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PAG/' 2—The Georgia Bulletin, December 3,1981
Voiceless, Immobile, Illinois Bishop
Beaches Out To People In Need...
JOLIET, Ill (NC) -
The virtue of fortitude is
needed and appreciated
worldwide, judging from
the letters Bishop Romeo
Blanchette has received
from people across the
United States, Australia.
New Zealand, Okinawa
and elsewhere
Bishop Blanchette, 68,
who resigned as head of
the Joliet Diocese in 1979
when he learned he had
Lou Gehrig’s Disease,
now is immobile and
cannot speak. But he still
“writes” by using a
method of blinking as
someone counts out the
alphabet. In this way he
can spell out words.
In an article in the
Joliet Catholic Explorer,
diocesan newspaper, he
described the letters he
has received from people
offering prayers, seeking
his prayers, and telling
him of their own lives and
the difficulties they face.
“Some who have
written were prison
inmates who described
their sad plight,” he said.
“Others wrote who were
alcoholics in need of help
with their disease. Some
wrote who had cancer;
others who had just lost a
close relative.” Other
victims of the disease he
has, or their families, also
wrote.
“All mentioned the
difficulties they were
having,” he said of his
correspondents “Others
wrote about their
domestic troubles and
how difficult it was to
carry on. Some, however,
were already divorced
Some parents told sadly
of sons and daughters
who had left the church,
while children wrote of
parents who did not
practice their religion.”
On the basis of the
mail, “it is evident that
the persons mentioned
are in great need of help,”
Bishop Blanchette wrote.
“They need help to be
strong and courageous. In
other words, to put in use
the cardinal virtue of
fortitude.”
He added that many
said his articles had given
them courage “to try
harder, to accept more
gladly their crosses.”
“Daily I thank God for
allowing me to be an
instrument of increasing
their practice of the virtue
of fortitude,” he stated.
“Many replies were
written by me; however,
in all the message was the
same - put your trust in
God, unite your suffering
with Christ on the cross,
remember there is no
crown without a cross and
God does not ask the
impossible. In this way I
hope that I helped to stir
up and deepen their
fortitude ”
Even the simplest
tasks, such as receiving
Communion, have
become arduous in his
own life, he added:
“Each day becomes
more difficult for me,
even swallowing a small
particle of the sacred host
at daily Mass.”
“The host often sticks
to my tongue. The priest
has to push the host
further down my tongue.
One day, by reflex action,
I closed my mouth on his
finger.
“After Mass he
jokingly said, ‘This is a
case of biting the hand
that feeds you.’ I, being
voiceless, spelled out, ‘My
bite is worse than my
bark.’ Even the priest who
gives me Communion has
to practice a certain
degree of fortitude. ”
STILL SMILING - Bishop
Romeo Blanchette of Joliet, Ill.,
flashes his familiar smile from his
hospital bed. Upon learning he had
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s
Disease, Bishop Blanchette resigned
as bishop of Joliet and now is
immobile and voiceless. He
communicates by blinking his eyes
in a code-like manner which writes,
letter-by-letter, a special article for
NC News Service.
Celebracion de Nuestra Senora de Guadelupe
Un acontecimiento sin
precedente precide la
Festividad de este ano,
1981: el 450 aniversario de
las Apariciones de Nuestra
Madre Santisima de
Guadalupe.
DOMINGO - 13 de
diciembre, 1981 a la 1:30
P.M. en la Iglesia de
Ponce de Leon at Highland
TR 6-0381
OPEN ALL NIGHT
To Place Classified
Call 881-9732
Sagrado Corazon de esta
ciudad habra una Misa
concelebrada para celebrar
este evento tan singular. El
celebrante principal sera el
A rz obispo de Atlanta,
Thomas A. Donnellan. Se
hace una especial y cordial
invitacion a los cristianos
de “toda nacion, raza,
pueblo y lengua” a
participar en la Misa y
recepcion despues de la
Misa.
La primera aparicion de
la Virgen a Juan Diego fue
el 9 de diciembre, 1531, en
la madrugada. La Santisima
Virgen le dijo a Juan Diego:
“Sabe y ten entendido,
tu el mas pequeno de mis
higjos, que yo soy la
siempre Virgen Maria,
Madre del verdadero Dios,
por quien se vive . . . Deseo
vivamente que se me erija
aqui un templo, para en el
mostrar y dar todo mi
amor, compasion, auxilio y
defensa, pues yo soy
vuestra piadosa Madre. A ti,
a todos vosotros los
moradores de esta tierra y a
los demas amadores mios
que me invoquen y en mi
confien; oir sus lamentos, y
remediar todas sus miserias,
penas y dolores.”
La segunda aparicion, el
mismo dia por la tarde.
Otra vez, la siempre Virgen
Santa Maria le habla a Juan
Diego pidiendo lo mismo.
En la tercera aparicion, el
10 de diciembre. 1531 la
Virgen le promete una senal
para que el Obispo no dude
mas de Juan Diego. En la
cuarta aparicion, el 12 de
diciembre, 1531, Juan
Diego viene a la Virgen con
el problema de la
enfemedad de su tio. Otra
vez la Virgen le habla y sus
palabras son de consuelo y
de ternura.
Proudly Announces The Appointment
Of William F. Goedecke, Jr. As A Memorial Counselor Mr.
Goedecke Was Born In New Jersey And Has Been Living
In The Atlanta Area Since 1965. He Is A Former Captain
In The Marine Corps. He And Kathleen Goedecke Have Five
Children And Are Members Of Holy Cross Catholic Church.
