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- <text id=92TT2660>
- <title>
- Nov. 30, 1992: Befuddled by Women
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1992
- Nov. 30, 1992 Windsor: A House Dividing
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- THE WEEK
- SOCIETY, Page 23
- Befuddled by Women
- </hdr><body>
- <p>After a nine-year effort, U.S. Catholic bishops reject a
- controversial decree
- </p>
- <p> Major policy statements prepared by U.S. Catholic bishops
- are always worked out in a fashion that wins the final texts
- lopsided support. That pattern ended with a troublesome letter
- on women's issues that took nine years to produce. Meeting in
- Washington, the bishops gave the conservative final version a
- paltry 55.5% support, far short of the two-thirds needed for
- approval. The text will now be issued as a mere committee
- document.
- </p>
- <p> Chicago's Cardinal Bernardin got through a separate motion
- making the paper the basis for "further study and dialogue,"
- most notably on the church's opposition to women priests, which
- was endorsed in the rejected text. Bernardin backs the ban but
- said candidly that it is "generally not well understood or
- accepted" and that a more persuasive case must be made. Liberal
- lobbies hailed these developments. The upshot is that, contrary
- to Vatican wishes, the U.S. bishops have made women's ordination
- subject to ongoing debate.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
-
-