August 1985 Print

 

CATHOLIC BISHOPS ISSUE STATEMENT ON McBRIEN'S WORK

WASHINGTON (RNS)—A committee of U.S. Catholic bishops, after talks with the Vatican, has declared that views presented in a popular encyclopedic work on Catholicism run contrary to "authoritative" Church doctrine.

In an unusual statement, the bishops' Committee on Doctrine issued a warning about the contents of the book, Catholicism, by the Rev. Richard McBrien, chairman of the theology department at the University of Notre Dame. The bishops said the author has "already made a number of clarifications" and has expressed readiness to make "further changes."

The six-page statement came in a separate case as reports surfaced that the Vatican is scrutinizing the tenure application of a Catholic University of America professor. In another unusual procedure, Washington Archbishop James Hickey has delayed granting tenure to Rev. James Provost, a prominent canon lawyer, and has forwarded the case to the Vatican, according to faculty sources who asked not to be identified.

The doctrine committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops prepared its statement on the 1,290 page book by Fr. McBrien "in consultation" with the Vatican's Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to William Ryan, spokesman for the Bishops' Conference. The Congregation, headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, has taken steps recently to tighten the reins on theologians who dissent or divert from traditional Church teachings.

While noting Fr. McBrien's "praiseworthy" effort in compiling a comprehensive work on Catholicism, the doctrine committee, headed by Archbishop Quinn of San Francisco, said "insights" made in the book seem "difficult to reconcile with authoritative Church doctrine." In particular, the doctrine committee cited sections of the book dealing with the "virginal conception" of Jesus, "perpetual virginity" of Mary, and the binding nature of Catholic dogma. The bishops also objected that the book "is not supportive" of Church teaching on such controversial issues as the ordination of women, and artificial contraception.

On the matter of grace, the statement expressed concern over any suggestions that the sacraments of the Church are not necessary in the granting of grace.

The book says that every person is already a child of God and "an heir of heaven," and that the sacraments simply "signify what God is already doing for everyone," the statement noted.

The use of the term grace, leads to the book's conclusion that the "baptism of a dying infant seems unnecessary and perhaps even unwarranted." The bishops' statement added: "Such conclusions could undermine Church teaching regarding the necessity of baptism and for membership in the Church."

 

CATHOLICS FOR FREE CHOICE SOLICIT SIGNATURES FOR NEW AD

NEW YORK (RNS)—Two of the Catholic nuns who provoked the Vatican's anger last year when they signed a controversial abortion statement that appeared as an ad in the New York Times are seeking signatures for a new "Declaration on Solidarity" with the original signers.

According to an organizer of the campaign to gather signatures, the intent is to publish the new statement as an ad in the New York Times around the one-year anniversary of the original ad, which ran Oct. 7, 1984.

After publication of the original statement the Vatican Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes threatened 24 nuns who signed the ad with expulsion from their orders unless they publicly renounced their action.

In the seven months since the Vatican ultimatum was released, none of the women has publicly recanted. Two priests and two brothers who signed the ad have signed statements that satisfied the Vatican. For the past several months, both sides in the dispute have been relatively quiet, although several nuns recently told RNS they had no intention of recanting.

Sister Marjorie Tuite, director of citizens action for Church Women United, and Sister Maureen Fiedler, co-director of the Quixote House in Maryland, are two of the signers of the original ad who are members of the committee that drafted the most recent statement. A cover letter accompanying the new ad explains, "We are writing to ask you to join us in protesting the reprisals that have been taken against signers of the Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion (title of the original statement)."

"The initial threat to members of religious communities has extended to many other signers and affected many Catholic institutions. It is clearly part of a larger attempt to silence all voices that differ from the voice of the hierarchy."

The new ad will contain the original statement on pluralism and abortion as well as a claim that "many of the 97 signers and their families have been penalized by segments of the institutional Roman Catholic Church."

According to Dr. Marjorie Maguire of Milwaukee, another member of the committee that drafted the new statement, the "Declaration of Solidarity," is not concerned with positions on abortion, but only with the right to speak opinions within the Catholic Church without fear of reprisal. She said it was designed for Catholics who, in conscience, would not be able to sign the original statement on abortion but who want to protest the Vatican's action against dissent.

Both Sister Fiedler and Dr. Maguire mentioned the Vatican silencing of Brazilian liberation theologian Rev. Leonardo Boff and the action against priests who are. members of Nicaragua's Sandinista government as evidence of a "tightening up" and "abridgement of religious freedom."

Dr. Daniel Maguire, a theology professor at Marquette University, a former Jesuit priest, and husband of Marjorie Maguire, reported that since January his speaking engagements at four Catholic colleges had been cancelled because he had signed the original ad.

