Pastoral Letter

A pastoral letter entitled "The Sin of Racism," which is being studied and discussed in parishes of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, contains a promise by the denomination's bishops to avoid "racially discriminatory" clubs."

The Rev. Ryan W. Roberts was installed as the new pastor of St. Stephen Lutheran Church on October 23. His first Sunday was October 30. Pastor Roberts grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Franklin High School and the University of Maryland . He went to Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkley, Ca. Pastor Roberts lives with his wife, Breonna, and his daughter, Rosie, in Arbutus. Mrs. Roberts is also a pastor, and serve as the assistant pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Baltimore, near the Inner Harbor . We welcome Pastor and Mrs. Roberts to our community.

WASHINGTON -- The nation's Roman Catholic bishops, embroiled in a heated discussion of the ordination of women and other issues raised by a proposed pastoral letter, are expected to vote today on a recommendation by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago to refer the document to a committee.Being debated is a controversial fourth draft of the 100-page pastoral letter on women in the church and society, the result of a nine-year process of research, writing and revision.Criticisms of the letter were not resolved before the nearly 300 bishops went into executive session yesterday afternoon.

Edward McCarey McDonnell must not be aware that the Catholic church hierarchy has banned all discussion of a married priesthood or the ordination of women ("Abuse not a product of culture but church policy," May 24). Bishop William Morris of Australia sent a pastoral letter to the priests of his diocese noting that discussions of a married priesthood had been occurring and that perhaps they should continue. Despite the severe shortage of priests in Australia, Bishop Morris was removed from his position for even suggesting such a dialogue.

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops have delayed action on a pastoral letter concerning women after widespread criticism of it and demands that it be dropped.The National Conference of Catholic Bishops had been scheduled to vote in November on a final draft of the policy-setting pastoral letter on women's concerns, but the conference's administrative committee postponed the vote yesterday after the Vatican requested that they consult their fellow bishops in other nations on the matter.The pastoral letter has sharply divided Catholics who want more change in church practices regarding women and those who uphold traditional restrictions.

FROM A statement by Bishop P. Francis Murphy, auxiliar bishop of Baltimore, in response to the vote earlier this month of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to table its nine-year effort to write a pastoral letter on women's concerns:"During this past decade of personal discernment in exercising my own responsibility as pastor and teacher, I have found Pope Paul VI's definition of tradition in a letter to Archbishop LeFevre very helpful. He said: 'Tradition is a living reality and not just the material reaffirmation of the past as it was.'"Through [this]

The Roman Catholic Church issued moral and ethical guidelines yesterday for Marylanders facing difficult right-to-die decisions, saying that "burdensome and fragile lengthening of one's life" is not always necessary.At the same time, "care and protection, including food and water," must never be withheld from terminal patients merely because their condition is what a new Maryland law describes as "end stage," the church authorities said -- "even if advanced medical treatments are judged as extremely burdensome."

WASHINGTON -- Archbishop William H. Keeler of Baltimore was elected president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops yesterday in the midst of a heated discussion of the ordination of women and other issues raised by a proposed pastoral letter.The questions were not resolved before the nearly 300 bishops went into executive session late in the day, and the open debate will resume this morning.At issue is the controversial fourth draft of a 100-page pastoral letter on women in the church and society, the result of a nine-year process of research, writing and revision.

WASHINGTON -- The nation's Roman Catholic bishops failed yesterday to adopt a controversial pastoral letter on women that was intended to end discussion in the church of women being ordained as priests.While a simple majority of the bishops -- 137 of the 247 who voted yesterday -- did approve the letter, its failure to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to become a formal teaching document of the church was hailed as a victory by several Catholic lay groups seeking the ordination of women.

SO MUCH is contained in a small story Bishop P. Francis Murphy recounted recently in Commonweal magazine. The auxiliary bishop of Baltimore asked a class of first-graders the number of sacraments, a question as elementary to Catholic schoolchildren as the ABCs."

The nation's Catholic bishops approved a broad new document on marriage Tuesday, laying what its writers described as the foundation for the American church's efforts to promote the institution as the joining of one man and one woman. "Thank goodness this is out there, clearly stated, with ample documentation and very reasonably put forward," said Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of Baltimore, which is hosting the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week.

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops approved a broad new document on marriage Tuesday, laying what its writers described as the foundation for the American church's efforts to promote the institution as the joining of one man and one woman. "Thank goodness this is out there, clearly stated, with ample documentation and very reasonably put forward," said Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of Baltimore, which is hosting the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week.

A pastoral letter entitled "The Sin of Racism," which is being studied and discussed in parishes of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, contains a promise by the denomination's bishops to avoid "racially discriminatory" clubs."

The Roman Catholic Church issued moral and ethical guidelines yesterday for Marylanders facing difficult right-to-die decisions, saying that "burdensome and fragile lengthening of one's life" is not always necessary.At the same time, "care and protection, including food and water," must never be withheld from terminal patients merely because their condition is what a new Maryland law describes as "end stage," the church authorities said -- "even if advanced medical treatments are judged as extremely burdensome."

FROM A statement by Bishop P. Francis Murphy, auxiliar bishop of Baltimore, in response to the vote earlier this month of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to table its nine-year effort to write a pastoral letter on women's concerns:"During this past decade of personal discernment in exercising my own responsibility as pastor and teacher, I have found Pope Paul VI's definition of tradition in a letter to Archbishop LeFevre very helpful. He said: 'Tradition is a living reality and not just the material reaffirmation of the past as it was.'"Through [this]

SO MUCH is contained in a small story Bishop P. Francis Murphy recounted recently in Commonweal magazine. The auxiliary bishop of Baltimore asked a class of first-graders the number of sacraments, a question as elementary to Catholic schoolchildren as the ABCs."

WASHINGTON -- The nation's Roman Catholic bishops wound up their annual meeting yesterday with a tense discussion of a pastoral letter on women, indicating that the role of women in the church is almost sure to be a matter of violent controversy for years to come.In their four-day meeting, the bishops dealt with women in a statement on sexuality, in the new guidelines for the use of gender-neutral language in some church readings, and in a proposed pastoral letter condemning sexism in society and in the church.

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops approved a broad new document on marriage Tuesday, laying what its writers described as the foundation for the American church's efforts to promote the institution as the joining of one man and one woman. "Thank goodness this is out there, clearly stated, with ample documentation and very reasonably put forward," said Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of Baltimore, which is hosting the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week.

WASHINGTON -- The nation's Roman Catholic bishops failed yesterday to adopt a controversial pastoral letter on women that was intended to end discussion in the church of women being ordained as priests.While a simple majority of the bishops -- 137 of the 247 who voted yesterday -- did approve the letter, its failure to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to become a formal teaching document of the church was hailed as a victory by several Catholic lay groups seeking the ordination of women.

WASHINGTON -- The nation's Roman Catholic bishops, embroiled in a heated discussion of the ordination of women and other issues raised by a proposed pastoral letter, are expected to vote today on a recommendation by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago to refer the document to a committee.Being debated is a controversial fourth draft of the 100-page pastoral letter on women in the church and society, the result of a nine-year process of research, writing and revision.Criticisms of the letter were not resolved before the nearly 300 bishops went into executive session yesterday afternoon.