMotion PictureAssociation ofAmerica rating is R- restricted.

By NANCY HARTNAGEL CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE WASHINGIDN - Ina new book, astronomer Michael Molnar says the Christmas star - the Star of Bethlehem in Matthew's Gospel was a lunar occultation or "eclipse" of Jupiter, rising early on April 17, 6 B.C., in the constellation Aries. Molnar said his findings are consistent with the biblical account and help explain why King Herod and the people of Jerusalem did not see the star, for the Magi saw it, not in the heavens, but on their astrological diagrams. The author, former manager ofthe Physics Instructional Labs at Rutgers University in New Jersey, spoke by phone with Catholic News Service. His book, "The Star of BethlehemThe Legacy of the Magi;' was published by Rutgers University Press. "The Star of Bethlehem indeed was Jupiter and what happened to Jupiter that made it special on that day," Molnar said. "It was 'in the East,' just like the biblical account says, and 'in the East' is a special condition that is a certain distance from the sun. That happened on April 17, 6 B.c., inAries the ram."

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The lunar occultation was a sec- have theorized that the Star of ond important thing, he said, and Bethlehem was a comet, a nova or suthese conditions "happened approxi- pernova, or a planetary conjunction, mately every 60 years, but not per- Molnar noted. And many mistakenly looked for evidence of the star in the fectly:' Molnar said the Magi, who were constellation Pisces, perhaps because scientists from the East, probably did it later became a Christian symbol. So, it was a bit ofserendipity - an not see much in the heavens thatApril 17. 'The sky was too bright because ancient Roman coin - that pointed Molnar instead it was early in the morning;' he ex- . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , to Aries, where all the condiplained. tions came toDays or weeks gether. later, he said, they In 1990, the were able to see a astronomer said, OF BETHLEHEM bright Jupiter he bought a Roemerge higher man coin deand higher in the picting Aries the morning sky. ram looking Later still, he said, over its shoulder it "went before at a star. Thecoin them" and "stood was issued at over where the Antioch, capital young child was,'" of the Roman in the words ofthe province Gf King James Bible. Syria, from Molnar said about 6 AD. to this describes retabout 13 or 14 rograde motion, The Leg'ley of the Magi AD., he said. "one of those im, In trying to Michael R. !"loll/ar portant historical figure. out why developments as to why the planets swung backwards the Romans issued such a coin, he in the sky. It's an optical illusion be- discovered that "Aries the ram was the cause the earth is moving around the sign of the Jews during those times." This realization, coupled with resun." According to his calculations, the search and scientific computations, led Magi probably were in Herod's court him to conclude that the star had apinquiring about ''the King ofthe Jews" peared in Aries, "the sign of King Herod's kingdom." in October or November of 6 B.c. He said the Romans, who were 'The Magi, who studied their sky charts for omens and portents, would "notorious for propaganda," may have have been watching for signs of the appropriated the portent- so signifiJewish Messiah, said Molnar, because cant to the Jews - as a way of ce''there were rumors" and "a prophecy menting their control over JudeaofBalaam about the Messiah coming Samaria, which they annexed for the in Judea." The Old Testament proph- first time in 6AD. "I'm also very happy that I've unecy appears in Numbers 24:17. 'There are lots of Roman sources covered that there is a truth to all this, quoting this;' he said, referring to the that we can understand better what ancient historical and astrological happened 2,000 years ago;' he said. The astronomer, who is now worktexts he poured over. Molnar said it's important to re- ing as a Web developer, couldn't remember what the situation was like sist pointing out that Jupiter is the 2,000 years ago. "Astrology was ex- brightest star in the evening sky this tremely important to the pagan Christmas season. "Just face a little toward the south people," he said. 'The Jews did not and look up, and there it is;' he said. practice it, but all the pagans did." Since Christ's birth, astronomers 'That's our Christmas star."

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JODIE FOSTER stars as Anna Leonowens, an Englishwoman hired to teach the 58 children of Siamese King Mongkut in "Anna and the King." (CNS photo from 20th Century Fox)

Iteering pOintl ASSONET - Saint Bernard's Parish invites all to join them for a New Year's Eve celebration on Dec. 31 beginning at 10 p.m. It will include a candlelight prayer vigil and Mass for the Solemnity of Mary at 11 p.m. A reception will follow and all are welcome to bring hand bells to ring in the NewYear. ASSONET - The Rosary Crafters Group will gather on Jan. 3 at 7:30 p.m in St Bernard Parish's religious education center, 30 South Main Street to make rosaries for people around the world. New members are welcome. For more information call 644-5585.

