Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 17, 1994                   TAG: 9411170106
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IN THE NATION

WASHINGTON - The nation's Catholic bishops voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to make way for women to move up to the top ranks of church theologians, administrators and canon lawyers.

In a major policy statement on women in the church, the bishops also pledged to reject authoritarian conduct, use gender-neutral language in religious education materials and explore alternatives for women to share power in the church - short of the priesthood.

And for the first time, the bishops confessed to their 59 million-member flock that the U.S. church is guilty of sexism.

``We have listened to the sounds of injustice and now come to strengthen the bonds of peace,'' said Bishop Eugene J. Gerber of Kansas.

- Associated Press

One-time fattest woman sues tabloid

SELLERSVILLE, Pa. - A woman once recognized as the world's fattest by the Guinness Book of Records is suing a supermarket tabloid over a story that compared her weight to a baby elephant and a small family car.

Rosalie Bradford, who weighed more than 1,000 pounds but has trimmed down to less than 300, claims the Sept. 7, 1993, story cast her as a ``thing'' or ``animal'' to be despised or pitied.

She and her husband, Robert, are seeking $1 million from Enquirer-Star Inc. of Florida, claiming libel and invasion of privacy.

- Associated Press