News Briefs

 BISHOP MALONES DEFENDS VATICAN LIFTING OF IMPRIMATUR

Washington (RNS)—The president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops has strongly defended a controversial order by the Vatican last year to lift the Church's required seal of approval off a popular text used to instruct converts in the United States.

The statement by Bishop James Malone, of the diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, came in reaction to what he described as continued "wide circulation" of the text, Christ Among Us, and plans underway to reprint it.

The bishops' leader denied that the Vatican action was "arbitrary" and taken without consent of the American Church. He also denied that "complaints" by conservative Catholic activists were what prompted the action. At the same time, however, Bishop Malone did say that the Vatican initiated the investigation of the book and that Rome later rejected even the suggestion that the book be permitted to be used in corrected form.

At issue is the popular catechetical text published by Paulist Press. Last April, the Vatican Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ordered Archbishop Peter Gerety of Newark, N.J., to remove his imprimatur from the book.

An imprimatur is a declaration that a book is free from doctrinal error, and is required for official teaching texts in the Church.

The demand by the Vatican came after a campaign against the text by conservative Catholic groups, who charged that it contained numerous doctrinal errors and weakened Catholic teaching on sexuality. The archbishop lifted the imprimatur and Paulist Press, which is owned by the Paulist order of priests, immediately halted circulation of the book.

However, the Vatican order continues to stir controversy in the Church. The Religious Books Division of Harper and Row plans to reissue the book this spring.

Bishop Malone acknowledged in his statement that it was the Vatican that initiated the investigation by a group of theologians and Archbishop Gerety. Furthermore, Bishop Malone said that when the theologians suggested "a number of changes in the content of the book to overcome its defects," the Sacred Congregation told the Archbishop that even a corrected version of the book would not be suitable as an official catechetical text.

In his statement, Bishop Malone made known details surrounding the removal of the imprimatur for the first time.

According to Bishop Malone, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Sacred Congregation, requested the removal after two years of correspondence between the Cardinal and Archbishop Gerety, in whose diocese Paulist Press operates. "A group of theological advisers which Archbishop Gerety set up after receiving the original communications from the Congregation in January 1982, agreed substantiality with numerous objections to the book which had been listed by the Sacred Congregation," he said.

PRO-CHOICE CATHOLICS: SURVEY SUPPORTS "DIVERSITY" CLAIM

New York (RNS)—A coalition of pro-choice Catholics whose full-page New York Times advertisement last October touched off a controversy now says the outcome of a survey it took "provides hard evidence" that "there is a diversity of opinion on abortion among committed Catholics," as claimed in the advertisement.

The coalition, Catholics for a Free Choice, in a statement issued February 5, by executive director Frances Kissling, said the results of a survey of Catholic scholars, conducted by Dr. Marjorie Maguire, "prove once again that committed Catholics in fact have widely disparate viewpoints of this most sensitive subject."

Dr. Maguire, of Milwaukee, Wis., is identified in the statement as secretary of the Catholic Committee on Pluralism and Abortion. Dr. Maguire is the wife of Dr. Daniel Maguire, professor at Marquette University and a member of Catholics for a Free Choice.

The free-choice group's Oct. 7 advertisement, signed by 97 Catholics, led to a showdown between the Vatican and members of the U.S. Church. The Vatican Congregation for Religious ordered 24 nuns and four priests who were signers of the document to retract the statement or face expulsion from their orders.

The 1984 survey was sent out about the same time as the ad. Mail questionnaires were sent to members of the Catholic Theological Society of America, the Catholic Biblical Association and the College Theology Society—a total of about 2,000 persons. Of that number, 498 responded, including 325 nuns and priests.

"Of the theologians and scholars surveyed," says the statement, "62 percent responded that it would be incorrect to call abortion murder, 60 percent disapproved of the current provision in canon law which provides for automatic excommunication of those involved in the 'sin' of abortion, and 49 percent believe that abortion can sometimes be a moral choice."

Almost half, or 49 percent of the respondents, said they believed there are circumstances when "abortion legally should be left to the conscience of the pregnant woman."

