Supreme Court Should Allow Church And State To Cooperate, Says Bishop.

A Roman Catholic bishop has urged six members of the U.S. Supreme Court and top government officials to allow greater cooperation between church and state.

Speaking at the annual "Red Mass" at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, Bishop Raymond Boland of Kansas City, said both church and state seek similar goals in areas like education, social services and health care and "we have much to learn from each other."

Continued Boland, "Church and state have a lot in common in their mutual search for justice, in promoting respect for all laws, in their concern for the common good." He added that "In the enactment and administration of civil laws, people of faith do not expect privileges, but they do expect fairness.... Is it possible to hope that, as we enter a new millennium, church and state in our land, and even the international world, may subscribe to a synthesis of basic principles which guarantee freedom for all while equally protecting the fights of believers and unbelievers?"

Elsewhere in his remarks, Boland, a native of Ireland, implied that American society is too secular, asking, "Is there a danger that devotees of secularism are 'more equal' than those of us who are proud of the faith they profess? Do secular symbols enjoy more protection than religious symbols?"

The First Amendment, Boland asserted, was adopted by Congress "as protection for religion not protection from religion." He went on to say, "English teachers constantly warn their students that analogies and metaphors should not be pushed too far. Thomas Jefferson's famous `wall of separation' metaphor may have suffered this over extension, something certainly not supported by a complete examination of his legal philosophy nor the Constitution itself. The phrase has become a mantra. How high the wall? How impenetrable? Nobody denies the need for separation, but such does not exclude cooperation."

Continued Boland, "Maybe we need the equivalent of what manufacturers call R and D, research and development, to discover where we've been and to propose new ways of legally facilitating those who work with Caesar and walk with God."

Six Supreme Court justices attended the mass, among them Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Also attending were Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer. Government officials in attendance included Attorney General Janet Reno, Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala and Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams.

The Supreme Court will consider an important case dealing with parochial school aid this year. Although Boland insisted after the mass that he was unaware of the case, Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn criticized his sermon as an obvious attempt to apply pressure to the court.

"The judges are lured in, and then they are lobbied on the church's view of the Constitution," Lynn told USA Today. "It's a blatant effort to influence the court."

Washington's Red Mass occurs every year the Sunday before the Supreme Court reconvenes on the first Monday in October. The worship service is named for the red vestments traditionally worn by the officiating clergy.