Bishops ponder abuse crisis, farms, devotions and more

This roundup explains many of the issues confronted by the U.S. Catholic Bishops during their annual fall meeting. Other coverage on Pages 6, 7 and 8 go into depth on selected topics.

 

Washington (CNS) — The U.S. bishops opened their annual fall meeting with a challenge from their president to direct “the energy of the whole church” to the eradication of sexual abuse and the healing of its victims. They also heard from the review board they established to respond to the abuse crisis.

During general sessions the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also discussed and voted on a vast array of issues from same-sex unions, agricultural concerns, popular devotions, socially responsible investment, stewardship, conflict-of-interest policy and several liturgical matters. During the meetings, Nov. 10-12, the bishops elected a new secretary, a pro-life committee chairman and chairmen-elect for eight other committees.

On the first day of the annual fall meeting, held at Washington’s Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, the bishops approved the addition of one full-time and two part-time staff members for their Office for Child and Youth Protection at a cost of more than $265,000 through 2005.

Failure to approve the new posts “would look like our institutional memory has been lost” on the abuse issue, said Coadjutor Bishop Joseph A. Galante of Dallas.

The bishops heard a presentation on the work of their National Review Board, formed last year in the wake of the clerical sex abuse crisis, and were told of major national studies on the crisis and the U.S. bishops’ response to it that will be released early next year. (Some of the results of the study of procedures by the Archdiocese of Chicago are on Page 6.)

The studies will include a report on the extent of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons since 1950 by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and the review board’s consensus report on interviews with bishops, priests-abusers, victims and a wide array of professionals regarding the “causes and context” of the abuse crisis.

On Nov. 12, the bishops overwhelmingly approved a short teaching document on why same-sex unions should not be given the social or legal status of marriage. The bishops were told that rapid developments on the issue across the country led the USCCB Administrative Committee in September to seek development of the statement in time for the November meeting.

The 2,000-word statement, “Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers About Marriage and Same-Sex Union,” states that marriage between a man and a woman is God’s plan, seen in nature and in divine revelation. It was approved in a 234-3 vote.

The same day, they also unanimously approved their first new document on agriculture in 14 years: “For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food: Catholic Reflections on Food, Farmers and Farmworkers.” The document, which examines agricultural issues from genetically modified crops to crop subsidies and market forces affecting rural life both in the United States and in the nation’s trading partners, passed with a 237-0 vote.

The bishops spent time Nov. 10 discussing the need for guidelines on how they should handle relationships with Catholics whose actions in public life are not in accord with church teaching.

The guidelines, which are not expected to be in final form until after the 2004 elections, are meant to help bishops make distinctions between “respect for the office and approval of the officeholder ... to distinguish between fundamental moral principles and prudential judgments on the application of those principles,” said Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., chairman of a new task force charged with addressing the issue.

On other political matters, Mark Chopko, the bishops’ general counsel, told the bishops Nov. 12 that the church faces a “multifaceted affront” to its integrity and identity from regulatory and legislative pressures.

Those pressures include laws that require church-run social service agencies to include contraceptives in prescription drug plans for employees, or that seek to use charitable trusts or tax exemptions as ways of forcing changes in policies based on church teachings.

He warned that if Catholic and other faiths’ agencies are confronted by the choice of conforming to some societal standards or withdrawing from society, they might have to stop serving the poor, the vulnerable and needy.

That same day, the bishops approved, in 236-6 vote with two abstentions, a pastoral statement encouraging popular devotions but cautioning that those devotions should never supplant the liturgy, the primary form of the church’s worship and sacramental life. The 21-page statement is called, “Popular Devotional Practices: Basic Questions and Answers.”

During the meeting the bishops also approved:

u A stewardship document that encourages young adults to change the world by using their gifts and skills to embrace the church’s social teachings.

u A policy to prevent conflict of interest in conducting business and an updated version of their guidelines on socially responsible investing, by voice vote.

u A revised edition of “Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest” and a revised edition of “Guidelines for the Concelebration of the Eucharist.”

u A 2004 budget for the USCCB that shaved $4.5 million off the 2003 expenditures.

The bishops elected Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe, N.M., as the new secretary of the USCCB, succeeding Bishop William B. Friend of Shreveport, La., who completed a three-year term.

They also elected Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore to a three-year term as the new chairman of their Committee on Pro-Life Activities. He succeeds Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, the now-retired archbishop of Philadelphia. They also chose new chairmen-elect for eight other committees who will automatically succeed the current chairmen at next year’s fall meeting.

The bishops also agreed to extend for another three years 14 USCCB ad hoc committees, including stewardship, Spanish-language Bible, sexual abuse, Native American Catholics and aid to the church in Central and Eastern Europe. They disbanded the Ad Hoc Committee on Agriculture Issues since the conference approved a statement raising concerns about the ethical dimensions of policy on agriculture and trade.

They heard a report Nov. 10 on plans for their 2004 special assembly in Denver, which will involve discussions of a possible plenary council of the U.S. church. No decision will be made on that issue at the June assembly, however, said Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein of Indianapolis, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Plenary Council.

Another report, given by Archbishop Alexander J. Brunett of Seattle, Catholic co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, spoke of Anglican-Catholic dialogue and urged bishops to remain committed to dialogue despite challenges raised by the recent ordination of an openly gay bishop in the U.S. Episcopal Church.

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif., chairman of the Catholic bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, gave a report on the preparations for a new ecumenical forum in the United States that would embrace a wider range of churches than the National Council of Churches currently does. He said the bishops may be asked to make a decision about joining this body next year.

The bishops were also asked to consider formalizing economic support for pastoral programs in Africa similar to what they now provide to the Catholic Church in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America.

The first two days of the meeting had an international flavor, with reports from the president of the Vietnamese bishops’ conference, a former Vatican justice and peace official and African bishops seeking renewed attention to the plight of their continent.

Coadjutor Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Ireland, former Vatican representative at U.N. agencies that are based in Geneva and former secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, spoke on issues of war and peace 40 years after the encyclical “Pacem in Terris.” He said international cooperation and gathering accurate intelligence about terrorist groups are preferable to war in combating terrorism.

 

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