July 1989 Print

 

 

Court Oks Abortion Limits
5-4 Decision Gives States More Power to Restrict Funding

WASHINGTON  — In one of the most emotionally charged and politically explosive cases in years, the U.S. Supreme Court on July 3 narrowed its historic 1973 ruling that legalized abortion, saying states are free to impose new restrictions.

Waiting until the last day of their term to hand down the anticipated ruling on a controversial Missouri case, a 5-4 majority of the court's conservatives backed an opinion that opponents said amounted to a back-door dismantling of the abortion rights granted 16 years ago in the Texas case of Roe v. Wade.

While emphasizing that it was not overturning the Roe decision, the court's opinion, written by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, sharply criticized Roe and, in the opinion of both pro-and anti-abortion activists, virtually invited further court challenges.

Reversing lower court rulings that were based at least in part on the Roe decision, the court's majority upheld in its entirety a controversial Missouri law that, among other things, required doctors to test whether a fetus could live outside the womb before performing abortions on women 20 or more weeks pregnant.

The law also prohibited use of public money to fund facilities that perform abortions or counsel women to have them.

Rehnquist made it clear that the high court intended to open the way for states to limit women's ability to terminate pregnancies.

Rehnquist's opinion prompted a bitter retort from Blackmun, author of the 16-year-old Roe opinion that gave women in the first trimester of their pregnancies virtually untrammeled rights to abortions.

Employing direct and emotional language seldom seen in court opinions, Blackmun lambasted the majority opinion as "deceptive" and a piece of "cowardice."

Monday's vote indicated there now may be a majority on the high court prepared to reconsider Roe v. Wade. Four are not: Blackmun, two colleagues who signed onto his opinion, William Brennan, and Thurgood Marshall and John Paul Stevens, who filed a separate dissent.

But Byron White, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy, all concurred at least in part.

In separate opinions, both O'Connor and Scalia independently underscored their own discomfort with Roe, with O'Connor calling the trimester framework "problematic", and Scalia taking the court to task for not going further and overturning the 1973 decision "explicitly."

 

Justices Draw a Line on Religious Displays

WASHINGTON (RNS)  — The Supreme Court ruled July 3 that some government-sponsored religious displays are permissible as long as they do not have "the effect of promoting or endorsing religious beliefs."

By a 5-4 vote, the court said displaying a Christmas nativity scene inside the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh violates constitutionally required separation of church and state because it appears to endorse Christian principles.

But the court unanimously permitted a Hanukkah menorah on the front steps of the city-county building in Pittsburgh because that display also included a Christmas tree and a sign saluting liberty.

The court said the menorah, a nine-branched candelabrum used during the celebration of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, does not appear to endorse Judaism because of its "particular physical setting."

Justice Harry Blackmun said the Nativity scene, or creche, violates the Constitution because "nothing in the context of the display detracts from the creche's religious message."

'Glory to God in the Highest!' says the angel in the creche—"glory to God because of the birth of Jesus," Blackmun said. "This praise to God in Christian terms is indisputably religious—indeed sectarian."

By contrast, he said, a display containing the menorah includes symbols that support the nation's pluralist tradition.

Comment: Judge Anthony Kennedy, who voted to permit the Nativity scene, said that the ruling "showed an unjustified hostility toward religion, a hostility inconsistent with our history and our precedents."

 

Catholic Teens Hurl Questions and Challenges at Five Bishops

DENVER (RNS)  — Roman Catholic teenagers recently peppered five U.S. bishops with questions and concerns about such issues as the church paying more attention to youth, making liturgy more relevant to them, and changing church teachings with which they disagree. "Sometimes it seems like the church is not in touch with us," one teenager said at the opening of a "Youth Speak Out Forum" at the 20th biennial national Catholic Youth Conference here June 22-25, which was attended by about 1,200 youth and parish youth leaders.

Whistling and cheers erupted when one teenager asked the bishops why altar girls are not allowed. Bishop Bernard J. Ganter of Beaumont, Texas, replied that he believes it is all right for girls to perform that role.

Although girls serve that role in some parishes, "we don't call them by that name," commented Bishop Dale J. Melczek of Detroit.

Pointing out that U.S. bishops have asked the Vatican's permission, Bishop Robert Carlson of the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese noted that "the only ones who write to Rome are those opposed."

The bishop of Colorado Springs, Richard C. Hanifen, predicted that "change is going to happen in the not too distant future."

Responding to the concern that some teenagers feel the Catholic Church is not in touch with youth, Bishop Arthur N. Tafoya of Pueblo said, "We should be in touch with people in everyday life and not wait for crisis situations." His comment was applauded.

Many church youth complain that liturgy is "too long, boring, and there's nothing in it for me," one teenager told the bishops.

A priest who works with youth, the Rev. Don Kimball, pointed out there are Masses with polka, classical, Hispanic, and Black music. He asked why rock music should not be used.

"I think it can," replied Bishop Melczek, adding that different tastes at Masses should be respected. He said youth should be on parish liturgy committees.

The teenagers clapped when one youth asked why women could not be priests. "The bottom line is because the pope says 'No.'" answered Bishop Ganter. "I don't see that coming anytime soon."

 

Supreme Court Rules that Congress May Not Ban all Dial-a-Porn

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Congress may not ban all dial-a-porn, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.

In an opinion issued June 23, the high court upheld a congressional prohibition against obscene interstate commercial telephone communications but struck down a ban against indecent messages.

The legal dispute arose over a 1988 amendment to the Communications Act of 1988 that imposed an outright ban on all—indecent, as well as obscene—dial-a-porn. Proponents of the amendment claimed it was necessary to guarantee minors would not have access to such sexually explicit messages.

