NEWS
1998 NEWS STORIES
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 1998
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
NEWS
MARCH 1998
THE OFFICE FOR WORSHIP of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles recently released a memorandum clarifying points in Roger Cardinal Mahony's pastoral letter, Gather Faithfully Together, A Guide to Sunday Mass. Addressed to all the priests and deacons in the archdiocese, the document is called: The Most Asked Questions About the Pastoral Letter "Gather Faithfully Together: Guide to Sunday Mass."
Written in a question and answer format, the first question posed is: "Does the publication of this letter from the Cardinal mean that there are going to be more [emphasis in the original] changes in the Mass?" The answer begins: "The answer to your question is really yes and no..." The second question asks, "I thought we were supposed to kneel during the Eucharistic Prayer. And now the Cardinal is telling us we have to stand. What are we supposed to do?" In answer the author cites the liturgical law from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal which clearly states that the faithful are to kneel during the Eucharistic prayer; then the author states that the faithful are to stand from the beginning of the Our Father through to the end of the Mass.
One element of the pastoral letter that has drawn immense criticism is the call for the use of "real bread" in the Eucharist. Question number 3 of the Pastoral letter deals with the subject superficially. The answer in The Most Asked Questions states that "real bread" can be used during certain feast days such as Holy Thursday and the feast of Corpus Christi.
The rest of the document deals with questions involving the role of deacons, choirs and the responsorial psalms.
One diocesan priest asked why the memorandum was issued so soon after the final draft was released, replied: "I think the basic reason for the clarification is that the Office of Worship has been inundated with questions about the letter. But even worse, the letter is [being] simply, rather impolitely, ignored! No one is paying attention to it except the liberal idealogues who are already doing most of the garbage recommended in it. Albarano [director of the Office for Worship] and company are worried that the letter will die a quiet death."
RESPONDING TO A CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT article, Father Robert Nugent, SDS, charged inaccurate reporting and delivered a scathing personal attack on the Mission. The December report had cited an October, 1997 Mission article, "The 'Outmoded' Cross of Christ," revealing that Nugent, the New Ways Ministry founder, along with other pro-homosexual-lifestyle activists, had helped draft the American bishops' pastoral message, Always Our Children.
In a letter published in the February issue of Catholic World Report, Father Nugent wrote, "It is important that your readers know the background of your source which you identify as 'an independent Los Angeles newspaper.'" He continued, "Actually, the paper is published by a dissatisfied and unauthorized group of self-proclaimed 'orthodox' Catholics in Los Angeles who regularly chastise Cardinal Mahony." He did not explain how these adjectives undermined the Mission's reputation for accuracy.
After a lengthy rebuttal of the report's alleged errors, the letter concluded, "Rather than spend time and energy in analyzing sinister motivations, processes, and personalities, our time is better spent in implementing the sound theological and pastoral principles outlined in the [bishops'] statement."
In response, Catholic World Report reminded Father Nugent that the bishops' document "condemns such tactics as name-calling and the assumption of guilt by association" and wondered why he attempted to undermine the Mission's credibility "by using precisely those tactics." CWR editor Philip Lawler called the Mission "an eminently reliable publication, staffed by faithful Catholics whose goal is to serve the universal Church" and who are "'authorized' by their baptismal vocation to pursue that goal."
THE LOS ANGELES ARCHDIOCESAN RESPECT LIFE CONFERENCE, held January 22, 1998 at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles, featured the Honorable Alan Keyes as keynote speaker. Personally invited by His Eminence, Roger Cardinal Mahony, the former ambassador to the United Nations and past presidential candidate spoke on abortion and its relationship to the conscience of America. Dr. Keyes stated that pro-lifers can take heart that "it does not matter for how many years we must come together in order to renew our commitment to overturning the Roe v. Wade doctrine as American law; we come together in the knowledge that it shall never represent America's justice" whose claim to human rights and dignity comes "from the hand of the power above all powers, of the mind beyond our mind, of the will superior to our will, the will of Almighty God, our creator."
Keyes said his opposition to abortion stems not only from his being Catholic, but from his being American-- "as one who looks back on a heritage in which people like myself were denied the full fruits and benefits of that American promise. And when they fought against slavery, and when thy fought for civil rights against racial discrimination and oppression, it was ever the same banner which they raised--the banner raised by the Frederick Douglases and the Martin Luther Kings was a banner which alluded, time and again, to those great principles of conscience which see the dignity of our humanity coming not from the law and human decision, but from the hand of God."
