2 Church Groups Condemn NC-17 Rating

Spokespersons for the U.S. Catholic bishops and the National Council of Churches condemned as “arrogant and ill-advised” the NC-17 rating announced Wednesday by the Motion Picture Assn. of America to replace the X rating for adult-only films.

Bishop Edward J. O’Donnell and Beverly Chain, who chair the communications units of the Catholic bishops and the 32-denomination National Council, respectively, issued a joint statement Thursday, urging theater owners not to book NC-17 movies and asking newspapers not to carry their advertisements.

The MPAA, they charged, “caved in to the commercial interests of those who are attempting to get sexually exploitative material into general theatrical release. . . . The change is neither in the public interest nor in the best interest of the industry.”

They said the MPAA action “deeply affects the public good” yet was made “without public consultation.”