Pope Promises Action in Upgrading Laity : Mass at Closing of Synod Disrupted by American Protester

Solemnly closing a monthlong synod of bishops with a High Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope John Paul II on Friday promised prompt reaction to calls for updating and expanding the role of the laity within the Roman Catholic Church.

The Pope applauded the more than 200 bishop delegates for the “profound and stimulating” ideas that they had brought to their deliberations.

“It will be my task in the coming months to gather them together and present them in orderly form to the entire people of God. We wish indeed to share the fruits of our work,” said the Pope, who attended many of the synod sessions.

Before the Mass ended, 57-year-old American anti-nuclear protester Thomas K. Siemer, who is well known to Vatican police, climbed over a barricade and ran shouting toward the altar. Siemer, whose previous protests had brought two arrests on Vatican grounds, was intercepted by guards about 20 yards from the pontiff. The Mass continued uninterrupted.

A Vatican spokesman said later that Siemer, of Columbus, Ohio, appeared to be mentally disturbed.

Siemer told Vatican police that he is an opponent of John Paul’s views on peace and wanted to tell the Pope his ideas, according to Vatican spokesman Giovanni d’Ercole.

A recent statement about nuclear weapons signed by Siemer and sent to news organizations in Rome said: “We have finally won over the minds of Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev to remove by treaty these dangerous weapons. Now, maybe we can move the minds of the Holy Father and church to morally ban them for all generations by a law of the church.”

Prolonged Debate

The synod’s recommendations to the pontiff were reached after prolonged debate that included more than 900 proposed amendments. The Pope may ignore or act on them as he chooses, but the context of his remarks Friday suggested that he intends to adopt at least some of them.

In general, the recommendations urge a more active spiritual role for Catholics both within the church and in society at large. They call for greater participation in church life by women and young people and for reinforcing the parish as the cornerstone of Catholic life.

American prelates who had hoped the synod would call specifically for the acceptance of women in all liturgical roles short of ordination instead got a vague statement urging an end to discrimination against women and proposing a larger role for women in “the life and the mission of the church.”

The recommendations themselves were not made public, but a summary of them included the following delphic passage concerning women: “After having studied other aspects of societal questions, namely the impact of the media, and having underlined the importance of the formation of the laity, the synod insisted on recalling the dignity of women. The assembly wishes that there be an intensification of research on the anthropological and theological foundations of the dignity of man, and of woman, as well as the significance of their difference.”

Vatican sources said reservations among Third World bishops concerned more with social and economic issues of basic human needs had short-circuited American initiatives on women.

An African bishop told reporters Friday that “tensions” had arisen during synod debate on women and on the role of independent Catholic lay movements. An American delegate said he had been surprised at the depth of opposition to such lay groups, which operate outside the authority of local bishops.

The synod summary starkly portrayed social concerns common to less-affluent nations: “The most important economic and social problems in the various parts of the world were mentioned: We remember unemployment, the external debt of developing countries; apartheid was strongly rejected as well as every form of discrimination and persecution for religious or racial reasons.”