t e80£ Q VOL. 34, NO. 46
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Friday, November 23, 1990
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Bishops reiterate antiwar stance Begin, end meeting with action on Iraq
SISTERS ARE PART of the rapt congregation at last Sunday's dedication of the newly renovated Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, New Bedford. Other pictures on page 8. (Lavoie photo)
----------------------------1 Fruitful relationship for pope, Gorbachev VATICAN CITY (CNS) Continuing their fruitful relationship, Pope John Paul II and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev discussed the Gulf crisis and the new Soviet freedom of conscience law during their Nov. 18 meeting at the Vatican. Vatican officials called the meeting a "continuation" of the two leaders' first meeting Dec. I, 1989. As he left the Vatican, Gorbachev told a Rome-based Soviet journalist, in Russian, that "the next meeting will be in our country. We agreed on that today." The Soviet leader and his wife, Raisa, arrived at the Vatican last Sunday, shortly after Pope John Paul called for a peaceful solution to the crisis in the Persian Gulf during his Sunday Angelus address. The pope prayed that God would "grant that humanity not know the horrors of another conflict." . Peace "is threatened" by the situation, he said. "May the Lord inspire in all the conviction of the necessity of sincerely seeking an honest and open dialogue," he said. A Vatican spokesman said the pope repeated to Gorbachev comments made during the Angelus talk. Gorbachev told reporters later that the U.N. embargo and international cooperation in opposing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein are "the right path" to peace in the region. Vatican officials have said that the pope would not go to the Soviet Union before 1992 because of necessary preparations, including the need for an accurate assessment of the condition of the Catholic Church there. The February exchange of diplomatic representatives and passage
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in early October of a Soviet law recognizing religious freedom were two steps seen as necessary conditions for a papal visit. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the Vatican spokesman, described the meeting as "open and very cordial." The two leaders greeted each other with a double handshake, then exchanged gifts. Mrs. Gorbachev toured Rome with the wife of Italy's president after she and her husband g;lve the pope a .Leningrad porcelain vase with a picture of St. Peter's Basilica on it. The pope gave the Gorbachevs a cameo of the Virgin Mary framed on a red velvet background. On their way into the papal library for a 40-minute private meeting, Gorbachev suggested they speak "a little Russian, a little Pol-' ish, a little Ukrainian and Italian, if we are able." No matter what the future brings, the two leaders could look back with satisfaction on several promises kept during the past year. In the nearly 12 months' sincetheir historic first encounter, the Soviet Union has enacted a law to protect religious freedom, allowed the Ukrainian-rite church to come out from underground and welcomed a Vatican ambassador to Moscow. Events so far have rewarded the pope's decision to embrace Gorbachev as a serious reformer, one who can be trusted to deliver on his pledge to end more than 40 years of religious repression in his country. The clearest evidence of this, and the most significant step in the Vatican's judgment, was recent passage of the Soviet law on religion. Turn to Page II
WASHINGTON (CNS) - The V.S. bishops ended their fall meeting Nov. 15 as they had begun it _. with discussion ofthe Persian Gulf crisis and a call to resist war until all peaceful options are exhausted. "Clear moral criteria must be met to justify the use of military force," said a letter to President Bush from Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk of Cincinnati, president of the National Conference. of Catholic Bishops and V .S. Catholic Conference. The letter, hand-delivered to the White House Nov. 15, reflected discussion of the Persian Gulf crisis by about 300 bishops in a closed-door session. "We are also concerned not only about the international consequences of possible war, but the domestic impact as well: the resources diverted, the human needs neglected, the potential political conflict and divisions within our society," the letter said. Their first vote at the Nov. 12-15 meeting had been to make their own a letter sent Nov. 7 to V.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III by Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahony. He urged the U.S. government to avoid war with Iraq except as a last resort after exhausting all possibilities of a peaceful resolution. The Persian Gulf discussions· bracketed debate leading to approval of documents on such topics as substance abuse and sex education, Catholic schools and the 100th anniversary of the papal encyclical "Rerum Nov~rum," inclusive language and the SOOth anniversary of Christianity in the Americas. The only major action items defeated by the bishops were a proposal that would have authorized them to permit lay people to preside at a funeral liturgy if no priest is available and a recommendation to use a portion of the national collection for Latin America to meet pastoral needs of U.S. Hispanic Catholics. They sent back to their Committee on Pastoral Research and Practices a proposal to authorize that committee to grant imprimaturs for Scripture translations. The longest document considered by the bishops was a I85-page statement, "Human Sexuality: A Catholic Perspective for Education and Lifelong Learning." Its passage came only after debate including questions from some bishops on the church's credibility on artificial contraception, the proper pastoral approach to homosexuals and long-standing controversies between educators and some Catholic parents over sex education in schools. The schools document, titled "Statement of the V.S. Bishops in
Support of Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools," calls for more support from the bishops through fund raising and establishment of offices to help schools budget wisely and increase parental involvement. The substance abuse document, approved 221-3, calls for education and action at the family, church, community and public policy levels to combat chemical dependencies and help addicts to free themselves from their "slavery." The pastoral letter on the SOOth anniversary of Christianity in the Americas was approved after it was revised to reflect concerns of black bishops about praise of Bartolome de Las Casas - cited in the proposed pastoral as a "tireless defender of Indian rights" but also considered by some a father of the African slave trade. The revised document noted that "while for a time (Las Casas) advocated the practice of importing African peoples to replace the Indian slaves, he soon repented upon suffering profoupd moral anguish."
The 4I-page letter, "Heritage and Hope: Evangelization in America," sets out a new U.S. Catholic effort at evangelization as the centerpiece of the approaching 1992 quincentennial of Columbus' arrival in the Americas. The vote to approve was 213-6. Another pastoral message, "A Century of Social Teaching," summarizes basic social teachings of the church since Pope Leo XlII in 1891 issued the first papal social encyclical, "Rerum Novarum~" It passed 237-4. In other action at the meeting, the bishops: - Elected Cleveland Bishop Anthony M. Pilla as their treasurer and filled 14 committee posts. - Approved a $34.2 million 1991 budget. - Accepted a set of guidelines for publishers of catechetical materials to supplement existing catechetical directories and the forthcoming Vatican universal catechism. App,roved an optional na.rurn to Page II
BISHOP DANIEL A. Cronin and Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, apostolic pronuncio to the United States, chat at last week's bishops' meeting in Washington, top; bottom, the bishop studies notes at a business session. The interested observer is Rockville Centre, N.Y. Bishop John R: McGann. (Kearns photos)
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