NEWS
2003 NEWS STORIES
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 2003
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
NEWS
JULY/AUGUST 2003
HOME SCHOOLING NO LONGER ILLEGAL IN CALIFORNIA. The words "homeschooling is not legal in California" have been expunged from state department of education's website, according to a June 2 WorldNetDaily.com report. California state superintendent of education Jack O'Connel's order that state education statutes and case law be reexamined led to the reversal, said WorldNetDaily. The department's deputy general counsel, Michael Hersher, said school districts would be informed of the change.
Removed from the website are several documents that say that parents who school their children at home without a teaching credential do not meet the requirement for private schools. These children, according to the documents, would be truant and their parents liable for criminal prosecution for habitual truancy. "We're simply going to stop saying that every homeschooled child is truant," said Hersher. "I think homeschooling is as individualized as the students and parents and you can't really generalize. There are children who excel academically and others who are just running the streets."
Hersher said, though, that the department's position is that it is up to school districts to determine whether or not a child is truant. "We've decided there's no role for the department of education in enforcing truancy laws," said Hersher. "We're going to defer to the local districts."
"SYNOD IS TO IMMERSE ourselves in the very life of Jesus and our common shared discipleship with the Lord Jesus and to pray together and to discern together, how it is that the Lord wishes us to proceed from here," said Cardinal Roger Mahony in his homily at the Mass for the opening of the archdiocesan synod on May 16. According to the May 23 Tidings, the cardinal said that Jesus is at the center of Catholic identity. "How we can more fully enter into that life of Jesus, be excited about it, share our journey and our stories together, so that we might map a common direction?" asked Mahony. More than 300 delegates were present at the Mass, including observers from Christian denominations and other religions -- Episcopalians, Armenian Orthodox, Methodists, Presbyterians, Evangelical Lutherans, Moslems, Jews, and Sikhs.
Synod delegates in small groups discussed and voted on 43 draft goals suggested by the preparatory synod sessions. The goals represent different aspects of six "pastoral priorities": the New Evangelization; "establishing structures for participation and accountability"; ongoing education and formation of youth, young adults and adults; the ministry and leadership of laymen, religious, and ordained; the Eucharist and sacramental living; and "social justice: living at the service of God's reign." All 43 goals, said the Tidings, received the majority of votes, though with some modifications added. One suggestion made respected making Santa Barbara its own diocese. Though "many want to see the archdiocese remain unified in its diversity," said the Tidings, "others living in the Santa Barbara Region see the difficulties of having the archdiocesan center located in downtown Los Angeles."
Father Alexei Smith, director of ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the archdiocese, coordinated a discussion on the synod's goal of the "New Evangelization." It was a "lively discussion," said the Tidings, that included "ecumenical and interreligious, and Catholic observers." "The very word 'evangelization' is a term with which Catholics and Christians continue to grapple," said the Tidings.
On June 27-28, synod delegates will further discuss goals, strategies, and an implementation plan. The results will be submitted to the cardinal for his review.
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN PASTOR Carol Nolte addressed the synod, praising it, it seems, for its non-right-wing orientation, according to the Tidings. "We have dealt with this problem of being cast into the Christian right and the whole political agenda that conjures up," said Nolte. "I'm very pleased that you're dealing with it, and I hope you're not backing away from it. Because we need to redeem the word [sic], so that people are not afraid to talk about the Good News of Jesus Christ." The Tidings, however, did not say whether Nolte spoke of the problem of the Church being cast in the paradigm of the Christian left.
THE MORNING-AFTER PILL may eventually become an over-the-counter medication, said the May 19 New York Times. The Times noted that morning-after pills, such as Preven, are to be distinguished from RU-486, or mifepristone, which is an abortifacient. Mifepristone can trigger an abortion up to 12 weeks after conception, while morning-after pills prevent conception from occurring. Yet, the Times noted, researchers do not know how the pill works -- it either delays ovulation or prevents a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus." On May 14, New Mexico became the fourth state to allow pharmacists to distribute morning after pills without a doctor's prescription. Legislators in fourteen other states are trying to get similar laws passed. California, said the Times, has an arrangement similar to that of Washington, where doctors issue standing prescriptions and pharmacists dispense the pills and monitor their use. An application to approve over-the-counter dispensing of morning after pills is pending to be filed with the federal Food and Drug Administration.