ATTLEBORO - The Counseling Center of La Salette Shrine is planning to hold grief education programs for those dealing with the death of a loved one. Day sessions are on Mondays and evening sessions are held on Thursdays. For dates and topics or more information call the center at 226-8220. The Shrine will offer a prayer vigil on Dec. 31 beginning at 9 p.m. in its chapel. It will include Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, a healing service, music and readings in several languages. Attendees are invited to bring hand bells to usher in the New Year. A Midnight Mass for the Solemnity of Mary will follow. All welcome.

ATTLEBORO - A cheer clinic will be hosted by Bishop Feehan High School on Jan. 8 from 8:30-11 am for grades 1-8. It aims to help students learn and improve cheerleading skills and will be run by Lisa Serak. For more information call 226-622.1.

CENTERVILLE - The Cape Cod Widowed Support Group will meet on Dec. 29 from 1:30-3 p.m at Our Lady of Victory Parish. The topic will be ''Facing the New Year." All welcome. For more information call Dorothyann Callahan at (617) 267-5258.

FALL RIVER - St. Mary's Cathedral is holding its sixth annual Christmas Carol Sing-along on Sunday at 3 p.m It will feature many familiar carols in English and Spanish and will include organ, trumpet and handbell accompaniment. All welcome. FALL RIVER - The Prayer Group of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church will meet on Dec. 28 for aMass at noon. They will also have recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, r0sary and prayer following Mass. All welcome. FALL RIVER - The Fall River Diocesan Choir will hold a rehearsal on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m at St Mary's Cathedral in preparation for the Ordination to the Diaconate on Jan. 8. Tenors and basses are still needed.

lHEANCHOR-DioceseofFall River-Fri., December24, 1999 After the program Adoration will begin and continue until 3 p.m. Saturday. All welcome.

All welcome.

WEST HARWICH - A 4Q.hour devotion in the Perpetual Adoration NORTH DARTMOUTH - A . Chapel at Holy Trinity Church to celSeparated-Divorced Group will meet ebrate the Holy Year 2000 and honor on Dec. 27 from 7-9 p.m. at the Dioc- God the Father will begin on Dec. 30 at esan Family Life Center, 500 Slocum 8 p.m. It will continue until noon on Road. The topic will be "Politics of Jan. I and all are welcome to come and Love," and the evening will include a spend and hour in prayer. For more invideo by the speaker Leo Buscaglia. formation call 430-0014.

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NORTHATILEBORO-A First Friday Celebration will be held on Jan. 7 at the Sacred Heart Church Hall. Kathy Legg will be guest speaker and its theme is ''Prayer for Busy People." Intercessory prayer will begin at 6:30 p.m. and Mass will follow at 7 p.m.

•

Millennium, ecumenism top stories of 1999; pope heads newsmakers By NANCY FRAZIER O'BRIEN CATHOUC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGlDN- In balloting that gave frrst-place votes to more than a dozen different stories, Catholic editors chose the approaching millennium as the top religious news story of 1999. Coming in second and 1hird were ecumenical advances and the conflict in East Timor.

In the poll for top newsmaker ofthe year, PopeJohn Paul II was far and away the editors' choice. Second place went to Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of Dili, East Tunor. The poll was the 38th annual survey of editors of Catholic News Service client newspapers. When the editors' poll was frrstconducted in 1962, the overwhelming choice for top story was the opening of

the Second Vatican Council. Last year, editors voted the assisted suicide/euthanasia issue as the No. 1 religious news story, followed by the scandal surrounding PresidentClinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Editors were asked to vote for the top 10 news stories from a list of 43 selected by CNS staff and the top five newsmakers from alistof 15.Votes were weighed by the rankings editors gave - 10 points for a frrst-place vote, nine points for second, etc., and five points for top newsmaker, four for second, etc. Some editors' ballots included ties, resulting in half-points in some cases. With editors submitting ballots including entries this year from Australia, South Africa and Canada - the maximum points a story could have received was 310. The most a newsmaker could receive on the fivepoint scale was 155. Here is the editors' choice oftop 10 stories and top five newsmakers of 1999, followed by points received in the weighted ballot count and, in parentheses, the number of first-place votes received.

