c. 1996 Religion News Service

Latin bishops condemn dissent in Catholic Church

VATICAN CITY (RNS)-Top Latin American bishops have denounced Catholics who favor abortion, gay rights and population control, and said they are alarmed by the increasing appeal of so-called New Age ideas among their flock.

The remarks appeared in a tough-worded declaration following a five-day meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, between senior Latin American and Vatican theologians, including Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, one of Pope John Paul II’s closest advisers and an ardent proponent of conservative theology.

The wide-ranging communique, released Monday (May 13), forcefully attacked government programs that promote abortion, sterilization, homosexual rights and the”right to die”movement. Fertility programs were targets of some of the bishops’ harshest criticism.”We are worried about the number of frozen embryos that are conserved in many nations for experiments rashly undertaken, without value for the consequences and that wait for an uncertain future that could well qualify as a future genocide,”the bishops wrote.

They also cast Latin America’s drug trade as a”scourge”that has victimized thousands of people with”misfortune and grief.”The drug economy, the bishops said,”renders an already very complicated situation more difficult, in which the commercial market every day impoverishes more of our people.” In their statement, the bishops said they”discussed”the 70 million evangelical Christians in Latin America, including Pentecostals, whom the church considers a threat to its membership.

But the theologians also were troubled by another trend-the growing allure of New Age ideas like reincarnation and”vague spiritual notions”among people who remain in the Catholic Church.”The so-called New Age movement constitutes an urgent pastoral challenge to all of our nations,”the bishops wrote, because it”takes advantage of superficial sentiments without creating bonds of commitment and tends to become a religion without God.”

Moynihan to challenge veto on late-term abortion

WASHINGTON (RNS)-In a break with fellow Democrat Bill Clinton, New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan said Wednesday (May 15) he’ll vote to override a presidential veto of a measure banning late-term abortions.”It is as close to infanticide as anything I have come upon in our judiciary,”Moynihan said, according to the Associated Press.

The Senate voted 54-44 last December to outlaw the procedure unless the mother’s life was in jeopardy. Nine Democrats joined with 45 Republicans to vote in favor of the ban.

Moynihan, who was ill and did not vote, personally opposes abortion but until now has said a woman has the right to decide.

Supporters of the ban have a good chance of overriding Clinton’s veto in the House, where the bill passed 286 to 129. However, they are unlikely to prevail in the Senate, where 67 votes are needed.

New Anglican bishops: Two for women priests, one against

LONDON (RNS)-The Rev. John Broadhurst, one of the leading opponents of women priests in the Church of England, will be named a bishop in the Diocese of London, church officials announced Tuesday (May 14).

Two other bishops-both supporters of women priests-were also named to posts in the London diocese: The Rev. John Sentamu, a former high court judge in Uganda who fled persecution in that country and later became a priest, will be named bishop of Stepney. Archdeacon Michael Colclough will become bishop of Kensington.

Broadhurst, a North London rector who is chairman of Forward in Faith, the umbrella organization for Anglicans opposed to their church’s established practice of ordaining women, has been appointed suffragan, or assistant, bishop of Fulham.

Broadhurst’s appointment is regarded as proof that the church’s leadership does not wish to marginalize opponents of women priests. In addition to his duties within the Diocese of London, church officials said he will provide pastoral care for parishes opposed to women priests in neighboring dioceses of Rochester and Southwark.

Massage parlor owners to be charged for calling priest gay

(RNS)-Two Cypriot massage parlor owners will be charged with falsely accusing an Orthodox priest of being gay in a case that sparked bloody riots in the Nicosia, Cyprus, the Reuter news agency reported Wednesday (May 15).

Attorney general Alecos Markides told a news conference that massage parlor owners George Petrou Koukoumas and Andreas Tryfonos would be charged with defaming the Rev. Pangratios Meraclis.

The two men had testified to the Archbishopric of the Cyprus Church in February that Meraclis was a homosexual. Meraclis was believed by his followers to be a likely candidate to be the next bishop of the township of Morphou.

The Orthodox Holy Synod put the priest on trial, sparking riots in which 80 people were injured.

The church later dropped its homosexuality charge against the priest.

The attorney general’s decision is likely to rekindle the controversy because both men have alleged others urged them to testify against the priest.

The accused face a fine or up to two years imprisonment if found guilty.

Quotes of the Day: John and Jean Krejci of Lincoln, Neb., on their excommunication by Roman Catholic Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz

(RNS)-Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz, leader of the Roman Catholic diocese of Lincoln, Neb., issued a blanket excommunication March 19 on any of the 83,000 members of his flocked who refused to give up membership in 12 groups the bishop deemed”perilous to the Catholic faith.”Excommunication bars Catholics from receiving the sacraments. Among those affected by the bishop’s decree are John and Jean Krejci, members of Call to Action, a national organization of clergy and laity seeking dialogue on such issues as the church’s ban on married priests, women’s ordination and artificial birth control.”I intend to receive Communion as I have since I was 6 years old. I consider the prohibition to be an unjust law. … For me this law requires civil disobedience. To obey it is to be silent in the face of oppression. To obey it, one would lose something of his or her humanity. Someone needs to stand up and say `This is an abuse of authority. It should not be tolerated,'”said John Krejci, a former priest.”I know sin when I see it, and this isn’t it,”added his wife, Jean, a former nun who said that she, too, would continue receiving the sacraments.”I’m following my conscience as I attempt to live a life of faith, love and compassion along with a sense of humor.”

LJB END RNS