The American Life League has said that morning-after pills are abortifacient. But neither the League, nor National Right to Life, plans to oppose approval, said the Times.
THE PRESS WAS PRESENT at Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 25, when Cardinal Mahony announced the establishment of a cathedral chapel dedicated to the victims of clergy sexual abuse. According to a May 25 Associated Press report, the chapel, in one of the alcoves on the south side of the cathedral, contains a book in which one may inscribe the first names of victims of sexual abuse. "Let this chapel be a symbol of our responsibility to continue to reach out to all those who have been affected by abuse," said Mahony. "We ask you time to time to stop at that chapel to offer a prayer of healing and reconciliation for all who have suffered abuse."
A May 26 Los Angeles Times story called Mahony's Sunday announcement "unexpected." Mary Grant, regional director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called it "a public relations stunt." Neither Grant, nor other victims of clergy sexual abuse, had been invited to witness the announcement nor the subsequent dedication, nor was Grant present as television cameras filmed Mahony, kneeling silently in the new chapel. Archdiocesan spokesman, Tod Tamberg, it seems, was not nonplussed by Grant's sense of outrage at her and other victims' exclusion. "We didn't invite SNAP, nor did we invite the victims who have been asking [the Archdiocese] for a more spiritual component to the healing process," Tamberg told the Times. "We simply wanted to designate the chapel and, through the media, let everyone know that it's there for them."
But Grant told the Times that "clearly this continues to be about the cardinal and not the victims. I think Cardinal Mahony knew that if victims were aware of this ahead of time, they'd be here telling parishioners that real change needs to happen -- and that the priests who abused them are not yet behind bars."
THE SUNDAY AFTER THE DEDICATION of the chapel, protestors entered the cathedral with a large wooden cross, covered with pictures of clergy abuse victims, said the June 2 Los Angeles Times. With news cameras in train, the protestors placed the cross in the chapel dedicated to victims of sexual abuse and began fixing pictures of abuse victims to the bulletin boards provided by the archdiocese for that purpose. When these were filled, protestors began taping photographs to the chapel walls. Some of the photographs showed the priests who protestors said had abused them. About 30 protestors had been demonstrating outside prior to entering the cathedral. Cardinal Mahony said the 10 a.m. Mass, but did not meet with the protestors.
Archdiocesan spokesman Tod Tamberg told the Times that the archdiocese would discuss whether to let the cross and the pictures protestors affixed to the walls remain in the chapel. "That cross in there is tremendously meaningful to those victims, but it might be a distraction for others," said Tamberg. "We have to find something that everyone will feel comfortable with."
ALL CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE lawsuits will be tried before a single judge in Los Angeles, a California judge decided Wednesday, May 28. Los Angeles superior court judge, Elihu Berle, ordered that two hundred lawsuits pending against priests from the Los Angeles and Orange dioceses be tried in Los Angeles and has rejected a plea by the diocese of San Diego that the 20 cases pending against its own priests be tried in San Diego, said the May 29 Los Angeles Times. "These cases originated in San Diego. We think they should be resolved in San Diego by San Diego courts and San Diego juries," said Michael Webb, a San Diego diocese attorney.
Venus Soltan, a lawyer who represents plaintiffs from four dioceses, said Berle's decision will show "the big picture" of how many people have been molested by the same priests. She also noted that "it's not possible for hundreds of cases to happen and no one knows about it." John Manly, another plaintiffs' attorney, said the judge's order "is recognition that [sexual abuse by priests] is a mass tort. It didn't just happen once. It happened a lot."
MORE WOMEN AND CHILDREN HOMELESS. The Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition issued a report of a one-day survey, conducted in February, of eight emergency shelters and nine transitional housing facilities in Ojai and Thousand Oaks, said a May 25 Los Angeles Times story. Of the 437 people who use these services, over half were women and children, according to the Coalition. A similar survey, conducted three years ago, counted 300 people using these services, a third of them women and children. This year, over half the people surveyed said they had been living in Ventura County for at least ten years. Half said they had been homeless for less than six months, while 37 percent said they had been homeless for at least two years.
