Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 9—The Southern Cross, October 25,1984
23 Bishops Urge Life Ethic Which Opposes Nuclear Arms
BY STEPHANIE OVERMAN
WASHINGTON (NC) - Twenty-three U.S. bishops
called for a “total life ethic” in the upcoming elections
and warned against neglecting the threat of nuclear arms
while concentrating on abortion.
In a statement released at an Oct. 22 press conference
in Washington, the bishops said “one cannot examine
abortion as though that were the only moral issue facing
our people” but must also consider policies “which
threaten the total destruction of life on our planet Earth.”
The threat of nuclear arms “is being neglected in the
current examination of moral issues in the public order,”
the bishops said. They cited Cardinal Joseph Bemardin’s
description of the integral relation between the nuclear
threat and abortion as a “seamless garment” and urged
Catholics to “be wary of any narrowing of moral vision to
focus on only one issue.”
At the press conference, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J.
Gumbleton of Detroit, president of the U.S. branch of
Pax Christi, a Catholic peace movement, said opposition
to abortion and nuclear arms “have to go together”
because the moral values which undergird opposition to
abortion also undergird opposition to nuclear arms.
Retired Bishop Carroll T. Dozier of Memphis, Tenn.,
said at the press conference. “We can make all the
distinctions we want, but it’s life we’re talking about.”
Referring to recent statements by Archbishop John J.
O’Connor of New York; Bishop James Malone of
Youngstown, Ohio, who is president of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops; and the bishops of New
England, Bishop Gumbleton said there has been confusion
about whether Catholics should make abortion the litmus
test for candidates seeking public office.
He said that while the NCCB has not taken a
single-issue approach, “if I were a Catholic reading (some
of the statements) I would get confused. It seems to say
that abortion is the only issue.”
Bishop Malone said in an Oct. 14 statement that the
bishops “give special emphasis to two issues today. They
are prevention of nuclear war and the protection of
unborn life.”
The New England bishops, in their statement,
highlighted abortion and nuclear arms control and said,
“We believe that the enormity of the evil makes abortion
the critical issue of the moment.”
Bishop Gumbleton said the Oct. 22 statement by the
23 bishops grew out of the 11th Pax Christi USA national
assembly earlier in October, where members expressed
concern that abortion was dominating the election-year
discussion. He said the statement was sent to the 50
bishops who belong to Pax Christi, a Catholic peace
organization, and that 23 had signed the statement by
Oct. 22. Only one wrote back declining to sign, Bishop
Gumbleton said.
Bishop Gumbleton, citing the New England bishops’
reference to abortion as the most critical of the two evils
said: “The two evils are both happening now. Some try to
persuade us abortion is happening now, but the evil of
nuclear arms is happening now. We have to be opposed to
both.”
The bishops’ statement called it an illusion “to think
that the clear threat is not already taking a terrible human
toll just as abortion. We must ponder the words of the
Holy See, that the arms race is an act of ‘aggression,’ a
‘crime’ because even if these weapons are never used,
‘they kill the poor by causing them to starve.’”
“We are together on the moral issue,” Bishop
Gumbleton said, but not on the political application.
“The position of our statement is the position of (the
NCCB) as a whole. We don’t want to look like one block
of bishops fighting another. ”
PRIEST KIDNAPPED - Father Jerzy
Popieluszko, right, is pictured recently with Lech
Walesa, former head of the now banned Solidarity
union, and Father Henryk Jankowski. The
There is “less and less regard for human life” the
bishops said, calling for more education to change public
opinion about abortion and nuclear arms.
Heads of dioceses who signed the statement were:
Bishops Victor H. Balke of Crookston, Minn.; Maurice J.
Dingman of Des Moines, Iowa; William A. Hughes of
Covington, Ky.; Joseph L. Imesch of Joliet, Ill.; Michael
H. Kenny of Juneau, Alaska; Raymond A. Lucker of New
Ulm, Minn.; Leroy T. Matthieson of Amarillo, Texas;
Frank J. Rodimor of Paterson, N.J.; Francis R. Shea of
Evansville, Ind.; John J. Snyder of St. Augustine, Fla.;
John J. Sullivan of Kansas City, Mo.; Walter F. Sullivan of
Richmond, Va.; and Kenneth E. Untener of Saginaw,
Mich.
