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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1987)
, . ) r, V, i U \ * #■ * f # ft * * * .* -4 +■ ♦ ♦ * ♦•*.*. r- * * V. > -» * r ♦ v <r 4 PAGE 14 — The Georgia Bulletin, November 26, 1987 Archbishop May: Serious Need Exists To Admit Women To Decision-Making Roles BY JULIE ASHER WASHINGTON (NC) - The role of women in the Catholic Church and the need to address the issue “forthrightly and now’’ quickly became a major concern of the world Synod of Bishops on the laity, Archbishop John L. May of St. Louis said Nov. 19. The president of the Na tional Conference of Catholic Bishops also said another central topic was lay movements and their relationship to the local church. Archbishop May made the remarks during the bishops’ annual general meeting Nov. 16-19 in Washington in a report on the synod, which was held last October in Rome. The report was to be an oral report but was issued in written form because of time constraints. GENERAL \ I HARDWARE • We carry a full line of • 4 top brand merchandise 1 I giving you a variety of I J choices. Scarce & hard 2 4 to find items are a 4 I specialty. 237-5209 j 1 4218 Peachtree I 2 Road N.E. ? Brookhaven “Interventions from bishops all over the world and reports from the ‘cir- culi minores’ emphasized the need to address this issue forthrightly and now,” said Archbishop May, who was a synod delegate. “There is a serious and profound need to admit women to decision-making positions at all levels of the church, including the inter national level,” he con tinued in the report. He said interventions from the U.S. bishop- delegates “often asked specifically for this, also that ministries of acolyte and lector be open to women.” Bishops from other coun tries asked for “serious study” of opening the per manent diaconate to women, he added. Archbishop May also noted that at a press con ference Oct. 20 during the synod he had said that “opening non-ordained ministries to all Catholics, in keeping with local cir cumstances and pastoral judgments is a matter of principle based on the radical equality of all the faithful in baptism.” Although specific recom mendations on women were not in the message from the synod or in propositions sent to Pope John Paul II, Complete Furnace Check For A Job Well-Done CALL: WELDON Plumbing, Heating & Air 938-4629 Your Independent Lennox Dealer. Family Owned 75 East Wesley POSSIBLY THE FINEST VALUE IN BUCKHEAD NEW 2 br. 2 ba. Fee Simple Town Homes Designed for the mature resident. Offering the utmost in privacy & convenience. Priced at $ 135,000 • Individual Private Elevator • Attached Garage a 24 Hour Monitored Electronic Security System "I Located just off Peachtree behind Christ the King Cathederal For more information call: 262-3127 f Archbishop May said, the synod reinforced a growing conviction in the United States that “the issue of women’s role in the church and society must be ad dressed effectively by the church in the United States.” He said the U.S. bishops as a conference will commit themselves “to cooperation with women, welcoming their involvement and leadership both in church and society.” “We look to the pastoral letter on the concerns of women, now being pre pared by our conference as a significant contribution to this effort,” he said. A writing committee of bishops, headed by Bishop Joseph L. Imesch of Joliet, Ill., is preparing a full first draft to be ready by March 1988. The issue of lay move ments focused on the emer gence of large lay organi zations, especially in Eu rope, that are “deeply com mitted to various forms of the apostolate,” Arch bishop May said. Such groups “are so cen trally organized that they operate in parishes and dioceses oftentimes in dependent of local respon sibility and accountabili ty,” he pointed out. For some, the groups “are signs of the direction of the Holy Spirit in our times,” the prelate said. “For others, their cha- rism needs to be discerned on the local level by the bishop and their apostolate endeavors coordinated by him with the other efforts in his diocese.” Archbishop May said synod discussions recogniz ed that the Holy Spirit is often present in such organizations, but they underlined that local bishops have the respon sibility to discern a par ticular movement’s role in the pastoral plan of dioceses. They also urged such movements to make a deeper commitment to justice and serving the poor, he added. He praised the consulta tion process preceding the synod that took place in U.S. dioceses at ail levels and included parishes, diocesan bodies, small communities of faith, lay movements and organiza tions. He said the process helped the bishops who went as delegates to discern the topics they presented, such as the parish’s role in life of the laity, women in the church, politics and the church and world, and the spiritual richness and needs of laity. Other topics of concern to laity were the relationship between clergy and laity and the contemporary Christian family, he said. The consultation was “a serious and sacred conver sation,” he said, adding tha! during the synod the U.S. bishops learned that laity around the World share similar concerns. Pastoral On Women's Concerns Scheduled For March Of 1988 WASHINGTON (NC)-A full first draft of the U.S. bishops’ proposed pastoral letter on the concerns of women should be ready for the U.S. bishops’ Ad ministrative Committee by March 1988, said Bishop Joseph L. Imsech of Joliet, Ill., writing committee chairman. He said the committee of bishops writing the pastoral was to meet Nov. 19-21 to refine and finalize the draft to be presented to the Ad ministrative Committee. Bishop Imesch com mented on the pastoral in a written information report submitted to the U.S. bishops during their Our Direct Computer Terminal to Major Credit Bureaus Now Enables / Us To See Your Credit Bureau Report Within Minutes...85% Rental and 90% Owner Occupied. A Phone Cali Now May r Put Your Mind At Ease. No Obligation. It's Simple... Apply By Phone. Don’t think that slow credit and bankruptcy will keep you Irom getting credit with us. SAME DAY APPROVAL 980-1777 Lincoln Mortgage and Investment, Inc. 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Comments also will be sought from national women’s organizations and from scholars. Bishop Imesch said that last June the writing com mittee met for three days in Pittsburgh to review a rough first draft and refine it in light of criticisms made by consultants who had been asked to review the document. Since June the draft has been rewritten and again sent to committee mem bers and consultants. The body of U.S. bishops agreed in November of 1983 to embark on an in-depth analysis of women's con cerns, with an eye toward issuing a pastoral letter on the subject. rw:: Moving? Save$ PROFESSIONAL PACKING SERVICES Licensed, Insured, Experienced. Reasonable Rates. New & Used Containers. References Available. Allen & Karen Fegley Own*r*/Operatori “No Job Too Small or Large” 426-1410 DEAL WITHAFUU. DECK • Cedar Porches. 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