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Contents © 2003
by Jim Holman.
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LETTERS
May 2003
HEARTSICK AND SHOCKED
I am usually quite impressed with the level of analysis in the Mission. Moreover, most of the time I agree with your analysis of the varied topics covered in your production. However, the elimination of several ministries at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center was probably one of the best things that could have happened for Catholics in the archdiocese of Los Angeles. Setting aside the rampant waste of money on duplicated staff and resources at the center; I would assert that the elimination of most of the staff cleaned out a source of "rot" that many would never suspect existed.
First, let me relate a story to you of an experience I had when I was a new employee of the archdiocese (full of fire and zeal to "minister" on behalf of the Church started by God Himself -- the only one to make such a claim -- as far as I know). Several new hires and current employees (100 to be exact) were called to the chancery for a daylong seminar. As a part of the seminar, we were asked to reflect on our beliefs about the Catholic Church pre- and post-Vatican II (we can ignore for the moment that the vast majority of the participants were not alive before the convocation of the council). Taped to the walls around the conference room were large sheets of paper, with two columns and the topic heading of "My Belief about the Catholic Church." Column one was labeled, "Pre-Vatican II," and the second labeled, "Post Vatican II." I arrived a bit late and had to find a spot to write my two responses. As I walked from paper to paper, I read the responses of those gone before me. Of the 100 responses, 95 indicated that, pre-Vatican II, they believed that the Catholic Church was the One "True" Church founded by Jesus Christ. In the post Vatican II column, 98 of the respondents indicated that they believed that all faiths are equal.
I subsequently found the one other brave soul who responded, as I had, that the Catholic Church is the One True Church started by God, and tried to talk to her about my observations. However, she told me that it was not good to discuss such things where others might overhear our conversation. I was heartsick. I was shocked. I thought I was in the wrong place. I remembered my employment with a Fortune 100 company. I am sure that they would have loved a room full of employees who thought that the major competitor was just as good.
My next disheartening experience came when I was asked to teach confirmation classes at my parish. I asked the director of religious education if we could provide Bibles and catechisms for the students. (I subsequently discovered that only two of 35 second-year students had seen or heard of the Catechism; and only five had their own Bibles. All of these students had gone to "Catholic" elementary schools in the archdiocese, and several were enrolled in Catholic high schools.). The director (who did not know a canonical from a deutero-canonical book and who did not know why I was concerned) gave me a flyer, received from the archdiocesan religious education office, advocating the use of Bibles produced by the American Bible Society, one of which did not include the "Apocrypha" while the others listed them as such. I called Sister Edith [Prendergast] (director of the office of religious education) and asked why she would be advocating these Protestant Bibles when there are good Catholic versions available. Her only reply was that they had an imprimatur. I subsequently found out the American Bible Society was giving them away free of charge to the archdiocese.
The next horrifying incident came when we enrolled our two little ones in vacation bible school at another local Catholic parish. The second day of classes, our fourth grader came home talking about witchcraft. When we investigated, we discovered that a woman masquerading as a nun (she was dressed as a Dominican) had been hired by the director of religious education to teach this class about the Bible -- and was in fact teaching the children about the practices of witchcraft. We removed our children and complained to the director, who not only did nothing to resolve the situation, but also admitted knowing that the woman was not a nun. We complained to the pastor, who did nothing.
Another shock came when I was asked to teach RCIA to young adults. When I contacted the archdiocesan office of religious education about training and particular programs to use, I asked them about the use of the Catechism in the RCIA process. I was told that I was not to use the Catechism, that "the Catechism is only a reference book; and is not to be used in RCIA."
Not the last or only sickening experience in my tenure with the archdiocese came when a priest, giving a talk at a retreat for young adults, informed them that: the Catechism is not a book to be read -- but merely a reference text. He would advise couples to practice artificial birth control if they did not wish to have more children. He said that confession was only necessary once every two or three months.
This is only a small part of what I have seen of what goes on inside the heart of the archdiocese. Is it any wonder that there are so many problems? Is it any wonder that people in our archdiocese do not know or practice their Catholic faith?
I do not think the cuts were deep enough.
Anonymous,
received via e-mail
PIUS XII: A GREAT AND HOLY MAN
I would like to react to the unwarranted attack by Rabbi Marvin Hier upon the late Pope Pius XII as reported in the April 2003 Mission [see "Simplistic, Dishonest, and Misleading"].
It is curious that virtually all the criticism voiced against Pope Pius XII in connection with the holocaust comes from people who were geographically and/or chronologically far removed from the scene of action during World War II. The Jewish community of the European countries was uniformly grateful to the pope and the Church for its help during those dark years. A case in point: the Chief Rabbi of Rome even converted to Catholicism and took the pope's first name as his own in gratitude for the help the pontiff gave to the Jews of Italy!