The statement also was signed by Bishop Gumbleton
and auxiliary Bishops Nicholas D’Antonio of New
Orleans; George R. Evans of Denver; P. Francis Murphy of
Baltimore; Peter A. Rosazza of Hartford, Conn.; Walter J.
Schoenherr of Detroit; Richard J. Sklba of Milwaukee;
and Kenneth D. Steiner of Portland Ore., and by Bishop
Dozier and retired Bishop William M. Cosgrove of
Belleville, Ill.
pro-Solidarity priest was kidnapped from his car
by two people as was driving to Torun, Poland.
(NC photo from UPI)
Commission Sees Increased Understanding
(Continued from page 1)
more years.
Archbishop Quinn said reports submitted to him of
meetings between U.S. bishops and Religious reveal the
dialogue has “brought bishops and Religious much closer
together.”
A Vatican official, who asked to remain anonymous,
agreed.
“Bishops always took a hands-off attitude toward
Religious because they were pontifical orders,” the
official said. “They thought it was nice to have holy
people living in their dioceses and saw sisters as a work
force, but did not understand the special nature of
religious life and the idea of call and consecration.”
The study has brought “different religious communities
closer to one another,” Archbishop Quinn said, where
differences had existed.
He said that talks during the study also revealed
tensions, apparently based on “misunderstandings,”
between U.S. Religious and the Congregation for
Religious.
He also said women Religious “seem more interested in
the study in general” than male Religious. He theorized
that interest comes from the fact that “women Religious
have different needs from men Religious” and noted the
influence of the feminist movement and the recognition
of the rights of women.
“Many women feel they have not participated in the
life of the church to the extent they would like to,” he
said.
“Women feel powerless in the church sometimes
because they are not in decision-making roles,” said the
Vatican official. “It has to do with nature of the church
and holy orders.”
On the personal level, Archbishop Quinn said he has
been “impressed by the strong love for the church that I
see in a great number of Religious I meet and talk with
and hear from.”
Memories Of A Former Rector Of The Cathedral
(Continued from page 1)
this beautiful city. The prospect of leaving could make
one pessimistic about life, just as John Keats, the English
poet, expressed it in his famous “Ode to a Nightingale”:
“Now, more than ever, seems it rich to die
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!”
Yes indeed, the Cathedral is like a nightingale. This past
Tuesday (at the ceremony of ordination of Msgr. Andrew
J. MacDonald as a bishop) it soared aloft to a height never
before reached and poured forth its soul in the fullness of
its majesty.
“Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music: - do I wake or sleep?
And this is what makes one happy to be leaving the
Cathedral. The happiness of nostalgic memories, the
happiness of the privilege of participating in the great
moments of God’s intervention with His people.
“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes play on;”
John Keats, who died at the age of 26, resented the
happiness and the joyful spirit of the nightingale. He was
ravaged with consumption and knew he did not have long
to live.
“Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,
Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs;”
It is to their credit that the people of the Cathedral
parish community do not look upon “their” nightingale in
such a pessimistic manner, they are a Faith community
and are conscious of the fact that the Cathedral
“Was not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down,
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by Emperor and Clown.’
Yes, the Cathedral has become the sacred forum for
many generations of people. It is with,in this forum that
the spirit of God’s Light and Grace has interjected itself
many times. During the 2 years of this author’s sojourn,
God’s activity was anchored by two significant events. On
one end was the moving funeral liturgy for Msgr.
McNamara in October 1970. On the other end was the
moving ordination liturgy for Msgr. McDonald in
September 1972. It is significant to realize that both of
these celebrations were on the one hand celebrations of
death, but primarily they were celebrations of life.
The Cathedral would count for nothing except for
celebrations of this type. In between these two awesome
liturgies the author recalls many more memorable
occasions when God manifested His concern and love: the
occasion of the special Mass for Silver and Golden
Wedding Jubilarians, St. Vincent’s Chorale and
LesChanteurs with their candlelight service, the visit of
the French Ambassador, special All Souls Day liturgy, the
Adult Confirmation Ceremony for Chatham County, the
Wright Singers Folk Group from Augusta, the
magnificently decorated altars at Christmas and Easter,
and on and on.
Buildings, like human beings, must be used as
instruments of God’s concern. They must never become
museums or places of artistic merit alone. They must be
used for the benefit of man as he reaches out for the
intangible love of the Holy Spirit...