Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 11 — The Georgia Bulletin, November 5, 1987
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Catholics Urged To Show Compassion In AIDS Crisis
WASHINGTON (NC) — In separate pastoral letters on
AIDS in October, bishops in three states said Catholics
must respond to the AIDS crisis with intelligence, energy
and the same compassion Christ brought to the sick and
dying.
The nine bishops of Florida in a joint pastoral Oct. 23 an
nounced that each of the state’s seven dioceses would have
“a designated person or office” to coordinate AIDS
ministry and education.
They also pledged advocacy for “more adequate funding
for research, medication and care” of those suffering from
acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
“Victims of the disease often die terrified, lonely, disown
ed and disconsolate. Their families endure suffering and
embarrassment,” they said.
AIDS sufferers and their families should “experience the
comforting love and hope of Jesus through the ministry of
the church,” the Florida bishops added. The state has the
third-highest concentration of AIDS sufferers in the coun
try, after New York and California.
Bishop William K. Weigand of Salt Lake City, whose
diocese covers the state of Utah, issued his pastoral Oct. 25
to mark the close of Respect Life month.
Bishop Edward C. O’Leary, of the statewide Diocese of
Portland, Maine, issued his pastoral earlier in the month.
Bishop Weigand, whose letter also coincided with Utah
AIDS Awareness Week, said Catholics are called to respond
to the AIDS dilemma with intelligence, energy and the true
compassion and understanding of Christ.
He also announced that an education program on AIDS
and a diocesan resource group would be established.
“The teaching and the example of Jesus himself and the
long tradition of Christianity obligate every genuine disci
ple of Christ to approach those who are ill or in need — no
matter what the cause — with love, devotion and under
standing,” the bishop said.
He said the church “abhors” prejudice toward those with
AIDS and ARC, or AIDS-related complex, which has caused
"irrational" actions against patients, depriving many of
medical care, a job and a place to live.
However, he emphasized that Catholic response to the
crisis must also promote Gospel values and the church’s
stand on sexual morality.
Sexual promiscuity among heterosexuals and homosex
uals and intravenous drug abuse are the main causes of
AIDS, he said, adding that promotion of “safe sex” is not
the solution.
“The only safe and Christian sex is chaste sex. For the
unmarried this means abstinence; for the married, mutual
fidelity and natural intercourse,” he said.
To victims of the disease, he said, it would be “foolish” to
tell them he knew the depth of their pain because only they
know its “physical and spiritual toll."
He acknowledged that many have rejected them, in
cluding those who “claim to represent the high ideals of the
Gospel,” but also reminded them that God “never aban
dons you."
Bishop O’Leary called upon Maine Catholics to be com
mitted and to “ask what they can do with their expertise
and energies, how their resources can be applied on behalf
of those threatened by this dread disease.”
He said Catholics "by the very nature of their
discipleship are called upon to be in the forefront” of the
fight against AIDS.
The prelate added that he and Auxiliary Bishop Amedee
W. Proulx would contact all diocesan offices and agencies
and Catholic institutions in Maine to request any help they
can give.
Bishop O’Leary urged AIDS education for children,
adolescents and adults, pastoral counseling, emotional and
spiritual support for patients and their loved ones, and
more hospital and hospice care.
He also called for close monitoring of public policy as it
relates to AIDS.
Florida’s bishops promised initial orientation sessions
and follow-up information and training programs to help
their priests, Religious, lay ministers and educators deal
with AIDS and those suffering from the disease.
They said that despite “serious medical, legal and in
surance considerations” which make it difficult for
Catholic hospitals and service agencies to serve those with
AIDS, “we must be true to the healing and reconciling
ministry of the church.”
The bishops urged people to follow church teaching on
chastity and marital fidelity, saying those moral teachings
coincide with “secular values" being urged to prevent the
spread of AIDS.
Pope Names Cardinal Gagnon
To Visit Archbishop Lefebvre
BY JOHN THAVIS
VATICAN CITY (NC) -
Pope John Paul II has nam
ed Cardinal Edouard
Gagnon, a Vatican official
and a strong defender of
traditional church teach
ings, as his investigating
delegate to the religious so
ciety headed by suspended
Archbishop Marcel Lefeb
vre.
Archbishop Lefebvre had
accepted the naming of an
apostolic visitor as a first
step toward reconciliation
between the Vatican
‘and his Priestly Society of
St. Pius X. The group has
rejected teachings of the
Second Vatican Council in
v areas of liturgy, ecumen
ism and religious liberty.
The announcement that
t Cardinal Gagnon would be
the visitor was made by
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,
head of the Vatican’s doc
trinal congregation, in a
talk to the Synod of Bishops
Oct. 29.
Cardinal Gagnon, a
*French-Canadian who
heads the Pontifical Coun
cil for the Family, has been
named by members of
Archbishop Lefebvre’s
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society as a supporter of
their ideas at the Vatican.
Cardinal Gagnon will be
in charge of gathering in
formation which would
"permit a canonical
regularization" of the
society of priests.-Cardinal
Ratzinger said. Cardinal
Gagnon will report directly
to the pope during the
visitation, he said.
' “Clearly the hoped-for
definitive solution is found
ed on the presupposition of
a necessary obedience to
the most holy pontiff and of
fidelity to the church
magisterium,” Cardinal
Ratzinger said. The remark
appeared to be an answer to
recent statements by Arch
bishop Lefebvre that his
group would not have to
give up their ‘‘doctrinal
line” under the terms of a
reconciliation offer by Car
dinal Ratzinger.
Several synod par
ticipants spoke extem
poraneously from the floor
after the announcement,
stressing the sensitivity of
the issue, said English-
language press officer
Msgr. DiarmUid Martin. He
said those speaking includ
ed Archbishop John L. May
of St. Louis, president of the
U.S. bishops’ conference.
In response. Cardinal
Ratzinger emphasized that
an eventual reconciliation
would not be a personal one
between Archbishop Lefeb
vre and the pope, but a
canonical one dealing with
the status of the society,
Msgr. Martin said.
Cardinal Ratzinger de
scribed the process as one
of a return to ecclesial
obedience and said it would
require much patience.
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prayer and generosity,
Msgr. Martin said.
Signers of the Florida pastoral were Archbishop Edward
A. McCarthy of Miami and his auxiliaries, Bishops Agustin
A. Roman and Norbert L. Dorsey; and Bishops Thomas J.
Grady of Orlando, W. Thomas Larkin of St. Petersburg,
John J. Snyder of St. Augustine, J. Keith Symons of
Pensacola-Tallahassee, Thomas V. Daily of Palm Beach,
and John J. Nevins of Venice.
OF THE