NATION

National Catholic Reporter, May 25, 2001 by Gill Donovan

Bishops to consider role of lay ministers

A draft document to be considered by the U.S. bishops in June would take the edge off new Vatican rules restricting the role of lay ministers of Communion.

If approved by two-thirds of the U.S. bishops at their June 14-16 session in Atlanta, and subsequently confirmed by Rome, lay ministers in the United States would continue to be able to:

* Approach the altar before the priest has received Communion.

* Place consecrated bread and wine into containers, known as "sacred vessels."

* Assist in cleansing the sacred vessels after Mass.

* Consume leftover consecrated wine from their cup without the priest administering it to them.

Rules barring these roles for lay persons appeared in a new version of the General Instruction on the Roman Missal, which sets forth procedures for celebrating the Mass, issued by the Vatican last July 28 (NCR, Aug. 25, 2000).

The exceptions for the United States, if adopted by the bishops and OK'd by the Vatican, will appear in a revision of an American document called "This Holy and Living Sacrifice," first adopted in 1984.

The U.S. bishops have already received permission from Rome to allow lay ministers to place consecrated wine into the sacred vessels.

"Many press reports implied that the new General Instruction was taking away something,' said Fr. James Moroney, chief of staff for the U.S. bishops' committee on the liturgy. "But in fact there never was permission for eucharistic ministers to do these three things. This is just the law catching up with existing practice.'

New York archdiocese announces more cutbacks

The New York archdiocese announced May 11 that it would close 11 departments in its administrative services to help ensure that operations could be fiscally sound.

In a news release, Msgr. Edward D. O'Donnell, archdiocesan chancellor, described the cuts as the "first stage of working toward a balanced budget for the central offices of the archdiocese."

Previously, the archdiocese announced consolidation and reduction of personnel in the seminary system and a cutback in school subsidies that would require the closing of three parochial schools (NCR, April 20)

The new announcement said the departments to be closed dealt with "such matters as research, liturgy and relations with various ethnic and community groups."

Joseph Zwilling, archdiocesan communications officer, said the 11 departments were Chinese apostolate, community relations, Hispanic pastoral formation, human resources, Italian apostolate, liturgy commission, liturgical music commission, parish mission team, pastoral research, persons with disabilities and women's concerns.

These cuts, effective May 25, will affect 23 employees. Two priests already in archdiocesan administration will take over "the major duties" of the 23, the release said.

The 11 departments are all small offices, and six nuns -- whose jobs are being cut include secretarial staff, Zwilling said. Two or three priests working in the departments to be eliminated will be reassigned, he said.

O'Donnell said all the employees losing their jobs would receive "a proper severance package."

Zwilling said that the budget deficits had been growing in recent years and for the fiscal year ending last Aug. 31 had reached about $20 million. The deficits have not required borrowing, but have been covered by use of reserve funds and some sales of real estate, he said.

Defendant refuses DNA test on religious grounds

In what may be a first-of-its-kind argument, a defendant in a murder case invoked religious reasons May 8 when he refused to supply a blood sample for DNA testing.

Jacques Robidoux of Attleboro, Mass., did agree to furnish hair or saliva samples to appease prosecutors' request for DNA samples. But he did so only after making a case against the standard and most efficient means of attaining DNA: blood sampling.

Before a judge at New Bedford Superior Court, Robidoux referred to Leviticus 17:1-16, especially verse 11: "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar." To supply a blood sample for another purpose, such as DNA testing, would violate the religious principles of his Christian community, according to attorney Frank O'Boy.

Robidoux faces charges of first-degree murder in the 1999 death of his 9-month-old son. Prosecutors have requested DNA samples in order to determine whether the remains of a child buried in Maine's Baxter State Park were those of Jacques and Karen Robidoux's son. As of May 9, Karen Robidoux had not told the court whether she would furnish any DNA samples. She too has been charged with murder.

According to Bristol County prosecutor Walter Shea, the Robidouxs starved their son to death when they answered what they believed to be a divine revelation to stop feeding him solid food. Depending on breast milk and almond milk to survive, the son became malnourished and died.

The Robidoux's religious community, known simply as the Body of Christ, consists of just a few families in the Attleboro and Seekonk, Mass., area, O'Boy said. They refuse to accept medical treatment because doing so would amount to challenging God's will.