Goes Beyond Anti-Abortion Stand : Catholic Bishops to Vote on Revised Pastoral Letter

The nation’s Catholic bishops will vote on the second draft of a controversial pastoral letter on the U.S. economy and act on a sweeping plan for pro-life activities during their annual conference in Washington next week.

About 300 bishops, archbishops and cardinals are expected to attend the five-day meeting, which begins Monday.

The Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities is an expansion of an earlier document issued 10 years ago, but the revised version goes beyond opposition to abortion to deal with other issues that the drafting committee considers life threatening. The new document cites the need for a “consistent ethic” in the cause, working against such assaults on life as poverty, war, capital punishment, euthanasia, infanticide and drugs.

Like the earlier plan, the revised pastoral urges a public policy effort to ensure legal protection for the lives of the unborn.

Added Clause

But the proposed statement adds: “In other areas of public concern--including nuclear deterrence, capital punishment, immigration policy and social spending for the poor--respect for the intrinsic dignity of human life does not play the central role it deserves.”

The second draft of the pastoral on economic justice reaffirms the strong commitment to economic justice established in first draft, released at the bishops’ conference a year ago.

The document says that the fundamental criterion for economic decisions and institutions is that they must serve all people, especially the poor.

When the first draft was released, its emphasis on governmental intervention in the market economy to solve economic ills stirred considerable criticism from defenders of capitalism. Although some of the blunt language has been softened in the second draft, the basic concepts are intact.

Both drafts implicitly criticize some Reagan Administration policies, warn of the dangers of wealth and unregulated capitalism, and attack American military spending and overseas development policies.

Further Revisions Planned

The 40,000-word second draft--20% shorter than the first--will be discussed by the bishops in full assembly and in small groups. The document will undergo further revision next year before final adoption in November, 1986.

The bishops will also act next week on statements on campus ministry and evangelization, approve a revised ritual for funerals, discuss the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops, which will meet with Pope John Paul II in Rome Nov. 24-Dec. 8, and approve plans for a closed meeting of the U.S. hierarchy in Minnesota next June to discuss church-related vocations.

On Thursday, Bishop James W. Malone of Youngstown, Ohio, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, will give what is expected to be a major ecumenical address at a joint Lutheran-Catholic worship service in the Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill.

The liturgy for the service--to be used for the first time--was developed by Catholic and Lutheran liturgists at the request of the annual meetings of the bishops of both churches. Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Church in America, American Lutheran Church, and Assn. of Evangelical Lutheran Churches will participate in the ceremony.