NEWS
1999 NEWS STORIES
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 1999
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
APRIL 1999
THE LATINO COALITION for a Healthy California recently released a report citing that 39 percent of Latinas in the state of California lack adequate health insurance. The health advocacy group released the report citing the lack of health insurance among Latina women. The group hopes to take up the issue with Latino lawmakers in Sacramento.
The new chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, Martha Escutia (D-Commerce), held a hearing on January 29 where the lack of health insurance among Latinas was discussed. One health advocate from Stanislaus County told the Senate committee of a popular family planning program that requires women to take artificial birth control as a condition in order to receive obstetrical care. Legislators admitted that Latinas face a more daunting task in receiving health care because of the Catholic Church's prohibition on the use of artificial birth control. The artificial birth control requirement drew gasps of amazement from Senator Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont) who said, "Oh that's ridiculous."
Samantha Philips, director of the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, did not return the Mission's phone call asking for comment.
WHAT THE PRIESTLY MINISTRY WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM is a question Roger Cardinal Mahony will soon address in a pastoral letter on ministry. According to a "working letter," "Calling Forth Pastoral Ministry for Tomorrow's Church--Hope for the Future" found on the Los Angeles archdiocese's internet webpage (
http://www.la-archdiocese.org/future/FutureHope.htm), the cardinal's pastoral "will engage the Church in Los Angeles in beginning to plan seriously and realistically for the future." The working letter, now in its fourth draft, is "intended to assist the Cardinal" in writing his letter. The writing committee for the working letter, chaired by Father Liam Kidney, includes Bishop Thomas Curry, Father Tom Rausch, S.J., Monsignor Jeremiah McCarthy, Father Lorenzo Miranda, Father Tim Nichols, Father Glenn Sequeira, and Father David O'Connell.
The working paper for the cardinal's letter (which is intended to allow "for the inclusion of other important voices in the church" besides the priests and bishops) began in October 1997 when "some 500 priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles met for their 'Assembly '97' to reflect on their lives and ministry." Taking the priests' reflections as a springboard, the working paper considers three areas: the reflections of the assembled priests, issues unresolved at the Assembly, and how to broaden the conversation about priesthood.
The working paper says that the priests at the Assembly "almost unanimously expressed satisfaction with their lives"; that the "original idealism" out of which their priesthood arose, "together with God's call and presence," has held them in their vocation. The priests, says the working paper, perceived that the people wanted them "to be human and present, and to be focused in their celebration of the Liturgy and Sacraments." They saw the Church "as calling them to responsible and productive ministry," although they saw it "in an institutional sense, to be sometimes unduly demanding of them." In contrast to their "predecessors of only one generation ago" who "could have been expected to express their calling as that of seeking perfection, the salvation of souls, and the conversion of sinners," priests today "think of themselves as called to know and experience the presence of God in their lives. Further, they feel called to share that knowledge and experience with those to whom they minister, thus enabling others to discover--through Word and Sacrament--that same presence in their own lives."
The clergy, according to the working paper, "spoke of re-defining the role of priest." Their discussion "focused on two issues: first, how to re-think ordained ministry in view of declining numbers of clergy and an increasingly complex Church, and second, how to develop collaborative ministries within the Church." In discussing the development of collaborative ministries, "the priests," said the working paper, "assigned maximum importance to promoting the clustering of parishes and to learning how to identify the gifts and charisma of the laity, as well as to encourage them to develop those gifts. They also took note of their own need of training for a new way and world of Christian ministry, i.e., to re-define their understanding of themselves, the better to accommodate the changes they were proposing." The priests also indicated that they wanted "to accept more responsibility for the poor."
In redefining themselves, the priests expressed a desire to move away from administration, which they tended to associate, says the working letter, with "terms such as plant maintenance, personnel supervision, or fundraising." Seeing administration "as lying outside the scope of priestly life and ministry," the clergy, says the working letter, expressed no "understanding of the creative aspects of administration."
Among the "Unresolved Issues" was why "priests who say that they are happy" are "not more active in promoting vocations to the priesthood." A disparity exists, says the working letter, "between the high number of points (155) given to forming lay leadership and the relatively few points (36) given to encouraging vocations." "Is there a reluctance," asks the working draft, "to invite others to share in a life [the priests] almost unanimously find fulfilling? This needs to be addressed."
According to the working letter, the cardinal's pastoral letter "should be a practical document" and should help the "average parishioner...understand the changes that have taken place in the theology, life, and multicultural reality of the church. It must enable them to see that there needs to be significant changes in the way that ministry is done, including clustering parishes, introducing pastoral associates, identifying, forming, training, and supporting lay ministers.... There must be input from representatives of the laity. We need to hear what they expect of priests, as they must better understand what priests expect from the laity. Ideally, the letter should be a catalyst for dialogue. Again, the process is more important than the final product."
