US Bishops Shelve Statement Urging Greater Use of Bible

Interesting from the perspective of the North/South rift that exist within the Catholic Chuch in the U.S.



From Boston.com / News / Nation / Washington / US bishops shelve statement urging greater use of Bible:



"'I can imagine the headline tomorrow: 'Bishops, in attempt to cut expenses, do not encourage people to read the Bible,' ' said Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan of Brooklyn.



Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb, of Mobile, Ala., said 'from my position, where the Bible is so much a part of any effort at evangelization, this would be a disaster public-relationswise.' And Bishop John W. Yanta, of Amarillo, Texas, said, 'Coming from a mission diocese, and also from the Bible Belt, I think it would be disastrous for us to vote against this, and I think it would be detrimental. The word of God is essential to evangelization.'



But opponents said that the catechism of the Catholic Church obviously encourages Catholics to read the Bible, and that a statement reiterating that support is unnecessary.



'All these arguments could be applied to just about every statement we make, but at some point we have to draw the line, as difficult as it might be,' said Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, of Youngstown, Ohio.



The bishops voted 137 to 102 not to pursue the statement until the conference can decide what its priorities are."