Among those counted, about 33 percent suffered from mental illness and 29 percent had physical disabilities. Over 100 said they were homeless on account of work loss, while 28 attributed their homeless conditions to divorce and 22 to domestic violence. Forty-eight blamed evictions. Ventura County has a low rate of vacancy, said the report, while the average cost for a two-bedroom rental in the county has risen to $1,300 a month.
THE SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO city council on May 19 approved construction of a sports complex for Junipero Serra High School on a 29-acre parcel that includes an Indian burial ground, said the May 21 Los Angeles Times. The school, a public charter school project backed by Catholic laymen, which will open September 3, has been fighting for approval for the complex, which lies across the street from the school's main campus. Some members of the Juaneño Indian tribe, however, have wanted to preserve the parcel as a historical and cultural spot, saying, besides having a burial ground, it is the site of Putiidhem, a 15th century village. In March, the school petitioned the council to call a special election to decide whether the zoning of the parcel should be changed from commercial to private institutional use. The Capistrano city council, however, approved the school's project without submitting the zone change to the voters. One faction of the Juaneño tribe took the matter to superior court, which voided the city council's action, saying it violated the state elections code.
The council's May decision cited the cost of a ballot initiative in approving the zoning change without a vote of the citizens of San Juan Capistrano. Diane Bathgate, the sole dissenting council member, said the approval bypasses public and environmental review of the site. The Times said that three members of the council, who voted for the zoning change, received contributions from school backers during the last election. One of these members, David Swerdin, though, denied that money had anything to do with the council's decision. "A lot of people who ran for council and lost also accepted money from J. Serra [supporters]," he said. "I didn't go out and solicit money. They saw the leadership position I took and they helped me out. The money they gave was certainly a worthy portion of my campaign fund, but not the majority."
Opponents of the sports complex said they would take the matter again to court. But, according to the June 3 Capistrano Dispatch, on May 30, superior court judge, Jonathan Cannon, who had voided the city council's vote in March, ruled in favor of the city, saying those who opposed the project did not have the legal standing to challenge the city and the school district.
Junipero Serra High School Backers say they will preserve the Indian burial grounds and erect monuments to the Juañeno tribe.
PRAYER TO THE UNNAMED GOD(ESS). The United States Supreme Court on May 19 refused to hear an appeal from the Burbank city council challenging state court rulings forbidding religion-specific invocations at council meetings, said the Associated Press. In 1999, Irv Rubin, then chairman of the Jewish Defense League, and Roberto Alejandro Gandara, a Catholic, sued the city of Burbank because council invocations had been addressed to Jesus Christ. In November 2000, the Los Angeles superior court ruled that prayers invoking the names of specific deities, whatever the religion, were unconstitutional The California court of appeals later agreed, while the California supreme court refused to hear the city of Burbank's appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling seals the case against Burbank.
Burbank assistant city attorney, Juli Scott, said that the city now has "to exclude from participation in the invocation anyone who by the nature of their beliefs feels that they need to invoke Jesus Christ, Allah, Buddha. Anything that identifies the person with a particular sect or set of beliefs." The city will continue to have the invocation, said Scott, only it will not be "a sectarian invocation." Invocations now "are usually very benign, positive expressions of thanks asking for divine guidance so legislators do a good job."
IRV RUBIN, however, did not live to see the final victory of his lawsuit. The Associated Press article reported that Rubin slit his throat and fell 18 feet over a railing at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center last November; he was in federal prison after he had been charged with plotting to bomb a mosque and the office of Republican congressman, Darrell Issa. Issa is a Lebanese-American. The Rubin estate has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the federal government.
Rubin's widow, Shelley, however, praised the Supreme Court's refusal to consider the Burbank appeal. "I know that my husband wanted everyone, regardless of his or her religious beliefs, to feel like an American," said Mrs. Rubin. "That was very important to Irv. I know my husband is smiling down today."
