Inside and outside agendas: Groups try to get bishops' attention

Published: 2004-11-19

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Some of the topics raised during the U.S. bishops' meeting in Washington Nov. 15-17 were on agendas other than the one the bishops themselves were following. This year, some of the bishops' main agenda items concerned how they set priorities for projects, adoption of a U.S. catechism for adults, approval of Spanish-language liturgical texts, election of conference officers and creation of a committee to aid the church in Africa. Meanwhile, advocates with no official role in the meeting used it as a backdrop for their own causes: optional celibacy for priests; a harder line against Catholic politicians who support legal abortion; greater transparency in the handling of church finances; a different approach to homosexuals; and personal accountability for bishops over how they handle abuse cases. The general meeting in November is always used by some outside organizations that piggyback on the presence of 250 or so bishops to try to get the attention of church leaders and the news media, pressing causes that aren't necessarily on the list of official business.

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