Bishops Decry ‘Crisis of Mankind’

An international assembly of Roman Catholic bishops approved Friday a “message to all Catholics” that urges the faithful to heed the spiritual teachings of the Second Vatican Council in order to renew the church and meet the “present crisis of mankind and its tragedies.”

A copy of the message, which is to be published today, was made available Friday night to The Times.

The document was adopted by a nearly unanimous vote at the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops, called by Pope John Paul II to reassess the state of the 800 million-member church since the close of Vatican II 20 years ago.

It consists of a conservative statement, sort of an exhortative reflection, that defends the church against false interpretations of its nature. But it also commits the church to work for social, economic and political justice in “a radically changed world.”

‘New Challenges’

“Today we are compelled in the deepening of the mind of the (Second Vatican) Council to face the new challenges,” the four-page message says, and it gives these examples:

“The lack of respect for human life, the suppression of civil and religious liberties, contempt for the rights of the family, racial discrimination, economic imbalance, unpayable debts and the problem of international security and the arms race--all terrifying and destructive.”

The statement reflects many of the positive elements in the comments of the 165 cardinals, archbishops and bishops attending the two-week synod. It says the prelates “do not dwell on errors, confusions and mistakes which have been the cause of sin and human weakness and have caused suffering among the People of God.”

Instead, the paper says, the Catholic Church and its members are to find in the implementation of Vatican II teachings “the light and strength which Christ has promised to give to his followers in each period of history.”

“All of us, bishops of the Oriental rites and Latin rite, have shared unanimously under the influence of grace the conviction that Vatican II is a gift of God to the church and to the world,” it says.

The statement was drafted by a committee of five bishops representing diverse countries and languages. But it bears the conservative imprint of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Munich, who heads the Vatican agency to safeguard doctrinal orthodoxy, and other traditionalist bishops who stress the hierarchical and “mystical” dimensions of the church.

‘Mystery’ of the Liturgy

These prelates repeatedly asserted at the synod that, after Vatican II, Catholicism had lost much of its “sense of the sacred.” Catholics, they said, need to recover the “mystery” of the liturgy and the divine, spiritual character of the church rather than focusing upon it as a social, human community.

“We are aware that the church can renew itself only if it deepens this spiritual notion of mystery in the heart of Christians,” the message says. “It is necessary to understand also the deep reality of the church and to protect it . . . from false sociological and political interpretations about its nature.”

Several of the bishops speaking at the synod scored sociological interpretations of Catholic faith that tend to strip the church of its supernatural aspects and regard it as a merely human institution.

The reference to false political interpretations is an apparent allusion to certain concepts of so-called liberation theology that cast the church in the role of advocate for class struggle and supporter of social justice for the oppressed--by revolution and violence if necessary. The Vatican has condemned church involvement in such forms of liberation theology.

“We are not destined for divisions and wars but called to fraternity and peace,” the letter to the world’s Catholics says. “Man is not created by God for hate and indifference, but for the renewal of his heart; it is done for love of God. It is done for God himself.”

The message also calls the faithful to “a deeper study” of the 16 documents of Vatican II, to greater participation in the fellowship, liturgy and sacraments of the church, to study of the Bible, and to “the service of mankind, especially the poor.”

Related story in Part II, Page 7.