From the Religious News Service

VATICAN DELAYS DOCUMENT ON RIGHTS OF BISHOPS AND THEOLOGIANS

Washington, D.C.—In an abrupt intervention, the Vatican has put a hold on a major document in which the U.S. Catholic bishops attempt to set procedure for resolving conflicts with theologians.

The delay in the document, which has strong support among the bishops, comes in the midst of a continuing Vatican crackdown on theological dissent in the United States and elsewhere.

At its annual meeting here, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops had planned to vote Nov. 15 on the statement, which has been in Rome for more than a year. The document seeks to delineate the rights and responsibilities of theologians and bishops, as well as to establish guidelines for dealing with theological disputes.

But at the eleventh hour, the Vatican's Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, complained that the bishops' document "seems to place bishops and theologians on the same level." The message was wired to the Vatican's office in Washington and relayed to the bishops the weekend before the meeting here.

In disclosing the Vatican move, Bishop Raymond W. Lessard of Savannah, Ga., chairman of the bishops' committee on doctrine, said the still felt the document was "sound and balanced" and that the doctrine committee would press on with it after discussions with the Vatican. "We have not bowed obsequiously toward Rome" on this matter, Bishop Lessard said when asked about the delay. He said any final document will affirm the role of bishops in handling conflicts with theologians.

In its intervention, the Sacred Congregation criticized what it described as the document's tendency to "equate bishops and theologians." The five-page complaint said that in the bishops' proposed procedures, theological "experts come to have a prevalent position to that of the bishop." The Vatican has generally sought to reassert the authority of bishops and Rome over what is taught and written by theologians.

The bishops' document speaks of the need to "foster a spirit of collaboration" between bishops and theologians as the best way to avoid doctrinal disputes. According to several sources, the aim of the bishops is to avoid doctrinal differences before they spark highly publicized confrontations between Rome and individual theologians.

Among the specific guidelines criticized by the Vatican was one which urged that theological advisers to the bishops be recognized as competent by their peers. "Doesn't this limit the freedom of the bishop?" asked the letter, which was signed by the Congregation's Archbishop Antonio Bovone.

BISHOPS ASK VATICAN TO SCRAP PAPER ON EPISCOPAL CONFERENCES

Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Catholic Bishops will ask the Vatican to scrap a working paper on the status of national organizations of bishops and start over in framing a new document.

Those opposing the Vatican document, circulated by the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, narrowly gained the two-thirds majority of the nation's 305 active bishops necessary to approve the measure.

The bishops needed 203 votes and the document was approved 205-59. The document approved here Nov. 16 used language that is considerably softer than that of a highly critical statement released just two weeks before the national meeting. In the original draft by a special committee, made up of the current president and five past presidents of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the prelates termed the Vatican paper "rigid," "confused," "inadequate, and "deficient enough to suggest that a new draft should be framed."

The revised document, while still recommending that the Vatican begin from scratch in its effort to define the purpose and role of national conferences, eliminates language that many bishops apparently considered unnecessarily severe in its criticism. That concern was voiced strongly on the floor of the meeting. Cardinal Edmund Szoka of Detroit termed one section of the revised document "in bad taste" and "somewhat offensive."

He was referring to a portion of the document that suggests the Congregation for Bishops employ a variety of experts, including theologians, canon lawyers, and historians in working up a new draft. Cardinal Szoka said the section made it sound as if the U.S. bishops were issuing instructions on how the Vatican congregation should proceed. "To put those kind of instructions in this document is really in bad taste."

As the debate involved Cardinal Bernardin, a staunch advocate of a strong and democratic national conference, often found himself at odds with both Cardinal Szoka and Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston. Even though both Cardinals Law and Szoka said they agreed with the criticism of the response to the Vatican and with the recommendation that an entirely new document be prepared, they disagreed with the tone of the response.

Although the language of the version approved is less severe than the original, it still retains a highly critical tone toward the Vatican paper. It also reflects, as did the original draft, the importance of the issue to the American bishops, who are members of one of the strongest, most democratic, most active and best-funded conferences in the world.

The American bishops have been a special target of Vatican officials who think that episcopal conferences have developed too much power and that they detract from the teaching authority of individual bishops.

One of the loudest critics has been Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the powerful Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who reportedly contributed to the document released by the Congregation for Bishops.

BISHOPS SPELL OUT RIGHTS OF LAITY TO PREACH IN CHURCH

Washington, D.C.—The nation's Catholic bishops have approved guidelines spelling out the rights of lay people to preach at Mass and other worship services.

At its annual meeting here, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops showed overwhelming support for lay preaching as a way to cope with the scarcity of priests in many places and demands for lay people for greater participation. However, the guidelines also reaffirmed Church law which states that only ordained clergy and deacons can preach the homily at Mass. With the blessing of local bishops, lay people may preach during other parts of the Mass as well as in other liturgical settings, according to the guidelines adopted here on Nov. 16 by a 195-42 vote.

Although approved by the bishops, the guidelines will now be sent to Rome for final approval. In addition, local bishops will devise their own policies on lay preaching on the basis of the national guidelines.

Sometimes lay preaching may be a matter of necessity when there are no available priests or deacons, according to the guidelines.

During debate on the guidelines, Auxiliary Bishop Austin Vaughan of New York voiced opposition to the initiative, saying it would "open a can of worms" in encouraging lay people to assume priestly roles. He said the guidelines would further "blur the distinction between the ordained and non-ordained" in local parishes.

But other bishops said the laity are demanding broader responsibilities. "Our people are looking for a lift," said retired Bishop William McManus of Fort Wayne, Ind. But he complained that the document's restriction on preaching homilies will send a discouraging signal to lay people.

POPE WARNS THEOLOGIANS NOT TO QUESTION BAN ON CONTRACEPTION

Vatican City —In a new attack on the widespread use of birth control by Roman Catholics, Pope John Paul II has warned Catholic theologians that any questioning of the Church's ban on contraception would be tantamount to doubting "the very idea of God's holiness."

Addressing the final session of a three-day meeting of 300 Catholic moral theologians held at the Pontifical Lateran University to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Humanae Vitae Nov. 12, John Paul said that Pope Paul VI's encyclical against artificial methods of contraception should be interpreted as ruling out all exceptions.

"No personal or social circumstances have ever or can ever justify such an act," said John Paul, in a pronouncement that observers said restated the Church's opposition to the use of condoms even to prevent or limit the spread of AIDS. The Pope said that like any teaching of the Church, the ban on contraception "cannot be questioned by the Catholic theologian" whom he urged to speak "the same language." The pontiff added that expressing doubts on the ruling, which he repeatedly termed a doctrine, "would render useless the voice of Christ."

According to John Paul, "we are not dealing with a doctrine invented by man," but one "written by the creative hand of God." Thus, he said, questioning it would mean "denying to God himself the obedience of our intelligence, to prefer the illumination of our own reasoning to the light of divine wisdom."

The Pope complained that over the last twenty years many theologians had expressed open dissent with Humanae Vitae. He urged them to show a greater sense of responsibility and to give their students the example of "loyal submission." He criticized what he termed "the uncritical use of philosophical theories or scientific data" and warned "by distancing yourselves from the teachings of the Church, you will expose yourself to the vanity of error and the slavery of opinion."

John Paul's comments came at the end of a week of ceremonies commemorating Humanae Vitae and appeared to represent the high point of a renewed attack against birth control. According to statistics presented by Monsignor Carlo Caffarra at a press conference opening the theologians' meeting, close to 80 percent of Catholic couples use birth control, while 70 percent of confessors and 90 percent of morality professors justify or condone it.