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PAGE 7—October 9,1980
BY NANCY FRAZIER
SUBIACO, Italy (NC) -- Pope John Paul II and
representatives of 24 European bishops’ conferences
spoke out Sept. 28 against abortion, war and religious
repression.
At Subiaco the pope made four speeches during the
more than four-hour visit, and the Council of European
Bishops Conferences issued an 11-page declaration on the
responsibilities of European Christians.
“How can we avert our eyes from the new
manifestations of poverty which affect so many people?”
said the bishops in their statement, read in various
languages during ceremonies at the Grotto of St. Benedict
in Subiaco.
“The insecurity of the unemployed, of immigrant
workers and of refugees in so many countires, the
widespread disregard for human life and for the rights of
man, the energy crisis and the economic recession, the
confrontation between social systems and ideologies, the
frequent recourse to violence, the madnes of the arms
race, the fear of war ... All these create a situation which
fills many hearts with mistrust, despair and a sense of
rebellion,” they added.
In a French-language address to the bishops, Pope John
Paul praised the document as “an encouraging sign of
collegial responsibility which is progressing in Europe and
of a unity better affirmed among episcopates.”
He later echoed many of the themes of the declaration
in his homily during an open-air Mass in Subiaco’s
Resistance Square.
“The dignity of life is being systematically menaced,”
he said. “The family is being menaced . . . This menace
also threatens all nations and the patrimonial spirit of all
countries.”
Pope John Paul said the tension between rich and poor
people is inscribed in the history of Europe and has
become the “worry of the entire world.”
“St. Benedict, in his prophetic action, looked to release
Europe from its sad tradition of slavery and to make
necessary the liberation of men from all the diverse
modern forms of oppression,” he said.
The pope visited Subiaco, about 50 miles east of
Rome, to mark the 15th centenary of the birth of St.
Benedict, patron saint of Europe. St. Benedict and his
twin sister St. Scholastica founded several monasteries in
Subiaco and Monte Cassino, Italy.
The 24 representatives of the European bishops’
conferences, including 13 cardinals, traveled to Subiaco
with the pope after concluding a working session in
Frascati, Italy.
In their wide-ranging declaration, the European bishops
said the issues of huan life, marriage and the family,
foreign workers and refugees, the right to work and
religious liberty are the areas requiring “particularly
urgent” action in Europe.
They said the right to life “is disregarded in many
European countries, whether it be by abortions, terrorism
or violence” and called on individuals and governments to
protect “the right to life from the time of conception to
the hour of natural death.”
The declaration said the issue of religious freedom “is
far more extensive than just the freedom to worship.
“It means, for the church as for individuals, the right
to proclaim the Gospel, to function effectively as
Christinans in society, to organize religious education in
all its forms at all levels and by any means deemed
necessary, and finally to promote the development of
culture,” the bishops said.
They praised efforts towards collaboration between
European Catholic churches but criticized the “very
European look” of the Roman Catholic Church.
“It seems to us to be more and more important for the
church at large to free itself from this predominantly
European image, while still maintaining its undiminished
unity though its shared faith, through its sacraments and
through ecclesial government,” the declaration said.
The bishops also said Europeans have “a particular
responsibility” for the reconciliation of Christian churches
because of “the fact that the painful ecclesial divisions
originated in Europe and the fact that the Greek
Orthodox and Reformed churches are principally situated
in Europe.”
The declaration ended on a hopeful note: “We will not
let ourselves be discouraged by the ideological or political
conflicts which divide Europe today, because we know
that God has given us the gift of peace.”
U.S. GOVERNMENT
USCC Asks Focus On Hunger, Poverty
WASHINGTON (NC) - The U.S. Catholic Conference
(USCC) has recommended that the U.S. government give
the highest priority to the problems of world hunger and
poverty in its efforts to change trends toward worsening
global conditions.
Those trends were described last July in “The Global
2000 Report to the President,” which was produced over
a three-year period under the auspices of the State
Department and the Council on Environmental Quality.
The report said that if present trends continue, the world
in the year 2000 will be more crowded, more polluted,
less stable ecologically and more vulnerable to disrubption
than it is at present.
President Carter appointed a Task Force on Global
Resources and Environment to recommend ways of
improving the government’s efforts to deal with the
problems described in the report.