On public funding of abortions, the coalition said that 53 percent agreed that "if abortion should be a legal option for a woman at least during part of the pregnancy . . . such abortions should be funded for poor women by public funds."

The survey also indicates that 19 percent of respondents said that although they agreed with the coalition's statement published last October, they "did not sign because they believed their positions might be in jeopardy" if they did so. "Among the 81 persons who checked this reason," said the coalition, "70 percent teach in Catholic institutions, 25 percent are priests, and 27 percent are members of religious orders."

The survey also gave evidence of a substantial "gender gap." Women are "significantly" less likely than men to "regard all abortions as murder," to believe that abortion is never a moral option, and to regard excommunication as an appropriate penalty for abortion.

While acknowledging that the sample surveyed did not represent the entire Catholic theological community, the coalition maintained that the sampling was "large enough" to prove that there is a "significant range of opinions" on abortion among Catholic scholars.

The group called upon the hierarchy of the Church to be open to "a candid and respectful dialogue with Catholics who disagree on this and other questions affecting women in the Church."

SUSPENSION ULTIMATUM ISSUED TO NICARAGUAN PRIESTS

New York (RNS)—The president of Nicaragua's Catholic Bishops' Conference has confirmed that he has ordered three priests suspended unless they give up their posts in the Sandinista government.

Vatican Radio first reported the impending suspension in a broadcast Jan. 18, but in a telephone interview with RNS Jan. 21, Maryknoll Father Miguel D'Escoto, Nicaragua's Foreign Minister, said he had "not been told anything by any religious superior. No one has told me to resign from my duties this moment with the government of Nicaragua." He further asserted that Bishop Pablo Antonio Vega, President of the Conference, would not have the power to suspend him, since the bishop is not his ordinary —the bishop of the diocese in which Fr. D'Escoto resides.

However, The National Catholic Reporter, an independent weekly, said in its Jan. 25 edition, that Bishop Vega, on Jan. 23, confirmed that he had prepared letters informing the priest of the sanctions but that they were "not yet in the hands of the interested parties."

He said that if the priests do not respond within 15 days of receiving the letters, they will be automatically suspended.

Vatican canon law experts contacted last week said the suspension would mean the priests would be forbidden to exercise their priesthood, even in private, and that they could not be addressed as "Father." The experts also said that Bishop Vega, as head of the Conference, has the power to suspend the priests because their actions had an effect beyond the boundaries of their diocese.

In addition to Foreign Minister D'Escoto, those involved include Minister of Culture Ernesto Cardenal, a diocesan priest, and his brother, the Minister of Education, Fernando Cardenal, who last month was expelled from the Society of Jesus.

The suspension is the latest step in the escalating war between the Catholic Church and Nicaragua's leftist government. The requested resignation of the priests was a major issue at Nicaragua-Vatican talks in Rome last September, that ended in a deadlock.

A spokesman at Maryknoll headquarters in Ossining, N.Y., said the Vatican action would not affect Fr. D'Escoto's membership in the mission society. According to a Reuter ANSA dispatch from New York, Maryknoll spokesman Rev. Paul Newpower told reporters, Jan. 28, that the Order firmly supports Fr. D'Escoto and will continue to do so whatever action the Vatican takes.

WOMAN NAMED CHANCELLOR OF ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco (RNS)—San Francisco Archbishop John R. Quinn this week (2-8-85), appointed a woman to serve as the Archdiocese's chancellor, the highest position ever attained by a woman in a major U.S. Catholic diocese.

The appointment of Sister Mary Bridget Flaherty comes at a time when Roman Catholic women are clamoring for more important roles in the Church.

"It could be significant, or it could be mere window dressing," said Sister Sandra Schneiders, a nationally-known advocate for the role of women in the Church who teaches at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif.

Sister Flaherty is confident that her appointment is a significant gain for women in the Church. If it were mere window dressing, she indicated cautiously, Archbishop Quinn might have chosen someone else. "I'm no pushover," she said.

VATICAN APPROVES LITURGY FOR USE BY FORMER EPISCOPALIANS

New York (RNS)—The Holy See has approved liturgical texts for use in Anglican-use parishes—those personal parishes established for groups of former Episcopalians who were received into the Catholic Church under a special pastoral provision which will allow them as Catholics to retain elements of their Anglican liturgical and devotional practice.