As one who was present in Central Europe during the war, I can testify that the Nazis were not in the habit of listening to officials of the Catholic Church. Catholics were a minority in Germany, and many were not practicing their faith, having become, in fact, neo-pagans of sorts, as was the case with Hitler himself. Not only were the Nazi authorities indifferent to Catholic protestations, but they knew how to visit clever reprisals on the Church. Thus, in Holland, where after the deportation of numerous Jews, when the Dutch bishops protested, the Nazis retaliated by rounding up a large number of Catholics of Jewish ancestry who, until then, were exempt from persecution. All of these Catholics perished at the hands of the Nazis, among them the now-canonized Carmelite nun and philosopher, Edith Stein.
A final note about conditions in my own native country, Hungary. When in the fall and winter of 1944, German and Hungarian Nazis engaged in a terrible slaughter of Jews in the city of Budapest, the papal nuncio, Archbishop Angelo Rotta (a relative of mine), along with the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, carried on a large rescue operation of Jews to whom, at the pope's direct order, he issued Vatican passports. (The Soviet authorities expelled the archbishop after their conquest of the city, and some time later they imprisoned and murdered Raoul Wallenberg.
Pope Pius XII was a great and holy man who had the misfortune to reign in most difficult and perilous times. When I had the privilege of observing him (at a distance) in 1949 in Rome, he appeared to be haunted by sorrow and grief. It was widely rumored that he was visited by Our Lord, Who consoled him. Fortunately with all of its present perplexities, the Church still manages its own procedures leading to beatification and does not depend on the views of the uninformed and prejudiced persons who belong to another religion.
You have quite accurately characterized Hier's attack as simplistic, dishonest, and misleading. Keep up the good work of defending a good pope!
S.A. de H.-Bertram,
Hollywood
ADOLESCENT MENTALITY AND CALUMNY
The article on Father Tom Baker [see "Don't Hate Him Because He's Beautiful", April Mission] makes public a parish power struggle where some parishioners have decided to pit themselves against the pastor, to play the race card, and to criticize his pastoring, sinning gravely against the eighth commandment.
Like Father Baker, I am an American born priest. Unlike him, I am of Latin descent, the first of the Latin peoples, the Italians. Like Father Baker, my native language is English. My culture is American. Like Father Tom Baker, I learned the Castillian language and familiarity with Hispanic cultures because my Catholic church asked me to do so to respond to the large number of Castillian speaking immigrants who have few of their own clergy to minsiter to them properly in a new country and new culture.
In any parish, there will be a variety of opinions and pockets of power. It is my experience that there are many struggles between pastor and power groups even when they share the same language and culture. Often the power is exercised through sins against the eighth commandment. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty: of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor; of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them; of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them. To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way: Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved. Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity."
A pastor must balance the truth of the Church with the desires and cultures of the people who are members. The parish is not a democracy. It is proper to hear other opinions but to form advisory councils from people who the pastor judges would be most responsible. The archdiocese should support the priest when power plays arise. When an associate is removed, often there are more reasons than charity allows for disclosure to the public. A certain degree of trust is necessary in the authority.
The fallacy of attacking Father Baker's appearance might appeal to many, but, in reality, it is his gift and well used by the archdiocese, as noted. The fact that he is masculine and athletic certainly is a good association for the priesthood in the light of the number of practicing or promoting homosexual priests who have betrayed the church and given scandal.
The Mission and its sister papers have written properly in the past to expose heresy, serious error, false doctrine, serious negligence. This article of rash judgment and calumny is of the character of those of adolescent mentality who whine when things don't go their way and attack those who do not agree with them.
Why did you even publish this article? Did you not have enough good copy this time to fill the issue?
Father Rich Perozich,
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, San Diego
Editor's reply: These are some of the reasons I approved the article. We were not the ones to air this controversy. It has been aired in local media, both English and Spanish. Father Lara may have been justly removed, or he may not have been. If Lara were removed unjustly, that is a grave matter; if true, it is a violation of justice. Of late, under the administration of Cardinal Mahony's chancery office, it is difficult to give the benefit of the doubt to the authorities. As for Baker, it seems valid to do a story on a public figure that is at the center of a well-aired controversy, especially of a man who seems to be in the archdiocesan inner circle -- he is not some obscure parish priest. I think, as well, that a full treatment of a subject, such as the archdiocese, needs to include what happens at the top and at the parish level. Our writer made a special effort to interview people who liked Baker. He contacted Baker himself, sent him a list a questions, offered to interview him, but Baker refused.
Certainly, the Church is not a democracy. On the other hand, it is not an arbitrary dictatorship. Parishioners do have rights to their culture and traditions, for these are the incarnation, if you will, of their religion. It seems Father Baker has violated these traditions. Too, laymen are not just sheep and children to be summarily dismissed and ignored, as seems to have been the case in the Lara situation. This is especially so in an archdiocese which has not proven itself trustworthy in how it has dealt with priests guilty of molestation. Too often it appears to laymen that they are ruled by authorities who are not paternal, but merely haughty. The frustration arising from this often reveals itself in rather unseemly ways; but such events, I think, are sometimes important to record. It gives a picture of how the Church operates today and offers grounds for some important reflection.
