anc 0 VOL. 32, NO. 29
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Friday, July 22, 1988
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Operation Rescue on hand at convention ATLANTA (NC) - An "Operation Rescue" protest at an Atlanta abortion clinic July 19 resulted in the arrest of 134 anti-abortion protesters, the first mass arrests made during the July 18-21 Democratic National Convention. The protesters were arrested at Atlanta SurgiCenter, more than a mile from the Omni Hotel, the convention site. A variety of protests and outbreaks of scuffling
·and clashes took place during the convention. "Operation Rescue," a Binghamton, N. Y.-based group, has sponsored protests in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania this year resulting in more than 3,000 arrests. The protests are aimed at drawing attention anew to the abortion issue, and, if possible, preventing abortion clinics from doing business on the day of the protest.
With police already nearby at about 7 a.m., protesters attempted to block the entrance to the Atlanta SurgiCenter. They were carried to waiting buses by police officers. The clinic remained open. According to Marion Lee, information officer for the Atlanta Public Safety Department, the 69 women and 65 men arrested would be charged with unlawful assembly. "Any time a large number of
people assemble or march in Atlanta they have to have a permit," she said. Many of those arrested were expected to give the name Baby Jane Doe or Baby John Doe to police. This could result in the additional charge of giving a false name, according to Ms. Lee: Those arrested were taken to Lakewood Fairgrounds in Atlanta
for processing for hearings by a city judge. Ms. Lee said one of those arrested was taken to Grady Hospital but refused treatment. Craig Hoffer, who witnessed the July 19 protest but was not arrested, took part in a July 18 anti-abortion march near the Omni that had a permit. He said the group was harassed and physically jostled by Turn to Page Two
Semina;y study nearly done, Vatican letters expected, bishop says WASHINGTON (NC) - An almost 7-year-long Vatican-commissioned study of U.S. seminaries is nearly complete and a Vatican report on the college seminaries studied is expected by year's end, said Bishop John A. Marshall of Burlington, Vt. Bishop Marshall made his last formal report July 5 to Pope John Paul II and U.S. Cardinal William W. Baum, head of the Congregation for Catholic Education. Pittsburgh Bishop Donald W. Wuerl, a consultant to the study, and Msgr. Richard Pates, vicar for seminaries in the archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and executive secretary of the commission, participated in the Vatican meet-
ings regarding the study of 221 U.S. institutions that prepare candidates for the priesthood. Msgr. Pates said the commission members have been reporting to the pope annually since the st.udy began. "He has been following it very closely" and has been pleased "with the thoroughness and collegiality involved." In addition to "general letters" from the Vatican on each of the three segments ofthe study, Bishop Marshall said, individual letters from the Congregation for Catholic Education have been sent to the institutions studied. The study's three segments focused on free-standing post-college
seminaries, college seminaries, and theological unions and related houses of formation. Msgr. Pates said that although all on-site seminary visits were completed in October 1987, some work remains on the final written reports on a few formation houses. The on-site visits were conducted by about 40 bishops and 80 seminary rectors, faculty and staff members, he said. Bishop Marshall told National Catholic News Service that he could not discuss the content of the reports on college-level seminary visitations, which were completed two years ago, nor the reports on theological unions and formation houses, completed in 1987.
"We send over the raw material," the bishop said, and the Vatican congregations for education and for religious and secular institutes "make the judgments." The first segment of the study, on free-standing theologates, was completed in 1985 and a Vatican report was released a year later. In addition to the letter on college seminaries, the Congregation for Catholic Education, working with the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes, will collaborate on an "expected letter to religious communities" concerning the theological unions and formation houses where their candidates are trained, Bishop Mar-
shall said. The letter would be released "probably next year." Commenting on the post-college seminaries, the Vatican report already issued called them "basically good." However, in some seminaries it noted confusion and even dissent with regard to authoritative church teachings in moral theology; inadequate preparation in philosophy; need for better recruitment of minority students; and lack of clarity about the distinctiveness of the priesthood. The report praised seminary leadership, community life, liturgies, pastoral formation, biblical studies, attention to spiritual life and preparation for priestly celibacy.
Following bishops may cost your political home NEW YORK (NC) - U.S. Catholics who follow the public policy approach of their bishops can be left without a "political home" in either of the major parties, said John L. Carr, U.S. Catholic Conference secretary for social development and world peace. Speaking on a recent national teleconference Carr said the bishops' starting point and basic principle - a concern to "enhance" the human person - leads them to speak for both the unborn and the poor. Republicans talk about abortion but not the poor, and Democrats do the reverse, he said. He added that those talking about an issue may not be doing much about it. Carr was a panelist in a teleconference on "The Church and the Elections: Political But Not Partisan," broadcast to Catholic dioceses and organizations through the Catholic Telecommunications Network of America. Carr said the position laid out in the U.S. bishops' statement for the 1988 election year, "Political Responsibility: Choices for the Future," is "countercultural" rather than a tilt toward one party. Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Nancy Sylvester, another panelist, said the church in its official teaching role should "raise up"
moral issues and their practical implications, but not try to calculate a "scorecard" for an individual candidate as some groups do. Father Philip Murnion, teleconference moderator, asked her if. issues highlighted by Network, the social justice lobby she directs in Washington, showed more "consanguinity" with the overall Democratic stance than with the Republican. "Neither party does what needs to be done," she replied.
James Finn, editorial director of Freedom House, said 'that "all political issues are moral issues," and that the bishops should call attention to moral principles. But specific application should be left to the laity, he said, because they are better equipped for that task and because activity at that level becomes divisive and partisan. He said the bishops ought not to advocate some ofthe specific causes found in their election-year state-
ment, such as an increase in the minimum wage, because there were good arguments on both sides. He also said the bishops' statement was "incorrect" in asserting that Americans had "a moral obligation to take the lead in helping to reduce poverty in the Third World." The lead, he said, should rather be taken by the people of those areas. Discussion of how the abortion
This George is a Democrat
ATLANTA (NC) - Flags, patriotic anthems and a special appearance by George. the par-
ish donkey, brought some oldfashioned spirit to a pre-convention Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Atlanta for Democrat delegates. Atlanta Archbishop Eugene A. Marino asked God's blessing on convention delegates and assured the approximately 500 people at the Mass that the church of Atlanta would pray that their work would be effective. "It is good for us to be reminded," the archbishop said, "that there is a Christian dimension to our political responsibility that binds us in conscience to participate in the process... It
for us to be reminded that it is our responsibility to be informed and participative." The church gives "a moral framework to which our conscience must be informed," Archbishop Marino said, calling on people to be informed on the issues and to register and vote. George, the parish donkey, who usually leads Palm Sunday processions, made a special appearance outside the church before the Mass wearing a straw boater and carrying baskets filled with flags. George spends most of his time on a farm owned by a Sacred Heart parishioner. IS Wt:U
issue related to the overall approach of Catholics to politics was woven throughout the discussion among the panelists and the questions telephoned in to them by listening groups. Finn said it would be useful for the bishops to write a pastoral on abortion, spelling out the argument that it is not a specifically Catholic issue but a human issue. Carr said nobody was "confused" about the importance given to the abortion issue by the Catholic Church. Sister Sylvester said Network did not have abortion among its key issues because when it was organized, abortion was being addressed by other groups. . Carr said he anticipated that candidates would be appealing to Catholics, considered to be a "swing vote" in this year's elections. "I hope the appeal is based on substance rather than symbols," he said. Issues with moral content such as abortion, nuclear arms, poverty, Central America and South Africa, he said, should get attention in the campaign. "A lot of candidates are giving us poetry on these issues without much substantive discussion," he said.