c. 1998 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ The president of the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops opened their four-day fall meeting Monday (Nov. 16) affirming the ministries of lay people in both the church and world but also urging them to foster a”spirit of unity”with their pastoral leaders.

In his final presidential speech, Cleveland Bishop Anthony M. Pilla, ending his term as president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, foreshadowed a debate expected later on a major conference statement,”Everyday Christianity: The Lay Vocation to Hunger and Thirst for Justice.” During their four-day meeting, the bishops are also expected to act on statements advocating justice for the disabled, calling on Catholics _ from priests to politicians _ affirming the church’s opposition to abortion and euthanasia and highlighting the church’s moral concerns related to the United States’ conflict with Iraq. In addition, the bishops will discuss reports on racism, rules for Catholic higher education and a proposal to help adult Catholics grow in their faith.”It has been a great joy to see and to share in the flowering of so many gifts through the activity of the laity in bringing their faith to bear on the secular arena and their participation in the evolving forms of consultation and advice within the church,”Pilla said in his final presidential address.

Pilla also praised the lay people who have used their professional abilities in the church instead of the”marketplace”and those volunteers”without which the church could not carry on her multifaceted mission.” But he stressed that the church’s renewed emphasis on the role of the laity is not merely a response to the Catholic church’s continuing shortage of priests.”While the laity have certainly helped cope with the situation, the renewal of their role is more than a pragmatic necessity,”he said.”It springs from an interior renewal of the very meaning of what it is to be church …” Pilla urged development of lay leadership through adult education programs and other efforts to continue to highlight the focus of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s on”the people of God.” But he also called on lay people to work in a”spirit of unity”with their clerical leaders.”In the church, there are those who … are unwilling to accept a role for authority in the church,”he said.”They endlessly debate the decisions of their pastors on issues great and small, extraordinary and routine. They appear to live either in a past or in a future of their own imagining but not in the present in which their pastor must make these decisions.” Following Pilla’s remarks, the bishops heard introductions of various issues on which they will act before their meeting concludes Thursday.

Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., introduced the document on”Everyday Christianity,”calling it an”overdue”statement on the work of the laity for social justice.”If Catholics took our faith seriously in our ordinary roles, our society would be different,”said Skylstad, chairman of the bishops’ Domestic Policy Committee, one of three committees that prepared the pastoral message.”We need believers to shape the culture, not surrender to it. Our worship on Sunday should shape our work on Monday … Our faith should shape our politics, not the other way around.” In a similar vein, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston introduced an updated and toughened statement on on the church’s longstanding opposition to abortion and euthanasia,”Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics.”Law, the chairman of the bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities, said the word”challenge”in the title is appropriate.”Of necessity, a document of this kind must deal with faithful Catholics as citizens and as public officials,”he said.”This is clearly an area where great pastoral sensitivity is necessary.” The proposed document praises public officials who risk their political careers by opposing abortion but warns political supporters of legal abortion they should”consider the consequences for their own spiritual well-being as well as the scandal they risk by leading others into serious sin.” In what is likely to be their most contentious debate, the bishops also are expected to discuss how to apply Pope John Paul II’s principles on Catholic higher education outlined in his statement,”Ex Corde Ecclesiae.” The Vatican has already rejected one version of the bishops’ effort to implement the principles for the particular situation of Catholic colleges and universities and the proposed new rules are being criticized as undermining academic freedom.

The bishops are also expected to act on a statement on the current state of race relations drafted by their Committee on African American Catholics.”Sadly,”the proposed statement notes,”many people of color see the church as a white racist institution.” The statement urges that racism should be combated first by acknowledging it as a serious problem and then by taking concrete actions to promote understanding and cooperation.”In terms of official statements, we, the American bishops, have been unfailing in our condemnations of racism,”the three-page report says.”The problem has been and remains our failure to convince many of our people of the sin of racism and our negligence in demanding the eradication of all racist attitudes and actions from the institutions for which we are responsible.”

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