July 1985 Print

 

BERNARDIN STRESSES LOYALTY TO ROME, RULES OUT WOMEN PRIESTS

Portland, Ore. (RNS)—Cardinal Joseph Bernardin said June 27 that the Catholic hierarchy in America is "totally loyal" to Rome. In answer to criticism from some quarters that the Church is drifting toward a "national church" identity, he said emphatically, "We are not developing a national church."

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with RNS, the Cardinal also asserted that barring women from ordination was "the will of Christ," and a rule that "not even the pope can change."

Cardinal Bernardin granted the interview during a visit to Portland, where he was the keynote speaker at the seventh American Baptist biennial meeting.

The Catholic Church in the United States, with its more than 50 million faithful, has been the object of some severe criticism during the past year from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, powerful head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Catholic hierarchy in the U.S. wants to remain "in communion" with the Holy See, said Cardinal Bernardin. "We are totally loyal. We are part of the universal Church. We must remain, we want to remain in communion with the Holy See. I really don't think we are becoming a national church."

On the upcoming synod being held to review the progress of Vatican II, Cardinal Bernardin said, "We want to review what has happened to see what good things have happened and also to see what problems have developed and then, in light of that evaluation, determine what path we should follow in the future. In that context, many of the bishops will reflect what has happened in their own countries."

On the subject of women's ordination the Cardinal was equally emphatic about the position of the Church. "The question is not, 'Can women become priests?' but the question is, 'Is the Church authorized to do this?'"

"The norm or the tradition of not admitting women to the priesthood is that we have consistently taught that this is a tradition which cannot be changed. It has to do with the way Christ established or ordered the Church. Some think this is a tradition shaped by the cultural tradition at the time of Christ. Therefore, if it was determined by the culture of the times or the social situation it could be changed. However, the official Church, the Magisterium, has consistently said the condition is normative and cannot be changed."

"No power can change this. It was the will of Christ. Not even the pope can change it."

"If, on the other hand, it were another kind of tradition, a more social or culturally determined tradition, well then, the Church could change it. But it has been normative tradition of the Church, and it cannot change, and I personally do not see any change coming about."

This statement is in accord with Pope John Paul II's stand on the subject of women in the priesthood. The Cardinal also defended John Paul II from the criticism that he is trying to make the Church into the image of the traditional, conservative Polish church. "I hear those assertions that the Holy Father is trying to make it into a Polish church," he said. "The Holy Father is doing what it is his responsibility to do. His cultural background, his Polish background, certainly has an influence on him in the same way my American heritage has an influence on my thinking."

Later in the evening, the Cardinal addressed more than 3,000 delegates at the American Baptist meeting.

 

SYMPOSIUM SPEAKER: ROME'S RESISTANCE "STALKS" CATHOLIC WOMEN

BRUGES, Belgium (RNS)—A strong plea for women's rights within the Catholic Church was made here to a predominantly male gathering of clergy and theologians attending an intercontinental symposium on the local Church. The leaders and theologians attending hope to devise a "blueprint" for the Church of the future.

Joan D. Chittister, Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. St. Benedict in Erie, Pa., boldly challenged the Church hierarchy in Rome with a case study she presented to the group. In the strongest language yet used during the session, she said, "Resistance from Rome stalks the steps of every attempt women religious make to renew, relate and minister to the Church." Sister continued, "The woman's movement is a rising issue in (our) communities . . . to be denied sacramental contact with God because men are not available; to be unable to complete their ministry with the sick, dying and alienated people by dispensing the sacraments; to be denied the experience of full eucharistic life that is possible to men's communities . . . because we are women, is taxing the faith of women."

Sister Chittister told the conference that major obstacles to the goals of women are lack of money, disapproval from Rome and pressure from "certain facets of the public, especially establishment Catholics." The conference has attracted liberal thinkers in the Church from five continents.