sroRIES

SEMINARIAN GERARD O'Connor, is ordained a transitional deacon by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, at recent ceremonies in Rome where O'Connor is in his fourth year of theological studies at the Pontifical North American College. The new deacon, who served at 81. Mary's Parish, New Bedford, is among six men in their final year of study preparatory to becoming priests in the Diocese of Fall River. (Photo by L:Osservatore Romano, Servizio Fotografico)

1. Millennium, 200 (9) 2. Ecumenism, 142 (5) 3. East Tunor, 138.5 (1) 4. Kosovo, 133.5 (2) 5. Catholic colleges and universities, 110 (1) 6. Debt, 104 (1) 7. Natural disasters, 92 (3) 8. Death penalty, 84 (1) 9. Abortion, 72.5 (1) 10. Papal travels, 68 (2) NEWSMAKERS • 1. Pope John Paul, 140 (26) 2. Bishop Belo, 100 (3) 3. Sister Jeannine Grarnick and Father Robert Nugent, 54 (1) 4. Cardinal George Basil Hume, the late archbishop ofWestrninster, 33(1) 5. Cardinal John 1. O'Connor of New York, 31 Also receiving first-place votes but not placing in the top 10 were the issue of Church authority, religious tensions in the Holy Land, the impeachment trial of President Clinton, and the pope's health. Among those receiving write-in votes as newsmaker ofthe year were St Therese of Lisieux and "the vanishing priest."

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Canadian churches will rnng in new year with 'sweep of 搂ound' onAWA (CNS) - From coast to coast, Canada's churches will be ringing in the year 2000 at noon local time Jan. 1 to hO:1or Jesus Christ and mark the symbolic beginning of the third mi llennium of Christianity. The bell ringing is to start on the far eastern edge of Newfoundland and work its way westward through the various time zones to the western shores of British Columbia. The "sweep of sound," which will also include the pt.aying of church organs, singing and native drumming, was initiated by Together 2000: Christians in Canada Honoring Jesus, a project cosponsored by the Canadian Council of Churches and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. ''The 'joyful noise' of that moment will help re-establish the 'Jesus connection' with 'the millennium in the face of widespread public forgetfulness of that connection," said a statement from Anglican Archbishop J. Barry

Curtis, president of the Canadian Council of Churches, and the Rev. Gary Walsh, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The Catholic Church is a member of the Canadian Council of Churches. The project, officially launched in March, calls on Christians across Canada to honor Christ together - "reaching across historical barriers by encouraging events that bring together people in Jesus' family who have not known each other well." Among those planning to take part are some refugee groups who will join in by ringing hand bells, prisoners in federal institutions and "sorTie of the poorest of the urban poor - homeless people, squeegee kids, street survivors who are going to be part of the joyful sound," said the project coordinator, Carolyn Whitney-Brown. "In a world where divisions so often lead to violence, these bells will signal a moment ofprayer, solidarity and good will."

Consecration to the' Divine' Will

Oh' adorable and, Divine Will, behold me here before the immensity of Your Light, that Your etemal goodness may open to me the doors and make me enter into It to fonn my life all in You, Divine Will. Therefore, oh adorable Will, prostrate before Your Light, I, the least of all creatures, put myself into the little group of the sons and daughters of Your Supreme FIAT. Prostrate in my nothingness, I invoke Your Light and beg that it clothe me and eclipse all that does not pertain to You, Divine Will. It will be my Life, the center of my intelligence, the enrapturer of my heart and of my whole being. I do not want the human will to have' life in this heart any longer. I will cast it away from me and thus fonn the new Eden of Peace, of happiness and of love. With It I shall be always happy. I shall have a singular strength and a holiness that sanctifies all things and conducts them to Goel. Here prostrate, I invoke the help of the Most Holy Trinity that They permit me to live in the cloister of the Divine Will and thus return in me ~e first order of creation, just as the creature was created. Heavenly Mother, Sovereign and Queen of the Divine Fiat, take my hand and introduce me into the Light路 of the Divine Will. You will be my guide, my most tender Mother, and will 'teach me to live in and to maintain myself in the order and the bounds of the Divine Will. Heavenly Mother, I consecrate my whole being to Your Immaculate Heart. You will teach me the doctrine of the Divine Will and I will listen most attentively to Your lessons. You will cover me with Your mantle so that the infernal serpent dare not penetrate into this sacred Eden to entice me and make me fall into the maze of the human will. Heart of my greatest Good, Jesus, You will give me Your flames that they may bum me, consume me, and feed me to fonn in me the Life of the Divine Will. Saint Joseph, you will be my protector, the guardian of my heart, and will keep the keys of my will in your hands. You will keep my heart jealously and shall never give it to me again, that I may be sure of never leaving the Will of God. My guardian Angel. guard me; defend me; help me in everything so that my Eden may flourish and be the instrument that draws all men into the Kingdom of the Divine Will. Amen. ( In Honor of Luisa Piccarreta 1865-1947 Child of the Divine Will)

