Catholic Church United States

With President Reagan and former President Richard M. Nixon sitting in a front pew, the Roman Catholic bishop conducting the funeral of former CIA Director William J. Casey said Saturday that Casey's belief in the moral strength of the Administration's policies kept the late spymaster from understanding "the ethical questions raised" by his church. The Most Rev. John R. McGann, bishop of the Rockville Centre (N.Y.

A month ago, long after clerical sex scandals had mushroomed in the United States, the Colombian cardinal overseeing the worldwide Roman Catholic priesthood fielded a barrage of questions from reporters here over how the Vatican would respond. Defensive and irritated, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos portrayed the scandals as the product of an American "culture of pansexuality and sexual licentiousness" and noted sourly that most of the questions were in English.

To the grande dames of New York society whom he served as hairdresser and confidant in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Pierre Toussaint was the closest thing on Earth to a saint--and not just because of the wonders he worked with their hair. Through their grapevine, they knew better than most other New Yorkers the endless acts of charity and benevolence performed by this humble, self-effacing man who began each day by attending 6 a.m. Mass at St. Peter's Catholic Church.

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops called Thursday for reform of immigration laws, declaring that immigrants are denied basic human rights and face death in crossing the border illegally. The resolution, approved on a voice vote without debate at the annual fall meeting here of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, reflects heightened concern by bishops over an issue that has long held their attention.

The white-brick monastery across a busy street from a Shell service station seems an unlikely place for a confrontation that now involves Mother Teresa, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, and that ultimately may be decided by Pope John Paul II. It is a dispute so heated that police have been summoned twice to separate feuding nuns.

A panel of U.S. Roman Catholic bishops released a draft of a pastoral letter on women today that condemns sexism as a sin--a "social and moral evil"--but reiterates the church's ban on women priests.

From the offices of His Holiness, John Paul II, comes the latest message for divorced Catholics: no sex in any new relationship, even a new marriage. The statement came from the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family last week and, around the world, hearts sank. In Los Angeles, a divorced Catholic woman engaged to remarry fretted during a physical therapy session. Her biofeedback machine went haywire. In Arlington, Va.

As wintry light filters through the stained-glass windows of Mount Providence, several dozen nuns reaffirm their devotion. Wearing habits, veils and silver wedding bands, holding hymnals flavored with spirituals, the women appear joyful, serene and a bit mysterious. On the wall behind the altar are words that have helped to define them: "Therefore Go and Teach All Nations." These women belong to the world's first order of nuns of African heritage, the Oblate Sisters of Providence.

Pope John Paul II will bring a message of praise for what he calls the "providential" U.S. Constitution when he arrives Thursday for his second major papal journey in the United States. But he will also bring a challenge to the world's richest people to behave more responsibly, according to Vatican sources.

There's nothing about the big white clapboard house in the family-oriented neighborhood of northeast Washington to suggest that its occupants are out to change the world. For the past 17 years, that has been precisely the goal of the Center of Concern, a kind of Roman Catholic think tank dedicated to solving worldwide problems of injustice by throwing expertise and religious commitment at them.

A worsening shortage of Roman Catholic priests will result in fewer Masses, more priestless parishes and deacons leading worship services, a study says. The nation's Catholic bishops Thursday held their first extended public discussion of the problem, which was highlighted by the release of the two-year study. In 1965, there were 58,132 priests serving 46.6 million parishioners in the United States. Today there are 20% fewer priests and nearly a third more parishioners, the study said.

The number of Roman Catholic seminarians in graduate-level training for the priesthood increased 4% this academic year, according to data compiled by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. The data from 46 schools showed 3,474 seminarians, compared with 3,344 for 1998-99. The numbers are closely watched because of the increasing shortage of U.S. priests. The high point for graduate enrollment was 8,159 in 1967-68.

Urging parishioners to declare that they "will not live with the sin of racism any longer," Roman Catholic leaders in Illinois issued a pastoral letter April 3 asking parishioners to help stop racism. Issued a day before the 32nd anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the seven-page letter from 14 Illinois bishops urged parishioners to combat racism by doing such things as getting acquainted with people of other races and refraining from telling racist jokes.

Pope John Paul II has beatified a Bavarian-born priest who ministered to immigrants on the East Coast of the United States during the 19th century. The Rev. Francis Xavier Seelos, a member of the Redemptorist order, was one of five candidates for sainthood--two priests and three nuns--whom the pope proclaimed blessed during a special Jubilee Holy Year Mass on April 9 in St. Peter's Square. John Paul has now beatified a record 1,791 people during his more than 21 years as Roman Catholic pontiff.

A widely circulated Kansas City Star report that U.S. Roman Catholic priests die of AIDS at a rate four times that of the general population and double the rate for adult men continues to stir debate. An AIDS expert writes in the current edition of America magazine that priests' death rate is not higher, and that new infections among clergy have actually "trended downward over time."

Latino Catholics remain largely segregated from other Catholics in the nation's parishes, and discrimination still prevails in many parts of the church, according to a study commissioned by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. In one of its more striking findings, the study concluded that Latinos are twice as likely as other Catholics to worship in "separate and unequal settings."

About 4,500 demonstrators protested the Roman Catholic Church's policy on AIDS and abortion Sunday in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and protesters inside chanted and lay down in the aisles, forcing Cardinal John J. O'Connor to interrupt his sermon while police carried them out on stretchers. At least 111 people were arrested. Church officials, anticipating the well-publicized demonstration, took the unusual step of clearing the church after the 9 a.m.

A Roman Catholic bishop addressed the issue of the church's prohibition of contraception at a meeting in Washington of the church's U.S. hierarchy. But his was a lone voice. The others at the meeting last week skirted the "problem." Most Catholics reject the church's prohibition of contraception. This widespread dissent has been repeatedly documented and is widely recognized throughout the church.

There's been a flurry of saintly activity at the Vatican recently. Pope John Paul II has expressed a desire to elevate more modern role models to the level of veneration, beatification or sainthood, and the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of the Saints has been working feverishly to comply. This is good news for U.S.

Roman Catholic and Jewish leaders will jointly launch a national campaign today to abolish the death penalty, in an effort to reignite what they see as a largely forgotten but urgent crusade.