RNS

WHY DO CATHOLICS STAY IN THE CHURCH?

New York (RNS) — The question today is no longer why Catholics leave the church, but why they stay, says the Reverend Andrew Greeley, noted priest-sociologist and often controversial commentator.

Writing in the August 1-8 issue of America, the Jesuit Catholic weekly, Father Greeley offers a check-list of post-Vatican II grievances by American Catholic laity, including poor preaching, bungled authority, insensitive pastoral practices and bad theology.

"There is nothing more the Vatican, the bishops or we priests can do to drive the laity out of the Church," Father Greeley says. "We did everything we could—and often continue to do it—and still they won't go!"

Based on new sociological data developed by himself and colleague Michael Hout at Chicago's National Opinion Research Center, Father Greeley challenges what he terms "current myths of the various conventional wisdoms" in explaining why Catholics leave the Church. Liberals, he says, insist that not enough has changed in Catholic thought and practice; conservatives cite too many changes and the Vatican and bishops say the laity are troubled by "strange doctrines and practices."

Father Greeley says that "the laity in the United States have reacted to the changes and the traumas of the last quarter century with astonishing tranquility." He points out that the decision to identify themselves as Catholic requires people to define "Catholic" on their own terms. He says that many, if not most, modern U.S. Catholics resist institutionally-defined Catholic beliefs and practices—especially in certain areas of sexuality and teaching authority.

Since 1960 the percentage of income contributed by Catholics to the Church has dropped by half, Father Greeley says, "Catholics vote not with their feet but with their checkbooks."

CANADIAN LUTHERANS, CATHOLICS REACH JUSTIFICATION AGREEMENT

Edmonton, Alberta (RNS) — Following the lead of their U.S. counterparts, Canadian Lutherans and Roman Catholics have reached a general agreement on the meaning of justification by faith.

"While further work is needed in discussion of related doctrines, the participants were pleasantly surprised at the degree of agreement in essentials," said Bishop Robert Jacobson, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and a member of the dialogue group.

It was Martin Luther's emphasis on justification by faith that led to the split in Christianity in the early 1500s which became known as the Protestant Reformation. The Roman Catholic Church condemned Luther as a heretic, but his ideas had a profound effect on others who were dissatisfied with the Roman Catholic Church.

In recent years, Protestant and Catholic scholars have been examining the controversy in detail. Participants in a U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue produced a "fundamental consensus" on justification by faith in 1983, and last year an international Roman Catholic-Anglican dialogue reached a tentative agreement on the doctrine.

Some Catholic scholars such as the Rev. George Tavard, a member of the U. S. dialogue group, now say that Luther's understanding of justification by faith was the correct one.

Roman Catholic members of the dialogue in Canada are Archbishop Adam Exner of Winnipeg, the Rev. Paul Burns of St. Mark's College in Vancouver, Winnifred O'Rourke of the Center for Ecumenism in Saskatoon, the Rev. Martin Moser of Newman Theological College in Edmonton, and the Rev. Alexander Tache of St. Paul University of Ottawa.

POPE APPOINTS TWO TO JOIN SYNOD DELEGATION FROM U.S.

Washington (RNS) — Invoking papal prerogative, Pope John Paul II has chosen two Church leaders known to share his views to be among the U.S. bishops who will attend the upcoming international Synod of Bishops in Rome.

At their annual meeting last October, the nation's Catholic bishops elected a liberal delegation of four prelates to represent them at the synod which is held every three years and will address the issue of the role of the laity this October.

The Pope has named Archbishop Roger Mahony of Los Angeles and Bishop Anthony Bevilacqua of Pittsburgh, both having aligned themselves with attempts by the Vatican to curb dissent within the U.S. Church.

Those elected to represent the U.S. bishops are Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago; Archbishop John L. May of St. Louis; Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee; Bishop Stanley Ott of Baton Rouge.

CONSERVATIVE CATHOLICS CRITICIZE BISHOPS' ADVISORS FOR SYNOD

Washington (RNS) — A group of conservative Catholics, including two members of Congress, has criticized the U.S. bishops' two choices as lay advisors for the Synod on the Laity to be held in Rome in October.

