NATION - protest in support of women priests; prayer in Florida school; other news briefs

National Catholic Reporter, May 28, 1999

Women protest ordination outside Boston cathedral

Protesters supporting and opposing the Catholic church's ban on women priests demonstrated outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston May 15 as seven men were being ordained.

Police placed barricades around the two groups outside the cathedral.

"It's tremendous," Barbara Mahar, cofounder of Massachusetts Women-Church, said of the turnout.

About 55 men and women marched in support of Women-Church, which was recently banned from meeting on church property by Cardinal Bernard Law (NCR, May 14).

Over a dozen marchers organized by the conservative Catholic Action League of Massachusetts rallied in support of Law.

Evelyn Reilly of Waltham, Mass., who marched with the Law supporters, said she attended one of the Women-Church meetings and that she opposes the group because she found many of its members to be "man-haters" and "radical feminists."

Marie Sheehan, of Stoughton, Mass., said Women-Church is not against men -- it just wants equal treatment for everyone.

"We work toward a discipleship of equals in the church that we have all been born and brought up in, raised our children in," Sheehan said.

County school prayer policy ruled unconstitutional

A Florida school system's policy allowing student-approved prayers during graduation ceremonies was declared unconstitutional March 11 by a federal appeals court.

"We hold that the Duval County school system's policy coerces objecting students to participate in prayer," Chief Judge Joseph W. Hatchett wrote in the majority' opinion.

The school system's graduation policy permitted high school students to select [heir graduation message to be delivered by a student by a majority vote. Often those messages included prayers and could not be censored by school officials.

The American Jewish Congress, American Civil Liberties Union and other groups, however, said the policy discriminated against minority students, who lost their voice to majority role. They also maintained that the policy amounted to state sanctioning of one particular religion.

"Making access [to the graduates] dependent on majority role makes it unlikely that controversial speakers or those representing minority viewpoints will be heard," the American Jewish Congress said in a brief filed with the court.

In ruling that graduation ceremonies continue to be controlled by the schools, and graduating students who object to the prayers have no alternative but to attend, the 2-1 decision by a panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned an earlier ruling that students have a First Amendment right to pray at graduation.

Wal-Mart will not sell `morning-after' contraceptive

Wal-Mart, the nation's fifth largest retailer of pharmaceuticals, has announced it will not sell a controversial "morning-after" contraceptive pill already widely available in the United States.

Gynetics, Inc., the New Jersey firm that manufactures Preven, says the drug does not cause abortions but prevents pregnancy by stopping ovulation and by keeping fertilized eggs from becoming implanted in the uterus. The drug is recommended for use within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse.

Some antiabortion groups, disputing the company's claim, say Preven does cause abortions and have opposed its sale and use.

One such group, the American Life League, which calls itself the nation's largest antiabortion organization, praised the Wal-Mart decision May 14. "It's clear that Preven can kill a woman's child before she's even aware of her pregnancy. That's called abortion," the group's president, Judie Brown, said in a statement.

Wal-Mart Stores, based in Bentonville, Ark., said it had made a "business decision" not to sell the drug. The company has pharmacies in all but about two dozen of its 2,450 stores.

The New York Times reported that Preven is sold by such major drugstore chains as Walgreen, Rite Aid and K-Mart, with annual total sales estimated at $10 million. Alexander C. Sanger, president of Planned Parenthood of New York City, said he was concerned that the Wal-Mart decision may make it difficult for women to obtain Preven in small towns and rural areas where Wal-Mart is the only pharmacy.

Virginia governor commutes death penalty for first time

The bishop of the Richmond diocese said he was pleasantly surprised by Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore's decision May 12 to commute a death sentence for the first time since taking office in January 1998.

"I would hope that this decision of the governor is just the beginning," Bishop Walter F. Sullivan said May 14.

Gilmore announced he was commuting the death sentence of Calvin Eugene Swann just four-and-a-half hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection.

Gilmore said in a statement that because of Swann's mental illness, the case "presents unique and extraordinary circumstances justifying my intervention."

There were 13 executions in Virginia in 1998, and as of May 13, there have been eight in 1999.

"We hope this is a sign of change in the way the governor views cases," said Michael Stone, associate director of the Richmond diocesan Office of Justice and Peace.