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VOL. 33, NO. 33
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Friday, August 25, 1989
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Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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Events in Poland hearten Vatican VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The under a Solidarity-led government. selection of a Catholic writer as Under the old regime, he said, Poland's designated prime minis- there might well have been conflict ter has heartened Vatican officials, over specific points of the legis. who described the move as a dra- ~tion. The official said the church has matic turning point for Eastern had an indirect but important role Europe's most Catholic country. They said Tadeusz Mazowiecki, in Poland's democratization. The the Solidarity leader chosen Aug. Polish church encouraged and ob19 to form a government, is a close . served last spring's round-table. adviser of Lech Walesa and an old talks that opened up the political friend of Pope John Paul II. The process to opposition candidates. two saw each other frequently when Local church leaders generally supthe pope was archbishop of Kra- ported the Solidarity candidates in kow, and when they met at the the June elections, which set the Vatican in 1987the pope embraced stage for Mazowiecki's selection. Mazowiecki warmly, they said. "These were extremely imporThe 62-year-old editor ofTygod- tant elections. This meant the nik Solidarnosc (Solidarity Weekly) regime, at least partialIy, recogled intellectuals who advised strik- nized the sovereignty of the Polish ing workers at Gdansk's Lenin nation. The pope has been insistshipyard in August 1980. The strike ing on this - in public and in prigave birth to the first free trade vate - for years," said the official. union in the communist world. The official cautioned that Po~ Known as a reserved and cautious land's .new leaders are inexperi-' Catholic writer, Mazowiecki was a and "are bound to top Solidarity negotiator at talks enced mistakes." with the government last winter. "But they have potential talents The talks paved the way for the to lead and rule the country. We opposition's entry into Parliament. are praying for them," he said. He "It's a dramatic and important added that Western economic aid development. It certainly repre- wiII be essential to their success. sents a turning point in the history The pope, the official said, has of Poland," said one Vatican offi- followed the events "closely but cial who deals with Polish affairs. privately -, he's been careful not He said the selection of Poland's to be seen as intruding." first non-communist prime minisDuring a flight to Santtago de ter since the war, along with a Compostela, Spain, the pope called government led by the mostly the formation of the new Polish Catholic Solidarity movement, government "a step forward." could have immediate positive Having a non-communist goveffects for the church. ernment in Poland is "a very imFor example, the official said, . portant event," the pope said on the recent law granting the Polish the plane. "That which has been church legal status would proba- done is very important." bly have an "easy" application Turn to Page Six'
BISHOP CRONIN together with clergy and parishioners celebrate the blessing of the newly expanded St. Bernard Church, Assonet on the patronal feast day ofthe parish. (Gaudette
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Africa'n- American rite still topic of debate
WASHINGTON (CNS) - Since Father George A. Stallings established the Imani Temple in early July, the debate over" how to best meet the· spiritual and educational needs of African-American Catholics has continued unabated. The most recent entrants into the debate were two of the United States' African-American bishops and the National Office for Black Catholics. Cleveland' Auxiliary Bishop James P. Lyke, one of 13 black bishops in the United States, said Father Stallings' decision to establish Imani Temple may be "a decision in conscience," but the Washington priest would have to accept the "necessary consequences" if that decision disrupts church unity. "We must respect his (Father Stallings') conscience," Bishop Lyke told an assembly of pastoral . staffs in Cleveland's African: American community last week. : But "there are necessary consequences to a decision in conscience which threatens or disrupts the unity of the church." Father Stallings, former evangelist for the Archdiocese of Washington, was suspended by CardinalJamesA. Hickey of Washington after Imani Temple liturgies began July 2. Bishop Lyke challenged a number of issues raised by Father Stal.. ~ SOLIDARITY leader Lech Walesa, right; hugs Tadeusz lings since the debate began this summer, including Father Stallings' Mazowiecki, newly nominated prime minister of Poland. use of the word "catholic to de(CNS/UPI-Reuters photo) scribe Imani Temple," the "strik-
ingly non-collegial" way Imani Temple was established "without prior formal and open consultation," and "the bold assertion that the church is a racist institution." Father Stallings, Bishop Lyke said, "appears to conveniently forget that the church for decades and up to the present has worked with the black community" and cited the rising numbers. of African-' American bishops and diocesan offices for black Catholics in the past decade. Racism does exist in the Catholic Church, but leaving the church is not the logical solution to the problem, said Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago. . "The church is more than 90 percent non-black and racism is a reality we need to address," he said. "We must try to find how to really respect people of different races and recognize the fact that they are children of God." Asked about Father Stallings, the cardinal said, "I do not agree with his deCision to go out on his own," adding that he felt the problems should be addressed within the Catholic Church. "The whole situation is very sad," Cardinal Bernardin said. "Father Stallings has raised issues that have been addressed before and need to be addr,essed more in the future." Father Stallings has argued it should be possible for AfricanAmericans to have a specific rite that reflects their history, culture
and needs just as the church has allowed distinct rites for Latin and Eastern churches. Cardinal Bernardin said the media have mainly focused on Father Stallings' call to change the liturgy, but that the deeper problem is 'racism in the church. The cardinal added that he met with black clergy of his own archdiocese and was told that they did not feel the need to leave the church, but all agreed racism should be addressed. Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Wilton .0. Gregory, another black bishop, avoided referring to Father Stallings orlmani Temple by name in an address earlier this month at a Detroit liturgy conference. But he said "the events ofthe summer" are raising "some of the most profoundandcomplexliturgicalissues that Catholics have faced since the Second Vatican Council." While he sees a "need to review" a possible African-Americap liturgical rite, Bishop Gregory said the bigger issue in the discussion is "cultural self-determination." African-American Catholics, while maintaining "we belong in the heart of the church," Bishop Gregory said, "do not yet feel that we truly are in the heart of the Catholic Church ... "If we are, indeed, in the heart of the church, then one must need a powerful stethoscope." The Catholic Church, Bishop Turn to Page Six