A 'Call' by Catholics

"I never thought that I would live long enough to see this," declared Msgr. John Egan, 60, grand old man of Catholic social action. What the balding monsignor saw as he looked out upon the throng in Detroit's Cobo Hall was an unprecedented gathering of representatives of the U.S. Roman Catholic hierarchy and the church's grass roots: 110 bishops meeting openly in discussion with 1,230 priests, nuns and laity. Said Egan: "The voice of the church is about to be heard through these delegates."

The conference at least lived up to its name, "A Call to Action." Through three days of sober and sometimes tense deliberations, the delegates passed a sweeping five-year plan for political action in support of such causes as nuclear disarmament and better housing.

That aspect was in keeping with the meeting's original purpose: a climax to the church's two-year observance of the U.S. Bicentennial. But because delegates spent as much passion debating justice within the church as justice in society, the conference also amounted to America's first nationwide Pastoral Council. It revealed a profound gap between Roman Catholic leadership and restless activists on a series of vexing issues:

WOMEN'S ROLE. In a blunt challenge to Pope Paul, who sent a specially filmed message to open the conference, the delegates urged that women be admitted to the priesthood. One of the 520 women delegates seemed to speak for the meeting when she said that Catholicism has lost members who "no longer can believe in a church that discriminates against women." The meeting also appealed for an end to "sexist" language in liturgy and church documents, an enterprise that is currently engaging some Protestants and Jews (see following story).

MARRIED PRIESTS. Pope Paul has repeatedly insisted on the traditional requirement of celibacy for priests in the Western church, and the 1971 international Synod of Bishops strongly endorsed his position. But the Detroit conference boldly proposed that the church allow married men to be ordained and consider approving marriage for men already in the priesthood.

DIVORCE. The Catholic Church has never recognized divorce in any marriage that it considers valid. The American bishops in 1884 decreed automatic excommunication for divorced Catholics who remarried while their original spouses were alive. "A Call to Action" asked that the church repeal the excommunication edict. It also opposed any practices that "brand separated, divorced, and divorced remarried Catholics as failures or discriminate against them and their children."

BIRTH CONTROL. Pope Paul's 1968 encyclical against contraception except by the rhythm method has been criticized by theologians and ignored by legions of Catholic couples. The conference asked the American bishops to recognize "the right and responsibility of married people to form their own conscience" in deciding about birth control.

ABORTION. The church opposes abortion under any circumstances, and bishops and right to life laity are lobbying for an anti-abortion amendment to the Constitution. The conference gave its support, urging political action against abortion without specifically mentioning the amendment issue. However, there were dissenters. A member of Catholics for a Free Choice, a nationwide group that opposes laws against abortion, offended many delegates by praying to the Virgin Mary, "whose family was limited," to "bring enlightenment to our misguided brothers, the Roman Catholic bishops." The prayer described women as the church's sacrificial lambs.

Though the delegates in Detroit came from 150 of the nation's 167 dioceses and from 125 Catholic organizations, it does not necessarily follow that their radical challenges reflect the consensus of America's 48.8 million Catholics. Progressive Midwestern dioceses were more involved in the conference than the more conservative coastal areas. Msgr. George Higgins of the U.S. bishops' staff favored the meeting's endorsement of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, but he noted. "I would have felt better if I had heard from more working-class women." The president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cincinnati's Archbishop Joseph Bernardin, said that "specialinterest groups" seemed to play a "disproportionate role."

Nonetheless, America's bishops are committed to discussing the Detroit conference's recommendations at a meeting of their own in Chicago next May. Whatever they say will no doubt be influenced by the Vatican. Its early reaction to Detroit's "Call" was cool. Said a high-ranking prelate in Rome: "I'll take the event for what it was: an opportunity for anyone who had something to say to stand up and say it. The last word necessarily belongs to the hierarchy."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.