Two crucial, much-debated questions accompanied U.S. Catholic bishops as they slipped behind the doors of the old gymnasium at St. John`s University for a closed session this week.
First, what should they say about AIDS and how should the Catholic Church deal with it and minister to its victims?
Second, who should say those things?
The bishops were aware not only that the questions were doctrinal dynamite but also that they had pitted two of their most prominent colleagues in rare public dispute:
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago was an architect and proponent of the statement ”The Many Faces of AIDS” as one of four bishops on the task force that drafted it.
John Cardinal O`Connor of New York was an opponent. He wanted the AIDS statement rewritten because it made a ”grave mistake” in suggesting that AIDS information might discuss condoms.
But by the time the bishops emerged from their closed-door executive session four hours later, they had resolved the dispute so skillfully-for now, at least-that retired Ft. Wayne-South Bend Bishop William McManus remarked admiringly:
”We should have invited the press and done this in open session so you could have seen a kind of unity I haven`t seen in 20 years.”
The bishops voted unanimously to appoint an ad hoc committee to draft a new AIDS statement. It was the only vote of the session. They did not vote on the existing statement. That means it will remain in place-but not as their final word.
Archbishop John May of St. Louis, conference president, said he would soon appoint a drafting committee, probably including one or more of those on the previous task force.
The executive session vote was a true compromise. Neither cardinal clearly won but neither clearly lost. And considering that the Vatican intervened at the 11th hour against ”The Many Faces of AIDS,” the fact that Cardinal Bernardin salvaged any form of victory was significant.
This is the chronology of compromise:
On Dec. 11, the bishops` 50-member Administrative Board released ”The Many Faces of AIDS.” It upheld Catholic teaching that sex should be expressed in a ”monogamous heterosexual relationship of lasting fidelity in marriage” and opposed ”safe sex” as a way to prevent AIDS, but stirred controversy by stating, in part:
”Because we live in a pluralistic society . . . public education programs addressed to a wide audience will reflect the fact that some people . . . will not refrain from the type of sexual or drug abuse behavior which can transmit AIDS.”
”In such situations educational efforts, if grounded in the broader moral vision outlined above, could include accurate information about prophylactic devices or other practices proposed by some medical experts as potential means of preventing AIDS.”
After Cardinal O`Connor moved quickly to have the document withdrawn, Cardinal Bernardin suggested to the task force in March that a new statement might be necessary, but the group decided instead to bring the matter before the full bishops meeting this week.
As the bishops met, powerful ammunition emerged on Cardinal O`Connor`s side: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who heads the Vatican`s doctrinal monitoring body, criticized ”The Many Faces of AIDS” for mentioning condoms and for having been distributed without advance consultation with the Pope.
His letter represented at least unofficial opposition from Pope John Paul II.
Bishops had the AIDS document and Cardinal Ratzinger`s letter Monday when they went into executive session. And they voted unanimously to compromise.
As a result, Cardinal O`Connor won by getting the promise of a new AIDS statement but failed to get the old statement withdrawn.
Cardinal Bernardin failed to get approval of the old statement, which he and fellow drafters insisted was ”theologically sound” and did not counter Catholic teaching on human sexuality.
But he said that retaining the statement even as a ”stepping-off point” for a new one was a victory because withdrawing it ”could give the impression that the entire document is flawed and that the entire Administrative Board was in serious error.”
