Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 7—November 1,1979
Undertones Mark Pledge
Of Child Welfare
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (NC) -
After lengthy debate in the wake of
the visit of Pope John Paul II, the
United Nations General Assembly
recommended that child welfare
programs promoted by the
International Year of the Child be
continued and strengthened in the
future.
But the debate had political
undertones and specific charges by
some governments that other
governments engage in physical
aggression against children.
The United Nations declared 1979
as the International Year of the Child
and is promoting national regional
programs to spotlight specific
problems of children and to develop
appropriate welfare programs.
The most controversial aspect of
the debates was the fate of
Cambodian children. Jean Young of
the United States said children in
Cambodia are 45 percent of the
population, but very few under five
years of age have survived the
fighting. Those who have suffered
malnutrition, she added.
Ieng Thirith, wife of Deputy
Prime Minister Ieng Sary of the
deposed Pol Pot Cambodian
government, said Vietnamese
occupation troops are getting rid of
children as part of genocide plans.
She called for international
assistance, but opposed aid which
would be diverted to opponents of
the Pol Pot governemt.
China supported the claim that
Vietnam is responsible for “countless
deaths” of children in Cambodia.
Vietnam, in turn, blamed China’s
invasion of Vietnam earlier this year
for temporarily delaying its
development efforts, but that “now
normal life for all, including children,
is being re-established.”
Albania blamed much of the
problems facing children through the
world on Soviet, U.S. and Chinese
imperialism.
Third World countries were
almost unanimous in saying that a
philanthropic approach to children’s
needs in the developing countries will
not work. They advocated a new
world economic order which would
give developing nations a greater
share of the world’s economic
resources so they could benefit all
citizens.
The Soviet Union said that when
the international community thinks
of children, “it must think of peace.”
Disarmament would free huge sums
of money for social and economic
development and thus help improve
the condition of children, it said.
East Germany also backed
disarmament: “Only under a clear
sky without rockets and bombs can
children be assured of a better life
and a happy future.”
Several Arab countries
complained that Palestinian children
suffer more than others because they
live under Israeli occupation.
The General Assembly debate was
held Oct. 15-18. Pope John Paul
spoke to the assembly Oct. 2. In his
speech, the pope asked nations to
put aside their partisan political
interests in the quest for world
betterment.
Suggestions by other countries
included:
— Imelda Marcos, first lady of the
Philippines, proposed drafting a
program in waste recycling and
resource conservation to improve the
environment and to provide
“tremendous savings” by turning
waste into assets. These savings could
be used to finance children’s
programs.
— Afghanistan proposed that a
U.N. commission be established to
launch a worldwide decade for the
welfare of children and their
mothers.
— Bulgaria suggested the
development of a code of conduct
for solving child-related problems.
— Canada said adults ought to be
ashamed when they see how children
are exploited by television violence,
pornography merchants and drug
peddlers. “The good family life
ought to have a central place in the
formulation of public policy,” said
Canada.
Missionary Activity Stimulated
ROME (NC) - With the repeated
encouragement of Pope John Paul II,
missionary activity has continued to
grow, according to a report by the
International Fides Service.
In messages given throughout the
year, the pope asked the church to
respond to its missionary duty and
emphasized the missionary aspect of
priestly and Religious vocations, said
Fides.
Fides, news service of the Vatican
Congregation for the Evangelization
of Peoples, issued a special report
reviewing missionary activity since
October 1978. Here is a summary of
the Fides report:
In Africa, important political
changes opened the way for church
and missionary activity. Fides cited
the end of the harsh dictatorships of
Idi Amin in Uganda and of Francisco
Macias Nguema in Equatorial Guinea.
The holding of democratic elections
in Ghana and Nigeria were also called
hopeful signs.
Catholicism is celebrating its
100th year in Zimbabwe Rhodesia in
1979. Because of tensions in
Zimbabwe Rhodesia, celebration of
the 100 th anniversary has been
subdued, however.
While the government of Prime
Minister Abel Muzorewa has
authorized the return of missionaries
to Zimbabwe Rhodesia, the daily
increase of violence is paralyzing the
church’s pastoral activity in rural
areas.
In South Africa, the racial policy
of apartheid — strict segregation — is
continuing to create conflicts of
conscience in the church.
In Mozambique, the Marxist
government has clamped down on
religious activity by closing some
churches and allowing some local
restrictions on prayer in common.
Searches of religious residences also
take place.
