SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- One of 23 Roman Catholic bishops listed by Equal Rights Amendment supporters as backers of the amendment said Wednesday he would be committing a 'sin' if he did not support the ERA.
The group which announced the bishops' support -- the Catholics Act for ERA -- said it is the first time a group of church leaders has banded together to urge adoption of the amendment. June 30 is the deadline for ratification.
'The ERA spells simple common sense, like two and two make four,' Bishop Nicholas D'Antonio of New Orleans said in a news release.
'Justice demands it. I'd sin if I did not support it.'
Bishop Walter Sullivan of Richmond, Va., said the ERA is an important means of achieving economic justice, civil and human rights.
'If we say no to ERA are we not saying yes to the status quo of discrimination?' Sullivan said. 'Therefore, I say yes to ERA because it promotes equality over discrimination, giftedness over maleness, dignity over subservience, personhood over sex.'
Bishop Michael McAuliffe of Jefferson City, Mo., said the ERA is an issue distinct from the the issue of abortion.
'In fact, my own sense of reverence for life leads me to take this public stand on behalf of the dignity and equality of all human beings - women and men,' McAuliffe said.
Not all of the church leaders on the list are heads of dioceses. Two are retired and 12 others are auxiliary, or assistant, bishops. Three are archbishops -- James V. Casey of Denver, Raymond G. Hunthausen of Seattle and Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee.
The other bishops include: retired Bishop Charles Buswell of Pueblo, Colo.; Maurice Dingman of Des Moines; John Dougherty and Joseph Francis of Newark, N.J.; Carroll Dozier of Memphis, Tenn.; George Evans of Denver; George A. Fulcher of Columbus, Ohio; Joseph Grossman of Raleigh, N.C. and Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit.
Also listed are Richard C. Hanifen of Denver; L.T. Matthieson of Amarillo, Texas; P. Francis Murphy of Baltimore; Amedee Proulx of Portland, Maine; Peter Rosazza of Hartford, Conn.; Richard J. Sklba of Milwaukee; Joseph M. Sullivan of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and retired Bishop Joseph L. Hogan of Rochester, N.Y.
