NEWS
2004 NEWS STORIES
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
NEWS
February 2004
POPE JOHN PAUL II APPOINTED a new auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese of Los Angeles in December. The bishop-designate, Father Oscar Azarcon Solis, comes to Los Angeles from the diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, where he served as pastor of St. Joseph's cocathedral. Born in the Philippines, Father Solis will be the first Filipino bishop ever ordained in the United States. According to the December 19 Tidings, the organ of the archdiocese of Los Angeles, Solis will not head up the San Pedro pastoral region, replacing retired bishop Joseph Sartoris, but will be bishop-at-large, coordinating pastoral outreach for all ethnic groups in the archdiocese. The archdiocese awaits the Vatican's replacement for Bishop Sartoris.
Not unused to ethnic diversity, Bishop-designate Solis seems well-equipped to serve an archdiocese, where, every Sunday, Mass is offered in 42 languages. According to the website for the diocese of Cleveland (which carried a story on Solis), besides speaking English and his native Tagolog, Solis is fluent in Spanish and Creole-French. His appointment will likely be welcome to the about 600,000 Filipinos in the archdiocese. His consecration is scheduled for February 12 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.
The 50-year-old Solis was born in San Jose City, Philippines and was ordained a priest for the diocese of Cabanatuan, Philippines, on April 28, 1979. He served as a chaplain for the Christian Family Movement and the Knights of Columbus, as well as diocesan vocations director.
"WE ARE VERY PLEASED that the Holy Father has recognized the size of the archdiocese. and his willingness to give us an extra bishop to assist us," said Cardinal Roger Mahony when he introduced Father Solis to the faithful at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles, December 11. No doubt Mahony was pleased with having another bishop -- with the future appointment of Bishop Sartoris' successor, the archdiocese will have six auxiliary bishops instead of only five. But, what may be less pleasing to the cardinal is what appears to be a sea change in the Vatican's dealings with the archdiocese. With the pope's recent appointment of Bishop Alex Vigneron of Michigan to the diocese of Oakland, with the archdiocese of Phoenix going to a Kansas bishop instead of Los Angeles' Bishop Gabino Zavala, and with the appointment of Solis to Los Angeles -- a man from outside of Cardinal Mahony 's bailiwick -- it appears Mahony's influence over episcopal appointments may be on the wane.
All of the current auxiliary bishops have been L.A. men. All but Bishop Thomas Curry attended St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, and two of these, Zavala and Edward Clark, had served as the seminary's rectors under Mahony. Until the appointment of Bishop Vigneron to Oakland last year, most episcopal appointments in California have been to men who were close to Mahony: both Tod Brown of Orange and William Levada of San Francisco attended St. John's Seminary at the same time as Mahony; Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton served as L.A.'s archdiocesan chancellor and as auxiliary bishop under Mahony; and Patrick Ziemann, formerly auxiliary of Los Angeles under Mahony, served as bishop of Santa Rosa until forced to step down because of a sexual scandal connected with a seminarian.
"AND WHAT ABOUT THE TRANSPERSON one meets in the bathroom?" asks Melissa Getreu in an article published in the December 3 Loyolan, the student newspaper of Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles. According to Getreu, Loyola-Marymount does nothing to prepare students for such a real-world possibility as restroom-lurking transpersons. Indeed, according to Getreu, Loyola-Marymount is bound up in a "code of silence," consumed by a "quiet aura of bigotry," as far as the other-gendered are concerned. "In an environment that so actively promotes social justice," Getreu complains, "those who support queer justice are not actively opposed, but worse -- forced to live in shadows and silence."
One in ten of her classmates, claims Getreu, are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered (transpersons?) -- and they want something. What do they want? "LGBT students want small things," explains Getreu -- "posters on walls, the ability to hold hands between classes or bring dates to Charter Ball -- things most people take for granted. They want to be embraced on this campus as full members of the community. They want to walk without fear of retaliation for being perceived as LGBT or as allies." And what's good for them is good for everybody. Besides stumbling across transpersons in out-of-the-way places, Loyola-Marymount students "will undoubtedly encounter queer people" elsewhere. "Being ill-prepared to interact with people of diverse identities can significantly hamper communication and everyday interactions," says Getreu. So, Loyola-Marymount must prepare a discrimination policy and propaganda programs to educate the "undereducated" and "unaware" of the university's student body.
Loyola-Marymount is a hard place for queer folk; but, Getreu admits, there is a silver lining: the sensitive and aware members of the faculty and staff. "It is not an exaggeration to say," she writes, that "LGBT student retention [at Loyola-Marymount] is in great part due to the support of these faculty and staff members." But Getreu adds this qualification -- "the absence of programs aimed at educating the LMU community on queer allyship leaves supportive faculty and staff bearing a double duty far greater than other colleagues."