A GROUP of Santa Clauses gather in Toronto's financial district recently to launch the annual Winter HarvestFood Drive, sponsored by Daily Bread Food Bank. (CNS photo from Reuters)

Vatican calls for, December day of prayer for AIDS orphans By JOHN NORTON CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican asked Catholics around the world to make Dec. 28, the feast of the Holy Innocents, a day of prayer and support for AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, told participants of a Vatican HIV/ AIDS conference last week that he made his request in an early-December letter to the heads of all the bishops' conferences. I The AIDS meeting, which drew some 70 Church and health experts, aimed to promote assistance for sufferers ofHIV/AIDS, discuss Church teaching in relation to HIV/AIDS and coordinate the efforts of Catholic HIV/AIDS caregivers. Archbishop Barragan, whose office organized the meeting, said that the Catholic day of prayer and charity for sub-SaharanAJrica's estimated two million AIDS orphans was a concrete sign of the Church's love for those suffering from the "new and menacing calamity" ofAIDS. The countries worst hit by HIV/ AIDS, and for which the archbishop's letter specifically asked economic support, were Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi. In sub-Saharan Africa, some 22.5 million people路are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. The total number of infected people worldwide is estimated at 33.4 million. In a report presented at the meeting, the Vatican health care council路 noted that HIV/AIDS "has become a global epiaemic, no longer tied to the stereotype of homosexual behavior (as was long believed since its appearance in 1981), but rather to prevalently heterosexual diffusion." The report also identified poverty as a root cause of the spread of HIV/ AIDS, because itexposes "a large part of the population to behaviors which are risky with respect to the transmission ofHIV." AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is an affliction in which a virus weakens the body's immune system and a serious disease or infection occurs. The scientific name for the virus that causes AIDS is human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.

In his opening remarks at the conference, Archbishop Barragan underlined the virtue of chastity, meaning abstinence for single people and fidelity for those married, as the best way to prevent the spread of the virus. ''The virtue ofchastity seems, it is true, to swim against the current in a pansexualist society such as today's; but it is the true solution to the problem of sexual contagi9n," he said. Chastity contains an authentically human vision of love and sex, at the personal and social level, he said. . He said he hoped that the conference would "especially help to promote policieSloprotect life, challenging the current preventative policy which is often exclusively founded on the distribution of condoms." One of the conference participants, Father Robert Vitillo, executive director of the V.S. bishops' Catholic Campaign for Human Development, told Catholic News Service Dec. 10 that some Catholics have not responded to the HIV/AIDS crisis because "we don't believe in condom promotion." "But there are lots ofother things;' he said, which are "much more effec-

tive in stopping the spread of HIV: Like taking care ofpoverty, like AIDS education, like helping people to respect their bodies and respecting other people - that's much more effective than condoms in stopping the promotion ofHIV, anyway. "And we can't leave that alone just because we don't talk about condoms," he said. Despite public misperceptions that the Church sees AIDS as a punishment from God, the Church plays a leading role worldwide in caring for people with HIV/AIDS, the priest said. "I think it's a shame that it's such a well-kept secret how much the Church does in responding" to HIV/ AIDS, he said. In his speech, Archbishop Barragan said that Catholic organizations account for 24.5 percent of the numberofHIV/AIDS caregivers around the world. The conference, the second organized by theVatican on HIV/AIDS in 10 years, drew representatives from 23 countries and 15 international organizations, including the director of the V.N.AIDS program, Dr. Peter Piot.

