U.S. BISHOPS' STATEMENT ON "CATHOLICS FOR A FREE CHOICE"

VATICAN CITY, MAY 16, 2000 (VIS) - Following is the entire text of the statement by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States which was published this morning and which concerns the group "Catholics for a Free Choice":

"For a number of years, a group calling itself Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC) has been publicly supporting abortion while claiming it speaks as an authentic Catholic voice. That claim is false. In fact, the group's activity is directed to rejection and distortion of Catholic teaching about the respect and protection due to defenseless unborn human life.

"On a number of occasions the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) has stated publicly that CFFC is not a Catholic organization, does not speak for the Catholic Church, and in fact promotes positions contrary to the teaching of the Church as articulated by the Holy See and the NCCB.

"CFFC is, practically speaking, an arm of the abortion lobby in the United States and throughout the world. It is an advocacy group dedicated to supporting abortion. It is funded by a number of powerful and wealthy private foundations, mostly American, to promote abortion as a method of population control. This position is contrary to existing United Nations policy and the laws and policies of most nations of the world.

"In its latest campaign, CFFC has undertaken a concentrated public relations effort to end the official presence and silence the moral voice of the Holy See at the United Nations as a Permanent Observer. The public relations effort has ridiculed the Holy See in language reminiscent of other episodes of anti-Catholic bigotry that the Catholic Church has endured in the past.

"As the Catholic Bishops of the United States have stated for many years, the use of the name Catholic as a platform for supporting the taking of innocent human life and ridiculing the Church is offensive not only to Catholics, but to all who expect honest and forthrightness in public discourse, we state once again with the strongest emphasis: 'Because of its opposition to the human rights of some of the most defenseless members of the human race, and because its purposes and activities deliberately contradict essential teachings of the Catholic faith, ... Catholics for a Free Choice merits no recognition or support as a Catholic organization'."

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POPE TO CANONIZE 27 MEXICAN BLESSEDS ON SUNDAY

VATICAN CITY, MAY 16, 2000 (VIS) - At 10 a.m. on Sunday May 21, fifth Sunday of Easter, the Holy Father will celebrate the Eucharist in St. Peter's Square and canonize 27 blesseds from Mexico.

The future saints are Cristobal Magallanes, priest, and 24 companions, priests and lay people, martyrs; Jose Maria de Yermo y Parres, priest, founder of the Congregation of the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Poor; Maria de Jesus Sacramentado Venegas de la Torre, virgin, foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 16, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Msgr. Bernard Barsi, vicar general of Nice, as archbishop of the Principality of Monaco (area 2, population 30,000, Catholics 27,000, priests 20, permanent deacons 1, religious 26). The archbishop-elect was born in Nice in 1942 and ordained a priest in 1969, He succeeds Archbishop Joseph-Marie Sardou T.D., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Erected the diocese of Nouna (area 15,000, population 400,000, Catholics 40,000, priests 23, religious 24), Burkina Faso, with territory taken from the diocese of Nouna-Dedougou, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan Church of Ouagadougou. At the same time, the diocese of Nouna-Dedougou is renamed Dedougou. He appointed Fr. Joseph Sama, vicar general of the cathedral of Nouna-Dedougou, as first bishop of the diocese of Nouna. The bishop-elect was born in Dedougou in 1947 and ordained a priest in 1975.

- Appointed Angelo Scelzo as under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

- Appointed Bishop Marcel Perrier, auxiliary of Chambery, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne et Tarentaise, France, as bishop of Pamiers (area 4,903, population 138,000, Catholics 100,000, priests 68, permanent deacons 6, religious 105), France.

- Appointed Fr. Dominique Rey of the clergy of Paris, pastor of the parish of the Holy Trinity, as bishop of Frejus-Toulon (area 6,023, population 880,000, Catholics 700,000, priests 396, permanent deacons 13, religious 620), France. The bishop-elect was born in Saint-Etienne, France, in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1984. He succeeds Bishop Joseph Madec whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

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