t ean YOLo 36, NO. 23
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.Friday, June 5, 1992
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR<SOUTHEAS'I' MASSACHUSmS' CAPECQD&THEISlANDS'· FALL RIYER, MASS.
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Population control church concern at Earth Summit VATICAN CITY(CNS)- With a global environmental conference in progress, church teaching on birth control landed in the middle of a debate involving Pope John Paul II and the Anglican primate. The controversy began when the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Archbishop George Carey of Canterbury, said in a newspaper interview that the Catholic Church should rethink its ban on contraception. The archbishop also expressed apprehension that the Catholic position would thwart discussion of population control at the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development, now being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. An English Catholic churchman and a Vatican spokesman called Archbishop Carey's remarks unhelpful. The Vatican then heatedly denied it had tried to keep population control off the agenda of the Rio de Janeiro conference, commonly called the Earth Summit. When the pope and the archbishop met at the Vatican before the Rio conference, they avoided direct confrontation over the issue. According to a statement released afterward, the two leaders "encouraged all Christian people to commit themselves to responsible stewardship of God's creation." Archbishop Carey said they did
not speak specifically about contraception. However, there were signs that some ecumenical fallont had occurred. The Vatican's top ecumenical official, Cardinal Edward Cassidy, commented that when issues like this are raised in the press instead of in dialogue, tensions are created. "In the long run it becomes harder to talk about the more delicate questions because you've destroyed the climate in whic\:1 that could be done," Cardinal Cassidy said. . In his interview with the London newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Archbishop Carey said he tried but failed to fully understand the Catholic position on birth control. He said he thought Pope Paul VI's encyclical "Humanae Vitae," which condemns artificial birth control, had "actually stopped theological thinking" on the issue. Saying that the population explosion is taxing the world's resources, he related that when he recently asked why the question of population control was not' to be on the Earth Summit agenda, U.N. officials had lapsed into "uncomfortable silence," "We were faced with religious issues and, I have to say - with respect - the dominant dogma of Turn to Page II
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A BRAZILIAN child scavenging in a garbage dump epitomizes the environmental and population control issues under discussion at the Earth Summit now in progress in Rio de Janeiro, her nation's second most populous city. (eNS/ KNA photo)
Bishops face busy agenda at June meeting WASHINGTON (CNS) When the U.S. Catholic bishops meet June 18-20 at the University of Notre Dame, they will be asked to vote on a plan to raise $4.5 million to pay for the weeklong 1993 World Day of Youth in Denver, which will feature a visit by Pope John Paul II. A major agenda item and likely source of controversy is a half-day discussion - but no vote - on their planned pastoral letter on women's concerns. Nine years in the making and now in its third major draft, the proposed pastoral has generated
wide debate but has been unable to resolve critical issues about women's concerns that divide U.S. Catholics. Some bishops believe no pastoral should be issued. The bishops are also slated to: - Devote a full session to discussion of Catholic evangelization in the United States; - Vote on a new Lectionary for Mass, using the re'cently revised New Testament and Psalms translations ofthe New American Bible. - Vote on the method of taxing dioceses to help pay for National Council of Catholic Bishops/U.S. Catholic Conference activities.
- Decide on national norms for the designation of national shrines. - Vote on a resolution promoting U.S. Catholic participation in World Youth Day. Also expected to be on the agenda are reports on proselytism, national collections and plans for U.S. implementation of The Catechism of the Catholic Church, the universal catechism on which the Vatican has been working for several years and which is expected to be issued this fall. Unlike the annual fall meetings of the NCCB-OSCC, which last four days and are regularly held in
Washington, the spring meetings usually last only three days and are held at different sites around the country. The spring meetings also tend to have a significantly smaller agenda of "action" items - decisions requiring debate and a formal vote - in order to leave room for more in-depth discussion or reflection on other major concerns the bishops are facing. Of the four half-day public sessions slated for June 18 and 19, two will be devoted almost entirely to such in-depth discussions. The pending pastoral on women's
concerns is tentatively slated to take up most of one session. Under current plans, it will be the bishops' last chance as a group to discuss the ideas, direction and tone of the letter in a more general way before it is presented to them this fall for formal debate, amendment and vote. Another session is tentatively set aside for discussion of evangelization in the United States. This has increasingly emerged in recent years as a top church priority at national, diocesan and parish levels. The bishops plan to meet June Turn to Page II
A statement from Msgr.' Henry T. Munroe, Di()cesan'Administrhf()t? I am grateful to all who made the 1992 Catholic Charities Appeal the success that it is. Difficult economic tim~s are reflected in this year's final figure - a situation we pray will not have an impact on the .1993 Catholic Charities Appeal. As the year progresses, the needs of our brothers and sisters will be met as fully as is possible. I ask' G~d 's~hoice blessing$forone and all and pray that an economic upswing in.~ur.ar~11. w~ll p!ovi1e i9bsfor ouruneinPloyed. In particular, I express 'my gratitude totherRererend Daniel L. Freitas, his
staff, the prie~t area directors o(the Appeal and its gener~i' chairman, Mr. Charles Rozak. The Appeal total reflects the h~rdwofk of so many who endeavore~ to. ove.rcome ~~on9mif c~llllepge~ tollrrlye Il~ th~ .fillal t<ttalthat was realized. . May the good Lordreward~1I for their'continulngeffolts a'ndassistante to others•. ;.}:\;:,:.
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