A THRE~-YEAR-OlD Kenyan boy with AIDS sits in a Nairobi orphanage. The Vatican has called Dec. 28, the feast of the Holy Innocents, a day of prayer for AiDS orphans. There are an estimated two million orphans suffering with AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. (CNS photo from Reuters)

'Good Samaritan' provides theme for March for Life on January 24 ~

Washington,o.G. churches will open their doors for tens of thousands ofpilgrims. By NANCY HARlNAGEL CATHOUC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON - The theme of the 27th annual March for Life Jan. 24 in Washington is "My neighbor is each human being in existence at fertilization." "We're playing off of the Good Samaritan story about 'who is my neighbor,''' said Nellie Gray, march founder and president of the March for Life Fund. She was referring to the well-known parable in the Gospel of Luke. 'The importance of this is 'at fertilization,''' she told Catholic News Service. The fact that people can visualize the horror of partial-birth abortion and the abortion of "big babies," she said, "draws attention away from the one-cell baby who is also being killed with drugs and devices and so forth." The march draws tens of thousands of people from around the

Diocese

country each year to protest the Jan. 22, 1973, U.S. Supreme Court decisions - Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton - that legalized abortion in the United States. ''Any time that the 22nd falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, our policy now is just to bump it to the next Monday," said Gray. In conjunction with the march, the U.S. Catholic bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and The Catholic University ofAmerica again are co-sponsoring the National Prayer Vigil for Life. This year's vigil begins with Mass at 8 p.m. Jan. 23 in the shrine's Great Upper Church. Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore, chairman of the bishops' pro-life committee, will be the principal celebrant and homilist. Later that evening, there will be a rosary for life and night prayer in the Byzantine tradition in the-Crypt Church on the shrine's lower level. The latter will be led by Bishop Andrew Pataki of the Byzantine Diocese (Eparchy) of Passaic, N.J., with members of Epiphany of Our Lord

Byzantine Church in Annandale, Va., participating. Also in the Crypt Church, priests will hear confessions until 1 a.m. and Seminarians for Life International will lead holy hours throughout the night. The prayer vigil concludes Jan. 24, with morning prayer at 6 a.m. in the Crypt Church, and a Mass at 7:30 a.m. in the Great Upper Church, with Cardinal Anthony 1. Bevilacqua of Philadelphia as main celebrant. As in the past, a large number of U.S. prelates, including several cardinals, were expected to concelebrate the shrine Masses. Shrine spokesman Peter Sonski said the shrine again has scheduled a nine-day novena for life - Jan. 1523 - in preparation for the march. The novena prayer to Our Lady ofGuadalupe, patroness oftheAmericas and protector of the unborn, will be recited at regularly scheduled shrine Masses, said Sonski. Shrine officials have encouraged nationwide participation by posting the prayer on their Web page. He said the shrine again would host 400 students overnight Jan. 23.

Continuedfrom page three

Harwich. At this year's Marian Medal Ceremony in November, the bishop blessed large Jubilee banners and presented them to clergy and lay representatives of the designated communities. The banners will hang prominently in each church throughout the year. They carry the official Jubilee logo of the Church with its inscription of "Christ Yesterday, Today and Forever." Bishop O'Malley said that the invitation to pilgrimage is a reminder to make use of the Holy Year as "a time of personal renewal, of reconciliation, of deepening our faith in Jesus Christ and commitment to His message, His Gospel and His Church." He encouraged a visit to churches to pray and to receive the sacrament of reconciliation. He also announced that throughout the course of the year he will go to each of the churches to celebrate a special pilgrimage Mass to which all are invited. The schedule of these Masses is as follows: January 2: St. Mary's Cathedral, 12:30 p.m. (In Spanish); February 6: St. Mary's Cathedral, 3 p.m. (With members of religious communities in the diocese as specially-invited congregants.); March 5: St. Mary Church, Mansfield, noon; April 2: St. Anne Church, Fall River, 10 a.m.; May 7: St. Anthony Church, Taunton, 3 p.m.; July 2: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, New Bedford, 11 :30 a.m.; August 6: St. John Neumann Church, East Freetown, i 1 a.m.; September 3: St. Pius X Church, South Yarmouth, 10:30 a.m.;

