Media Watch

Bishops Propose Mixed Meetings

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 3 — A panel of Catholic and Episcopal church delegates on April 1 presented a proposal that bishops of each group attend the other's meetings in order to promote ecumenism.

The AP said this notion was a response to the 1999 report issued by the ecumenical panel that brings together Catholic and Anglican representatives.

Anglican bishops would be brought along with Catholic bishops during official visits and synods at the Vatican and take part — though not vote — in U.S. bishops' conferences. Conversely, Catholic bishops would join meetings of Anglican bishops.

The report mentioned that many issues stand in the way of unity between the two communions — principally the role of papal authority. Other seemingly insuperable obstacles include the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopacy in the Anglican church, which Pope John Paul II has authoritatively taught is impossible for the Catholic Church.

If the proposal is approved, it could mean women Episcopal bishops attending Vatican synods and American bishops' conventions.

‘Voice of the Faithful' Meets With Cardinal George

CATHOLIC CITIZENS.ORG, April 4 — Voice of the Faithful, an activist group that seeks to democratize Church governance, has been banned from using parish property in many dioceses. But Cardinal Francis George of Chicago has agreed to meet with the group, explaining through a spokesman that the group's agenda is still in formation and it ought not to be dismissed as dissenting, according to an April 4 report by Catholic Citizens of Illinois.

In his invitation to meet with the group, however, Cardinal George indicated he thought the group's motto, “keep the faith, change the Church,” was “problematical.” The cardinal also said he thought the best way to increase lay participation was to strengthen the structures put in place after Vatican II and that any renewal in the Church must begin with “the renewal of Christian discipleship.”

Voice of the Faithful members held a rally on March 30 at Dominican University on Chicago's west side after announcements appeared in several local parish bulletins. At last year's bishops' meeting, Cardinal George was one of 10 only U.S. bishops to meet with the group.

Catholic Citizens of Illinois noted that Voice of the Faithful seeks major changes in the Church, including lay-run parishes and what it calls “equality for women,” and frequently speaks of using economic pressure — through withholding of donations to parishes and dioceses — to pressure Church authorities to comply.

Its report cited Archbishop John Myers of Newark, N.J., who called the group “anti-Church and, ultimately, anti-Catholic … a cover for dissent.”

Peggy Noonan to Write Book on John Paul

OPINIONJOURNAL.COM, April 7 — Former Ronald Reagan speechwriter and longtime columnist Peggy Noonan announced April 7 she will be taking a leave of absence from writing op-eds for The Wall Street Journal to pen a book on Pope John Paul II, which should appear in 2004.

Noonan is also author of What I Saw at the Revolution, a history of her work in the Reagan administration.

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