Springfield, Illinois. Twenty-three Catholic bishops have joined in a statement calling for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, according to the National Organization Catholics Act for ERA.

In a statement from Springfield where ERA backers were fasting in support of the passage of the amendment by the state legislature, the organization said the bishops urged states which have not ratified the ERA to do so by the June 30 deadline.

The ERA, a proposed Constitutional amendment, must be ratified by three more states by the deadline to take effect

Catholics Act for ERA said the bishops' statement is "unprecedented" although individual bishops have previously endorsed the ERA. One who did so recently was Bishop Raymond Lucker of New Dim, Minn.

According to Catholics Act for ERA, Bishop Maurice Dingman of Des Moines explained his support for the ERA by pointing out the bishops' statement is fully consistent with Catholic social teaching such as the Vatican II document "Gaudium et Spes," (The Church in the Modern World) which states in part that "every type of discrimination, whether social or cultural, whether based on sex, race, color, social condition, language or religion, is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God's intent."

Another bishop, Auxiliary Bishop Nicholas D'Antonio of New Orleans, said he would be committing a sin if he did not support the ERA. "Justice demands it," he is quoted by Catholics Act assaying. "I'd sin if I did not support it."

The organization, in a press release, reported that Bishop Walter Sullivan of Richmond, Va., called the ERA an important tool for achieving economic justice, civil and human rights.

"If we say 'no' to ERA, are we not saying 'yes' to the status quo of discrimination?" he asked. "Therefore, I say 'yes' to ERA because it promotes equality over discrimination, giftedness over maleness, dignity over subservience, personhood over sex."

Catholics Act added that Bishop Michael McAuliffe of Jefferson City said the ERA is separate from the issue of abortion. According to Catholics Act, he said that "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—men and women."

The statement, which the bishops agreed to on an individual basis, reads: "We the undersigned Catholic bishops believe that equality under the law for all persons is a fundamental issue of justice. Consequently, each of us, speaking in his own name, calls upon legislators in un-ratified states to approve the Equal Rights Amendment before June 30, 1982."

Catholics Act for ERA said the bishops who endorsed the statement are:
Retired Bishop Charles B. Buswell of Pueblo;
Archbishop James V. Casey of Denver;
Auxiliary Bishop Nicholas D'Antonio of New Orleans;
Bishop Maurice J. Dingman of Des Moines;
Auxiliary Bishop John J. Dougherty of Newark;
Bishop Carroll T. Dozier of Memphis;
Auxiliary Bishop George R, Evans of Denver;
Auxiliary Bishop Joseph A. Francis of Newark;
Auxiliary Bishop George A. Fulcher of Columbus, Ohio;
Bishop F. Joseph Gossman of Raleigh;
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit;
Auxiliary Bishop Richard C. Hanifen of Denver;
Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen of Seattle;
Bishop L. T. Matthiesen, of Amarillo;
Bishop Michael F. McAuliffe, of Jefferson City;
Auxiliary Bishop P. Francis Murphy of Baltimore;
Auxiliary Bishop Amedee W. Proulx of Portland, Maine-,
Auxiliary Bishop Peter A. Rosazza of Hartford;
Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba of Milwaukee;
Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan of Brooklyn;
Bishop Walter F. Sullivan of Richmond;
Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee;
Retired Bishop Joseph L. Hogan of Rochester, New York.