Vatican denies commenting on French statement

COMMENT welcoming the "deep spirit of charity" of the recent state
ment on Humanae Vitae by the French bishops was not made by any Vatican department or responsible official of the Holy See, said the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano at the weekend.
A note in the newspaper, which a Vatican official described as "authorised," said there had been no pronouncement on the declaration of the French episcopate "or for that matter on any other collective document of the episcopal conferences."
Meanwhile the American bishops. at the end of their week-long national conference, issued a pastoral statement on the encyclical which reaffirmed the Pope's ban on artificial birth control. But it also said that circumstances might reduce the moral guilt of a couple who decided in good conscience to practise it.
The statement. approved by 180 votes to eight, emphasised that the encyclical must be regarded as authoritative, presenting without ambiguity, doubt or hesitation the authentic teaching of the Church.
But the bishops recognised that many Catholic couples were caught in "agonising crises of conscience" because of the need to choose between their duty to obey the Church's teaching, their obligation to maintain a healthy marriage and responsible parenthood.
"DON'T LOSE HEART"
"With pastoral solicitude we urge those who have resorted to artificial contraception never to lose heart, but to continue to take full advantage of the strength which comes from the sacrament of penance and the grace, healing and peace in the Eucharist."
The statement noted that "at times it proves difficult to harmonise the sexual expression" of marriage with the ideal of keeping every act open to possible conception of life.
"We feel bound to remind Catholic married couples, when they are subject to the oressures which prompt the Holy Father's concern, that however circumstances reduce moral guilt, no one following the teaching of the Church can deny the objective evil of artificial conception itself."
The bishops' statement was welcomed by the group of Washington priests who have been disciplined by Cardinal O'Boyle for expressing views dissenting from the encyclical.
Fr. John Corrigan said: "Basically this is what we have been saying-that the Church believes in the birth control ban, but that it won't turn away those who cannot accept it."
Earlier in their deliberations, the American bishops voted to set up a 1416,000 foundation to conduct research into the rhythm method of birth control, the only method approved by the Church.
Meeting in Nassau, Bahamas, earlier this month, the bishops of the Antilles affirmed their acceptance of the encyclical and expressed their gratitude to the Pope for "confirming the sanctity of marriage and the sacredness of human life."