Pope John Paul II Endorses Operation Rescue's Anti-Abortion Drive.

Pope John Paul II met privately with Joan Andrews Bell, an activist from the radical anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, July 30 and praised her for her work, Catholic New York has reported.

Bell traveled to the Vatican with her husband and two of their three children, reported the paper. She attended a mass celebrated by the pope at his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, and met with him afterwards. Bell's husband, Christopher, runs six homes in New York for unwed mothers.

"We spoke to the Holy Father about Operation Rescue and about the Good Counsel Homes and asked him to pray for the work," said Bell. "He listened very intently and gave his blessing to us. His eyes just looked at you, full of sanctity and love and depths of understanding."

Bell told the Catholic paper that she thanked the pope for issuing "The Gospel of Life," an encyclical that condemns abortion and euthanasia, saying it helped energize the U.S. anti-abortion movement.

Bell spent 71 days in jail earlier this year for blocking entrances to abortion clinics with other Operation Rescue protestors. The organization, founded by radical anti-abortion protestor Randall Terry, is among the most extreme anti-abortion organizations in the country. The pope's endorsement of Operation Rescue, which is composed mostly of fundamentalist Protestants, is significant because up to now, many in the Catholic hierarchy have kept the group at arm's length because of its extreme tactics.

The pope's comments represent yet another escalation in the church's long-running campaign to end legal abortion all over the world. That undertaking recently reverberated in the United States, where the U.S. Catholic bishops have ratcheted up their opposition to legal abortion. Last November the bishops approved a new statement urging clergy to lobby pro-choice Catholic officeholders to change their view.

Some church officials are taking an even harder line. In Pennsylvania, Bishop Donald Trautman of the Diocese of Erie has announced that pro-choice Catholic officeholders are no longer welcome at church-sponsored events.

"Those who justify their actions on the grounds that abortion is the law of the land need to recognize that there is a higher law," Trautman said.

The policy seems aimed at Gov. Tom Ridge, a pro-choice Republican from Erie. Ridge, who says he personally opposes abortion but supports a woman's right to have one, told the Associated Press he would abide by the bishop's directive.

Other bishops are taking a similar tough line. At an October anti-abortion "Marian Conference" held by Human Life International in Alexandria, Va., Bishop James S. Sullivan of Fargo, N.D., called on Roman Catholics to hold prochoice Catholic politicians accountable.

According to The Wanderer, Sullivan said, "It is time that Catholic citizens of the United States be reminded that their first loyalty is to Christ the King -- and not to the visceral satisfaction of `winning' an election to `resolve' problems that will only be exacerbated by officeholders who compromise the truth to advance career ambition."

Continued Sullivan, "What does it profit a voter to attach his loyalty to a candidate or party or ideology -- and turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the plight of innocent children; to the plight of authentic justice based on Jesus Christ and His Holy Church?"

Critics often charge that in their zeal to impose Catholic teachings on all citizens, the American bishops are demonstrating contempt for the separation of church and state. But a recent civil case form Omaha, Neb., shows that the church hierarchy still finds the constitutional principle useful from time to time.

The Omaha Catholic Archdiocese is defending itself against a lawsuit brought by a former altar boy who claims he was molested by the Rev. Daniel Herek, a priest at St. Richard Church. The young man, known as John Doe in court documents, charges that the archdiocese allowed Herek to work around boys even after it knew he had "exhibited dangerous pedophile traits."

Attorneys for the archdiocese have argued in court that the case should be tossed out, saying the separation of church and state protects the church from being forced to turn over documents, such as Herek's personnel and medical records.