MUCH LITIGATION. An "initial estimate" given in a January 6 Associated Press report said the number of those who filed molestation lawsuits against California Catholic dioceses at year's end reached about 800. Some dioceses, however, were still being served lawsuits as of January 5; the diocese of Monterey, in particular, sent paralegals to courts to count the number of lawsuits against it. Of the estimated 800 lawsuits, about 500 had been filed against the archdiocese of Los Angeles, the state's largest diocese. Another 175 were divided up between the dioceses of Orange, San Bernardino, and San Diego. Another 125, said Associated Press, were filed in Northern California, though it was not specified which dioceses were involved.
Tod Tamberg, spokesman for Cardinal Roger Mahony, told Associated Press that the archdiocese has "a great desire to deal with these claims in mediation and try to reach a settlement for all claims involved." Attorney Raymond Boucher, who represents 320 plaintiffs in Southern California, opined that a settlement with the archdiocese of Los Angeles could surpass the archdiocese of Boston's $85 million settlement with alleged molestation victims.
MALFEASANCE IN HIGH PLACES? On Wednesday, December 17, 2003, the archdiocese of Los Angeles, two bishops, and 26 priests were sued in superior court by 17 plaintiffs who accused the archdiocese and the priests of sexual abuse and using their positions of power to cover up for other clerics. The introduction to the lawsuit filed by attorneys Raymond Boucher of Beverly Hills and Laurence Drivon of Stockton, lays out an explanation of how the bishops and priests utilized their positions of power to gain access to victims and then "funnel the children they molested into seminaries and the priesthood."
"These priest and likely many others," the lawsuit continues, "occupied positions such as Auxiliary Bishops, Vicar for Clergy, Vicars General, consultors, Judges, school board members, Director of Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, teachers, and Deans at local seminaries and recruiters for seminaries."
Causes of action include: childhood sexual abuse; negligent supervision with failure to warn; negligent hiring/retention; breach of fiduciary duty; negligent failure to educate, warn, or train plaintiff; premises liability; and sexual battery.
THE RESULTS ARE IN. An audit conducted by a firm hired by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said that California's dioceses have substantially complied with the bishops' norms on how to deal with sexual abuse by clergy, said the January 6 San Francisco Chronicle. The archdiocese of Los Angeles, however, received an "instruction" --the most severe rating -- because it has failed to set up a formal process for reporting abuse allegations to law enforcement. "Extensive, ongoing litigation exists between the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the district attorneys' offices," said the audit. "This situation has led to perceptions of lack of cooperation by all parties." The auditors did, however, praise the archdiocese for establishing a sexual abuse policy as well as an outreach program 15 years before the nation's bishops established their charter in June 2002. The archdiocese also received praise for making abuse hotline numbers available on its website. The Chronicle did not report that the hotline was set up under court order in 2001 when the archdiocese and the diocese of Orange settled with alleged molestation victim Marcus Ryan DiMaria for $5.2 million.
The Chronicle said that archdiocesan spokesman, Tod Tamberg, did not "immediately" return calls for comment on the audit. The cardinal, however, issued a statement: "Our first commitment is, of course, to the protection of children and that involves -- among other things -- making sure that our policies and procedures are effective and up-to-date."
AS PART OF A NATION-WIDE STUDY commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the diocese of Orange has released the number of priests guilty of molestation and of the children and youth they have molested, said a January 3 Associated Press report. According to the diocese, 16 Orange County priests have molested 47 children over the entire history of the diocese, which split from the Los Angeles archdiocese in 1976. This represents three percent of the 589 clergy who have served in the diocese over that period. Of the guilty priests, 12 have been removed from ministry, two are on administrative leave pending resolution of the claims against them, and one left the diocese 22 years ago to serve as a military chaplain. The diocese says it has paid out $4.6 million to victims and $66,000 in counseling.
Victims' groups, though, have criticized Orange diocese's findings, saying the diocese underreported. As evidence, they cite 50 lawsuits filed by victims in 2003. The diocese admits it did not include the latest numbers, saying the report only covers abuse allegations through 2002.
The archdiocese of Los Angeles says it will include 2003 figures in its report, which is due out in February.
