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Neither Wine nor Cheese Can Stop Them

REVOLT AT SAN ROQUE

By Maggie Garcia

Eager to be the first to implement Cardinal Mahony's recent pastoral letter on the liturgy, Father James Ford, pastor of San Roque parish in Santa Barbara, held a series of discussions at the parish this past summer and fall. San Roque is a small, conservative parish whose older congregation is traditional. In a telephone interview with the Mission, Father Ford affirmed that any changes made at San Roque would be based on the cardinal's pastoral letter, Gather Faithfully Together.

The majority of the parishioners are not happy with Father Ford's proposed changes. The changes include: taking down the main altar and moving it to the middle of the nave; reservation of the Blessed Sacrament in a side chapel; placing of the baptismal font at the entrance of the church so that parishioners could "pass by the large Baptismal Font and take water from it" as the cardinal's pastoral letter states.

What started as a small cry of protest from a few parishoners has quickly evolved into a full blown revolution. Given the strong feelings surrounding the proposed renovation, some of the meetings had so many outcries of protest, that Father Ford issued a stern warning prior to the final meeting, held last November 18, threatening to remove any parishioner who protested at the meeting.

The meeting featured Armando Ruiz, the archdiocese's architect who, for his modernistic church designs, was banned from designing churches for the archdiocese during the administration of Cardinal Manning. According to one diocesan priest, Ruiz "has made a fortune destroying Catholic Churches." Accompanying Ruiz was Kathy Lindell, the associate director of the Office of Worship. Ms. Lindell had previously been the secretary for Father Douglas Ferraro who headed the Office of Worship until he left the priesthood. Lindell opened the meeting, saying: "We are coming together as a Christian community and thus we have a model in Jesus Christ of our acceptance and courtesy of one another. We do want to allow a safe and respectful environment throughout the whole presentation, so all are able to hear our two speakers. We will able to listen to learn and to grow in the richness of our experience in church... Because we want to ensure a respected environment for our cited speakers... any destructive action throughout the course of the evening will [be cause for] removal of oneself from this building".

Prior to the November 18 meeting, a concerned group of parishioners who call themselves "San Roque Faithful" sent a booklet, outlining the problems with the pastor's proposed renovation of the church to all the parishioners and to the Mission. In this booklet, the authors argued that the proposed changes have no basis in Vatican II documents. The pastor was enraged when he learned about the booklet. At the meeting, he said: "Before we begin our presentation, I felt it important at this time to address an issue that has come to my attention yesterday. I was very saddened and disappointed by the materials that many of you received yesterday or today in this most inappropriate mailing...this letter in no way is the belief of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Roman Catholic Church or the pastor of San Roque parish. And I want to apologize to you; that your homes were invaded in this way."

Father Ford is facing a difficult situation: his parishioners are not happy with the proposed changes. According to long time parishioner Barbara Najera in order to "soften" the resistence prior to the meeting Father Ford served wine and cheese and, during the meeting, passed out color copies of a church in Washington state that had been renovated to accomplish "worship in the round." Father Ford offered this as an example of the renovation at San Roque parish. Sensing that he needs the support of the parishioners, Father Ford continually emphasized that the proposals were just that, proposals. The parishioners, apparently unmoved by either the wine or the pictures, remained stoic throughout the evening's presentation.

San Roque Faithful has been in contact with the Mission since last November's meeting and recently reported that, to date, there have been no changes in the church building but rather there has been a stream of parishioners leaving San Roque parish in protest of the proposed changes. One parishioner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, estimates that between 90 to 100 families have left the parish. According to San Roque Faithful, a meeting was recently held by two parishioners and Bishop Curry, auxiliary bishop for the Santa Barbara region, to discuss the concerns of the parish. According to the parishioners, the bishop denied knowledge of any plans and then said that Father Ford had told him that "an overwhelming majority of the parishioners had written him [Ford] telling how much they wanted the renovation".

Dr. Art Najera and his wife Barbara met with Bishop Curry regarding the proposed renovation of San Roque parish. According to the Najeras: "Initially Bishop Curry was not aware of the extent of the revolt at San Roque. But by the time we met with him, Bishop Curry was fully aware of the revolt. He said he understood the parishioners' concerns, but nothing would happen right away. Father Ford is getting many, many harsh letters from long time parishioners." Dr. Najera mentioned that Father Ford has continually spoken about San Roque not being "liturgically correct." Dr. Najera is chairman of the Finance Committee and has been a member of the parish for 31 years.

A reporter from the Mission contacted the bishop's office and was told that Bishop Curry was on retreat. We also contacted Father Ford who said that he does not know the group calling itself San Roque Faithful, but stated they cannot be trusted since they issued an unsigned letter. Father Ford said, "we all know what to do with unsigned documents." The letter Father Ford is referring to is the booklet that was distributed prior to the meeting. When asked about the dissatisfaction of his parishioners with regards to the proposed changes, Father Ford replied: "I am very pleased with the positive and enthusiastic response of so many parishioners and members of the parish school with respect to the liturgical renovation of our Church."

Most San Roque parishioners were unwilling to be named in this article. Many parishioners spoke of their fear of reprisals. One parishioner who was willing to be quoted was Dr. Garvan Kuskey, who has been a member of San Roque parish for 35 years. When told that Father Ford had cited the overwhelming support he received for his proposed changes, Dr. Kuskey said: "That's news to me. I haven't spoken to a single soul at San Roque who is in favor of renovating. In fact, the people I've talked to are really outraged about it."

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