STEINBOCK HONORED. Bishop John Steinbock of the diocese of Fresno received the 2003 Calegari Award of the California Association of Natural Family Planning for "significant and enduring contributions" to Natural Family Planning in the state of California, Catholic News Service reported on May 12. The award, given by the California Association of Natural Family Planning, was given for Steinbock's long commitment to Natural Family Planning, exemplified by his 2002 pastoral letter, "Life-Giving Love of Husband and Wife in Light of the Teaching of the Church on Marriage and the Family." Steinbock in 2002 also hosted a convocation of Fresno diocesan clergy on the subject of the Church's teaching on artificial contraception. In his pastoral letter, Steinbock said he wants "to bring the clear teaching of the Church regarding conjugal love to our young people and couples and to better articulate that teaching." Steinbock noted that, though couples may space births, they may not use artificial means to do so. Bishop Steinbock's entire pastoral can be read on the website of the diocese of Fresno at www.dioceseoffresno.org/letters/index.html.
PEACE MOVEMENT MUST BE PRO-LIFE. On May 22 Pope John Paul II addressed members of Italy's pro-life movement. "No action in favor of peace can be effective unless one opposes with the same energy the attacks against human life in all its phases, from its earliest beginnings to its natural end," he said, according to a Catholic News Service report. In the address, given on the 25th anniversary of Italy's legalization of abortion, the pope quoted Mother Teresa of Calcutta's 1979 Nobel Prize acceptance speech in which she called abortion "the greatest destroyer of peace today." "It's true," said John Paul. "There can be no authentic peace without respect for life, especially if it is the innocent and defenseless life of unborn children."
SAN BERNARDINO DIOCESE has become one of the leaders in the use of lay leaders in parishes, said a May 18 Los Angeles Times story. Citing the shortage of priests, the diocese has entrusted such practical concerns as parish management and such spiritual concerns, such as counseling and guidance, to lay men and women. "That is the gift we have in our own poverty to give to the bigger church," Bishop Gerald Barnes said, according to Associated Press. "We have had to do things quicker than others have." Barnes said that, given population growth in the diocese, reliance on lay leaders will only increase in the coming years. Though, according to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., nationwide, the number of priests is one for every 1,257 Catholics, in San Bernardino, in 2001, the diocese has only one priest for every 3,853 Catholics. "Even if we had 100 seminarians today we would not have enough to meet the needs of our people," Bishop Barnes said.
The Times said that a dozen of the diocese's 110 parishes have non-clergy parish coordinators and that half of these are laymen. The remainder are either deacons or religious sisters. "San Bernardino's effort to use lay Catholics to run parishes is being closely watched by bishops across the nation," said the Times. "If the approach succeeds here, San Bernardino's plan could become a model for the wider church."
ABORTION, YES. SMOKING, NO. On May 19, by a party-line vote of 47-25, the California assembly passed AB 846, a bill that bans smoking within 20 feet of a government or public college building. It exempts the capitol's own smoking patio, not to mention the patio off the second floor of the legislative annex (where most legislators have their offices) where members often go to have a smoke. The measure was carried by Assemblyman Juan Vargas (D-Chula Vista), a former Jesuit seminarian who has earned a 100 percent record from Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California for his support of the pro-abortion agenda. During his closing arguments, Vargas called tobacco producers "merchants of death" and opined that tobacco "causes lives to be shortened and results in tremendous problems for [smokers'] children." He also said he would write a law to make smoking illegal because of the damage it does to people's health and lives, if he thought such a law could pass. These comments came just seconds after Assemblyman Jay LaSuer (R-La Mesa) had noted that each of the members who had risen to speak in support of the legislation had straight pro-abortion voting records.
