c. 2006 Religion News Service

BALTIMORE _ The nation’s Catholic bishops on Monday (Nov. 13) called for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq “at the earliest opportunity.”

“Our nation’s military forces should remain in Iraq only so long as their presence contributes to a responsible transition,” the statement reads. “Our nation should look for effective ways to end their deployment at the earliest opportunity consistent with this goal.”

The bishops’ final statement dropped an earlier section that called on Congress to hold hearings to investigate the war’s progress.

The Iraq war statement, which was added to the agenda at the 11th hour, is just one of many hot-button issues the bishops are addressing at their four-day meeting, which opened Monday.

The bishops will also produce guidelines for pastoral care to gay and lesbian Catholics, a brochure that emphasises the church’s ban on contraceptives and a document that calls on Catholics who disobey church teaching to refrain from receiving Communion.

The bishops’ statement on Iraq is an update of a document released earlier this year, “Toward a Responsible Transition in Iraq,” and incorporates the results of the midterm elections that saw Democrats seize control of Congress.

“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,”’ the bishops said.

The bishops urged the new Democratic-controlled Congress to engage in a debate that “honestly assesses the situation in Iraq, acknowledges past difficulties and miscalculations and builds on positive advances.”

The bishops urged Congress to initiate a dialogue with the White House “not to re-fight past battles, but more importantly, to examine alternative courses of action, especially in light of their human, moral and financial costs.”

During a brief floor debate, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Chicago questioned the provision for a congressional investigation, cautioning the bishops against weighing in on the “delicate balance” between the legislative and executive branches of government.

“That is a rather specific request. It’s getting involved in the reach of government,” Paprocki said.

The bishops’ debate on other topics was polite but pitched.

Several bishops asked Bishop Erie Donald Trautman, chair of the liturgy committee, whether anything could be done to overcome a recent Vatican ban on lay Catholics cleaning Communion vessels during Mass.

According to an internal survey, Trautman said, an “overwhelming” number of U.S. bishops disagree with the ban. For the last three years, U.S. bishops had special permission from the Vatican to allow lay eucharistic ministers to clean the sacred vessels. Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI denied the bishops’ request to continue the practice. Trautman told his fellow prelates that it is now a closed matter.

The bishops also strongly questioned a committee’s early attempts to adopt a directory and rules for doctrinally correct hymns and liturgical songs for U.S. parishes.

Auxiliary Bishop Edward Grosz of Buffalo, N.Y., said that rules are principles that can be used by bishops to evaluate the doctrinal orthodoxy of hymns, and said bishops will have some freedom to choose the songs sung in their dioceses.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston supported the idea of a directory of songs.

“I am personally convinced that the only way to have the community participate in the liturgy is to have a corpus of hymns all our people know by heart,” he said.

On Tuesday, the bishops are scheduled to vote on moving forward with the directory, as well as on adopting the pastoral guidelines on ministry to homosexual persons, the contraception document and the statement on Communion.

KRE/PH END BURKE