Bishops in Mozambique have
condemned the social conditions in
the country, especially in rural areas,
and called on the Christian
communities to give witness to their
faith even in the midst of dangers.
Bishops in Angola also have
condemned the violence and the
rules governing missionaries in their
country.
In Angola, the laity, particularly
youth, are taking over the
evangelization work where the
government has stopped church and
missionary activity.
In Asia, the overwhelming
problem facing governments and the
church is the exodus of thousands of
refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia
and Laos. The Catholic Church, a
minority in Southeast Asia, has
appealed for refugee aid.
China is showing signs of
liberalizing its attitude toward
religion, giving the pope reason to
hope for further positive
developments toward religious
freedom for Catholics in China.
New laws in India and Indonesia
have restricted missionary activity.
There have been protests by the
Catholic community in India,
claiming the laws violate the
principle of religious freedom
declared in the Indian constitution.
Ministerial decrees forbidding
evangelization to persons already
belonging to a religion and restricting
foreign missionaries and foreign aid
provoked protest in Indonesia
because the decrees appear to violate
the constitution.
In the Philippines, the church is
celebrating the 400th year of the
Archdiocese of Manila in 1979 with
efforts toward ecclesiastical renewal
and an international Mission
Congress planned for December.
Fides reported that at the start of
1978, the world population was 4
billion, of which 739 million, (18
percent) were Catholics.
There were a total of 403,000
priests, 68,000 brothers and 940,000
nuns at the beginning of 1978. The
number of priests increased by 2,633
worldwide over the previous year. Of
that increase, diocesan priests
increased everywhere but Oceania.
The number of order priests dropped
everywhere.
Corpses Are Missing Persons
CONCEPCION, Chile (NC) -- Archdiocesan authorities in Concepcion said
18 bodies secretly buried at the village cemetery of Yumbel belong to political
prisoners missing since the September 1973 military coup. They listed 193
more peisons still missing from the area.
The Social Services Office of the archdiocese said relatives so far have
identified 11 of the 18 bodies buried in a common grave. The identified
corpses belonged to men who were among a group of 21 people arrested
shortly after the coup, said archdiocesan authorities.
The arrest of the 21 was among the “most dramatic, grievous cases” in the
area, said an archdiocesan statement. The 21 were supposed to have been taken
to military barracks “but never arrived there,” said the statement.
Digging of the clandestine mass grave at Yumbel, located in the Concepcion
archdiocese in southern Chile, was ordered by a local judge after a
church-sponsored investigation in July provided strong evidence that the site
was used as a burial place for political prisoners.
“This is an important confirmation of the juridical aspects of the claim filed
by the church and the relatives,” the Social Services Office added. Its report
said that some of the skulls showed bullet holes. The remains are being
identified from dental charts, and from clothing and shoes still in recognizable
condition. A minor, Juan Carlos Jara, was identified by his crucifix.
Auxiliary Bishop Alejandro Goic of Concepcion said government authorities
have a duty to investigate each case.
In the past, the government often has ignored evidence indicating violence
against missing persons arrested by security forces.
Last September Bishop Orozimbo Fuenzalida of Los Angeles, Chile, called
at the interior ministry in Santiago with documentation on 19 cases of persons
missing after being arrested. The bishop did this after the government said it
was willing to investigate the whereabouts of the disappeared persons. No
investigation followed.
In a comment on the findings at Yumbel, Interior Minister Sergio Fernandez
said these cases belonged to the courts. He also recalled that all “events of this
type” happening between September 1973 and March 1978 fall under a general
amnesty law, meaning those responsible for the killings cannot be prosecuted.
INDIAN AWARENESS ~ As part of Indian
Awareness Week, students from St. Stephens’s
Indian Mission in Wyoming join in an outdoor
M ass which combines Catholic and Native
American rituals. William C’Hair, right, an
Arapaho elder, prays over the gifts which are
placed on the blanket altar as Jesuit Father Carl
Starkloff, director of the mission, celebrates the
Mass. The altar is on the ground because Indians
traditionally prayed to the earth as one of the
sacred elements. (NC Photo)
GRATEFUL FOR U.S. TRIP » Pope John
Paul II stands in front of the Shrine of our Lady,
Queen of the Rosary, in Pompeii, Italy, and waves
to a crowd of 100,000. He told the people he had
come to kneel before Mary and give thanks after
the happy completion of his recent trip to Ireland
and the United States. (NC Photo)
POMPEII AND NAPLES
Festive Crowds Greet Pope John Paul
POMPEII, Italy (NC) - Festive
crowds and papal pleas for social
justice, prayer, Marian devotion and
missionary activity marked Pope
John Paul II’s day-long visit to
Pompeii and Naples, Italy, Oct. 21.
