Page 14/The Battalion/Wfednesday August 28, 1985 Catholicism American Catholics reject authority Associated Press CHICAGO — American Cath olics have learned to reject church authority while clinging to the fold, and their independence will thwart any attempt by the Va tican to undo 20 years of reform, says priest and sociologist An drew M. Greeley. The U.S. church survived re appraisal spurred by Vatican II with the loyalty of most members “unshaken and, perhaps, unsha kable,” Greelev said in a report, to be released Wednesday, that is based on surveys of American Catholic laity since the reforms of' the Second Vatican Council of 1905. His report is being released as Pope John Paul II and the church’s bishops prepare for a November meeting to assess the impact of Vatican II. The pope has differed with U.S. Catholics over their intepretatibn of those reforms and calls for increased liberalization including married priests, more independence for nuns, and relaxed birth control restrictions. Vatican II provided for Mass in the native language, eased re marriage for divorced Catholics and allowed more local custom in worship. Debate on the reforms has cen tered on recent changes among U.S. Catholics: a higher divorce rate, lower church attendance and rejection of the official church stance on birth control, premarital sex and divorce. Some trace these developments to liberalization from Vatican II, but Greeley contends they are the result of broad social trends. “If sex and authority and espe cially authority about sex are one’s criteria for the health of the Catholic population, then the Catholic Church is in grave crisis. “If, on the other hand, the principal criterion of health is profound loyalty to the heritage and to the institution which trans mits the heritage, then American Catholicism is in very good condi tion.” His report is based on surveys of U.S. Catholics conducted dur ing the past 20 years by the Na tional Opinion Research Center in Chicago, where lie is a research associate. Since Vatican II, U.S. church membership has dropped about 2 percent, he said. The nation’s 56 million Catholics make up about 25 percent of the population. Greeley says U.S. Catholics’ continued loyalty is linked to an other change resulting from Vati can II — an image of God as warmer and more understand ing, even if church leaders are not. He contends a “precipitous” decline in church attendance be tween 1969 and 1975 was linked not to Vatican II, but to the church’s 1968 pronouncement reaffirming strict prohibitions against artificial methods of birth control. Four years after Vatican II, two-thirds of American Catholics attended church every Sunday. But six years after the birth-con trol encyclical, attendance had dropped to roughly 50 percent — where it has remained, Greeley said. Three Nicaraguan rebel leaders claim CIA agreements unfulfilled Associated Press WASHINGTON — Three Nicara guan Indian rebel leaders said Tues day that CIA officers have brokered two agreements this year on how ri val U.S.-backed insurgent groups should divide privately raised mili tary supplies. The leaders of the main coalition of Indians fighting Nicaragua’s left ist government, said the agreements, brokered in Honduras, were made with the larger Nicaraguan Demo cratic Force (FDN) in February and again in June. The CIA's reported role in the deals came after Congress banned the agency from “supporting, di rectly or indirectly, military or par amilitary operations in Nicaragua.” Congress passed the ban, known as the Boland amendment, last Octo ber. Two congressional panels next month plan to examine whether the Reagan administration complied with the ban, particularly following reports that the White Flouse’s Na tional Security Council helped the rebels raise money and offered mili tary advice. Rep. George E. Brown Jr., D- Calif., a member of the Flouse Intel ligence Committee, said the pane! was aware of “continuing contacts between the CIA and the rebels, but lacked any specific knowledge about the contents of those discussions. The CIA\ has “been giving lip service to the Boland amendment, but not fully complying with it Brown said. “T he (administration s) legal eagles are interpreting all of the laws in a way to favor the policies of the president.” CIA spokeswoman Patti Volz said the agency is “complying with con gressional obligations and restric tions.” The Indian leaders said despite the agreements, the FDN has failed to live up to the commitments, and has used its control over supplies to g a i n c o n t r o 1 of the India n movement on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast. As a result, they said, the Indi ans’ military campaign against the Sandinista government has been crippled in recent months. The Indian rebel leaders were Teofilo Archibald Wilson, a political director of Misura; Effrain Smith, a member of the Misura military high command and top commander of the Misura-aligned Southern Indig enous Creole Community or SICC; and Charles Hodgson, an SICC po litical leader. They Said then troops face serious shortages of food, uni forms and military equipment. Bosco Matamoros, the FDN’s rep resentative in Washington, denied the charge. “We have always lived up to our obligations,” he said. “We have always helped out the other groups when they are in need.” REASON TO BANK AT TEXANA: The “Maroon & White” Account. . . Tailor-made for Aggies. Texana’s Maroon & White account is a checking account that is tailor-made for students. With a monthly service charge of only $7.00, no minimum balance required, and unlimited checking, the Maroon & White Account accommodates students. Pulse automatic teller cards are also available with the account. w Member FDIC V - WL ' 701 Harvey Road • College Station • 696-5483 ONALbANK OF COLLEGE STATION **1 know where 111 shop this fall, Do You? 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