News Briefs

U. S. Catholic Editors Criticize Vatican for Book Attacks

Chicago (RNS)—The Catholic Press Association roundly criticized the Vatican for "non-collegial and unjust" action is moving against three books which have come under doctrinal suspicion.

Led by incensed religious book publishers, the church journalists instructed the CPA's board of directors to convey to the hierarchy their dissatisfaction in a resolution they adopted after prolonged and occasionally emotional debate.

"It may be time for a strident scream . . . a primal cry. Get with it!" the Rev. Thomas Comber, publisher of the Catholic Bulletin of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said in imploring his colleagues to support the book publishers.

Father Comber is a former head of Paulist Press, publisher of Christ Among Us, by Anthony Wilhelm, a best-selling catechism which has been withdrawn from distribution because of unspecified objections from the Holy See's Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Archbishop Peter Gerety of Newark announced that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger ordered him to remove his imprimatur from the 17-year-old book which the publisher said has sold 1.7 million copies.

Two other books have also come under recent Vatican attack. Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen of Seattle said he was directed to remove his imprimatur from a Paulist textbook, Sexual Morality, by the Rev. Philip Keane. Bishop Walter F. Sullivan of Richmond, Va., said that he was ordered to withdraw a foreword he had written for a book on homosexuality that did not have an imprimatur, Challenge to Love, by the Rev. Robert Nugent.

The CPA resolution adopted here May 25, noted that the Vatican action "has gravely disturbed and bewildered the members of this organization." Members expressed concern about: "The apparent disregard by the Congregation for the principle of subsidiarity in bypassing the National Conference of Catholic Bishops; the failure to recognize due process in the matter of the withdrawal of imprimaturs; the injustice to the publishers and authors; the damaging effect these actions have had on the credibility of the American bishops; the climate of uncertainty created by actions taken without public explanation; the discouragement of creative thought so necessary to intellectual life in the church."

The members said they "see this development as non-collegial and unjust."

Rebellious Catholics Told to Obey Parish Council or Church Will Close

Gentilly, Minn. (RNS)—Some parishioners were unhappy when the Communion rail was removed from St. Peter's Catholic Church here.

They gathered in the church parking lot, confronted the pastor, Rev. W. Donald Archer, and blockaded his car so he couldn't leave. Father Archer, seeking to avoid confrontation, fled out the back door of the parish house and ran through a field to a car driven by a priest who took him to Crookston.

Later, about 100 parishioners met in the basement of the church and voted to restore the Communion rail. A day later, they re-installed the rail, defying Father Archer, the parish council which voted 9 to 3 to remove the rail, and Bishop Victor Blake, head of the Crookston Diocese.

Sunday Mass was cancelled and future Masses were suspended indefinitely. Father Archer resigned as pastor.

Meeting with 100 parishioners in Crookston, Bishop Blake gave them a choice: either the Communion rail goes or the church goes. He said the parish could continue with a temporary administrator if parishioners abide by the parish council's decision to have the rail removed.

After the rail is removed, a new permanent pastor would be appointed, the bishop said.

If the rail is not removed, the church will become a chapel and museum maintained at parishioners' expense, he said. Weddings and funerals could be performed with special permission, but Masses could not be held regularly.

The Rev. Rick Boyd, acting chancellor of the Crookston Diocese, said the bishop told the parishioners that the authority of the parish council must be respected. "The question is not about a Communion rail," Father Boyd said. "The question is about authority."

Communion rails are being removed in many churches in Crookston and elsewhere in Minnesota, Father Boyd said, because they are no longer used.

Because people stand and no longer kneel to receive Communion, the rail is no longer used, he pointed out. He said the Second Vatican Council advocated removal of things in church no longer used.

Nicaraguan Conflict with Pope and Catholic Church Escalates

Vatican City (RNS)—Nicaragua's embassy to the Holy See launched a harsh attack on the Vatican and on Nicaraguan Roman Catholic leaders and denied reports that the Marxist government in Managua is persecuting Catholic priests.

