c. 1998 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops, as expected, elected the head of their diocese of Houston to be their new president Tuesday (Nov. 17) and, then, for the first time, chose an African-American bishop to be their vice president _ and heir-apparent to the presidency _ for the next three years.

On the second day of their four-day fall meeting, the bishops chose Bishop Joseph Fiorenza, a shy, self-effacing prelate who heads the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, to succeed Bishop Anthony Pilla of Cleveland as the leader of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. The 67-year-old Fiorenza, the first conference president from a Southern or Southwestern diocese, has been serving as vice president, and will now be succeeded by Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill.”What it says is this is truly a catholic church,”Gregory said of his election in a brief interview.”We’re living it out.” The small”c”definition of catholic _ meaning universal _ seems to be a theme of this meeting of bishops, who on Tuesday not only elected a black officer for the second time but also passed a document on the laity’s role on social justice issues and considered how to help their fellow Catholics in Central America and the Caribbean, ravaged by Hurricane Mitch.

Members of the hierarchy and the grassroots of the Catholic church welcomed the election of Gregory, a 50-year-old prelate who is one of the nation’s 13 active black bishops and one of five who heads a diocese.”I think it’s a sign of maturity,”said Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Newark, N.J.”And it’s a sign that the church in the United States feels that any ethnic and minority group is fully part of the family.” Leodia Gooch, Supreme Lady of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Peter Claver, a black Catholic fraternal organization, said Gregory’s election is a”shot in the arm”that moves the bishops beyond their oft-stated declarations about racism in the church to a”wake-up call”for all Catholic institutions.”It’s going to do more for the church than anything the church has ever done toward decreasing racism,”said Gooch, of St. Louis.”In the African-American community, it’s going to say the church is hearing us and in the white church community it’s going to say the church is conscious.” While Gooch is confident that the bishops will follow tradition and elect Gregory as president of the bishops’ conference three years hence, Gregory is taking a wait-and-see approach.”I need to wait the three years,”he said.”I think it’s only prudent. They’ve asked me to be vice president. I should use all my energy and all of my talent to fulfill that.” In addition to the elections, the bishops unanimously adopted by voice vote a new document that urges lay people to commit themselves to working for social justice.”Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice”calls for Catholics to address justice issues in all areas of life _ with their families, in the workplace and as consumers.”Our culture often suggests that religion is a private matter, to be tolerated as long as it is detached from our lives as workers and citizens,”the statement says.”Catholic men and women look to our parishes to find the support, tools and concrete help they need to resist this tendency and instead proclaim Christ’s love, justice and peace in everything they do.” The sentiments of those statements flowed through other discussions, including how the church should respond to the victims of recent hurricanes.

Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, responding to a request from the Nicaraguan cardinal, visited Honduras and Nicaragua in early November.”The magnitude of destruction in Honduras and Nicaragua is overwhelming,”Law reported.

He said there are now 6,500 people confirmed dead in Honduras and another 3,000 in Nicaragua.

With millions of displaced people _ 1.9 million in Honduras and 800,000 in Nicaragua _ Law said the governments of those countries are relying on the bishops there to oversee aid distribution.”Everything is needed: medicine, food, clothes, building materials and money,”he said.”There is a real risk of major health problems because of the shortage of water and the destruction of sanitation systems.” Catholic Relief Services is already at work aiding the countries, but Law asked his fellow bishops to do more. He suggested the conference should push for ending deportations to the affected countries _ and possibly extending green cards to Hondurans and Nicaraguans who are illegally in the United States _ as well as forgiveness of tens of millions of dollars in debt owed to this country by Nicaragua and Honduras.

On Monday, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States would suspend bilateral debt payments for two years.

McCarrick, of New Jersey, who supports the idea of the U.S. government forgiving the debts of the hurricane-ravaged countries, said in recent years the conference has urged people in local Catholic parishes to minister to people in need near and far.”The thrust of the church in the United States is to say to our people that if you are going to be a good Catholic you have to look out for your neighbor … not just next door but the next continent away,”he said.

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