Responding Sept. 26 to a request by the task force for
suggestions, Henry Brodie, advisor for international
economic affairs in the USCC Department of Social
Development and World Peace, emphasized the church’s
concern about world hunger and poverty.
“We find it morally unacceptable that 800 million or
more people suffer from hunger and malnutrition because
they are too poor to produce or buy enough to eat,”
Brodie said. “As the report points out, better social and
economic conditions for the poor will also help reduce
fertility rates and slow down the rate of population
increase. This in turn can help curb environmental
deterioration caused by the pressure of increased
population on land, water, forests and other resources.
Reduced hunger and poverty will in turn address a major
source of instability in many areas of the Third World
which pose a serious threat to peace and international
cooperation.”
Brodie said the USCC considers energy as the next
most critical problem considered in the report. “Effective
adaptation to high oil prices and increasingly scarce
supplies is essential if both developed and developing
countries are to maintain satisfactory rates of economic
and social progress,” he said.
Leadership by the administration and Congress is
essential, Brodie said, if the United States is to meet the
challenge projected in the report.
“The outlook in this regard is far from reassuring,” he
continued. He said the administration and Congress seem
to have ignored “The Report of the Presidential
Commission on World Hunger” issued last spring and
another report by an international commission dealing
vyith many of the same issues addressed in the “Global
2000 Report.”
“At the recently concluded special session of the
United Nations to prepare for a new round of
North-South global negotiations,” Brodie said, “the
United States was one of three industrialized countries
which blocked agreement on procedures to govern the
negotiations. And Congress has become increasingly
reluctant to appropriate funds for economic development.
No foreign assistance appropriations bill was passed for
fiscal year 1980 and this failure well may be repeated
again for fiscal year 1981. The United States also is in
arrears on its commitments to a number of multilateral
development banks. Last year the U.S. had the poorest
record on aid-giving among the industrialized countries.
“It may be,” Brodie said, “that these are temporary
developments reflecting the national preoccupation with
pressing domestic economic problems and the upcoming
elections. But in the meantime they are raising serious
doubts both here and abroad about the willingness and
commitment of the United States to address seriously the
sorts of problems raised in ‘The Global Report.’”
Brodie urged the task force to give first priority to
educating and persuading the next administration, the
new Congress and the public to “take the report seriously
and to underwrite the commitments involved.”
SOLAR LAUNDRY - Wilton Cleaners in
Chicago doesn’t really hang its laundry out to
dry. But the rooftop sign near an apartment
tenant’s line does add a touch of irony to the
scene. (NC Photo by P. J. Heller)
FLOWER PORTRAIT - Pope John Paul II
walks on a flower carpet bearing his likeness at
Subiaco, Italy. The pope was visiting the
monastery where St. Benedict lived for three
years to commemorate the 1500th anniversary of
the saint’s birth. (NC Photo)
Promote Energy Responsibility
WASHINGTON (NC) - A “Responsible Energy-
Sabbath” aimed at promoting religious involvement in
America’s energy problems will be observed throughout
the nation the weekend of Oct. 17-19.
Churches are being urged to commit themselves that
weekend to energy-related projects for the coming year,
such as conserving their own uses of energy, helping the
poor with rising energy bills, turning their parking lots
into car pool pickup centers and investing their funds in
the development of renewable resources.
Among sponsors of the energy sabbath is the U.S.
Catholic Conference.
“Participation in the sabbath program is one of the
most significant ways in which the church can address this
issue from a national perspective,” said Bishop Thomas C.
Kelly, USCC general secretary.
“There are many steps the local congregation can take
to help ease the energy crisis,” he added.
Other major sponsors include the National Council of
Churches, the Synagogue Council of America, the Sunday
School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and the
Interfaith Coalition on Energy.
The energy sabbath weekend is an outgrowth of a
religious consultation on energy held last January in
Washington. Speakers repeatedly emphasized that the
energy crisis is a religious issue with moral ramifications
for all churches and synagogues.
Churches are being urged not only to sponsor their
own energy projects but to work on an ecumenical basis
with other religious groups in their communities to raise
energy awareness.
According to David Byers, who coordinates energy
issues for the USCC, more than 60 archdioceses and
dioceses in the United States had expressed interest by
mid-September in promoting the energy sabbath at the
local level.
