December 12, 1983

The Giants lost a football game today that they could not have come closer to winning. With 25 seconds remaining, they appeared to have scored the winning touchdown on a 10-yard pass from Jeff Rutledge to Earnest Gray. But a holding penalty against John Tautolo wiped out the play, and the Seattle Seahawks escaped with a 17-12 victory that kept their playoff hopes alive. The Giants, who have played poorly so often this year, put together a strong game with one huge exception. They turned over the ball five times - on three fumbles and two interceptions - and the Seahawks turned two of those turnovers into touchdowns.

The Pope joined a Lutheran service in a Protestant church in Rome, the first time since the Reformation that a Pope had done so. The extradordinary ecumenical gesture, marking the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's birth, was brought about by a spontaneous invitation last year by a board member of the Evangelical-Lutheran Christ Church. The service was held at Christ Church, off the Via Vittorio Veneto. (Page A1, Col. 6.) Lech Walesa remains convinced that his country's problems can only be solved through a dialogue between the Polish Government and Poles. In his remarks, made in the Nobel Peace Prize address read for him in Oslo by an exile Solidarity official, Mr. Walesa also repeated indirectly his appeal for an end to United States sanctions against Poland. He said Poland faced a major economic crisis, with ''dramatic consequences for the very existence of Polish families,'' which could have serious repercussions in Europe. (A1:4.)

New York City's economy, which has been fairly robust in recent years, faces new and serious obstacles to its stability and growth in the next several years, according to Felix G. Rohatyn, the chairman of the Municipal Assistance Corporation. ''Some of the things that are threatening the country - the loss of jobs to technology, to foreign jobs, the cost of doing business, taxes,'' Mr. Rohatyn said, ''could hurt the city very badly over the next few years.'' Mr. Rohatyn's comments were made on a television program that was broadcast yesterday, after a five-hour meeting on Saturday of the State Council on Fiscal and Economic Priorities. The council is a 21-member panel of government officials, labor leaders and educators brought together by Governor Cuomo to look at the economic condition and future of the state and the city. Mr. Rohatyn said his comments were intended to inject some ''realism'' into the ''mood of euphoria'' that has accompanied recent reports of surpluses in the city's budget as well as an anticipated $1 billion in additional funds from the M.A.C. The Municipal Assistance Corporation was formed by the state in 1975 during the city's fiscal crisis to issue bonds for the city, which had been shut out of the credit markets because of a lack of investor confidence and a downgrading of city bonds to well below the investment-grade rating. Currently, the agency has nearly $8 billion in bonds outstanding.

An article in the special Personal Investing section on Nov. 20 about an investment newsletter, The Professional Tape Reader, misidentified its founder. He is Justin Mamis.

The chairman of Litton Industries has proposed that the company, a major military equipment contractor, attempt to resolve a series of escalating disputes with several employee unions in direct talks monitored by ''a neutral chairman.'' The surprisingly conciliatory announcement, made on Saturday by Fred W. O'Green during the company's annual meeting in Beverly Hills, came as four representatives of labor and religious groups were preparing to deride what they regard as Litton's concerted antilabor practices. ''As I hastily change gears, it seems to me that we would welcome that proposal,'' said Howard D. Samuel, president of the industrial union department of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. ''Although I have not been able to consult with the other 12 unions, I will bring attention to it immediately.''