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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1987)
The Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta ' Vol. 25 No. 8 Thursday, February 19, 1987 $12.00 Per Year ALTAR SERVERS — Twenty-four altar servers at Corpus Christi parish in Stone Moun tain were invested as acolytes at a special ceremony Feb. 8 at the 11 a.m. Mass. They had received 12 weeks of preparation in serving and Drive Supports Church Growth, Church Services The theme of this year's Charities Drive is ' Who ever loves God must also love his neighbor." This quotation from the first letter of St. John em phasizes that love of God is actively lived out by the Church in works of service to all kinds of people in need. Ctftfiolic Charities SUNDAY MARCH 8 Support for the Charities Drive, which this year has a goal of $1 million, is a tangi ble sign of support for the work of the Catholic Church in north Georgia: in religious education, in cam pus ministry to college students, in expansion of the church in mission areas with small Catholic popula tions, in aid to seminarians' study and in future church building and growth. The Charities Drive col lection, which will be held in each parish the weekend of March 7 and 8, goes to sup port the activities of the archdiocese which are not solely parish activities, but works of the archdiocesan community. Departments of Catholic Social Services and Catholic Education, vocations directors and finance officers draw from the support of this once-a- year collection to carry on work in each of their areas of service. Some of the ways that this year's Charities Drive will assist the work of the Church in north Georgia are: (Continued on page 12) at the ceremony were given a short talk on the ministry of acolyte and vocations. Father An ton Mowat, back row, second from right, has been working with the acolytes in training. Bishops Study AIDS Response DALLAS (NC) — In dealing with AIDS and other “behavior-dependent" diseases, the Catholic Church “must teach and in struct that no-fault morality does not work in medicine or morals,” U.S. bishops were told Feb. 12. Msgr. William B. Smith, a moral theolo gian and academic dean of St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., made the com ments to about 150 bishops from the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Antilles at tending a weeklong medical-morals workshop in Dallas. Archbishop Thomas Donnellan of Atlanta was among those at the conference. Msgr. Smith was one of two speakers who presented a lecture on “AIDS — A Public Health Dilemma” during the workshop, sponsored by the Pope John XXIII Medical- Moral Research and Education Center bas ed in Braintree, Mass. While the church must be compassionate in treating AIDS — acquired immune defi ciency syndrome — “we must be compas sionate in prevention as well,” Msgr. Smith said, “and that means we must tell the truth, especially to our young.” The theologian said, “There is no in discriminate sex without consequences — whether those consequences be spiritual, (Continued on page 12) Refugee Crisis In Lebanon Is "New Barbarity" VATICAN CITY (NC) — The head of a Catholic interna tional relief group has expressed alarm that food and medicine are being denied to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The Vatican newspaper said the situation represents a “new type of barbarity” in war. Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento, president of Caritas International^, called for “free and permanent access” to camps for all international relief organizations. Shiite Amal militias have beseiged more than 35,000 Palestinians in refugee camps around Beirut. Many people in the camps are malnourished, and some are reportedly near starvation. As of Feb. 16, three truckloads of supplies were allowed into one camp. Cardinal do Nascimento also encouraged negotiations for ' an effective cease-fire,” and called on international groups to help Lebanese "rebuild their nation” in peace. Caritas International^, based in Vatican City, coor dinates and represents more than 100 national member agencies working in the fields of development, emergency aid and social action. In an interview Feb. 14 with Vatican Radio, Father Samir Mazloum, president of Caritas in Lebanon, said the need for food and medical aid for the whole country is "increasingly urgent.” He said Caritas was trying to help many of the approx imately 630.000 “permanent refugees” in Lebanon. Caritas and Maronite church leaders have formed a commission to help such families, he said. The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said Feb. 15 that recent fighting in Lebanon has "swept away the distinction between combatants and civilian populations.” "The horrible and inhuman element of this war of all against all is the use of the weakest people as merchandise for military tactics " and “political strategies,' the newspaper said in a front-page editorial. The taking of hostages and the siege of the refugee camps are methods aimed at keeping up an “equilibrium ol terror,” it said. Denying food to the refugees, it added, was denying a “natural right. " Pope John Paul II also has appealed for food and medical supplies to be allowed into the camps around Beirut. Books, Projects Are Food For Lent The Church season of Lent begins in less than two weeks. With Ash Wednes day approaching on March 4, it is time to consider ways to approach the season as individuals and families. Some reading recommen dations from bookstores that serve Catholics in the archdiocese, and projects from these and other sources, are provided on page 10 this week. As <Jot> bAS S€NT mc . .. so I seNt) you
