VOL. 33, NO. 21
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Southeastern Massachusetts'-Largesi Weekly ' .
Friday, May 26, 1989
Vatican first
Document treats porn, violence VATICAN CITY (NC) - When the Vatican's long-awaited document on pornography and violence in the media rolled off the presses in mid-May, it might have set a record for conciseness. The slim booklet contained barely 11 pages of text, yet it represented the distillation of five years' labor by the Pontifical Council for SISTER SHIRLEY AGNEW, RSM, right, adjusts boutonniere for James R. Sawyer as Social Communications. Jeanne Towers looks.on approvingly. They are graduates of the first diocesan pastoral ministry Such brevity - rare by Vatican course, of which$ister Agnew was chairperson. Story and names of all graduates are on page 5. standards - was part of a deliber(Rosa photo) ate approach taken by the council 11~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.ltoaru~ectonwhkh~g~tom~ and stacks of studies have been
l-· --. Ap.'p:.e.al to·tal at $1,885,657 The Catholic Charities. Appeal total now stands at $»,885,657.04, with many parish returns, priests:
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donations and Special Gifts yet to be reported. Msgr. Anthony M. Gomes, di-
734 to graduate
734 diocesan high school graduates will be honored in ceremonies June 4, 6 and 8. Bishop Daniel A. Cronin will· officiate and speak at all' the ceremonies, which begin at 2 p.m. June 4 at Bishop Stang High School, North Dartmouth. The Bishop Stang valedictorian is Paulo Pereira and the salutatorian will be Stephanie Francis. A baccalaureate Mass at 4 p.m. June 3 will have school chaplain Father Stephen J. Avila as cele~ brant and homilist. At Bishop' Connolly High School, Fall River, where graduation will take place at 7:30 p.m. June 4, the valedictorian is Derek Leahy and the salutatorian is Aimee Vezina, senior class president. U.S. Representative Ronald K. Machtley (R-RI) will address the graduates. Father George P. Winchester, SJ, rector of the Connolly Jesuit community, is the choice of the senior class as celebrant and homilist at a baccalaureate Mass to be offered at 7 p.m. June 3 at Holy Name Church, Fali River. At a senior banquet Wednesday, Brad Doyle, student body president, was scheduled as master of ceremonies and Alan J. Langton II was to give the senior
Father Kevin J. Harrington, school chaplain, will celebrate and be homilist at a Class Day Mass at to a.m., also on June I. The last diocesan high school graduation will be that of Coyle and Cassidy High School, Taunton, where a baccalaureate Mass and graduation ceremoies will take place on June 8. The Mass will be offered by school chaplain Father William L. Boffa at II a.m. in St. Mary's Church, Taunton. The graduation will follow at 4 p.m., also in the church. The valedictorian is Andrea Greene and thesalutatorian is Michelle Boivin. The graduation speaker will be State Senator John F. Parker.
Time
At Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro, where ceremonies are scheduled for 8 p.m. June 6, Shefali Shah will be valedictorian. Tod Alessandri, salutatorian, will speak at a Parents' Night program at 7 p.m. June I. Both have grade point averages of 4.0, based on a 4.0 scale. .
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WASHINGTON(NC)-The Christian Brothers are selling their wine and brandy business, including 1,200 acres of prime - vineyards in California's Napa Valley.' . The San Francisco province of the Brothers o(the Christian Schools, the only group of U.S. Christian Brothers in the wine business, has been making wine since 1882. . The sale to Heublein Inc., the nation's second-largest wine and spirits company, will bring the brothers a reported $100 million to $150 million. "The decision to sell after 101 years in the wine and brandy business was a difficult one, but
~ddress.
ocesan Appeal director, said that such donations must reach Appeal headquarters in Fall River by today for inclusion in this year's total. "These reports should be made in person to insure credit," he said, noting that 1989 Appeal final totals will be published in the June 9 Anchor. "I hope that everyone of our 112 parishes will be 'o'ver the top' today," he said. Honor Roll 66 parishes have thus far surpassed their 1988 final totals. The following parishes have been added to the honor roll since last week's Anchor report: Holy Ghost, St. John, Attleboro; St. Mark, Attleboro Falls; Sacred Heart, North Attleboro; St. Mary, Seekonk; Christ the King, Mashpee; St. Anthony, E. Falmouth; St. Elizabeth Seton, No. Falmouth; St. Joan of Arc, Orleans; Our Lady of Assump-
PU~:~~~~~;PornOgraphyandViO-
lence in the Communications Media: A Pastoral Response," the 13-page booklet was the firstVatican statement dedicated specifically to the two subjects. It was prepared by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which is headed by U.S. Archbishop John P. Foley. It avoided the kind of hairsplitting arguments that have characterized Supreme Court debate on pornography in the United States. Instead, the document - perhaps reflecting more the viewpoint of modern parents - assumed that a consensus already exists: that many depictions of sex and violence long ago left the realm of legitimate debate over "What is art?" and "What is free speech?" The question now is: "What do society and the church intend to do about it?" The document steered clear of concrete examples, but it used pointed language to describe the broad effects of pornography and gratuitous media violence. It said ~he problem is "stark, clear and
to qult the lvi/Ie
this action allows the brothers to give the highest priority to their educational works," said Brother David Brennan, chairman of the Board of Mont La Salle Vineyards, Inc., the Christian Brothers' wine and brandy corporation. Heublein has not said how many of Mont La Salle's 300 lay employees will be retained nor whether the company would continue producing wines and brandy under the Christian Brothers' name. The San Francisco province, which operates nine secondary schools in California and Oregon, also operates St. Mary's College of California in Mor-
aga.Onlyfouroftheprovince's 110 brothers work fulltime with the wine business, said Ron Batori, vice-president for public relations at Mont La Salle. The business "has never been in better. shape," he said, "so they're not running away from anything." More than I million cases of Christian Brothers brandy are sold annu~ly, representing more than 25 percent of th~ U.S. brandy market. The brothers also produce some 900,000 cases of premium table wines and altar wines. Heublein has not said if it will continue production of sacramen~wines, Batori said.
frightening," and does particular damage to women and children. The document'said pornography is like ii drug - it can be habitforming, can lead its users to seek increasingly "hard-core" material, and can have a "progressively desensitizing effect, gradually rendering individuals morally numb." In the worst cases, it added, pornography can act as an "accomplice" to "sex offenders child molesters, rapists and killers." Archbishop Foley elaborated on ihis point during a Vatican press conference, sayingthere were cases in the United States in which violent sexual crimes had been committed by people who ~ere found to have pornography collections and who were acting "very much under the influence of this material." The document stated that willful participation in the production or spread of pornography is a "serious moral evil," and that its consumers do "moral harm to themselves" as well as keep the industry going. In a section dealing with causes of the increase in pornography and media violence, the document noted a "pervasive moral permissiveness" combined with pleasureseeking as an ultimate goal. The document listed a number of possible responses to the problem: - Professional communicators should form and apply ethical codes . for the media and for advertising because self-regulation by the media is "the first and best line of defense." - Parents should "redouble their efforts" to promote sound values and instill "healthy attitudes toward human sexuality." - Schools should offer programs in media education so that children can learn how to resist media manipulation and "avoid merely passive listening and viewing habits." - Concerned citizens should make' their views known to producers, commercial interests and public authorities. While the document did not mention consumer boycotts of sponsors of offensive programs, Archbishop Foley said such action may be an example of "critical consumption" at work. -. Civil officials should enact sound laws and strengthen weak ones, and "existing laws must be enforced." Because pornography has international implications, world organizations also should take steps to "control this insidious traffic," it said. Turn
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