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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1987)
PAGE 10 — The Georgia Bulletin, November 26,1987 Bishops Ask Laws To Bar Health Clinics In Schools BY STEPHENIE OVERMAN WASHINGTON (NO- U.S. bishops objected, on both moral and practical grounds, to providing birth control services at school- based health clinics and called for federal and state laws as well as local school board policies to be amend ed to exclude such services from public schools. The bishops voiced their objections in a statement approved Nov. 18 at the Na tional Conference of Catholic Bishops’ meeting in Washington. The bishops called for a comprehensive response to the problem of teen sexual activity and pregnancy that includes “efforts to strengthen the traditional character-forming task of the schools, to improve social and economic oppor tunities for young people in low-income areas, to sup port parents in their dif ficult task of passing on healthy values to their children, and to establish programs of education pro moting the values of chasti ty and fidelity.” Acknowedging that this is an ambitious agenda, the statement said the alter natives are “to abandon millions of young people” to the needless tragedy of teen pregnancies or to ‘‘cheapen ou: veiy humanity by pro moting a coarse hedonistic approach to human sexuali ty” by eliminating moral and religious qualms about teen-age sexual promiscui ty- Cardinal Joseph L. Ber- nardin of Chicago, chair man of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities, in troduced the committee’s statement on school-based clinics during the opening day of the NCCB meeting in Washington Nov. 16. The cardinal said that “to the extent that school-based clinics are part of a pro gram for more efficient promotion of contracep tives and abortion-related services to minors, they are part of the problem rather than the key to a solution.” He called on Catholic schools to set a good exam ple and “we ask the public schools and other secular institutions not to assume the role of teaching religion, but to make the case for sexual self- restraint in light of values and benefits that most Americans can appreciate regardless of their denom inational belief.” The cardinal noted that the pro-life committee had already addressed the issue but that “our legislative ad visers told us this issue was likely to receive increased attention in Congress in future months, and that a longer and more author itative statement would be helpful to them in their ef forts.” The committee prepared the document, which was reviewed by a bishops' task force set up to address issues such as AIDS, sex education guidelines, teen pregnancy and clinics. In their statement, which was approved by voice vote, the bishops expressed concerns about what they see as the clinics’ threats to the dignity of teen-agers themselves, the rights of their parents and the prop er role of the public school system. On top of all these con cerns, the statement noted that evidence indicates the clinics are not effective in preventing teen pregnancy. “The sobering reality is this: Teen-age pregnancy rates have risen because sexual activity among un married teen-agers has in creased dramatically; ac cess to contraceptives has also greatly increased, but this has not led to reduc tions in pregnancy rates among teen-agers. In fact, such access may have helped to confirm teen agers in their sexually ac tive behavior.” The clinics threaten teen agers’ dignity because the young people are taught to deal with their sexuality by suppressing their fertility, “instead of learning the self-control needed to live in harmony with the precious gift of sexuality and its power to create new life,” the bishops said. The bishops also called school-based contraceptive clinics a threat to the public school system “because they render the schools more controversial, divert them from their traditional role of imparting skills and building character, and raise new problems of legal liability.” TAKING SHAPE — Work continues on the new Washington head quarters for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and U.S. Catholic Conference. The five-story, 160,000-square-foot structure is being built at a cost of about $20 million near The Catholic University of America and the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Oc cupancy is scheduled for December 1988. (NC photo by Bob Strawn) 'Monumental Task" Hispanic Ministry Plan Passes BY STEPHANIE OVERMAN WASHINGTON (NC) — The U.S. bishops Nov. 18 unanimously agreed to undertake the “monumental task” of meeting the needs of Hispanics in the church. At their general meeting in Washington the bishops ap proved a National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry that calls for small ecclesial communities, parish renewal, youth ministry, promotion of family life, and leadership formation adapted to the Hispanic culture. Speaking in support of the plan, Archbishop Patrick F. Flores of San Antonio, Texas, said it “sounds like a monumental task” but that “may be the price we have to pay.” Fundamentalists are “enticing Hispanics” away from the church, Archbishop Flores said, something that “always breaks my heart.” He said that when he asks Hispanic Catholics why they left, “the answer I always get is ‘we did not get nourishment from the church.’ ” Earlier in the meeting Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces, N.M., had warned that the church could lose “as Our Lady Of Guadalupe Elevated To Feast Day WASHINGTON (NC) — U.S. bishops meeting in Washington voted Nov. 18 to elevate the memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12, to the rank of feast. The move gives Our Lady of Guadalupe special prominence but does not make the date a holy day of obligation. Dec. 12 is the date that Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in Mexico in 1531. The bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy voted in June to propose that Our Lady of Guadalupe be made a feast for the dioceses of the United States. many as 50 percent” of its Hispanic members to fundamen talist sects if Catholics do not get out and knock on doors. Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago, who estimated that he has 800,000 to 1 million Hispanics in his archdiocese, called this “a critical moment in the life of the church in United States” and said “what we do or don’t do” regarding Hispanics will affect “not just Hispanics but the whole church.” At a press conference before the plan was approved, Bishop Ramirez said, “I feel we haven't done our job. I'm fearful that if we don’t do something we may lose as many as 50 percent” of Hispanic Catholics, who will either join other religions or drop out all together. Bishop Ramirez said a unique aspect of the proposed plan is the “formation of small communities.” These small communities are small groups organized for more intense personal and community relationships among Catholics and for a greater participation in the church. “This is one of the answers, not the total answer, but one of the answers” to the proselytizing, Bishop Ramirez said. Although 83 percent of Hispanics say they consider religion important, 88 percent are not active in their parishes, according to statistics reported by the bishops. Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez of Santa Fe, N.M., chair man of the bishops’ Committee on Hispanic Affairs, in troduced the pastoral plan, which is the result of the bishops' 1983 pastoral letter “The Hispanic Presence: Challenge and Commitment.” According to the national pastoral plan, Hispanics are be ing stripped of their cultural identity and have marginal participation in the church. Yet they can be “a prophetic presence” and a source of renewal for the church in the face of the materialism and individualism, according to the proposed plan. The pastoral process “offers some exciting possibilities on both social and religious levels: more active participa tion in the church, a critique of society from the perspective of the poor and a commitment to social justice,” the plan states. Bishops Say Military Aid To Contras 'Morally Wrong' BY LIZ SCHEVTCHUK WASHINGTON (NC) - With only one audible vote of dis sent, the U.S. bishops Nov. 19 approved a policy paper that terms U.S. military aid to Nicaraguan rebels “legally doubtful and morally wrong” but also repudiates human rights atbuses from whatever source and endorses regional peace initiatives. Approval of the “Statement on Central America” oc curred by voice vote on the last morning of the National Con ference of Catholic Bishops-U.S. Catholic Conference gener al meeting in Washington. It was not immediately clear which bishop cast the sole “no” vote. Drafted by the U.S. Catholic Conference Committee on Social Development and World Peace, chaired by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan of Brooklyn, N.Y., the document survived last-minute attempts to postpone it or replace it with a terse, substitute measure submitted by Cardinal Bernard F. Law of Boston. Most of the bishops’ debate involved the document’s treatment of Nicaragua, where the Marxist Sandinista government is battling rebel “contra” troops backed to varying degrees over the last several years by the U.S. government. Critics suggested that the statement would be perceived as an endorsement of one faction or another in Central America and would hinder the peace accords adopted by Central American nations, including Nicaragua, in August. The bishops did adopt an amendment to the document noting that “we meet at a time of unprecedented hope for peace in Central America (and) celebrate the wisdom and courage of those who made at least more probable what was deemed almost impossible brief months ago. “We are fully sensitive to the delicacy of these present weeks in which the schedule for compliance moves for ward,” the amendment added. “We wish our words here to be seen both as a further expression of our strong support for the unfolding peace process as well as the expression of our continual effort to reflect critically on the moral issues at stake,” added the amendment, proposed by Archbishop John R. Roach of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn. Archbishop Roach’s amendment, accepted as a “pro logue” to the document, also emphasized the prelates “con tinue to insist that true peace can come about only when the fundamental causes of the conflicts, especially the historic denials of social justice, are sincerely faced.” Cardinal Law, whose short replacement statement for the document was voted down, suggested the bishops limit their remarks in order to express concern “without running the risk of one or another party in the region being able to manipulate our statement for its own propaganda pur poses.”
