FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 31, NO. 45
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Friday, November 13, 1987
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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$8 Per Year
Time's the culprit, says study head
RETIREMENT PROVISIONS for elderly sisters such as these leaving a Marian year prayer service in Alton, Ill., will be among concerns of the U.S. bishops at their annual meeting, which starts Monday in Washington. (NC photo)
Elderly religious, priests among bishops' topics WASHINGTON (NC) - The lI:S. bishops will hold their annual fall general meeting in Washington Nov. 16-19. Among items they will be voting on: - A statement on Central America policy updating a statement approved by the bishops in 1981. - A national pastoral plan for church ministry to Hispanics. - A pro)JOsed new annual collection in parishes nationwide to help ease the retirement crisis facing many U.S. religious orders, particularly nuns. - Proposed norms outlining responsibilities of dioceses in dealingwith the retirement of their priests. - Guidelines for relations between bishops and theologians and for resolving doctrinal disputes. - A statement critical of schoolbased health clinics which provide students with contraceptives and abortion services.
- A proposed new rite for use in celebrations of marriage between people of differing faiths. - A proposal that Dec. 12. the day Our Lady of Guadalupe is said to have appeared in Mexico. be raised to the rank of a feast in the U.S. Church calendar, although not a holyday of obligation. - Proposals to establish a standing committee of bishops on religious life and a separate commission on religious life composed of bishops, nuns and members of male religious orders. - Dividing the bishops' exist'ing Committee on Social Development and World Peace into a Committee on Domestic Policy and a Committee on International Policy. . - A 1988 budget for their national offices and activities, and a proposal to raise the assessment on dioceses and archdioceses for support of those activities from
13.3 cents per Catholic in 1988 to 15.7 cents in 1989. Collection for Religious The collection for men and women religious is aimed at meeting retirement needs estimated at $2.5 billion. It would begin in September 1988 and would be conducted for 10 years "unless the need is met before then." The proposal also calls for a public awareness program to support the appeal and provides' that funds collected be administered and disbursed through the Tri-Conference Retirement Project. A study released a year ago showed that although male and female religious were increasing efforts to fund their retirement needs, the debt for their retirement costs had reached an estimated $2.5 billion. Religious orders of women have been hit hardest: Turn to Page Six
BOSTON (NC) - The Vatican study of U.S. seminaries showed that they need to devote more time to theological education and reflection, said the bishop who has headed that study. Bishop John A. Marshall of Burlington. Vt.. ended.his six-year silence on the Vatican study with a keynote speech opening a seminar. "Excellence in 'Educating Priests." held last month at St. John's Seminary, Brighton. Symposium speakers focused on the need for seminarians to develop a deep spiritual life and receive sound theological formation in revelation and church teachings. Bishop Marshall stressed that he was giving his personal views and not representing the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education. the agency overseeing the seminary study. . He said he had declined to make public statements about the study. begun in 1981, while it was still in progress, but the theology-le~e1 portion of the work. about which he was speaking, had been completed, and the college-level portion was in its final stages. Regarding theological training. Bishop Marshall said. "To me the real culprit in the academic area is not the faculty but time." He said the typical priesthood candidate entering theological studies today "is not nearly so well prepared" as the average candidate 20 or 30 years ago. but at the same time academic theology must compete today with more nonacademic demands. giving teachers "a shorter span of effective time" to train' future priests theologically. "It is entirely unfair to accuse our seminaries of teaching heresy,' as some very rigid persons allege. On the other hand, I believe that it is fair to say that even the best seminary, operating under today's conditions, can hardly provide an adequate presentation of what every good priest should know," the bishop said.
going evaluation of seminary students. - More emphasis on community life. - Clearer separation of the "priestly formation program" from diaconate and lay ministry programs in institutions that provide resources for more than one form of ministerial or theological formation. Because of the unique' demands of priestly formation. Bishop Marshall said. "there should be no general integration of seminarians with other students." Despite such areas of concern. "there are any number of positive things to report" on the state of U.S. seminaries. Bishop Marshall said. He particularly praised the.quality and dedication of seminary rectors. the overall quality of seminary faculties, and the evident "interest of bishops and religious provincials" in their. seminaries. He also cited the interest of seminarians in spiritual life. the quality of seminary liturgies. and the quality of academic programs in such areas as liturgy. Scripture and ecumenism. He said it was "unfortunate" that "almost inevitably non priest seminary faculty are offended" when it is argued that seminaries should have more priests on their faculties. He said the non priest faculty investigation teams'met during the seminary study "were almost universally well qualified persons." The concern. he said. is to have seminarians "immersed in a priestly environment" in order to learn ahout the priesthood hy example and experience as well as through formal studies. Turn to Page Six
While praising the pastoral "field education" programs of seminaries for "remarkable" progress in the past two decades. Bishop Marshall said that "integration with the academic and spiritual is one of the cryi ng needs" of such program~.
He also called for: - More presence of priests in seminaries, especially as advisers and spiritual directors of seminarians. - "More clear-cut directives" for seminary life from local bishops and religious superiors and from the national guidelines for priestly formation. - "Clearer evaluation standards" for the admission and on-
NC photo
BISHOP MARSHALL