The newly approved liturgical texts—in a three-year interim edition—are to be used only in the special parishes of the Anglican-use of which there currently are five in the U. S. Anglican-use parishes began using the new liturgies on the first Sunday of Advent.

The Rev. James Parker is a former Episcopal priest who serves as special assistant to Boston Archbishop Bernard F. Law, who was appointed by the Holy See as ecclesiastical delegate to facilitate the implementation of the pastoral provision. Father Parker explained that the bulk of the liturgy is taken from the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer, with modifications and changes required by the Holy See. He pointed out that the Book of Common Prayer is purposely not copyrighted so that it may be used freely by various church groups, and has always been borrowed from freely.

He noted that those who prepared the liturgy for submission to the Holy See had the "close support and cooperation of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy," and that the texts arrived at reflect current liturgical scholarship.

NOVEMBER SYNOD DRAWS MIXED REACTION

Washington (RNS)—The announcement that Pope John Paul II has convened an extraordinary Synod of Bishops in November to discuss the Second Vatican Council has produced mixed reaction among Catholic spokesmen.

"The Pope is strongly committed to the Council," said Father Avery Dulles. "He said he would devote his pontificate to faithfully carrying out the Council. I don't think there is any question of backing away from the Council.

"I don't feel uncomfortable about it [the Synod]. The Holy See does have a role to play as a sector of unity in the Catholic Church. The more communication there can be between Rome and the episcopate, the better off the Church is. I hope there will be opportunity for ample input." He noted that Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, commented to the press that Rome "has completed its diagnosis of Vatican II." Said Father Dulles: "If they've completed their diagonsis, then there's no need for anyone else to make a diagnosis.

"The Pope doesn't waste time. When he gets an idea, he wants to do it right away. I think he caught everybody by surprise."

Bishop James Malone, of Youngtown, Ohio, President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a prepared statement:

"The NCCB is pleased to learn of Pope John Paul's announcement that he will call an extraordinary synod this fall. For two decades, the Church throughout the world has benefited enormously from the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The announcement means that the bishops of the entire world will have an opportunity to collaborate with the Holy Father in a special way in seeking to make Vatican II even more pastorally effective in the life and mission of the Church. The Conference looks forward to preparing for the Synod and contributing to it to the fullest extent."

Peter Steinfels, Editor of Commonweal, a bi-weekly Catholic journal, said, "I certainly feel apprehensions, and I think that a lot of other people, whether or not they are willing to admit it, feel a certain apprehension.

"The fact of the matter is that Vatican II is not entirely of a piece. There are different strands, different—divergent—points of view expressed in the document [The Church in the Modern World]: Some emphasize a more traditional hierarchical model of the Church, some minimize the conflict historically between the Church and modernity. Others emphasize the full participation of all the members of the Church. There are different interpretations [of Vatican II] which can both claim a certain validity. It's important that these things be worked out over time and experience, and with a kind of nurturing guidance from Rome.

"There is some reason to believe that Rome and various bishops in different parts of the world not only hold to the more conservative interpretation of Vatican II, but that they would prefer to end the dialogues and, I think, the creative tension between these two interpretations.

"It hardly seems that a synod of such short duration—and there isn't much time to prepare for it—there's some fear that it won't be reflective of the range of opinions in the Church." These synods don't have a good "track record," he said, adding that popes have issued statements following synods that don't reflect what went on during the synod. "There is some ground for worry that this may just be a monologue—for the Vatican to have a one-way address to the bishops.

"Obviously, one of the possibilities is that" the Vatican might use the synod to crack down on dissent within the Church and enforce greater discipline. "We know that, historically, the Church has sometimes made unfortunate and counter-productive retreats from engagements with changes in the world."

Michael Novak, prominent neo-conservative Catholic, released a statement saying: "Many observers have been saying for some time that Catholicism is in crisis—a crisis of authority and a crisis of a deadly threat from seductive Marxist analysis and action in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The Pope has warned in recent months that many interpretations given to Vatican II in recent years have been false. He has called for a more critical and probing spirit—a "testing of the spirits," and greater skepticism concerning seductive appeals to liberation, whether from Marxism or from shallow consumerism.