Finally, I don't think that the article was an attack on Father Baker. We interviewed people who oppose him, as well as those who defend him. We made every attempt to interview Father Baker himself. It was a picture of a man around whom some notable controversy has arisen; and if it is incomplete, it was not for lack of trying to make it complete. We did not attack him because he is athletic; we reported on his athleticism (a well-known fact).
GET LOST, YOU LIBERALS
Kindly take my name of your list of subscribers to the Mission. Right from the beginning I found your newspaper lacking in quality. Your latest edition simply reinforces my initial opinion. There is no doubt: you are a gossip tabloid, doing more harm to the church than good.
May I ask why you call your newspaper Mission? Is it your mission to slander, vilify, and dishonor people who don't agree with your liberal agenda? The hatchet job you did on Father Baker was, I believe, not only libelous but malicious as well.
All I can say to you people at the Mission is, GET LOST! Don't send me your publication either at this address or at my place of residence, Mount St. Mary's College.
Thanks for nothing.
Sister Marta Ann Cota, CSJ,
Principal, Saint Brendan School,
Los Angeles
MUST A CATHOLIC BE A PACIFIST?
Of course a Catholic may be a pacifist [see "Was Jesus a Peacenik?" April Mission]. Catholics can be a lot of things. But must they be pacifists? I think not. What I have seen through many years is that some persons, for whatever reason, have an agenda, and pick and choose selected excerpts from Scripture which will support that agenda. My personal opinion is, if one believes in Christ as God who was resurrected, one can only accept the Gospel in its totality. Was Christ peaceful? Undeniably so. Do our scriptures insist on absolute pacifism with no exceptions? I do not think so. Recall that in one of the parables, children were interrupting, and some of the adults present complained. Christ responded, "woe to a person who scandalizes these little ones. It would be better if a millstone were tied around his neck, and he was thrown into the sea." (Mathew 18:6, loosely). Wasn't Christ here saying that in a particular case execution was not only appropriate, but necessary? Christ did not say, "send him to the Rabbis for instruction."
I also direct your attention to the famed parable of the Good Samaritan. We all know it is about helping a neighbor in need and that all, even those we may not like, are our neighbors. But let's study that a little further. Consider the totality of what the Gospels tell us. If the Samaritan had approached and seen the violent assault in progress, do you think Christ would have related a story of the Samaritan standing off at some distance and yelling at the perpetrators to stop? Or would Christ have portrayed the Samaritan as taking his staff, rushing to the rescue, striking the bandits in defense of the innocent person? I tend to the latter understanding. And. if your interest tends more toward the Old Testament, I refer you to Joel 3:10. "Beat your plowshares into swords, Your pruning hooks into spears: Let the weak say, I am a mighty man."
Philip Van Camp
Murrieta
QUESTION FOR PEACENIKS
The fact that old age does not always equal wisdom is never more evident than in the case of liberal bishop Thomas Gumbleton. How tragic that so many over-the-hill cafeteria Catholics think that we are still stuck in the sixties.
Bishop Gumbleton's leftist sympathies and dislike for official Church teachings are well known. He appears to have an enormous ego. Some of his statements quoted in your publication [see "Was Jesus a Peacenik?" April Mission] give the impression he knows better than St. Augustine and other solid, orthodox Catholic theologians.
"By their fruits you shall know them," Jesus tells us. Pax Christi-USA, founded by Gumbleton, to the best of my knowledge never speaks against evil tyrants who murder Catholics and other Christians in the Sudan, Indonesia, etc. Strange indeed that when Clinton was bombing Serbia, where more than 2,000 innocent people were killed and countless churches and monasteries destroyed, liberal cafeteria Catholics and other Clinton fans remained totally silent.
One final question to peaceniks and other leftists. If someone were about to murder you and your loved ones and you would have a slight chance of saving yourself and your loved ones by killing the aggressor, would you do it, or instead sing, "We Shall Overcome?"
Possibly Pax Christi should send Bishop Gumbleton, along with other misguided leftists, to the Middle East. Very likely Muslim radicals would welcome them with open arms and a knife in their throats.
C.N. Santos,
Atascadero
SNOW OPTION
I'm very appreciative of the letter of encouragement that was written by Alan A. Snow to your paper [see February "Letters"] in response to my article ["I'm Outta Here," November Mission]. However, I think his advice is made with a good, but misguided, intention.
He seems to think that I desire to have an advanced degree in theology to show what I know to whatever parish God would happen to bless me to lead if I had completed my studies and become a priest. I will admit that I know a lot of men and women who have done just that (both Protestant and Catholic) but who also show lives incredibly devoid of any spiritual vitality.
On the other hand, I know and have read of priests such as St. John Baptist Vianney who were ridiculed and derided for attempting to be priests because they didn't have the intellectual acumen for such studies. Ironically, one of these intellectual "blockheads" is the patron saint of parish priests.
God doesn't want men who accumulate knowledge, but He wants men who know Him to lead His flock. Having said that, Mr. Snow's advice is irrelevant and of little use to men who want to serve God as priests.
Buddy Shepherd,
Tustin