U.S. Bishops Congratulate, Caution Bush : Won’t Give Up Stands on National Issues Catholic Prelates Say

Along with their congratulations, the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops sent President-elect George Bush a reminder today that they will speak out firmly on national issues and not “only in praise and appreciation” of White House policies.

As their annual meeting got under way, the bishops also showed frustration bordering on irritation on an intra-church matter, a late intervention by the Vatican that will prevent them from voting on guidelines for resolving disputes with theologians.

The Vatican action--based on an objection that the guidelines suggest equality between theologians and bishops--”might be perceived as confrontational or as belittling the episcopal conference (of bishops), which I know is not intended,” said Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago. He and other bishops said the complaint should have come much earlier.

The vote on the guidelines was put off until next June, but the bishops will get another chance this week to publicly discuss their not-always-harmonious relationship with the Vatican. A vote is scheduled for Wednesday on a proposal concerning the authority of bishops’ conferences.

Will ‘Stand With Pope’

At the beginning of today’s opening session, the president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop John May of St. Louis, declared they would stand with Pope John Paul II “in denouncing injustices and actions which foster disrespect for human life, from abortion to the death penalty.”

The reference is a pointed one since President-elect Bush campaigned for the presidency as a vigorous defender of capital punishment--portraying rival Michael S. Dukakis as weak for taking the other side--as well as a foe of abortion.

In recent years, several of the bishops’ major statements have stirred controversy outside as well as inside the church, particularly as they took issue with Reagan Administration policies on nuclear arms, Latin America and the U.S. economy.

“We are sometimes criticized for being too concerned about the world, of pursuing an agenda that in the minds of some critics is secular, leftist or in some way ‘ideological,’ ” May said. But he said actions and statements by the Pope have shown the bishops it is not possible to have “too much social consciousness.”