Members of the ad hoc Committee on Lay Action demanded here that the bishops replace their selections with conservatives regarded as loyal to Pope John Paul II. At a July 22 news conference they said that Delores Leckey and Lucien Roy were inappropriate choices because they are paid employees of the Church and are too liberal.

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) took time out from the Iran-contra investigation to fire a shot at the bishops during the news conference. He declared that in picking the two as their advisors to the delegation of American bishops attending the synod, the U.S. hierarchy has deprived itself of the "independent thought" essential to understanding the views of mainstream Catholics.

Ms. Leckey is the permanent advisor on laity concerns to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, while Mr. Roy holds that post in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Mr. Hyde and others at the conference called on the bishops to replace them with Phyllis Schlafly, the outspoken opponent of feminism, and Notre Dame professor Charles Rice.

"She speaks, in my judgment, for the mainstream of Catholics and has a grasp of women's issues that is unequaled," Mr. Hyde said of Mrs. Schlafly.

One of his House colleagues, Rep. Robert Dornan (R-Calif.), used the news conference to attack liberal lawmakers who he said have long since abandoned their Catholic Faith but list themselves as Catholic and who cite statements of the U.S. bishops to support their political views. Mr. Dornan did not mention names.

The synod is to address a wide range of issues dealing with the role of lay Catholics in Church and society. The conservative activists said they were opposed to any schemes that would significantly expand the role of the laity in the Church because they might blur the distinction between clergy and lay people.

"We are very concerned that the voice of loyal Catholics—loyal to the Holy Father—are not being heard effectively," said Kathleen Sullivan, head of the new committee. She said the committee, which is made up of 15 conservative lay organizations, wants lay advisors who will argue that bishops and clergy ought to stay out of matters that are the responsibility of lay people, such as political issues dealing with the economy and nuclear arms.

Rep. Hyde said the synod is needed to address crucial questions, such as sin and salvation and what he considers the growing laxity in the faith of Catholics, many of whom receive the Eucharist even though they haven't been to confession in years.

Spokesmen for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops said there was no chance that the hierarchy would replace the advisors.

HOMOSEXUAL CATHOLICS PRAY FOR DISSIDENTS AT ANNIVERSARY MASS

Miami (RNS) — One by one, the voices called out from within the congregation gathered for Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral here.

The first voice asked for prayers for Seattle's Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen, the next prayers for the Rev. Charles Curran. A third voice asked for prayers for people dying of AIDS, and that was enough, decided Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy of Miami, who was presiding at the Mass. He abruptly cut off the "prayers of the faithful" portion of the service, interrupting a fourth petitioner in mid-sentence.

A slight murmur went through the church, packed with men and women wearing lavender ribbons pinned to their shirts or tied around their arms proclaiming them to be members of Dignity, the organization for homosexual and lesbian Catholics.

Earlier, the Archbishop had refused to allow a Mass to be celebrated at the hotel where Dignity was holding its eighth national biennial convention. The members were welcome, he said, to attend Mass at any of Miami's parishes. So Dignity members chose to attend St. Mary's on the day Archbishop McCarthy was commemorating his 10th Anniversary as head of the archdiocese.

The group was simply there to attend Mass, according to Jim Bussen, a government management analyst from Chicago who is president of Dignity. But they made their presence felt with loud singing and spoken responses to the Mass prayers, with loud applause after the final blessing and with an abundance of purple "Dignity dollars" dropped into the collection basket. The Dignity dollars are money-sized pieces of paper imprinted with a picture of Pope John Paul II and declare that "a contribution has been made to gay and lesbian-supportive organizations."

Dr. Keifer Dead

Dr. Ralph A. Keifer, leader in liturgical renewal in the Roman Catholic Church and other denominations, died in Chicago, July 5th, at the age of 47.

A native of Suffolk, England, he received a master's in theology and a doctorate in liturgical studies at Notre Dame University. He taught liturgy and homiletics at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore from 1973 to 1976, when the joined the Catholic Theological Union faculty as professor of liturgy.

Dr. Keifer was general editor and acting executive secretary for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy and was an advisor to the U.S. Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy.

Exsurge Domine,
et dissipentur inimici Tui!