“Oye y ten entendido,
hijo mio, que es nada lo que
te asusta y aflige, no se
turbe su corazon no temas
esa enfermedad ni otra
alguna ... No estoy yo
aqui que soy tu Madre? No
estas bajo mi sombra? No
soy yo tu salud? No estas
por ventUra en mi regazo?
Que mas has de menester?
No te apene ni te inquiete
otra cosa . . .”
Todos sabemos que
despues la Virgencita le
mando a Juan Diego a
buscar unas rosas - en
diciembre - para despues
llevarlas al obispo para asi
convencerle de que si era la
Virgen quien hacia las
apariciones. Sabemos
tambien que fue entonces
que la santa imagen de la
Virgen de Guadalupe
aparecio sobre la tilma de
Juan Diego. Esta es la
misma imagen que miles
han venerado por 450 anos.
Dese que la Virgen del
Tepeyac, la “morenita”
aparecio, muchas cosas
empezaron a suceder.
Personas sanadas de sus
enfermedades, calamidades
nacionales se redujeron
debido a su mediacion. Aun
en tiempos de persecucion,
la Morenita ha seguido al
lado de su puelbo, sin que
nadie la tumbe. Ella
participa en las alegrias y en
las penas de su pueblo. Su
presencia es evidente en el
corazon del pueblo que la
ha sabido amar como la
“madre mas amante.”
Bishops Named
WASHINGTON
(NC) -- Pope John Paul
II has established the
new Diocese of
Metuchen, N.J., and
appointed its first
bishop and a new bishop
of Phoenix. Ariz.
First bishop of
Metuchen is 51-year-old
Auxiliary Bishop
Theodore E. McCarrick
of New York. The new
bishop of Phoenix is
Msgr. Thomas J.
O’Brien, 45, who has
been administrator of
the diocese since Bishop
James S. Rausch died
last May.
The new diocese was
formed by taking four
of the eight counties in
the Diocese of Trenton,
established in 1881. The
new diocese comprises
the counties of
Somerset, Warren,
Middlesex and
Hunterdon. St. Francis
Church in Metuchen has
been designated the
Archbishop Pio
Laghi, apostolic
delegate in the United
States, announced the :
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Catholics For Free
Choice Criticized
WASHINGTON (NC) - The group Catholics for a Free
Choice carries no official status in the church and is in
“direct contradiction” with the church’s teachings on
abortion, according to a statement from the U.S. bishops’
Committee for Pro-Life Activities.
The statement, released Nov. 25, sought “to remove any
confusion that might attend the name of the organization or
the position it holds in the public debate on abortion.”
The statement noted that the organization received “a
certain amount of media attention” after the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops endorsed Nov. 5 a
constitutional amendment on abortion introduced by Sen.
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
Catholics for a Free Choice held a news conference
following the U.S. bishops testimony in favor of the Hatch
amendment and said the bishops’ views are not
representative of most Catholics.
The organization is based in Washington and says it has
5.000 members nationwide.*
According to the bishops’ committee statement, “We do
not presume to question the sincerity of this group, or of
any group claiming theological arguments in support of
legalized abortion.
“Rather, we invite them to study again the moral
teaching of the church on the sanctity of all human life and
the obligation to protect life,” said the statement by Father
Edward M. Bryce, the bishops’ committee executive
director.
I HE HOLY FATHER S MISSION AID TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCH
HELPING The Midnight Mass in Bethlehem is offered each
THE Christmas for members of this Association.
POOR How better can we say thank you? In 18 mis-
TO sion countries (where Catholics, though few,
HELP are mostly of the Eastern Rites) the Holy Father
THEMSELVES helps millions because you read this column.
Blind boys in the Gaza Strip (not one of them a
Christian) are learning rug making, basket-work,
the ABCs, at the Pontifical Mission Center for
the Blind. Lepers in India are cared for by native
priests and Sisters. The poor have the Gospel
preached to them in Egypt, Iraq, Iran and Ethio
pia. . . . This season especially, won't you re
member our work in your prayers? Our priests
and Sisters depend on you. They ask the Infant
to bless you always!
4b
J
Gifts we receive no lafer than Thursday,
December 31, can be listed In your 1981 income
tax return. Wondering what you can do?
BUILDING □ Immediate help is needed for three projects in
FOR poor rural areas in India. St. Augustine's Chapel
CHRIST and Scnool in Kokkalai is much too small for pre
sent needs and the roof is in danger of collapsing.
Just $2,000 will repair and enlarge it. For the pro
tection of the growing girls there, the Sister
Superior of St. Mary's Orphanage in Erezha needs
$1,500 to construct a wall around the property. A
convent is needed for Sisters in Urukunnu who
are assisting Father Albert in ministering to six
remote missions in the area. Who will help pro
vide the $5,000 needed to build it?
D Sister Immaculate, in Chellamkonam, India,
pleads for $6,000 to build an Orphanage for the 25
desperately poor girls who are now crowded into
unsafe, temporary buildings on the convent
grounds.
Dear
Monsignor Nolan:
Please name
return coupon
with your street
offering
CITY ' STATE ZIP CODE
0
ENCLOSED PLEASE FIND S
cz
A HOME
FOR THE
HOMELESS
THE CATHOLIC NEAR EAST WELFARE ASSOCIATION
NEAR EAST
MISSIONS
TERENCE CARDINAL COOKE, President
MSGR. JOHN G. NOLAN, National Secretary
Write: Catholic Near East Welfare Assoc.
1011 First Avenue • New York. N.Y. 10022
Telephone: 212/826-1480
J