Disciplining of U.S. Bishop to Be Reviewed

The Vatican, which upset some American bishops when it disciplined Seattle Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen last year, has asked three of the nation’s most influential Roman Catholic churchmen to take a new look at the situation.

In a brief statement issued through the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Pope John Paul II’s representative to the United States said Monday that two cardinals, Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago and John O’Connor of New York, and Archbishop John Quinn of San Francisco would “assess the current situation in the archdiocese of Seattle.”

“Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen has expressed his concurrence,” the statement from Archbishop Pio Laghi said.

Last summer, Rome forced Hunthausen to give up some of his authority to a Vatican-appointed auxiliary bishop, after Hunthausen was judged too liberal on matters such as ministry to homosexuals and the dispensation of absolution for sin to large groups.