wfn.org | Cleaned Up Copy, NCCCUSA Honors Cardinal Bernardin

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Contact: Carol J. Fouke, NCC, 212-870-2252

NCC11/15/96                                        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Please use this copy rather than the copy transmitted earlier.  Some typos
occurred in transmission and have been cleaned up here.

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES GENERAL ASSEMBLY
CELEBRATES CARDINAL BERNARDIN'S LIFE, MOURNS HIS
DEATH
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Common Ground Award
Established

 CHICAGO, Ill., Nov. 15 ---- The National
Council of Churches originally had hoped that Joseph
Cardinal Bernardin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Chicago, could attend the opening plenary of its
Nov. 13-15 General Assembly to receive the first of
what is to be an annual award in his honor.

 But the Cardinal's strength was yielding so
rapidly to cancer that he sent his ecumenical
officer, Father Thomas A. Baima, to accept the new
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Common Ground Award in his
stead that morning (Nov. 13) - and to say the
Cardinal's goodbyes to the NCC and its many
Protestant and Orthodox leaders who had been among
his friends and colleagues for decades.

 Standing alongside Council officials at the
awards ceremony was the Rev. Dr. Don Argue,
President of the National Association of
Evangelicals - who that same morning became the
first NAE executive ever to address the National
Council of Churches' top body.  Asked to offer a
prayer on behalf of all assembled, Dr. Argue thanked
God for Cardinal Bernardin, saying, "We are richer
people in our faith and our relationships to each
other from knowing him."

The General Assembly sent the award along with
a burning candle and a copy of the newly published
Common Bible (New Revised Standard Version) to
Cardinal Bernardin's bedside.  The occasion gained a
special poignancy when, the following morning,
General Assembly delegates learned that Cardinal
Bernardin had died during the night.  The rest of
the Assembly was punctuated by remembrances and
prayers, including by a 20-member General Assembly
delegation that offered prayers Thursday afternoon
at Holy Name Cathedral.

 Established by vote of the Council's officers,
the award's purpose is to bring "honor and
recognition to those persons whose lives have shown
dedication to the unity of people."  It is named in
honor of Cardinal Bernardin as "a man of constancy
and tenacity in the search for common ground for the
People of God."

 The award, designed and produced on prism
glass, is etched with these words: "In honor of the
Vision, Grace and Courage of Joseph Cardinal
Bernardin in seeking Common Ground for the People of
God."  A Council official said the award's designers
and creators, Ostrum Glass in Portland, Ore., were
so inspired by the Cardinal's life and work that
they decided to donate all their labor and
production costs, estimated at $1,500.

The NCC's General Secretary, the Rev. Dr. Joan
Brown Campbell, who has known Cardinal Bernardin
"since he was a young priest" (and who will
represent the NCC at the Cardinal's funeral) hailed
the Archbishop as a "bridge builder among Catholics,
between Catholics and Protestants, between Catholics
and Jews.  He consistently has found common ground
among otherwise disagreeing partners" on issues as
divisive as abortion, the limits of civil liberties
and the role of women in the church, Dr. Campbell
said.

 "This Cardinal has found common ground with
Protestants and Orthodox as well as with Roman
Catholics," she said.  "He has been an outstanding
advocate for social justice."

 Father Baima, thanking the General Assembly for
the award, said, "You have been his partners in so
many works."  He particularly cited the Religious
Alliance Against Pornography, in which Cardinal
Bernardin participated along with Dr. Argue and NCC
officials, including Dr. Campbell.

 If Cardinal Bernardin had been able to say his
goodbyes to the NCC in person, Father Baima said, he
likely would have said, "I am Joseph, your brother.
I have tried as a brother first to listen and then
to speak.  If any of this has helped heal past
resentments, I am grateful.  I wish to tell you how
much I love you and how much this friendship means
to me.  This relationship has been a blessing to
me."

 Dr. Campbell led the 20-member delegation from
the General Assembly to offer prayers Thursday
afternoon (Nov. 14) at the Holy Name Cathedral in
honor of Cardinal Bernardin.  She brought a letter
of condolence and read it on the Cathedral steps,
then the delegation entered the Cathedral to pray
and to sign a book of remembrances.

 Dr. Campbell and other heads and
representatives of several of the NCC's 33
Protestant and Orthodox member denominations were
greeted by Father Baima, who told the NCC
delegation, "I am grateful to the heads of Christian
communions for their visit to the Holy Name
Cathedral today.  It is a blessing to us that you
were here in Chicago at the time of our Archbishop's
death.

 "Joseph Cardinal Bernardin was deeply committed
to Christian unity," he said.  "Over the last 30
years, he worked personally with many of you.
Yesterday, you honored him as the first recipient of
the Common Ground Award, which will also bear his
name.  Now you have come to his cathedral to offer
your support to us as sisters and brothers in
Christ.  The Catholic Church of Chicago welcomes
you."

 "With profound gratitude and love we bring our
prayers and condolences to you and all of the people
of the Archdiocese of Chicago on the death of our
brother Joseph Cardinal Bernardin," read Dr.
Campbell.  The letter, which was addressed to Bishop
Raymond Geodert of the Chicago Archdiocese,
continued: "We rejoice that Cardinal Bernardin
belonged to us as well.  He was our longtime friend,
counselor and partner in the journey of Christian
unity.

 "His gentleness and strength, his gifts of
scholarship and wise counsel, his openness and
loving service to all enriched our lives.  Without
our beloved Joseph, the journey will be difficult
but as people filled with the promises of Easter,
our journey will continue.  Inspired by the grace of
his life and the power of his death, we recommit
ourselves to our Christian mission.  We praise God
for Joseph, a saint for our time," the letter
concluded.

 The NCC will establish a committee to select
future recipients of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
Common Ground Award.  NCC representatives will
consult with both the President of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vicar General
of the Archdiocese of Chicago to insure that the
highest standards always will be associated with the
award.

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