Conservative women blast bishops' letter

Conservative women's church groups Tuesday strongly criticizedthe first draft of a pastoral letter by a panel of U.S. RomanCatholic bishops that condemns the "sin of sexism," and predicted themajority of bishops would ignore the document.

Phyllis Schlafly, president of Eagle Forum, a leadingconservative Catholic woman's organization, accused the bishops of"trying to create a new sin, hitherto unknown to the TenCommandments, the laws of the church, the seven capital sins and thesacrament of penance."

Schlafly called the 164-page letter "a kind ofself-flagellation."

Roman Catholic Bishop Joesph L. Imesch, of Joliet, who chairedthe committee that …