October 1: Holy Trinity Church, West Harwich, 4 p.m.; November 5: Christ the King Church, Mashpee, 11:30 a.m.; December 3: La Salette Shrine, Attleboro,4 p.m. Jubilee Year guidelines state that visitors on pilgrimage to the churches should do at least one of the following: attend Mass or Vespers, make the Stations of the Cross, say the rosary, or spend time in eucharistic adoration and pious meditation, ending with the "Our Father," the Profession of Faith, and a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary. As with past Holy Years, the Church will offer plenary indulgences - one per day, for those who meet the conditions - emphasizing the year as an opportunity for grace and inner renewal. By definition, an indulgence is linked to the jubilee themes of release, reconciliation, and forgiveness of sins. The Church teaches that an indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins that have already been forgiven through the sacrament of reconciliation. The indulgence itself is not a remission or absolution of sin. The special indulgence of the Holy Year may be gained, when in the context and mode of a spiritual journey, a pilgrimage is made by an individual alone or in a group to one of the designated churches. The indulgence can also be gained through actions such as fasting or abstinence from unnecessary consumption that express in a practical and generous way the penitential spirit which is the essence of the Jubilee celebration, or through charitable works towards the sick, the poor, the imprisoned, or any brother or sister

in need, as if making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them. Those seeking' indulgences must receive holy Communion, ideally on the same day' that the prescribed works are performed or on that day that the Jubilee church or shrine is visited. They must offer prayers for the Holy Father along with saying the "Hail Mary" or other prayers. Sacramental confession, leading to a genuine conversion of heart, is also a condition for the indulgence. This may be fulfilled several days before of after the church visitation or the undertaking of charitable works. Preparation for the Jubilee Year of 2000 began in the Fall River Diocese on Ascension Thursday, 1997. At a Cathedral Mass representatives of all diocesan parishes received an icon of the Holy Trinity. The pope had requested that the three-years leading up to the Holy Year each focus on a person of the Holy Trinity. Parishioners brought the icons back to their parish church and, in a ceremony of installation on the Feast of Pentecost, they were placed in an appropriate area for reflection by parishioners throughout the preparatory period. They will remain in parishes until the end of the Holy Year. The Ascension Thursday celebration, which focused on Christ, was followed in successive years with special liturgies focusing on the presence of the Holy Spirit and on God the Father. Now the climatic Jubilee Year 2000 is upon us. It is the hope of Bishop O'Malley that the faithful of the diocese will take full advantage of this uniquely significant moment in Christianity "to open wide the doors to Christ!"

TIIEANCHOR-DioeeseofFalIRiver-Fri.,December24,1999 The young pilgrims sleep on the floor in the memorial hall and side chapels on the lower level. Though the shrine has limited facilities, he said, the sleep-over has become a tradition and helps many who are traveling on a shoestring budget. ''We're glad to continue the practice," he said. Others coming to Washington for the march will be housed in the nearby DuFour Athletic Center of Catholic University. Also the day ofthe march, theArchdiocese of Washington is sponsoring Masses and youth rallies at: - the Cathedral of St. Matthew from 10 a.m. to noon; musician Tony Melendez will speak, followed by Mass at which Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli of Wilmington, Del., will be principal celebrant; - St. Stephen Martyr Church from 9:45 a.m. to noon; national chastity lecturer Molly Kelly will speak first, then Auxiliary Bishop Leonard 1. Olivier ofWashington will preside at Mass. There also will be a Mass for seminarians - sponsored by the Respect Life Committee of St. Joseph Seminary in New York - at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick Church in downtown Washington. Gray told CNS that a speaker for the annual Rose Dinner, held after the march, had not yet been final-

ized, nor had the list of members of Congress who will speak at the noon rally that kicks off the march. She reported that Bishop John W. Yanta of Amarillo, Texas, is to lead the rally's closing prayer. Different groups ofstudents carry the lead banner in the march, which proceeds from the Ellipse, just south of the White House, east on Constitution Avenue to the Capitol and Supreme Court. This year, Gray said, the students will represent Charlotte Catholic High School and Belmont Abbey College in Charlotte, N.C. Gray also said the March for Life Fund convention, set for Jan. 22-23 in Washington, will do "a little bit of everything." It will look at the state of the pro-life movement, she said, examine "what abortioI1 really is" and plan legislative strategy fo:- a human rights bill. Correction The necrology in the Dec. 10 issue listed the name of Rev. Msgr. John J. Hayes as being pastor of Holy Name Church, Fall River. Msgr. Hayes was pastor of Holy Name Church, New Bedford. The Anchor regrets the error.