In a four-page statement that is bound to aggravate mounting tensions, the embassy accused the Nicaraguan church hierarchy of actively trying to undermine the Sandinista revolution.

Its statement criticized the Vatican's diplomatic office in Managua for letting the city's archbishop promote and lead an "illegal" demonstration. It also defended the government's decision to expel ten foreign priests and to order the trial of a native clergyman suspected of ties to American-backed anti-Sandinista rebels.

'The government of Nicaragua is not against the Church, but it is against anyone who places in doubt the ideals of the revolution and the bases on which the new state is being constructed," said the embassy. "Therefore, it is also against all uses made of religion aimed at creating an artificial conflict between the church and the revolution."

The statement added that "while some sectors of the churches support the process [of revolution], others aim at its destruction."

Mexico's Catholic Bishops Alarmed by Protestant Inroads

Mexico City (RNS)—Several Mexican Catholic bishops have expressed alarm in recent weeks that a number of what they call "sects" have invaded vast areas of Mexico. The bishops accuse the newcomers of undermining religion, patriotism and the culture of the country. The attacks were directly mainly against the Jehovah's Witnesses, but also against other Christian groups, including Pentecostals, Mormons, Presbyterians and Methodists.

The bishops stressed that the sects were out to subvert not only the Catholic faith, but also the country's political and cultural institutions.

The bishop of Campeche, the Most Rev. Hector Gonzalez Martinez, said that about 60,000 people—about 12 percent of the population of that state—have been converted by the non-Catholics. He said the new groups apparently have a Christian foundation, but are instruments of ideological penetration sponsored from abroad. He charged that, in addition to undermining the Catholic faith, they cause disrespect for natural values, the loss of national identity and social dissolution.

Archbishop Hume to Lead Fall Ecumenical Conference at Trent

London (RNS)—Cardinal Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, is to be joint chairman of a major ecumenical conference to be held in Trent, the town in Italy where Catholic Church authorities met in the 16th century to condemn the Reformation.

The October 3-7 conference will consider "the hope for church unity to be found in professing together those elements of the Christian faith that are common to all denominations."

Diocese Continues to Use Book Disapproved by the Vatican

Cleveland (RNS)—Despite Vatican disapproval of the popular textbook Christ Among Us, it continues in use. Franciscan Sister Mary Kay Cmolik said the Cleveland diocese, where she is director of religious education, is not having "a knee-jerk reaction" to the Vatican order withdrawal of the imprimatur from the book published by Paulist Press.

"Rather, we're going to look and see what will be done on a national basis," said Sister Mary Kay. "As yet, neither the U. S. Catholic Conference nor the National Conference of Catholic Bishops has made an official statement. We're looking to national leadership." Sister Mary Kay said the textbook is used in several parish programs and in Catholic secondary schools in the diocese.

The Rev. Thomas Martin, pastor of St. Francis parish, said yanking of the imprimatur "will do more harm than good. It says that the Vatican has no confidence in our ability to review such matters, to bring them up to where they belong. Over the years, the Paulist Press has made efforts to improve the book. Now, all of a sudden, they're denied the imprimatur. The bishops' authority has been undercut."

Women May Distribute Communion at Papal Masses in Canada

Montreal (RNS)—Organizers of Pope John Paul II's September visit here are considering using women to assist in the distribution of holy communion at papal Masses. The distribution of the Eucharistic Host by women at Masses in Canada has become a fairly widespread practice in recent years, but not, if ever, at papal Masses.

It did not occur at papal Masses in the U.S. during visits of Pope John Paul II and Pope Paul VI in the 1960's and 1970's. In fact, the Pope, regarded as a conservative in such matters, has often stressed that, whenever possible, only priests should distribute holy communion. During his visit to the United States in 1979, the Vatican banned lay Eucharistic ministers, men and women, from distributing communion.

The Reverend John Walsh, a member of the committee coordinating the visit, said if enough priests cannot be enlisted "there is a distinct possibility" that women will take an active part in the rite. "What the Vatican told us (in this respect) is that they are receptive to our own local traditions," he said.