c. 1996 Religion News Service

PORTLAND, Ore. _ For three days last week, in various ways and differing contexts, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops wrestled with and acted on their calling to be teachers of the nation’s 60 million Catholics.

Confronting a full agenda of internal church concerns _ from voting on new English translations of liturgical texts to a discussion of the reorganization of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops _ the prelates also found time to speak out on a number of pressing social issues, from abortion and euthanasia to church burnings and immigration.

Though bishops also serve as pastors and administrators of their dioceses, providing moral and doctrinal instruction is one of their highest duties.

The teacherly tone was set by the opening address of Cleveland Bishop Anthony M. Pilla, president of the NCCB. Drawing heavily on the issues Pope John Paul II emphasized on his 1995 visit to the United States, Pilla defended the Catholic bishops’ presence in the political arena.”I propose that today the primary role of the bishop in the public policy arena is that of teacher,”Pilla told the 250 bishops attending the meeting.

Pilla stressed that the church”does not seek any kind of inappropriate sectarian domination”nor does it seek to impose a particular moral code on others.”As moral teachers, however, we bishops definitely do seek to persuade and to offer our arguments, in every forum our society has to offer,”he added.”While we do not seek to coerce, neither do we intend to be coerced into silence by those unwilling to recognize the importance of religion and moral truth to the achievement of the common good,”he said.

In three statements issued by Pilla and affirmed by the conference, the bishops:

_ Denounced President Clinton’s veto of a bill banning a controversial late-term abortion procedure, labeled by its opponents as”partial-birth”abortion.

_ Criticized proposed immigration legislation, including a provision backed by GOP presidential hopeful Bob Dole, that would deny education to children of illegal immigrants.

_ Condemned the wave of arsons that have hit more than three-dozen predominantly African-American churches, mostly in the South.

Just 12 hours before the bishops adopted the latter statement, a largely black church in Portland was burned in what fire investigators labeled an arson attack.

But the bishops did more than condemn the burnings; they opened their wallets. At the suggestion of Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, they set up a collection box at the back of the meeting room and filled it with nearly $10,000 in cash, personal checks and diocesan contributions to rebuild the burned Portland church.

The bishops also agreed to contribute $50,000 to The Burned Church Fund, an effort the bishops’ conference is co-sponsoring with the National Council of Churches and the American Jewish Committee.

Beyond dealing with social issues, the bishops addressed the teaching theme in various discussions of internal church matters.

Pilla’s speech, for example, raised one of the thornier issues with which the bishops have wrestled in recent years: the role the laity should play to influence and implement the bishops’ moral and doctrinal instructions.”By emphasizing our role in public policy as primarily that of teacher, we bishops acknowledge that the practical implementation of this teaching belongs to the laity,”Pilla said.

But he warned that the laity must be”alert that they do not import the attitude of the world into the church rather than the mind of Christ into the world.” On a practical level, Pilla’s concern was raised on a small but symbolically important issue: the reorganization of the NCCB and its social policy arm, the U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC). Presently, some laity serve in an advisory capacity on some USCC committees such as those dealing with education, communication and domestic and international policy. At issue is whether they would continue to do so and, if so, whether they should be allowed to have voice and vote in a reorganized bishops’ structure.

During the discussion, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit told the bishops the laity felt excluded and powerless. He pointed specifically to efforts by some lay groups to gather 1 million signatures on a petition calling for church reform and to the national Call to Action organization, another church-reform group. Both efforts have been criticized by members of the hierarchy.”They (the laity) are pleading for a way to participate,”Gumbleton said.”We are dealing with issues that are important to them.” Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, chairman of the committee preparing the reorganization, said a survey by his committee showed bishops were divided on what role the laity should play in a restructured bishops’ conference.”Approximately half the bishops support committees of bishops only with (lay) consultants; another half favor committees with bishops and non-conference members,”Bernardin said.

He said that in terms of voice and vote, if non-bishops were allowed to serve on committees, 47 percent favor giving them voice and vote”when appropriate,”41 percent favor voice only and 12 percent favor voice and vote always in committee deliberations.

The committees draft proposed policy statements for the full NCCB and USCC on a host of issues that range from capital punishment, immigration and telecommunications legislation to civil rights and school voucher programs.

The discussion will be continued in November.

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In other action at the meeting, the bishops:

_ Voted to ask the Vatican for permission to allow churches to hold a full funeral liturgy in the presence of cremated remains.

_ Held an inconclusive vote on whether to spend $81,000 to fund an Office on the Third Millennium to help the church celebrate the coming of the year 2000. Not enough bishops were present to give the proposal the necessary two-thirds vote. A mail ballot of absent bishops will be taken.

_ Approved a number of new English translations of the Latin prayers for saints’ feasts. The translations must still be approved by the Vatican.

_ Discussed, but did not approve, ways of implementing a 1990 Vatican decree aimed at ensuring that Catholic schools and universities do not stray from official church teaching.

MJP END ANDERSON