A SAN DIEGO JUDGE ruled that lawsuits brought against Planned Parenthood by two pro-life attorneys were "frivolous," said a December 18 LifeNews.com story. The attorneys, Richard Ackerman and Gary Kreep, with the United States Justice Foundation, had brought a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of America and its affiliates in Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego counties. The 15-count lawsuit alleged that Planned Parenthood failed to report cases of physical and sexual abuse of minors that it knew about. Two counts of the suit had been thrown out by San Diego superior court judge Kevin Enright on August 29, 2003, on procedural grounds. Because of this, Ackerman was not permitted to show his evidence in court. Ackerman says he has six boxes of evidence which includes Planned Parenthood documents showing that Planned Parenthood has treated girls as young as five years old. Ackerman told Focus on the Family, "if a 12-year-old shows up pregnant at a Planned Parenthood facility ... there is good reason to believe a crime has been committed. Once you suspect that illegal sexual activity has taken place with that minor, there is a duty to report it to child protective services, and if you don't it's a crime."
In his earlier ruling in August, Judge Enright disagreed with Ackerman, saying Planned Parenthood is not subject to the reporting act because it is a "corporate entity not licensed to practice medicine" -- though Ackerman argues that Planned Parenthood engages in medical activities, such as providing abortions and dispensing drugs, such as RU-486. In his December ruling, the judge awarded Planned Parenthood $15,000 in damages. Their attorneys may collect it from Enright, Ackerman, the United States Justice Foundation, or from all three.
The pro-life attorneys and the Justice Foundation have appealed the ruling.
FOR THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR, Loyola-Marymount University students attended the protest at Fort Benning, Georgia, against the School of the Americas, said the December 3 Loyolan, the university's student-run newspaper. The annual protest, which draws people from across the country, took place November 21-23, 2003. The School of the Americas was founded in the 1950s to train members of the military for Latin American countries. Critics charge not only that the School of the Americas has graduated some of the worst human rights abusers in Latin America, but that the school trained and still trains students in techniques repugnant to human dignity. The U.S. Army school says it has changed in recent years -- a change reflected by a change of name to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. Critics, however, deny this claim.
About 30 Loyola-Marymount students and faculty attended the non-violent demonstration at Fort Benning. Prior to the demonstration, the group, said the Loyolan, participated in the Jesuit Family Teach-In, organized in part by Loyola-Marymount campus minister, Fernando Moreno. Though in the past the Associated Students of Loyola-Marymount University allotted $3,400 to defray travelling expenses to Fort Benning, this year no money was forthcoming. The participating students themselves raised the money.
A LAY CHAPLAIN who heads up the detention ministry for the archdiocese of Los Angeles is suing to go to jail, said a December 20 Los Angeles Times story. Towards the middle of last year, Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials barred Javier Stauring from the county jail after he made public comments critical of the conditions faced by juvenile inmates awaiting trial for adult crimes, such as murder. Stauring, for instance, reported that inmates as young as 14 were kept confined to cells in the "dark cell block" for as long as 23 1/2 hours a day.
Stauring sued Sheriff Lee Baca on December 17, saying the sheriff's department has violated his First Amendment rights to speak about conditions in the jail. Sheriff's officials deny Stauring's claim, saying he was disclosing private information about inmates. Stauring, however, says he received permission from inmates and their legal guardians before speaking to the public about them.
UNCHURCHED YOUTH. The January 2 Los Angeles Times asked what religious leaders are doing to stem the defection of "twentysomethings" from their churches. According to the Times, a Ventura-based research group recently conducted a study showing that, while eighty percent of those in their 20s said "that faith is a very important part of their lives," only 30 percent in that group attend church every week. Perhaps more importantly for some, only 30 percent of people in their twenties "donated something to a church during the past year." What are church leaders doing to address this?
The Rev. Thomas Welbers of Our Lady of the Assumption in Claremont told the Times that "there seems to be a more conservative trend among Catholic young adults." At his parish, said Welbers, there "is a variety of ways in which we say to all, as Jesus did: 'Welcome. Come as you are.'" According to Welbers, "genuine welcome avoids gimmicks and frills, but accepts a wide variety of attitudes and cultural expressions." So it is that Our Lady of the Assumption's Sunday Masses "range from traditional, through contemporary, to youth/rock in musical styles -- but throughout there is a real effort to be faithful to the Catholic tradition." The parish also offers "many diverse opportunities for faith formation and Christian living."
Young adults, said Welbers, should not be treated as a separate class. "I believe young adults simply are adults, and will be drawn to a healthy diversity of activities within a church community," he said.