What unifies Americans, said Keyes, "to be more than just a motley and coincidental conglomeration of different races and backgrounds and creeds" is not a common language, or the melting pot in which all differences will blend and be forgotten, but the acknowledgement of a truth that "for all these differences, we share one common dignity--we are measured by one great standard established not by our merits and not by our wisdom, but by the power and wisdom of God." At the heart of the abortion issue, therefore, "is this question: Can we hope to continue our existence as a nation, can we hope, realistically, to realize this aspiration of our common humanity, and to serve, therefore, as what we long to be--an inspiring example to all the earth of God's best hopes for His human creatures--and can we hang on to that, can we fulfill that destiny, while we embrace a doctrine that reclaims from God His authority, that denies to God His place upon the throne, and puts instead our human will, our human choice, as the bedrock of our human worth."
Keyes reminded his listeners that, for a republic like the United States, the people are sovereign and therefore responsible for what their leaders do. He said that if Americans do not wake up to the crime of abortion, to its violation of what is the "root of all conscience, the will of Almighty God, we shall be people without conscience, people incapable of understanding that there is a difference between good and evil. We shall worship at the altar of our violence, and we shall see the horrors we produce as somehow emblems of our success." Keyes said he saw no hope for the United States unless their people rediscover moral character, whose foundation is in the love of God. "I see no hope on this issue [of abortion," said Keyes, "I see no hope for our nation, I see no hope for our humanity, except somehow we do what He who I deeply know to be Our Savior said that we must do - look not to ourselves, but to our God, as the standard of our perfection; look not to our wants, but to His will, as the guide for our choices; look not to our judgment, but rather to our love of Him, as the solid foundation for our lives, our character, our future."
IT SEEMS ALL WERE NOT PLEASED with the choice of Alan Keyes as keynote speaker at the Respect Life Conference. Between December 22, 1997 and January 16, 1998, Keyes received three letters (given to the Mission from an anonymous source) from priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles questioning his position on life issues other than abortion. In the first, dated December 22, 1997, Father Peter Liuzzi, director of the Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Catholics, expressed his disappointment with certain of Keyes's "statements and generalizations...that do not seem to reflect the careful nuances and distinctions I find in the many statements about homosexuality that come from official Roman Catholic doctrine and pastoral practice." Making such "generalizations about all homosexual persons," continued Liuzzi, "vilifying those same people, implicating their parents and offering simplistic solutions to a most complex issue, does lead to violence, the breaking up of families who have homosexual members and much unneeded suffering. Shaming human beings enforces self-destructive behaviors and attitudes that threaten us all."
In a letter, dated January 6, 1998, Father Chris Ponnet, director of pastoral care for Saint Camillus, the Catholic Center for Pastoral Care, and chaplain at Los Angeles County General Hospital, asked Keyes to respond to questions "about public policy that have moral implication with LIFE along side the Abortion issue." The questions Ponnet asked concerned Keyes's support of the death penalty, of Proposition 209 (on affirmative action), of Proposition 187 (concerning legal immigration) and of the voucher system for schools. In regards to the last, Ponnet stated that Keyes's support of the voucher system "appears to also be clearly an abandonment of the public school system while the Bishops see both as necessary--can you support a public school system that does not teach our 'morality' but allows the diversity of this nation to be?"
The third letter, dated January 16, 1998, was written by Father George Horan, associate director of the Office of Detention Ministry for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In this letter, Father Horan, who claims to write on behalf of "23 staff chaplains and over 700 volunteer chaplains," informs Keyes of "our profound disappointment that you were invited to appear as Keynote Speaker at the Respect Life Conference." "We base this disappointment," continues Horan, "on the ground that you support capital punishment. As a supporter of capital punishment you dissent from the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church (see The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 2267)." Horan references Keyes's statements on "Larry King Live," April 1995, where the then Republican Presidential candidate stated, "I've never been somebody who thought that you should be applying capital punishment indiscriminately. But I do believe that it is necessary in certain instances in order for a society to show due respect for life." Horan says that such a sentiment is contrary both to the encyclical "The Gospel of Life and the recently revised Section 2267 of the Catechism." Horan says Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's commentary on Section 2267 states that, given the criteria stated therein for the licitness of the death penalty, it is "'practically impossible for all of them to be met.'"
Horan concludes his letter, saying, "I trust that you [Keyes] will not represent yourself as 'pro-life' or as supportive of Catholic Church teaching on the sacredness and dignity of all human life" at the conference.
ALSO AT THE CELEBRATE LIFE CONFERENCE, the Anaheim-based group, Concerned Roman Catholics, protested and handed out a flyer that outlined Cardinal Mahony's relationship with various pro-choice politicians. These politicians included Leon Panetta, former Chief of Staff for the Clinton administration; Loretta Sanchez, honored by Planned Parenthood for her pro-choice views; and Bill Clinton, who was honored with a centerfold picture in the archdiocesan newspaper, The Tidings.