The district court upheld the prohibition of obscene telephone messages as constitutional, but found the prohibition of indecent messages to be unconstitutional.

In writing for the high court, Justice Byron R. White said there is no constitutional prohibition against Congress banning the interstate transmission of obscene commercial telephone recordings.

Also, such a ban "no more establishes a 'national standard' of obscenity than do federal statutes prohibiting the mailing of obscene materials or the broadcasting of obscene messages," Justice White wrote.

But the court rejected the government's argument that nothing short of a total ban on dial-a-porn could prevent children from gaining access to such messages.

Comment: Obscene messages can be forbidden but not indecent? It seems to me indecent messages are considered obscene. "I just received an obscene phone call," says the missus. Now her husband has to say, "You sure it was obscene and not just indecent?" Pretty fine line there Supreme Court.

 

Retired Cardinal Timothy Manning of Los Angeles Dies at 79

(RNS)  — Retired Cardinal Timothy Manning of Los Angeles, who combined conservative theology with liberal social positions, died of cancer June 23 at the age of 79.

A native of County Cork, Ireland, he answered a call for priests in America by coming to St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif., in 1928. He was ordained in 1934 and went to Rome for post graduate studies at the Gregorian Institute, where he received the degree of Doctor of Canon Law in 1938.

He was appointed secretary to Archbishop John J. Cantwell that year and became a bishop in 1946. He was appointed bishop of Fresno in 1967, succeeded Cardinal James Francis McIntyre as head of the Los Angeles archdiocese in 1970, and was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1973.

During the 15 years that Cardinal Manning served in Los Angeles he staunchly upheld church teachings on such matters as birth control and abortion. He said any Catholic who cooperates in an abortion is automatically excommunicated and specified that "even the mother herself is not immune from this severe censure."

Cardinal Manning was equally outspoken on social issues, where his views were more liberal. He counseled young men on their right to become conscientious objectors during the Vietnam War and called for a halt to the deporting of Salvadoran refugees in 1983. In a 1984 pastoral letter, the cardinal declared that sexual abuse of children, illegal drug trafficking, and unscrupulous business practices illustrate what he called a more basic form of violence in America, "the deadening of conscience."

Under Cardinal Manning's leadership, the Los Angeles Archdiocese also developed programs of dialogue and interfaith understanding with Jews and Muslims. In 1977, the archdiocese worked with a dozen rabbis to expunge anti-Semitic overtones inadvertently arising from Lenten liturgies. In 1982, Cardinal Manning said the interfaith exchanges "have brought growth and enrichment to our faith as Roman Catholics."

 

Start of African-American Congregation Angers Washington Prelate

WASHINGTON (RNS)  — Despite warnings by the cardinal of Washington, a prominent black Catholic priest has announced plans to start an unauthorized "African-American Catholic congregation."

The Rev. George Stallings said his new congregation, to be called Imani Temple, does not represent a break with Catholicism. But Cardinal James Hickey of Washington issued a statement calling Father Stalling's action "a first step toward separating himself" from the church.

"The Catholic Church as a whole has not succeeded in meeting the profound spiritual and cultural demands of African-Americans," Father Stallings said at a June 21 news conference at which nearly 100 journalists and supporters jammed into a small, sweltering conference room at the Howard Inn.

"In taking this unprecedented step, we are doing what the Roman Catholic Church has waited too long to do in reaching out" to African-Americans, said the priest, adding that several hundred Catholics will join him in launching the independent congregation on July 2.

"We do not see this historic move as a split in doctrine or faith with the Catholic Church or an act of defiance, disobedience, or defection," Father Stallings said. He said he hoped that Imani—Swahili for "faith"—will serve as a model for an eventual "African-American Catholic rite," like the various Eastern rites in union with Rome.

For the past year, Father Stallings has served as the archdiocese's director of evangelism. Previously he was pastor of St. Teresa of Avila parish, where he gained national attention for blending traditional black styles of worship with the Catholic Mass.

Comment: 20 some years ago the language of the Mass was put in the vernacular "so all would understand. " Now this priest wants to say Mass in Swahili. Some idea he has. I'd like to know what he would say if some priest announced he was going to start an all-white Anglo-Saxon Church. Sounds racist and prejudiced, doesn't it? Well that's precisely what Fr. Stallings is. The Catholic Faith is the great equalizer; there is neither black or white, Jew or Greek; in the Church there are simply Catholics.

 

Cardinal Law Turns to Slick TV Ads to Attract Priest Candidates

BOSTON (RNS)  — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is turning to Madison Avenue techniques to help solve its shortage of priests.

In a 30-second television spot offered to Boston-area stations as a public service announcement, the trappings of the fast life are used to recruit seminarians.

A Mercedes Benz and Rolex watch, diamonds and pearls, caviar and cocktails flash across the screen to set up a message for those who may be looking for still more.

"A world that doesn't deny itself anything could use a few men who do," says the single line of the spot, before showing the phone number of the archdiocesan vocation office.

Cardinal Bernard F. Law told a June 6 press conference held to announce release of the spot, donated by a Boston ad agency, that "if St. Paul were here today, he'd use Madison Avenue."

The new recruitment campaign, which relies on time donated by local stations, comes as the Boston Archdiocese faces a severe drop in the number of active priests.

 

Dignity Masses Banned

(RNS)  — Thirteen Roman Catholic California bishops, including Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahony, have banned priests in their jurisdiction from celebrating Masses sponsored by Dignity, a national organization of gay and lesbian Catholics.

The bishops said the June 22 action was prompted by Dignity's rejection of the church's "clear and constant moral teaching against homosexual acts."

The ban follows an earlier edict preventing the homosexual organization from holding Masses in the facilities of the Los Angeles archdiocese.