A THREE-JUDGE COURT OF APPEAL on December 12 ruled against two newspapers, the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily Journal, which wanted access to court hearings and to transcripts of arguments between Los Angeles County prosecutors and the Los Angeles archdiocese over whether the grand jury could view priests' personnel files. According to the December 13 Los Angeles Times, the judges said proceedings to decide such questions should be closed as far as is necessary to protect "information that might reveal the nature, scope or direction of the grand jury's investigation." Donald Steier, who represents priests whose files have been subpoenaed, welcomed the judges' decision. "You want to allow the grand jury process to go forward without the emotional influences that are attendant to allowing the public to be involved," he said.
The archdiocese turned over subpoenaed personnel records to a judge in the summer of 2002, but archdiocesan lawyers have argued that the records are confidential and cannot be viewed by the grand jury. A court-appointed retired judge has not yet decided whether the records are indeed confidential.
AFTER TWO SECRET HEARINGS with lawyers representing the archdiocese of Los Angeles, accused priests, and Los Angeles County district attorney Steve Cooley, Los Angeles County superior court judge Terry Green ordered the release of court documents detailing the criminal investigation of priests accused of molestation, said the December 19 Los Angeles Times. Green' s December 18 ruling was in response to the appellate court's December 12 ruling that court proceedings over whether the grand jury can view priests personnel files must be kept secret. The December 18 ruling does not open up proceedings that concern the grand jury. But the papers released on December 18 only confirmed well known reports that a retired judge, Thomas Nuss, had been retained to review archdiocesan objections to releasing personnel documents concerning accused priests. The released documents had been altered to conceal privileged grand jury information. Judge Green said this was in accord with the appellate court's decision.
TWO SOUTHLAND PRELATES, Cardinal Roger Mahony and Bishop Gerald Barnes of San Bernardino, issued statements in December regretful of the state legislature's repeal of a law that gave undocumented immigrants the right to hold drivers licenses. Last year, the legislature passed the law, which was signed by Governor Gray Davis in September. In late November, however, both the state assembly and senate voted to repeal the legislation; the repeal was signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger.
Cardinal Mahony's statement was issued December 5, before the governor signed the repeal. Mahony called the "rapid passage, signing, and repeal" of the drivers license legislation "perplexing and challenging." "The daily lives and struggles of thousands of immigrant workers and families, a vital part of our state's economy, will be greatly affected by these recent actions in Sacramento." Mahony urged the governor and legislature "to craft appropriate legislation which both assures that proper security requirements are in place for all licensed drivers, and assists our immigrant workers and families in contributing to the prosperity of all in our State."
Bishop Barnes said that in discussing the status of the undocumented workers in California, Jesus' "instruction for humanity," to "Love One Another," must not be forgotten. The bishop reminded readers that "immigrant workers and their families are often forced to leave their homes and country for their own safety; they come here only seeking a better life." Barnes said he joined with the bishops of California and, in the precise words of Mahony, called for assistance for immigrant workers. Christians and non-Christians, said the bishop, should "together seek solutions" to the issue of immigration "that treat all with the respect and dignity due to every human being, every son and daughter of God."
A RELIC, a portion of the cloth on which the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appears, has been permanently enshrined at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. Cardinal Roger Mahony said a Mass for the enshrinement on December 9, said the December 10 Los Angeles Times. For 21 days previous to the enshrinement, the cloth was featured on a tour throughout the United States; an estimated 140,000 people turned out to venerate the relic. Andrew Walther, vice president for the Los Angeles-based Apostolate for Holy Relics, said the tour of the relic had been "phenomenal. We've had people come back to the church after 15 to 20 years. We've had people say it changed their lives. We've had people drive across three states to see it."
The archbishop of Mexico City gave the relic to the archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1941. It was entrusted to a Mexican priest, the late Father Fidencio Ezparza, until 1981, when it was placed in the museum at San Fernando Mission.
TO ASSURE DONORS to the diocese of Orange's cathedral project that their donations will not be used to pay sexual abuse settlements, the diocese has formed two non-profit corporations into which building project funds will be funneled, said the December 17 Los Angeles Times. Diocesan chancellor, Shirl Giacomi, said that forming the corporations was mostly cosmetic, since building project funds cannot by law be used for other purposes. "We have always had donor-restricted funds . but the general public seems to want more assurance that their future contributions will not go for settlements," said Giacomi.
THE CITY OF SANTA ANA gave the Orange County Catholic Worker until January 18 to kick out the 100 or more homeless people who sleep at the Worker's Isaiah House on Cypress Street, said a January 14 Los Angeles Times story. In December, the city council declared Isaiah House a public nuisance; the Worker has been operating the shelter in a neighborhood without a permit. The Catholic Worker, however, has said that Isaiah House is the only shelter available for its guests. In early January, Catholic Worker Dwight Smith told the city that he would gladly send the people elsewhere, if there were a safer alternative for them. But as there is not, Smith said he would not obey the city's ruling. "I'm following a direct command from Jesus," Smith said. "He said to invite the poor, the crippled and helpless into our homes -- he didn't say invite them into a city-approved church, social hall or homeless shelter." Santa Ana councilman Jose Solorio said the deadline could be extended to encourage talks between the city and the Catholic Worker.
