Bishops Condemn Church Burnings, Urge Override Of Clinton Abortion Veto

The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops, already in a war of words with President Clinton over abortions, kept up the political heat Thursday at the first day of their spring meeting.

The meeting fell on the first day of summer, the same day a predominantly black church became the first in the Pacific Northwest to become the target of an arson attack similar to recent attacks on Southern churches.

The bishops condemned the attacks and adopted a statement that called for Americans to “unite across racial and religious lines to confront bigotry.”

The burnings should be an affront to everyone, regardless of religion, said Auxiliary Bishop Curtis Guillory, chairman of the African American Catholics Committee.

“Churches are sacred. They are a place where people come and really bare their souls,” Guillory said. “Historically, in the black community, the church has always been that place - a place where they are empowered.”

But the bishops also talked politics during much of the meeting.

Bishop Anthony Pilla, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, or NCCB, said the church won’t hesitate to influence public policy, especially in an election year.

Earlier this week, the NCCB called for the Senate to override Clinton’s veto of a bill that would ban partial-birth abortions. The seldom-used procedure terminates late-term pregnancies when the mother’s health is in danger.

The conference took no action on the first day of the meeting, except to clear up a few translations of words in the sacramentary, a book of guidelines for religious ceremonies.