F.C.C. Chairman To Push Deregulation
NEW YORK (NC) - The chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission told the International
Radio and Television Society Sept. 24 that he will
continue to push deregulation and spur competition in the
American communications industry.
Charles D. Ferris, who has headed the government
agency since 1977, said he wanted the FCC to encourage
the growth of the communications business, “to help keep
up this country’s momentum in these fields.”
Ferris said the FCC would not protect the status quo in
the industry. “The days of the Washington regulatory
waltz have passed,” Ferris said. “Those who continue to
hesitate, clinging to the hope that the FCC will continue
to protect their monopoly or their cartels, are more than a
step behind.”
The FCC, although proposing to deregulate radio in
key areas - a move that has drawn public interest groups’
criticism and support from the commerical broadcasting
industry - has also suggested new, limited range TV
stations. Such proposals have been criticized by the
broadcasting industry.
NCCW Adopts Papers On
Justice And Women In Church
SAN FRANCISCO (NC) - The National Council of
Catholic Women (NCCW) at its annual general assembly in
San Francisco pledged itself to seek justice for women but
again rejected the Equal Rights Amendment. It also
affirmed church teaching against women priests but
promised to work with Catholic women with opposing
views on issues of women’s ministries.
The 284 delegates to the convention also heard
speakers urge them to find direction, commit themselves
to activities and be open to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
The paper on justice for women adopted at the
meeting cited the NCCW’s intent to “support all efforts
that seek to erase any remaining unjust, oppressive or
exploitative discrimination based on sex alone.” But it
opposed the ERA. “There is a distinction between justice
for women and the Equal Rights Amendment,” the
NCCW stated. “We feel that the proposed amendment is
not a viable solution to the problems of injustices for
women.”
It said the ERA has “serious defects as a legal
statement” but added that laws beneficial to women are
necessary. Delegates were urged to work at state levels to
study laws and where protective laws are lacking to work
for statutes which guarantee rights of property, credit and
insurance, fight rape and sexual abuse and assist women in
other areas.
In its paper on women in the church, the NCCW
endorsed the church’s teaching authority, “which was
commissioned by Christ to the apostolic succession and is
guided by the Holy Spirit! to make known the Christian
message in every age.”
The NCCW accepted the church’s position on
ordination of women, described in the 1976 Vatican
“Declaration On the Question of the Admission of
Women to the Ministerial Priesthood.” But it supported
continuing study of the subject and stated its desire to
work toward opening other ministries to women and to
overcome differences with other women whose views do
not always coincide.
“We know that women are impeded from ministries by
prejudices that contradict justice and by lags in
recognizing the changes in society that make women more
equipped and available for modern ministries,” the paper
said. “NCCW wishes to work together with other women
of the church in seeking to open wider ministries for
women.” It added, “We affirm those who are requesting
an evaluation of the Code of Canon Law in relation to
women, in areas where the codes were based on disciplines
which served the church in another age.”
In other action the NCCW delegates, meeting in late
September, resolved to continue support for programs
coordinated through Catholic Relief Services, overseas aid
agency of U.S. Catholics, and with rural life programs; to
continue to observe legislation which affects families and
promote pro-life and drug-control legislation; to assist in
voter registration and to continue to work with the White
House Conference on Families and the Conference on
Aging.
Bishop Carroll T. Dozier of Memphis, Tenn., a member
of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’
Committee on Women in Society and the Church, told the
participants to “not leave this convention without one
concreate activity which you will, indeed, do this coming
year.” He suggested the delegates “implement your
concern over the extent of women’s share in the ministries
of the church with emphasis on the parish level.”
Bishop Dozier also advised the NCCW members to
“reach out to other women, specifically to the more
oppressed, and free them to give their gifts.”
“Because of their second class status, women as a great
gift in our society have been largely an untapped source,”
he said.
Msgr. John A. Dic-kie, e«xecu4ivie director of the
California Catholic Conference, told the NCCW delegates
to focus ori where they are going. He urged women to
participate in issues involving government, neighborhoods
or nation. “Let your voice be heard not just as citizens
but as Catholics,” he said.
Ronda Chervin, associate professor of philosophy at
Loyola-Marymount University, Los Angeles, told the
participants not to succumb to “the treadmill spirit.”
“The Holy Spirit could be leading you to a new
ministry,” she said.
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