"The Church today desperately needs a spirit more critical and skeptical about the promises of this world and about false prophets. Millions will welcome a fresh burst of probing and invigorating critique of what has happened since Vatican II, both harmful and fruitful."

LETTERS REVEAL SCHILLEBEECKX RETRACTS EARLIER POSITION

Rome (RNS)—An exchange of letters with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, indicates the controversial Dutch theologian Edward Schillebeeckx has retracted his position defending the "popular" ordination of priests.

The correspondence between the two was made public by the Vatican Jan. 10. Numerous extracts were published the Church paper L'Osservatore Romano and read on Vatican Radio.

Father Schillebeeckx, a well-known Dominican and author of the Dutch Catechism, had theorized that in "extraordinary circumstances," even those persons who had not been ordained could consecrate the Eucharist and, in effect, take on priestly functions. His thoughts on the subject were most fully illustrated in his book Kerkelijk Ambt—The Ministry of the Church, published in 1980.

Worried that such a position could give rise to a non-institutionalized "shadow Church," the Vatican congregation—whose principal duty of late has been to question those who espouse potentially heretical doctrines—expressed serious reservations about Father Schillebeeckx' theses as far back as 1982.

Several letters on both side followed. In particular, the Congregation maintained that its own official declaration, approved by the Pope (Sacerdotium Ministeriale, 6 Aug. 1983), excluded categorically the possibility of a "popular" non-ordained priesthood as envisioned by Father Schillebeeckx.

As in the case with exponents of the theology of liberation, Cardinal Ratzinger invited the Dutch theologian to publicly accept the teaching of the Church on the issue. In a meeting last summer, Father Schillebeeckx assured the Cardinal orally that in a new book he was finishing "the requests would be met," and that his errors would be mended.

A follow-up letter from Father Schillebeeckx dated 5 Oct. 1984, read in part: "In this [new] work I have kept in mind the criticism of my first book . . . there is no longer any question of an 'extraordinary minister' of the Eucharist, nor is there anything, in my view, which contradicts the declaration of your Congregation regarding Sacerdotium Ministeriale. In the hope of avoiding future misunderstandings, the theme of the apostolic succession is analyzed more amply."

SUPERIORS "STILL DECIDING" HOW TO REACT TO VATICAN ULTIMATUM

Washington (RNS)— The superiors of 24 nuns who signed a controversial advertisement supporting abortion rights are "still deciding" about whether they should obey a Vatican directive.

The officials of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men explained, in a carefully worded statement released by the superiors here. Heads of the Orders expressed concern for the nuns but did not take clear sides in the dispute between them and the Vatican. Whether the statement is construed as supportive of the nuns or defiant of the Vatican, the superiors have so far not complied with the directive as outlined in the Nov. 30 letter from the Vatican's Congregation on Religious and Secular Institutes.

In a related development, three of the priests who signed the ad have made public retractions. A spokesman for the U. S. Catholic Conference, however, said it was not known yet whether the retractions satisfy the Vatican demand.

The unsigned statement by the superior asked for an "inherently just" resolution to the dispute that would "honor the conscience" of all those involved.

Sister Rita Hofbauer, a spokesman for the Leadership Conference, said the superiors' statement did not represent any official response to the Vatican directive. "No final decision has been made of any kind," she said. "The women are still in the process of deciding" how they will react to the Vatican.

The Rev. Roland Faley, executive director of the Conference of priests' superiors, said the dispute "will be worked out" quietly between each individual Order and the Vatican, rather than through a joint position by the Orders. "They are still in the process of deciding what they'll do. There's nothing terminal about it."

The official also said that "most of the nuns who signed the statement did not know it would appear as an ad in The New York Times."

Asked about this, Frances Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice, said, "It is perfectly possible that some of the 97 signers did not know that the ad would be printed in The New York Times. However, every signer knew that the ad was a public document and gave express written permission for the publication of their name."

She said remarks like this coming out of the bishops' conference were typical of the "scurrilous attempts by the NCCB not to deal with the issue at hand, which is disagreement with the Church on abortion."