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1.===============.1 St. Joseph's students learl1: about hospitals NEW BEDFORD - Secondgraders from St. Joseph's Catholic Elementary School recently partici-

pated in Southcoast Hospitals Group's Teddy Bear Week and students from Mrs. Andrade and Mrs.

SECOND-GRADERS Kiley Branigan and Zachary Letendre of St. Joseph's School, New Bedford, proudly show off their bears at Southcoast Hospitals Group's annual Teddy BearWeek.

Grenier's classes toured St. Luke's Hospital as part of its celebration of Operating Room Nurses Week, which helps educate children about the workings of a hospital and alleviates their fears about medicine. Activities included teddy bear and stuffed animal check-ups, viewing x-rays, visiting an operating room, seeing an ambulance and police cruiser up close and learning about drug and candy look-a-likes. Nurse Barbara Silva was happy about the children's visit to St. Luke's. "It's a pleasure to welcome them to the hospital and help them realize that doctors and nurses are here to help, not hurt." Silva serve~ as clinical manager of the hospital's ambulatory surgery and coordinated the seventh annual teddy bear week. "It's a wonderful collaboration with the schools and hospital," she added.

KENDALL 'MORIN, Michael Jason Ferreira and Courtney Nunes (top) of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, New Bedford, show off their Pilgrim and Native American costumes at its ann!JaI Thanksgiving Liturgy. At bottom, Meghan Frias, Kirsten Pereira and Kenny Paulino await the start of the offertory procession.

TEACHERS, volunteers and parents at St. Francis Xavier School, Acushnet, were recently treated ~o an appreciation dinner by members of the eighth-grade class who were, assisted by class advisor Rosie Jakobowski, Principal Susan Boulay, seventh-grade teacher Elaine Morris and parent Louise Hebert. THIRD-GRADERS Patrick Long and Alyssa Prachniak of Holy Family-Holy Name School, New Bedford, were active participants in a recent workshop .on Native Americans. It was conducted by the Heffenreffer Museum and gave stu- ' dents many interactive opportunities.

HEATHER CLlQ-MARS, left, a senior at Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro, recently won the South Attleboro LiJUSTIN BRAGA, a junior at Coyle and Cassidy High School, Taunton, helps fellow stu- ons Club Speech Contest with her address on "Life's Greatest dents lift a giant box filled with Christmas toys at its annual gift Mass to benefit area families. Lessons:' Eleventh-grader Jillian Whittaker, right, was chosen The National Honor Society-sponsored toy drive brought in more than 1,000 brand new toys. . as the alternate if Cliq-Mars does not compete at the next level.

., 11ffiANCHOR-DioceseofFallRiver-Fri., December24, 1999

Vatican ready to raise curtain on Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 By

