November 20, 1998
By Julia Lieblich
AP RELIGION WRITER
WASHINGTON - A church leader known along the U.S.-Mexican border as a champion of immigrants' rights was elected Tuesday to head the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. A black bishop from Illinois was elected vice president, in line to become the group's first black president.
The new president, Joseph A. Fiorenza, 67, who heads the Houston diocese, is viewed as a soft-spoken traditionalist, strongly antiabortion and just as strongly loyal to the pope.
Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, 50, of the Belleville, Ill., diocese, was elected vice president, a post that usually leads to the presidency. A Catholic convert, Gregory is the first black to hold the position and the fifth black bishop appointed to head a U.S. diocese.
``I'm sure for African-American Catholics this is a great moment, not because of me but because of us,'' Gregory said. ``I can represent our presence in a very symbolic but real way.''
Also Tuesday, the bishops approved a new statement on peace, justice and the economy designed to be more clear and accessible to lay people.
The bishops, in the 14-page document, call on every Catholic to promote human life and dignity and defend the poor. It addresses ``How does worship on Sunday affect my work on Monday?'' said John Carr, secretary for the Department of Social Development and World Peace at the U.S. Catholic Conference.
But a critic and longtime social activist, auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit, said the document doesn't go far enough.
``It's totally innocuous, not the least bit challenging,'' Gumbleton said. ``It very mildly says that we should do something about simplifying our lifestyle. But if you really want to challenge people, tell them they don't have a right to what is beyond their needs when others lack the barest necessities.''
The document also fails to criticize the Catholic Church itself, Gumbleton said.
``If we're really going to get serious,'' he said, ``why not challenge ourselves? We have Catholic hospitals still fighting labor unions,'' despite church social teachings on the right to organize.
Carr said he believes the document's strength is its use of concise, readable reflections to challenge Catholics who don't have the time or inclination to read a more in-depth document. ``We used short, simple language,'' he said.
Fiorenza, the Texas-born son of Italian immigrants who replaces Bishop Anthony M. Pilla as the group's head, is viewed as a friend by many antipoverty groups and grass-roots organizers.
Fluent in Spanish, he is a longtime supporter of immigrant rights and community organizing. As chairman of the bishop's Campaign for Human Development in the early 1990s, he oversaw the allocation of money to grass-roots groups to fight poverty at its roots.
``In terms of doctrine, I believe what the Catholic Church believes and teaches,'' Fiorenza said. ``Politically, I'm more progressive on social issues affecting life in the United States. I believe that involves the church helping poor people and giving them an opportunity to help themselves.''
As president of the bishops conference, Fiorenza ``will make sure that justice is on the agenda as the church moves into the next millennium,'' said the Rev. Joseph Hacala, former executive director of the campaign.
Julie Lambert, a spokeswoman for the Holocaust Museum Houston, said Fiorenza is known throughout Houston for his commitment to human rights and inter-religious dialogue. When the museum needed a moderator for a panel discussing Polish-Jewish relations during World War II, Fiorenza was the choice.
Holocaust survivors recalled Poles who were responsible for sending Jews to concentration camps, she said, while Poles complained of being depicted as anti-Semitic.
``The bishop remained completely calm and let the productive part of the discussion happen,'' she said. ``He's very wise.''
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