In November, the city responded to a complaint against Isaiah House by a local businessman. No neighborhood residents, said the Times, have complained about the house.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE BAN? What do religious leaders in the Southland think of French president Jacques Chirac's banning of Muslim head scarves, Jewish yarmulkes, and large crucifixes in French public schools? The December 26 Los Angeles Times asked this very question. One respondent, Imam Alaaeldin Mansour of the Claremont Mosque, pointed out that, because of the ruling, Moslem women will be forced either to disobey the law or their God. Pastor Wayne Robbins of San Antonio Heights Community Church said Chirac's ruling is a "reaffirmation of secularism" -- and this concerns him, because "America tends to follow the western European lead all too often."
But the most interesting response came from a "Elder Wiccan high priestess and member of the Ecclassian Fellowship," Kathleen Morris. Morris thinks Chirac is "probably right" -- after all, students will still be able to wear small religious symbols. "Religion is a personal matter between an individual and their god(s)/goddess(s)," said Morris; "it does not require advertisement in the classroom or on the campus. I am very openly Wiccan. I wear my Pentagram pendant to work. My child would wear hers, too, if that were her choice. I do not wear my robes, my cord or my triple moon circlet. They would be inappropriate there. I would not send my child to school in ritual wear either. Such a thing would only make the child a 'target' for those who do not understand our religion."
THE ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT delayed making a decision on an arboretum a homeless man has tended for 20 years on district land along the Santa Ana River in Anaheim, said the December 18 Los Angeles Times. The water district knew nothing of the aboretum, where Richard Dumke, a former biologist and now a janitor, lived in a shack. Dumke's arboretum boasts about 250 trees, shrubs, and exotic plants. Local activists and some members of the business community in Anaheim came to Dumke's defense when the water district asked him to vacate the land. The Orange County Catholic Worker provided him with a recreational vehicle, so he could live off the district's property.
The water district still allows Dumke to tend his land. A group, Save Richard's Garden, has submitted two proposals to the district to preserve the arboretum. Under one proposal, Dumke would continue to tend the land for a small fee. Under the second, proposal, the property would be leased to a ministry or to a newly formed organization to conduct botanical research.
MANDATORY KINDERGARTEN -- AGAIN. Though in 2002, Governor Gray Davis vetoed a bill that would have required mandatory schooling for five-year old children, a new bill has revived the issue. Assembly Bill 56, authored by Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), would push the mandatory schooling age from the current six years to five years. According to Home School Legal Defense and the Sacramento-based Family Protection Ministries (both oppose the bill), the requirement the bill proposes "will apply to all children, whether their parents plan to send them to public school or private school (including private home schools.)" It also "takes an incremental step toward a universal preschool program for 3 and 4 year-olds" by making "'free' public preschool available to every child under 5 years of age on a voluntary basis. Should this bill pass, it could easily be followed by legislation to make institutionalized preschool mandatory."
Universal preschool, say Home School Legal Defense and Family Protection Ministries, "has been proposed by legislators in the past and is openly encouraged by proponents of early childhood education. This bill goes beyond education. It states, 'There is a further compelling need in California to ensure that early childhood development programs and services are universally and continuously available for children so that children enter school in optimum health and are emotionally well developed and ready and able to learn.... Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to provide.... Universal preschool programs that offer group experiences, developmentally appropriate curricula, and allow for a seamless integration to K-12 education for all children three and four years of age."
In early January, the bill was in the state assembly appropriations committee. For more information on the bill, go to www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1259.
MISSION SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL may never reopen, said a December 25 Associated Press report. The mission, located near Paso Robles, suffered severe damage after a December 15 earthquake rocked the area. After the magnitude-6.5 quake, the diocese of Monterey, which has oversight of the mission, closed it. Richard Ameil, executive director of the California Missions Foundation, told Associated Press that the quake caused a one-inch fissure on a wall from floor to ceiling, major cracks in five pillars, and crumbled an Indian mural. The Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises money for the missions, estimated that repairs would cost anywhere from $7 to $10 million dollars.
Though San Miguel, built between 1816 to 1818, is the only mission that has its original interior paint, it has not drawn many visitors or donors. For more information on the California Missions Foundation, see www.missionsofcalifornia.org