DURING DELIBERATIONS on the budget in early June, California state assembly Republicans put up several amendments to the budget that would have limited the size and scope of taxpayer-funded abortions. Greg Aghazarian (R-Stockton) offered a budget amendment to limit Medi-Cal abortions to rape, incest, and life of the mother. The Democrats killed the amendment 48-24 on a party-line vote. Sharon Runner (R-Palmdale) offered a budget amendment to require parental consent for minor, taxpayer-funded abortions. She made the point that her 15-year-old daughter couldn't get her eyebrows waxed without her in the room. The Democrats killed the amendment 45-27 on a party-line vote. Ken Maddox (R-Garden Grove) offered a budget amendment to limit Medi-Cal abortions to those prior to the 20th week of gestation. He told the story of how his own child was born at six months gestation. The Democrats killed the amendment 47-25 on a party-line vote. Bonnie Garcia (R-El Centro) offered a budget amendment to mandate a 24-hour waiting period for Medi-Cal abortions and also to give Medi-Cal abortion patients comprehensive information about the risks and the remedies offered mothers by law. Garcia shared how when she was pregnant with her first child, she was told she had breast cancer and had to abort her baby, but the information given her was very limited. She carried the baby to term, and her son is now 15. The Democrats tabled the amendment 49-25, with one Republican, Lynn Daucher (R-Brea), voting with the Democrats.
Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Arcadia) offered a budget amendment to prohibit the sale of baby body parts that were culled from abortions using taxpayer money. He listed the prices one can get for aborted baby parts: brain, $600-900; body trunk, $500; pituitary gland, $400; eyes, $45; arms and legs, $150/piece. The Democrats tabled the amendment, 48-25, on a party-line vote.
Every year since 1977, pro-life forces have tried to remove abortion funding from the California state budget.
KNIGHTS FIGHT FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS. The Knights of Columbus in California are initiating a statewide campaign to inform Catholic parents of their right and responsibility to ensure their children receive a Catholic education, said the May 23 Catholic San Francisco. Michael Lee, past grand knight of St. Patrick's council in Southern California, told Catholic San Francisco, "we are trying to reacquaint Catholics with the teaching of the Church, that they are the primary educators of their children." In May, the Knights began distributing a pamphlet that alerts parents to the dangers of public schools, particularly to the danger of moral relativism. Beyond this informational campaign, the Knights are exploring the means to change state laws and overturn court decisions that keep states from funding religious schools.
ST. JOHN'S SEMINARY COLLEGE in Camarillo will close its doors at the end of the 2002-03 academic year, said a May 23 Tidings article. The joint boards for both St. John's Seminary College and St. John's Seminary made this decision on January 14 of this year. New students to the college will not be admitted after this year, but current students will be able to complete their degrees through a "teach-out" program, which will be conducted by St. John's seminary theologate through the spring semester of 2005. Students in the teach-out program will be housed in the dormitories of the theologate. It is estimated that the college's current 42 students (only one of whom is not a seminarian) will participate in the teach-out program. Both St. John's college and seminary train seminarians for the Los Angeles archdiocese and for other dioceses, as well.
THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE of Catechetical Leaders in May awarded its Distinguished Service Award to Sister Edith Prendergast, who directs the Los Angeles archdiocesan office of religious education, said a May 16 Catholic News Service report. The award recognizes leadership in religious education at both the local and national levels. Upon receiving the award, Sister Edith noted, "this honor recognizes the contributions Los Angeles has made to the church, nationally and internationally." Among these "contributions" is the archdiocese's Religious Education Congress which has featured heterodox speakers, including those associated with the Catholic dissident group, Call to Action.
A NEW CATHOLIC THEATER COMPANY is being formed in Los Angeles. The project is headed by San Jose playwright, Cathal Gallagher, who founded a Catholic theater company in Northern California, known as Quo Vadis.
Gallagher believes there is a need for a Catholic Theater in Los Angeles. "Our experience at Quo Vadis has shown that theatergoers want inspiring works. We put on plays about the saints and martyrs and have found a very receptive audience. A theater of our own will facilitate this kind of drama. It will also give Catholic playwrights a place to submit their work."
An organizing committee will meet shortly to launch the new theater. Volunteers are needed to fill various positions in the company. Also needed are fundraisers, directors, costumers, stage technicians, etc. For further information, please call Gallagher at (310) 621-5164.