Washington’s Bishop Hunthausen to Meet With Pope

Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen is scheduled to confer with Pope John Paul II next week in a meeting that could bring peace to the relationship between the Vatican and the prelate, who has become a symbol of the rift between U.S. Catholics and Rome.

A church spokesman said the meeting could end the controversy that began late in 1985, when the Vatican stripped Hunthausen of some his key pastoral duties, giving them to Auxiliary Bishop Donald Wuerl.

Hunthausen lost his powers after a papal commission determined he had been lax in key areas of church doctrine and liturgy, including allowing a homosexual group to hold a special Mass in Seattle and not being outspoken enough against abortion.

Powers Restored in ’87

Hunthausen’s powers were restored in 1987 and Wuerl was sent to Pittsburgh, though another bishop, Thomas Murphy of Montana, was assigned to the Diocese of Western Washington as coadjutor bishop.

Many Catholics in Washington state are optimistic the Vatican will finally acknowledge its full satisfaction with Hunthausen’s leadership since his powers were restored.

“There are a lot of people who hope there will be some closure to this process,” said Russell Scearce, archdiocese spokesman. However, he said Hunthausen and Murphy are not certain what will happen.

“They don’t have total control of the agenda,” he said.

Account of Diocese

The visit to Rome, scheduled for Monday through Friday, is called an “ad limina” visit. In this process, each bishop meets with the Pope every five years and gives an account of his diocese.

The visit comes at a time when U.S. Catholic bishops have been in open conflict with the Pope. At a meeting earlier this month in Washington, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops reviewed a draft of a Vatican document that questioned the authority of the conference.

The bishops returned the document marked: “Not suitable as a basis for discussion.”