Bishops call for a ‘responsible transition from Iraq’

BALTIMORE (CNS) — As the U.S. bishops were finishing their second day of business at their Nov. 13-16 fall general meeting in Baltimore, they allocated $335,000 for the next phases of a national study on the causes and context of clergy sexual abuse of minors and endorsed the issuance of a statement calling for a "substantive, civil and nonpartisan discussion" leading to "a responsible transition in Iraq."

They also approved a new statement which outlines the preparation needed to receive Communion worthily and says that serious sin is a bar to receiving the Eucharist, and elected Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., as their new secretary.

The bishops also approved a document calling married couples to understand and live Church teaching on artificial contraception, gave their OK to creating a "Directory for Music and the Liturgy" for use in U.S. dioceses, passed their 2007 budget, and authorized a revision of the Lectionary for Mass for selected days in Advent by a 205-13 vote with two abstentions.

They also passed a series of guidelines for the pastoral care of homosexual Catholics, approved their priorities and plans for 2007 Nov. 14 by a 210-20 vote with three abstentions. They also created a nongeographic episcopal region for Eastern-rite bishops, and extended through 2011 a resolution first adopted in 2000 on diocesan financial reporting.

On the clergy sexual abuse study, Patricia O’Donnell Ewers, chairwoman of the National Review Board overseeing the bishops’ compliance with their child protection charter, told the bishops Nov. 13, "I can’t emphasize enough how important this study is for society as a whole" as well as for the church.

The first study, conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, was considered a landmark in its field, and the new study is expected to be similarly groundbreaking.

The board commissioned the college to do the follow-up on causes and context, expected to cost around $3 million, in November 2005, after the bishops the previous June committed $1 million from their reserve funds to help pay for the study. The $335,000 expenditure they approved by unanimous voice vote Nov. 13 comes out of that $1 million commitment. The college expects to obtain outside funding for the more expensive last three phases of the new study.

The contraception document, "Married Love and the Gift of Life," passed 220-11 with one abstention Nov. 14. It strongly supports natural family planning, saying it "enables couples to cooperate with the body as God designed it," adding that contraception introduces "a false note" that disturbs marital intimacy and contributes to a decline in society’s respect for marriage and for life.

The Communion statement, "‘Happy Are Those Who Are called to His Supper’: On Preparing to Receive Christ Worthily in the Eucharist," was approved 201-24 with two abstentions. The document calls on those in a state of serious sin to refrain from receiving Communion. The bishops emphasized they were addressing all Catholics, and not just politicians or any other group.

An effort to amend the document to specifically name politicians as among those who need to examine their consciences before receiving the Eucharist failed on a voice vote.

The document says that a Catholic who "knowingly and obstinately" rejects "the defined doctrines of the Church" or repudiates "her definitive teaching on moral issues" would not be in communion with the church and therefore should not receive Communion.

The statement on pastoral care of homosexually inclined persons reiterates church teaching that all homosexual acts are morally wrong but affirms the dignity of those with homosexual inclinations and says that experiencing such an inclination is not in itself sinful.

The bishops approved the statement 194-37 with one abstention, after turning back a motion to send it back to their Committee on Doctrine, which drafted the document, for more consultation and revision. The draft document the bishops received before the meeting was amended heavily before it came to a final vote.

The hymn directory, approved 195-21 with five abstentions, is intended to ensure that hymns used at Mass are doctrinally correct and based on Scripture and liturgical texts. The document also includes norms saying that each diocesan bishop is responsible for approving liturgical songs in his diocese. The directory and norms now go to the Vatican for its assent.

The Iraq statement was issued in the name of Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "We hope our nation has moved beyond the divisive rhetoric of the recent campaign and the shrill and shallow debate that distorts reality and reduces the options to ‘cut and run’ versus ‘stay the course,’" it said.

The four-page document was prepared by the USCCB Committee on International Policy in collaboration with the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services and the USCCB Administrative Committee, which approved its addition to the agenda of the bishops’ meeting Nov. 11.

"The (Bush) administration and the new Congress need to engage in a collaborative dialogue that honestly assesses the situation in Iraq, acknowledges past difficulties and miscalculations, recognizes and builds on positive advances (e.g., broad participation in elections), and reaches agreement on concrete steps to address the serious challenges that lie ahead," Bishop Skylstad said.