c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops _ noting the upcoming 25th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing most abortions _ Wednesday (Nov. 12) called the ruling”a sign of failure so monumental that to speak of it even as `tragedy’ is pitifully inadequate.” In a statement issued on the concluding day of their annual fall meeting here, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops blamed the landmark 1973 decision for accelerating the nation’s acceptance of abortion, as well as physician-assisted suicide.”We mourn our nation’s loss of innocence,”the statement said.”A generation has grown up taking abortion on demand for granted.”What was once universally seen as an act of desperation _ the killing of one’s own child _ is today fiercely defended as a right. … Courts and philosophers even point to Roe’s reasoning to justify killing people who are chronically ill, dying or disabled.” The 25th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade is Jan. 22, 1998, and activists on both sides of the issue are gearing up for the occasion. The bishops’ comments were among the first of what promises to be a slew of similar statements as the anniversary draws near.

Responding to the bishops, American Atheists charged the Catholic leaders with overstepping the constitutional line separating church and state.

Ellen Johnson, president of the Austin, Texas-based atheist group, said in a statement that”the bishops are using their forums for political activism”and their actions should call into question the church’s tax-exempt status.

Church opposition to abortion stems from the Catholic belief that it is wrong to take an innocent life and that life begins at conception. It has long lobbied for a reversal of Roe vs. Wade.

Despite their generally gloomy appraisal of the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision, the bishops managed to find some positive developments as well. Hence, they titled their statement”Light and Shadows: Our nation 25 years after Roe vs. Wade.””While we thought it important to note this sad anniversary, we also wanted to take note of the positive elements within the pro-life movement,”said Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, chairman of the bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities.

On the plus side, said the statement, the Supreme Court’s action”set in motion the broadest grassroots movement this nation has ever seen. … The movement to protect and nurture human life grows steadily stronger.” As signs of the movement’s growth, the statement pointed to recent efforts in a number of states to outlaw a late-term procedure opponents call”partial-birth abortion”and the proliferation of more than 3,000″pro-life centers”that offer counseling services to pregnant women contemplating abortion.

But overall, they said, among the many threats to human life”the tragedy of abortion plays a central role.” They also said abortion’s legalization has not resulted in a reduction of poverty or child abuse as supporters of legalization predicted 25 years ago.

Instead, they said, the nation has witnessed”increased feminization of poverty, a growing insensitivity to violence, and unprecedented numbers of children abused physically and emotionally, many even abandoned or killed by their parents.” In another action Wednesday, the more than 260 bishops at the meeting asked Bishop Anthony M. Pilla of Cleveland, president of the NCCB, to write a statement expressing their continued concern for Iraqi civilians suffering as a result of the ongoing United Nations’ sanctions against the government of Saddam Hussein.

That action came after Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit failed to get the conference to take a strong stand opposing U.S. and U.N. policy on Iraq. Gumbleton argued the U.N. sanctions, which are strongly backed by the United States, violate Catholic moral teaching by devastating Iraq’s economy, causing widespread deprivation among civilians.

However, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Newark, N.J., chairman of the bishops international policy committee, pointed to past expressions of concern by the bishops for the Iraqi people, cautioning any new statement might be misinterpreted in light of the current standoff between Iraq and the United Nations.

Gumbleton, who recently visited Iraq, remained unconvinced.”If we don’t speak now, when the president and the United Nations are contemplating new actions against Iraq, how can we call ourselves moral leaders?”he asked.

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The bishops also took a vote on a new sacramentary _ the official text to be used for all Masses throughout the liturgical year _ for Spanish-speaking Catholics. But because not enough bishops were present to give the document the required two-thirds majority vote, a mail vote will be taken over the next few weeks.

At present, no one Spanish-language sacramentary is in use in the United States. Instead, more than a dozen different Spanish liturgical texts are used, each reflecting the language and cultural variations of the sacramentary’s country of origin.

The Rev. James T. Moroney, executive director of the bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy, said the 14-year effort to develop the sacramentary was undertaken to”foster unity”among Spanish-speaking American Catholics, an increasingly large and visible segment of the church.

While drawn primarily from sacramentaries used in Mexico and Spain, Moroney said the more than 3,000-page text also includes language relating to feast days celebrated in virtually all the world’s spanish-speaking nations.

If, as expected, the document is approved, it will be sent to the Vatican for its review and approval. Moroney said he hoped it might be in use by 2000.

The bishops also approved a statement urging U.S. Catholics to express greater solidarity with the world’s poor and suffering. The bishops suggested introducing themes of international solidarity into prayers and homilies offered during Mass as a way”to deepen our understanding of our call to build a world of greater justice and peace.”

MJP END RIFKIN