Another view of how the Church of Vatican II is evolving in some of the Third World countries was described by a nun working with the Little Sisters of Jesus in the diocese of Riobamba, Quito, Ecuador. "We envision a Church de-clericalized in which wider and more extensive powers will be given to the laity," said Sister Nelly Arrobo Rodas. She said her constituents aspire to "a Church without power that proposes but does not impose . . . and that will side with the powerless."

Cardinal Basil Hume, one of the highest ranking of the clergymen attending the week-long symposium, said he would not oppose ordination of women if Rome were to change its present position. However, he cautiously pointed out that he "could not see the official position of the Church changing" in the foreseeable future.

 

MALONE TO RATZINGER: CONFERENCES SHOULD PLAY LARGE ROLE

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Apparently contradicting recent remarks by a high Vatican official, the elected leader of the nation's Catholic bishops has criticized the view that national organizations of bishops "ought not to" play an important role in the Church.

Bishop James W. Malone, President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), disputed the view in an address during a closed session of the full body of bishops at their recent mid-year meeting in Collegeville, Minn. A text of his remarks was released on June 25.

The Youngstown, Ohio, bishop focused his remarks on an upcoming world synod of bishops to examine the reforms of Vatican II, held two decades ago. He predicted the synod, to take place this fall, will show that the Church has been "fundamentally on the right track" in implementing Vatican II reforms. In calling attention to "positive" results of Vatican II, Bishop Malone cited the development of "episcopal conferences," as well as "other structures and processes at the diocesan and parish levels." These structures have tended to extend authority in the Church beyond the Vatican and local bishops.

Although Bishop Malone did not name the Vatican official, the U.S. bishop's remarks contrasted sharply with a position taken recently by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Last fall, and again this spring, Cardinal Ratzinger leveled several blasts at bishops' conferences which he said threaten to overshadow the direct responsibility of each bishop.

He characterized the national conferences as "forcibly anonymous, bureaucratic structures that, in order to decide, need preparatory outlines drawn up by special committees" and "end up by producing somewhat flattened texts where personal positions are softened."

In the most recent interview, the Cardinal said he thought bishops' conferences should not be granted a formal status as they were by Vatican II.

In his address, Bishop Malone said the Pope's announcement, last January, that he would call an extraordinary synod has triggered both "hope" and "anxiety" on the part of Catholics. Both reactions, however, spring from a "misreading" of the Pope's intentions, he said. There are "conservative folk" on the one hand, who "hope" the pontiff will use the synod to "undo" the work of Vatican II, Bishop Malone said. At the same time, "liberal persons" anxiously and "fearfully entertain much the same expectation."

 

NEW TREATY ENDS CATHOLICISM'S STATUS AS ITALY'S STATE RELIGION

VATICAN CITY (RNS)—Italy and the Vatican put the final seal on a new bilateral treaty that abolishes many Roman Catholic Church privileges in Italy, including Catholicism's status as the official national religion.

At a ceremony June 3 in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Agostino Casaroli exchanged the instruments of ratification of the new concordat, as the treaty is called. The concordat initialed February 18, 1984, and a supplementary economic agreement initialed November 25. 1984, together replace a former bilateral treaty which Italy's Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini signed with the Vatican February 11, 1929.

The new agreements abolish Catholicism's status as the "sole religion of the Italian state" and reduce Catholic religion classes in public schools to an elective course available at request. Italy ceases to subsidize the Italian Roman Catholic clergy and abolishes many tax exemptions enjoyed by such Church-run institutions as hospitals.

Speaking at the ratification ceremony June 3 at the Vatican, Cardinal Casaroli did not hide the Church's concern over some of the changes caused by the new treaty and defined the demotion of Catholicism from state religion a "traumatic" event. In a sign of the Vatican's concern over the changes, the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments issued a special statement June 3 reminding Italian Catholics that Church rules regarding marriage, divorce and other matters remain in force.

 

PRIEST CALLS ON CURIA, TRIES TO POLISH IMAGE OF U.S. CHURCH

NEW YORK (RNS)—The Rev. Richard Hynes, President of the National Federation of Priests Councils (NFPC), spent most of his vacation this past May knocking on doors of Curia offices at the Vatican. The Chicago-based priest made his unusual trip in order to gain a clearer understanding of Rome's perceptions of the U.S. Catholic Church.

