Pope upholds assertion of Roman Catholic Church as mother church

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II took personal responsibility Sunday for a controversial Vatican assertion of the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, saying it was wrong to see it as a belittling of other religions.

''Our confession of Christ as the only son, the medium through which we see the face of God, isn't arrogance that deprecates other religions but an expression of joyous gratitude,'' John Paul said, saying that dialogue had to start with making one's position clear.

Jews and leaders of some Christian denominations objected to last month's Vatican document, which renewed longstanding church assertions of its primacy over other Christian denominations.

The document also declared followers of other religions were in a ''gravely deficient situation'' regarding salvation.

Critics called it a setback to the interfaith dialogue John Paul has pushed over his 22-year papacy. Two rabbis protested by dropping out of a Jewish-Christian symposium that had been set for Sunday, forcing the Vatican to cancel it.

The 36-page declaration had been issued by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's guardian of orthodoxy. Many questioned how much it reflected the pope's wishes.

John Paul specified Sunday the declaration had been ''approved by me.''

''It's my hope that this declaration that I hold dear, after many mistaken interpretations, can finally serve its function as clarification and at the same time as an overture,'' John Paul said, speaking to pilgrims gathered at St. Peter's for the canonization of 123 Catholics.

''The document clarifies the essential Christian elements, which serve as the basis for dialogue rather than as obstacles, because a dialogue without foundation would be destined to degenerate into empty verbosity,'' he said.

The Vatican said earlier it issued the document because some theologians have been hindering the church's missionary efforts by manipulating fundamental truths to depict all religions as equal.

The church's 1960s Second Vatican Council made the same assertion of primacy.

John Paul upheld it solidly, but said it was a matter of joy rather than pride for Catholics.

''If the document, with Vatican II, declares 'the only Church of Christ is the Catholic Church,' it doesn't intend to express lack of consideration for the churches and ecclesiastic communities,'' the pope said.

''This conviction is accompanied by the knowledge that it comes not through human merit, but as a sign of the faith of God that is stronger than any human weakness and sin,'' he said.

The Church of England and the World Council of Churches had been among those protesting the Vatican document.