 

RABBI NAMED HEAD OF INTERFAITH CENTER AT CATHOLIC COLLEGE

ST. PAUL, Minn. (RNS)—One of Minnesota's best known Jewish leaders has been appointed director of an interfaith center at a Roman Catholic College.

He is Rabbi Max Shapiro, who recently retired as spiritual leader of Temple Israel in Minneapolis, after 30 years in the post.

Msgr. Terrence J. Murphy, President of St. Thomas College, accompanied Rabbi Shapiro on a 1983 visit to Rome and the Holy Land. He said he had thought of something like the center for many years but had never found the right person to run it until Rabbi Shapiro became available. Under the auspices of the center, Rabbi Shapiro will teach evening undergraduate courses at St. Thomas and will speak in Catholic parishes and high schools throughout Minnesota. In turn, Msgr. Murphy and other members of the St. Thomas community will address Jewish functions.

 

CATHOLIC BISHOPS ADOPT "GRADUAL" APPROACH TO THE ABORTION FIGHT

WASHINGTON (RNS)—In a shift of tactics, the nation's Catholic bishops have asked the Supreme Court to uphold restrictions on access to abortion but stopped short of calling for reversal of the 1973 decision legalizing abortion.

The bishops' stance is in some contrast with a more aggressive appeal by the Reagan administration for the High Court to overturn its landmark ruling on abortion.

In a brief filed with the Supreme Court, the U.S. Catholic Conference asked the justices to uphold the restrictions which include a requirement that physicians offer women information about fetal development and alternatives before the abortion procedure.

While supporting the restrictions, the bishops' conference avoided criticism of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 abortion decision. Instead, they argued on grounds that the restrictions are within the bounds of that ruling and "not clearly incompatible with a woman's freedom to choose whether to terminate her pregnancy." At the same time the conference said its position represented no retreat from Church teaching against abortion.

Richard Doerflinger, assistant director of the bishops' office of pro-life activities, said the conference still strongly opposes Roe v. Wade, but that arguments in the brief represent a change in tactics by the bishops and the anti-abortion movement. The more moderate appeal reflects a growing consensus among anti-abortion lawyers that "the best approach is a gradual, step-by-step approach," he said.

"We are acknowledging that Roe v. Wade is the Supreme Court's policy, and that the current membership of the court is unlikely to change that fact," he said. "It's not a lowering of goals, but a more practical approach."

 

MARRIED PRIESTS PRESS FOR CHURCH RECOGNITION

MINNEAPOLIS (RNS)—An appeal to Pope John Paul II and bishops of the Catholic Church for readmission to the active clergy will be made when representatives of 100,000 officially inactive married priests meet in Italy Aug. 26-30.

Nearly 200 persons—married priests and their wives from 15 countries—will gather in Ariccia, 20 miles south of Rome and near the papal summer residence, for what is being called "the first universal synod of married priests and their wives."

Eleven Americans—eight priests and three wives—will be among the participants, according to Dr. Terence Dosh of Minneapolis. He is executive secretary of CORPUS, a 10-year-old Chicago-based national association of resigned/married priests, which is spearheading the American participation. CORPUS has 1,400 members and 5,000 persons on its mailing list. Dr. Dosh said the purpose of the synod is "to make visible the fact that at least 100,000 priests have resigned and married in the last 20 years—an absolutely unprecedented event in Catholic history—and to ask for the abrogation of the law of mandatory celibacy for priests in the Roman Church."

An American-written proposal for a pastoral statement from the synod, titled "Send Us," notes that there has been a married priesthood "for all of Christian history . . . the tradition of a married priesthood has its roots in Scripture and in the will of Jesus, who chose married men as his apostles in ministry and his companions at the Last Supper."

The document says that Pope Paul VI expressed his willingness to accept a married priesthood in a 1971 public letter to his secretary of state and that the 1971 World Synod of Bishops "voted in large numbers for a married priesthood, although not with the plurality the pope he felt he needed to change the law."

The statement says that Pope John Paul II "has extended a married priesthood to the Western Church by allowing ever-increasing numbers of Anglican, Lutheran and Polish National Clergy to function fully as married Catholic priests. He has also permitted some Western Catholic married men to be ordained priests. The Church seems to be returning to its roots and reliving its tradition."

According to the proposed message, "a married priesthood in the West would forge strong ecumenical bonds with Eastern churches and the Protestant tradition."

Dr. Dosh cited numerous statistics regarding Catholic clergy in the U.S., which he said have their equivalent in most countries. Today there are 30,000 parish priests in the U.S., he said. In the year 2000 there will be only 15,000 priests, and they will be much older than now. That is the same number of parish priests there were in the U.S. in 1925, but in 2000, there will be 65 million Catholics, four times more than in 1925, Dr. Dosh said.