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8B RELIGION/tKlie Charlotte ^ost Thursday, November 16, 2006 U.S. Bishops conference head decries society’s growing coarseness THEASSOC/AreD PRESS BALTIMORE ~ The leader of America’s Roman Catholic bishops called his colleagues Monday to fight against a coarseness that he said was infecting the church and soci ety at large, and to unite in promoting human dignity through faith. In his opening address at the U.S. bishops’ fall meeting, Bishop William Skylstad said “debasing personal attacks” have replaced healthy public debate, and that popular cul ture and the news media have degraded human dignity with violence and vulgar depictions of sex. “There is a mocking reduc tion of sexuality, debasing it from God’s beautiful gift of creation to little more than casual chemistry and inconse quential recreation,” said Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bish ops. “Sometimes it seems that people are no longer seen as children of God but as little more than a disposable com modity.” Skylstad, of Spokane, Wash., said he has also detected a cruelty in discussions within the church, among people who “presume the worst of inten tions or motivations of others.” “The point seems to be not to seek the truth or to build up the Body of Christ, but to strive for a sort of victory by overcoming others, preferably by crushing those who dis agree,” he said. “Our unity cannot simply devolve into an endless debate that would keep us from articulating our faith in a definitive way.” Skylstad made the com ments ahead of discussions over the next two days that are meant to emphasize core cViurcti teachings, especially for often uninvolved Catholics. The bishops will also consid er new guidelines on ministry to gay parishioners, explain ing the theological underpin nings of the Catholic mandate that marriage must be limited to one man and one woman. The attention to core teach- A day that won’t be forgotten Continued from page 5B 598 b.c.). He was a striking contrast to his father. Jehoiakim lived in personal extravagance (Jeremiah 22:13-15), pursued dishonest gain, and set his eyes and his heart “to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence” (22:17). As noted in last week’s lesson, Jehoiakim cut up into pieces a scroll from Jeremiah and cast the pieces into a fire (36:22-24). During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar came to power in Babylon as Egypt declined in influence. Jehoiakim switched his loy alty to Babylon in an attempt to keep up with the times, but rebelled after three years (2 Kings 24:1). The Scrip tures do not indicate how Jehoiakim died; possibly he was assassinated. Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim’s son, ruled for only three months. He was taken cap tive to Babylon by Nebuchad nezzar in 597 b.ci His later release from prison and ele vation to a position of honor in Babylon is mentioned in 2 Kings 25:27-30 and Jeremi ah 52:31-34. Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, was another son of Josiah. Zedekiah reigned for 11 years until Jerusalem fell in 586 b.c. Weak and unsta ble. he refused to heed the cnunsel of Jeremiah to sur render to the Babyloniims (Jeremiah 27:12-15; 38:17, ings comes as the 64 million- member American church faces a shortage of priests, low rates of Mass attendance and a massive influx of His panic immigrants. Diocesan budgets also are stretched thin. Bishops nationwide have been closing older parishes that are too expensive to maintain, while trying to cover rising costs for operating their schools. And several dioceses are still nego tiating settlements in the mil lions of dollars over claims of clergy sex abuse. The cases of three of the four dioceses that have sought bankruptcy pro tection from molestation claims remain unresolved. Skylstad, whose own dio cese has sought bankruptcy protection, only mentioned the crisis briefly, saying the abuse crisis made church leaders even more aware of how children often are hurt most by adults who fail to pro mote human dignity. Tb adjust to the financial pressures on the church, the bishops this week will consid er restructuring the confer ence’s Washington headquar ters. Under the proposal, American dioceses would send less money to the confer ence, which would in turn cut jobs and committees. The bishops have also pro posed a new set of priorities for their, streamlined confer ence through 2011, including an initiative supporting mar riage, increasing the number of candidates for the priest hood and improving educa tion for Catholics on church teaching. The meeting runs through Thursday, but the bishops have decided to conduct more business than usual behind closed doors. This week, pub lic sessions will end Tuesday. In previous years, the confer ence only held a half-day exec utive session at its fall meet ing, but a spokeswoman said the extra time was needed for “prayer and reflection.” On the Net: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bhhop.s: hnp:/lwww.usccb.org RADIO 1370 AM 94.7 FM 1490 AM The Best Variety of Christian Music in the Carolina & Georgia Rejoynetwork.com Tune in for our Live Broadcast Partners To Partner, Call 980.297.7256 Fax: 980.297.7247 /0:S0am/r^ f We Fo' Christmas ^ Ciiitah Way
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