During the conference, after Alan Keyes left the stage and the cardinal remained on the stage, Dennis Rudmin, a pro-life activist and founder of Billboards for Life, approached the stage without permission and took the microphone to ask Cardinal Mahony about the perceived discrepancies between what he says about the sanctity of life and his involvement with pro-abortion politicians. While Rudmin was at the podium ready to ask a question, the cardinal approached him and grabbed the microphone out of Rudmin's hand, causing the microphone to strike Rudmin's upper lip. As the impact was powerful enough to draw blood, Rudmin asked Mahony, "What did you do that for? I'm bleeding." The cardinal excused himself, but then continued to ask Rudmin why he was speaking as he was "not on the speaker's list." Cardinal Mahony then left the stage.
NORMA MCCORVEY, who was the plaintiff "Jane Roe" in the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, will be the featured speaker at the first LifeSavers Ministries Spring Fundraising Banquet in Bakersfield, Friday, March 27, 1998, at 7 p.m. LifeSavers Ministries is the parent organization of Voice for Life which has been the primary advocate for the Chinese immigrants held at the Lerdo Detention Facility in Bakersfield who face deportation to China (see "Evil Like Buddha," December 1997 Mission).
Norma McCorvey, who once said that she "lived and breathed for abortion," was converted to Christianity in 1995 after coming in contact with Operation Rescue, who had moved next door to the abortion clinic where she worked. In her newly published book, Won By Love, McCorvey wrote that "[a]fter working in a cauldron of hatred, factional infighting, bitterness, and resentment, I was won by a people of love... Their love included telling me that I was a sinner, that abortion was an offense to God, and that I would someday pay for this activity if I did not repent. But it was a love that also showed me there was a way out, an opportunity to experience forgiveness, grace, and mercy."
Ticket costs for the banquet are $37.50 in advance, and $40 at the door; table sponsorships are also available. For more information, call (805) 837-BABY.
RICHARD RIORDAN, Mayor of Los Angeles, announced February 10 that he would marry his longtime companion, Nancy Daly, in a civil ceremony on St. Valentine's Day. As His Honor has been married twice in the Church (the second time following an annulment), this third attempt with Mrs. Daly will prevent both parties from receiving communion. Mayor Riordan declared that he would "regret" being no longer allowed to receive, but that he intended to remain an active Catholic--an activity expressed in the past by such actions as the donation of $250,000 to the post-earthquake alterations at St. Monica's Santa Monica, and endorsing the cardinal's successful effort to persuade the City Council to strip St. Vibiana's Cathedral of its historical status.
The mayor and Mrs. Daly (at the time still legally married to Robert Daly, former head of Warner Brothers Studios) were beneficiaries of a Mass said for them by the cardinal on the day of His Honor's inauguration as Mayor of Los Angeles. Shortly after, Mayor Riordan named Mrs. Daly as the city's "Official Hostess." The second Mrs. Riordan was at the time living in Carmel.
Cardinal Mahony's response to Mayor Riordan's civil marriage, as reported in the February 12 Los Angeles Times was measured. "I am saddened by their decision to wed civilly," His Eminence declared. "Although they remain members of the Catholic Church, their action compromises their ability to participate fully in the Church's sacramental life... I urge them, as I would all other Catholics who find themselves in similar circumstances, to continue to attend Mass regularly and to share in the life and the mission of the Church." Riordan was not upset, according to the mayor's secretary, Noelia Rodriguez. "He knew this was coming. He respects the cardinal for his position."
According to the Times article, "The Mayor had his first marriage annulled in 1987, several years after marrying for the first time. He was separated from his second wife in 1992."
ACCORDING TO NICK BUXTON of Jubilee 2000 (See "More Menacing than the Cold War," February 1998 Mission), the Jubilee 2000 petition for debt relief has, of yet, garnered 750,000 signatures of the 22 million needed "to make it the world's largest." The petition drive, however will continue, and petitions are still coming in.
Asked whether Jubilee 2000 addresses the population control measures that come tied to World Bank and International Monetary Fund loans, Buxton stated that "We believe conditionality should be set by those to whom it is applied, not by external agencies."
SUPPORTING A PEACEFUL SOLUTION to the crisis between Iraq and the United States, all seven U.S. cardinals signed a letter to President Clinton expressing disapproval of the possibility of U.S. bombing raids against Iraq, according to a story in the Friday, February 13 Los Angeles Times. The prelates urged reinforced diplomatic initiatives "by widening the participation of other governments, especially Arab states, in the concerted effort to bring about Iraqi compliance on these issues." While praising the Clinton administration for its attempt to enforce U.N. resolutions, the bishops said "we view with grave concern the stated position of the U.S. administration indicating a readiness on the part of the United States to use military force to compel compliance by Iraq." "In our considered judgement," said the cardinals, "this action by the United States could be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to justify and would seriously jeopardize the possibility of achieving any lasting peace in the region."