c. 1999 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ Europe’s Roman Catholic bishops have ended a three-week meeting at the Vatican on a note of optimism and orthodoxy.

The Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops came to its formal conclusion Saturday (Oct. 23) when the almost 200 cardinals, archbishops and bishops attending concelebrated Mass with Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The assembly was the last of a series of continentwide synods the pope called to review problems facing the contemporary Roman Catholic Church and to

chart the church’s course into the third millennium of Christianity.

In a message to Europe, the bishops offered the continent a”gospel of hope”based on the belief, central to Christianity, in the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The optimistic tone of the message was in sharp contrast to warnings in the working document prepared for the synod that Europe is in the grip of a nihilistic neo-paganism because materialism and consumerism have eroded spiritual and ethical values.

The prelates also presented the pope with a list of”propositions”on which the pontiff will base an”apostolic exhortation”summing up the work of the synod. Although the list was not made public, synod sources said the”propositions”closely followed church teaching on such controversial issues as priestly celibacy.

Reports during the meeting, however, indicated that while meeting in small working groups, a number of bishops expressed views appearing to favor relaxation of the rule of celibacy for priests to help to meet the serious shortage of new vocations.

A Hungarian prelate said in the Eastern Catholic churches, which permit priests to marry before ordination, married priests offer an”example not just of priestly service but of Catholic married life itself.”Other bishops said they saw no sign of”tension”when celibate priests worked side-by-side with married Anglican priests who have converted to Catholicism.

But, according to synod sources, the bishops’ proposition on celibacy given the pope strongly upheld the state as a condition of priesthood.

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini proposed on the synod floor that the church create a”new instrument”on the lines of the Second Vatican Council to give bishops a stronger voice in church councils now dominated by the pope and the Roman Curia.

The proposal seemed to sink almost without a ripple.”It wasn’t the great shock of the synod,”Archbishop Franc Rode of Ljubljana, Slovenia, told a news conference Friday (Oct. 22).”Someone said to me, `Have you seen what Martini said?’ I said, `Yes.’ And the conversation ended there.” What the synod did appreciate, said Monsignor Vincent Nichols, auxiliary bishop of the vacant see of Westminster in England, were Martini’s words on the need for deeper study of the Bible and the need for members of new lay movements to become part of a parish community.

In his closing homily, the pope underlined the central role Christianity has played in Europe throughout its history.”Christianity has been in our continent a primary factor of unity among peoples and cultures and of the integral promotion of man and of his rights,”the Polish-born pontiff said.

John Paul said Christian values are all the more needed today when the continent is going through”a new phase of European integration and a strong evolution in a multi-ethnic and multicultural sense.””I hope along with you, venerable brothers, that Europe may guarantee, in an attitude of creative faithfulness to its humanistic and Christian tradition, the primacy of the ethical and spiritual values,”the pope said.”This is a hope that comes from the firm conviction that there can be no true and fertile unity for Europe if it is not built on its spiritual foundations,”he said.

John Paul challenged Europeans to return to their Christian roots.”With firm conviction,”he said,”the church repeats to the men and women of the year 2000, in a special way to those living immersed in relativism and in materialism: welcome Christ into your existence.” Before ending their assembly, the bishops elected a committee of 14 prelates, who will work with the pope on the”apostolic exhortation”expected to be delivered late next year.

The prelate receiving the most votes was Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Genoa, who oversaw the drafting of the bishops’ message and is considered a possible successor to John Paul.

DEA END RNS