"What struck me more than anything," said Fr. Hynes, "was Rome's lack of awareness of the renewal of the priesthood in the United States." Equally troubling, according to this priest, is a Vatican lack of appreciation for the growing vitality of parish life among U.S. Roman Catholics.

Part of the backdrop for Fr. Hynes' mission is a widely held perception among American Catholics that the Vatican is alarmed at growing activism, even unruliness, among U.S. bishops and, to some extent, parishioners. But Fr. Hynes, while acknowledging some truth to such perceptions, believes they are lodged partly in the predominantly negative input received from more strictly conservative elements with the U.S. Church who opposed most change.

Fr. Hynes also believes that reports of Curia leaders' disenchantment with U.S. bishops is probably overstated, and results from what he called "a clash of cultures" between Rome and the United States. "Our bishops operate in a very open society, as does our overall Church," he said. The shift in attitudes among Roman Catholics in this country is inevitable, he suggested, a phenomenon that U. S. prelates could not realistically ignore.

Fr. Hynes takes strong exception to the widely quoted remark of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger that the U.S. Church "is on the path to self-destruction." These and other remarks attributed to Cardinal Ratzinger, the West German prelate who heads the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "respond too much to the negative" of what's going on in the U.S. Church, said Fr. Hynes. The priest was not able to meet with the Cardinal, who was busy with activities surrounding the elevation of twenty-eight new cardinals in late May.

 

CANADA'S BISHOPS ISSUE BLEAK REPORT ON VOCATIONS

LONDON, Ont. (RNS)—A report by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops says that by 1993, there will be only 3,700 diocesan priests in Canada if the number of men entering the priesthood continues to decline. The problem is far from being solved "as there is no hope of lowering the ages or of increasing the numbers of Canadian clergy over the coming years," says the report.

It added that there is no reason to foresee an increase in the number of ordinations over those of recent years.

Canada's 65 Catholic dioceses had 7,618 priests in 1977, and 6, 904 in 1983. The current figure could drop by 3,200 in the next eight years if the present trend continues. The dioceses had a net loss of 714 priests between 1977 and 1983. But since 68.5 percent of priests were aged 50 and over in 1983—the average age of a Canadian priest today is 57- the rate of retirement will increase dramatically through 1983.

The shortage problem is further sharpened by defections. The bishops' report said that more than 1,000 priests have given up their vocations in the past twenty years.

 

POPE MAKES APPEAL FOR EAST-WEST UNITY IN HIS NEW ENCYCLICAL

VATICAN CITY (RNS)—Pope John Paul II launched a strong new appeal for spiritual unity between Eastern and Western Europe and paid special tribute to his cultural heritage by promulgating an encyclical dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the patrons of the Slav peoples.

The new 50-page document titled Slavorum Apostoli (Apostles of the Slavs) and issued July 2 in seven languages, including English, is the fourth encyclical John Paul has written and published since becoming, in 1978, the first Slavic pope in Roman Catholic history.

This encyclical is addressed "to the bishops, priests and religious families and to all Christian faithful in commemoration of the eleventh centenary of the evangelizing work of Sts. Cyril and Methodius." These saints took Christianity to the Slavs in the ninth century before what John Paul described as the "deplorable spirit" between the Church of Rome and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Born to a prominent Byzantine family in Salonika, they refused political careers to devote their lives to the Faith and missionary work. The two brothers were the first to create an alphabet for the Slavs. They translated the sacred Scriptures into old Slavonic.

In a clear reference to persecution faced by Catholics in Communist-ruled Eastern bloc countries, John Paul prayed God to help them pursue their faith "without hindrance."

"O great God, one in Trinity, I entrust to You the heritage of faith of the Slav nations," the Pope said. "May they follow in conformity with their conscience the voice of Your call . . . may their membership in the Kingdom of Your Son never be considered by anyone to be contrary to the good of their earthly homeland. May they render You due praise in private and public life."