JOHN THAVIS

While the media has focused on new construction and crowd projections, the Vatican has been VATICAN CITY - After quietly leading a spiritual years of spiritual and logistical warm-up program for the jubipreparation, the Vatican is about lee, emphasizing penitence, to raise the curtain on the Great charity and a return to the sacJubilee of the Year 2000 and its raments. As the pope said when packed, 380-day calendar of rehe outlined Holy Year plans five ligious events. years ago, one of the Pope John Paul II, jubilee's main goals is the main architect of The pope has encouraged individual to strengthen people's the Holy Year activities, faith in a time of spiriacts. of charity as well as globa/steps will open the bronze tual uncertainty. Holy Door at St. toward economic justice, including forThe pope has enPeter's Basilica on eign debt relief. Likewise, he has couraged individual Christmas Eve, signaltouted the jubilee year as the perfect acts of charity as well ing the start of celebramoment for individual examinations of as global steps toward tions for Jesus' 2,000th conscience and a Church-wide reflececonomic justice, inbirthday. tion on Christians' shortcomings cluding foreign debt When the clock through the centuries. rcaches midnight on relief. Likewise, he has New Year's Eve, the touted the jubilee year as the perfect moment pope plans to deliver a special blessing to the world to tors to Rome, crowding the city's for individual examinations of mark the entrance into the third streets and sidewalks and con- conscience and a Church-wide retributing t6 a local economic flection on Christians' shortcommillennium of Christianity. But as the millennium parties boom. Most of the public works ings through the centuries. Picking up on a trend, the around the globe are dying down, designed to make life easier for the Holy Year festivities will just pilgrims have been completed, Vatican has promoted renewed with one notable exception: A interest in pilgrimages for the be getting started. The Vatican will host more ramp leading to a five-story Vati- jubilee year. It has also exthan 100 separate gatherings of can parking lot for tour buses has panded the practice of special professional and pastoral groups been held up indefinitely by 'ar- Holy Year indulgences, saying throughout the year 2000, turn- cheological discoveries. that remission of temporal punishment for sins can be gained by going to confession and Communion, and then performing such simple acts as visiting the sick or abstaining a day from smoking. In Rome, the traditional pilgrimages to the major basilicas of St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul's Outside the Walls will be made by millions, including the pope, who plans to personally open the holy doors in each of the churches. The ceremonial highlights of the Holy Year illustrate the main jubilee themes: - on Jan. 18, the pope inaugurates the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in an ecumenical service at St. Paul's Outside the Walls, where he is expected to amplify his appeal for a new push toward unity during the Holy Year. Ecumenical and interfaith cooperation are the focus of later events, too. On Aug. 5 the pope leads a prayer vigil with Orthodox representatives, and Oct. 3 is a special day for ChristianJewish dialogue; - a study conference on the Second Vatican Council Feb. 2527 will draw dozens of experts to discuss Church renewal over the last 35 years. The pope has A STATUE of St. Peter looms over a crowd packed into said the best way to mark the new St. Peter's Square for a service. During the jubilee year the millennium is to apply the teachsquare will remain open to the millions of pilgrims expected ings of Vatican II, individually for events and celebrations. (eNS photo) and Church-wide; CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

ing the jubilee spotlight on groups like politicians, migrants, journalists, artists, farmers, children, elderly and others. The pope will formally close the jubilee Jan. 6, 2001, the feast of the Epiphany. The Holy Year is expected to bring more than 25 million visi-

- on March 12, the first Sun- Mass to mark the "Jubilee for Inday of Lent, the pope presides mates"; - World Youth Day celebraover a "Day of Forgiveness," when Christians are called upon tions Aug. 15-20 could bring a to confess personal and histori- miJIion young people to a Rome cal faults. Because of its impli- park area for a papal Mass, a cations for the institutional prayer vigil and other activities; - several canonizations and Church, this event has been the most controversial on the jubi- beatifications are foreseen during the jubilee year, including a lee calendar. Vatican officials have said the possible Sept. 3 beatification of pope will issue a "mea culpa" two popes: John XXIII and Piu~ statement with particular refer- IX; - the "Jubilee for Families" ence to Christian treatment of Jews and to the Crusades, which Oct. 14-15 will bring represenwere the topics of two pre-jubi- tative families from all over the lee study conferences at the Vati- world to the Vatican. To underline his concern for the state of can; - on May 7, the pope leads marriage in the world, the pope another ecumenical celebration at will preside over the sacrament Rome's Colosseum commemo- of matrimony for several young rating the "witnesses to the faith" couples. While the jubilee activities in the 20th century, particularly those Christians martyred in wars will keep the pope at home most of the year, he has tentatively or under political repression; - the June 18-25 Interna- planned two trips: to the Holy tional Eucharistic Congress in Land in late March, where if Rome will give the pope a chance current plans hold he would visit to develop his message on the Jerusalem, Nazareth and importance of the Eucharist and Bethlehem, and to Portugal in to urge nonpracticing Catholics mid-May, where he will beatify two of the shepherd children to return to the sacraments. Like other Holy Year events, who had Marian visions at Fait will also feature a special tima. The rest of the year, he will Vatican charity initiative: a collection to fund a health clinic be busy presiding over some 70 near Rome's train station for liturgical ceremonies in Rome immigrants, Gypsies and ,the and, as far as time and health permit, greeting a near-constant poor; - on July 9, in one of the flow of pilgrims. Many will be more unusual Holy Year celebra- coming to see the aging "pope tions, the pope is expected to visit of the millennium" and obtain his a Rome prison and celebrate blessing.

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