More than 100,000 people
gathered at the Shrine to Our Lady,
Queen of the Rosary, in the small
town of Pompeii to see the first pope
to visit the shrine and to join in the
papal Mass and noontime Angelus.
After visiting the sick and praying
the rosary with them, the pope left
Pompeii in the late afternoon for
Naples, where a crowd of 300,000
waited for him in the port city’s vast
Piazza del Plebiscito.
There, the pope pleaded for social
justice.
“How can anyone here in Naples
close their eyes to the bitter realities
such as uncertain life because of a
lack of work and the resulting lack of
bread, the danger of sickness,
inadequate housing and a situation of
crisis spread through all social
levels?” asked the pope.
Naples, like the rest of southern
Italy, suffers high unemployment
and serious problems of poverty and
inadequate social services.
“Believe me, these situations
touch me deep in my heart,” said the
pope.
He declared that he was there
“because I intend to stimulate those
spiritual and moral forces that can,
indeed must, set in motion social
justice.”
As he was about to leave, he asked
the crowd to “sing ‘O Sole Mio’ for
me.”
The enthusiastic Neapolitans, who
interrupted the pontiff’s talk more
than 30 times with applause and
cheers, continued singing their city’s
most famous song until well after the
pope had disappeared in a helicopter
for his return to the Vatican.
In the morning, the pope arrived
in Pompeii at 9 a.m. by helicopter.
He visited with officials of the shrine
in private before his 10:30 a.m. Mass
at an altar built in front of the
shrine.
The papal visit was billed as a
pilgrimage of thanksgiving to Mary
for the pope’s successful recent
voyage to Ireland, the United States
and the United Nations.
The occasion was also Mission
Sunday throughout the church, and
the site was dedicated to the rosary,
which the pope has several times
called “my favorite prayer.”
In his homily, the pope united the
three themes of thanksgiving, mission
and the rosary by linking them to
Mary. He thanked Mary for the
success of his trip.
Using the day’s Gospel story of
the annunciation, he praised Mary
for her part in bringing Christ into
the world and spoke of the chi rch’s
missionary role, to bring the message
of Christ to the whole world.
Fulfillment of this mission
especially needs prayer, he said, and
he called the rosary “a prayer always
open to the whole world, to all
human problems, to the problems of
each man and at the same time to all
human communities ... to the whole
mission of the church.”
At the end of the pope’s homily a
flock of white doves was released and
flew over the crowd.
Among gifts he received at the
Offertory were a lamb and a
sculptured tableau of the Last
Supper that was about three feet
long, over a foot deep and nearly a
foot high.
At the Communion, the pope
distributed to over 150 people,
mostly sick and orphans.
The shrine is relatively modern by
Italian standards. It was begun by
Bartolo Longo, a convert to helicopter shortly after 8 p.ml
Catholicism, who with his wife
established a center in Pompeii for
the care of orphans.
The centerpiece of the shrine is a
17th or early 18th century painting
of Our Lady of the Rosary which
Longo bought from a Dominican
priest in 1875.
Longo bought the painting for the
equivalent of five cents. It was in
extremely poor condition, but Longo
had it restored, and in 1887 it was
crowned with a diadem blessed by
Pope Leo XIII.
In 1901, the year the church was
completed, Pope Leo declared it a
pontifical shrine. Along with the
shrine at Loreto, Italy, it is governed
by a special commission of cardinals.
Longo, who died in 1926, was
declared a “servant of God” — the
first step towards canonization — in
1971.
The madonna-and-child painting,
which features 15 small circles
depicting the 15 mysteries of the
rosary, was hung on the facade of the
shrine for the outdoor papal Mass:
After Mass the pope went up to
the central balcony of the shrine to
lead the crowd in the Angelus.
After a private lunch and rest, he
reappeared at 3 p.m. in the small
piazza to the left of the shrine to
lead the rosary for about 200 sick
people confined to wheelchairs and
beds.
Following the rosary he visited for
more than half an hour with the sick,
while a choir accompanied by organs
sang Marian hymns. The orphanage
begun by Longo and his wife now
has 700 children.
Shortly after 4 p.m. the pope left
Pompeii for Naples, where a
cheering, flagwaving crowd awaited
him. It was dark before he left
Naples. He arrived at the Vatican by