ONE MEMBER OF THE LOS ANGELES CATHOLIC WORKER COMMUNITY and another former member were sentenced, January 19, to nine months in the Tonopah, Nevada, county jail, according to an article in the Catholic Agitator, the organ of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker community. Los Angeles Catholic Worker member Martha Scarbrough and Joyce Parkhurst of the Peralta Catholic Worker in Oakland were convicted of destroying property belonging to the State of Nevada by cutting a barbed wire fence at the Nuclear Test site in the Nevada desert during a 1997 protest there.
On December 30, 1998 Scabrough, along with Catholic Worker Sandi Huckaby, were arrested for pouring oil and blood on the steps of the Federal building in downtown Los Angeles. The Workers were protesting the United States' bombings of Iraq in December. While in jail, Scarbrough was extradited to Nevada to face charges for the fence-cutting action. Joyce Parkhurst surrendered herself to the Tonopah courthouse upon news of Scarbrough's extradition. Thirty-six people from Los Angeles, the Bay Area and Las Vegas traveled to Tonopah to be present at the sentencing.
"It is fitting," writes Catholic Worker Eric DeBode in the Agitator, "that Martha's and Joyce's actions have led from the Test Site to the downtown Federal Building in L.A., and then back to Nevada." "Nuclear testing is connected to Iraq," writes DeBode. "The U.S. experimented with 'depleted uranium' shells which were used in battle. Although our government will not admit it, we are engaging in no less than nuclear war against Iraq. Tons of radioactive material have been released into Iraq's environment in solid and, after the explosion, in gas form."
The Agitator urges readers to write Nevada judge John Davis at P.O. Box 839, Tonopah, NV 89049 to "protest his punitive sentence." Letters, too, may be sent to Martha Scarbrough and Joyce Parkhurst at: Inmate, c/o Nye County Sheriff, Detention Center, P.O. Box 831, Tonopah, NV 89049.
POPE JOHN PAUL II'S LATEST ENCYCLICAL, Faith and Reason, challenges humanity to recover the truth in an atmosphere of widespread skepticism and relativism, said Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger on February 13 at a St. Patrick's Seminary lecture in Menlo Park. The visiting cardinal said modern philosophical and theological inquiry places greater importance on the historical and cultural context of an author's writings than on the truth those writings may contain. He said the truth of the Gospel transcends the particular characteristics of different cultures, drawing all people to the God who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. At a press conference following the meetings, Cardinal Ratzinger said in response to a question concerning Ex Corde Ecclesiae that the faithful have "a right to know what is Catholic and what is not Catholic." Asked about Catholic politicians who vote for abortion, he said that as a general rule "collaboration with abortion is a grave sin." Later that same day, Cardinal Ratzinger visited Father Joseph Fessio's Ignatius Press, a publisher of his books, and then gave a blessing to students of the St. Ignatius Institute.
THOUGH IT HAD BEEN LITTLE OVER A WEEK since Pope John Paul II had called for clemency for a triple-murderer in Missouri, California Governor Gray Davis, a Catholic, on February 6 refused clemency for death row inmate Jaturun Siripongs. Siripongs, 43, a Thai immigrant, had been convicted in 1983 for the 1981 murder of Garden Grove market owner Packovan Wattanaporn and her store clerk, Nguyen Quach, according to a Los Angeles Times story.
On Friday, February 5, Roger Cardinal Mahony sent a letter to Davis begging clemency for Siripongs. As quoted in the Times Mahony asked Davis to "consider the moral and ethical issues raised by the use of the death penalty." Alluding perhaps to the criteria for the use of the death penalty laid down by John Paul II in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, Mahony argued that commuting Siripong's sentence to "life without possibility of parole" would not only assure "substantial safeguards for society," but would level "a grave punishment against the accused." The cardinal also told Davis that the death penalty is "a tool by which vengeance and revenge can be exacted and political advantage can be maintained."
Siripong's attorneys argued that their client had shown remorse for his crime. They also argued that there is evidence that Siripongs did not commit the murders. Though he had admitted that he committed robbery at the Garden Grove market, Siripongs had always denied that he had committed the murders.
According to the Times, Davis, in his ten-page decision, wrote: "This is a plea for mercy by a man sentenced to forfeit his life for capital crimes...However, it is also a plea by innocent victims, their families, and friends to carry out a sentence imposed by a jury.... Remorse is not sufficient to satisfy a capital sentence for double murder." Davis wrote that Siripong's claims that he did not commit the murder "have been considered time and again by many courts over the 16-year history of this case," which have decided that they were without merit.
Siripongs was executed February 9 by lethal injection.
ALLEGED MOLESTATION VICTIMS of the late Los Angeles archdiocesan priest Father Ted Llanos have called upon Roger Cardinal Mahony and the archdiocese to apologize for Llanos' acts and to pay for therapy, according to a March 2 Los Angeles Times report. Former altar boys accused Father Llanos of sexually abusing at least 26 young men for over 20 years, beginning in 1973. They also alleged that the archdiocese covered up the abuse.
Archdiocesan attorney John McNicholas has claimed that the archdiocese did not cover up Llanos' alleged abuse. McNicholas said that hearing of the allegations in 1994, the archdiocese removed Llanos from his ministry. Llanos, who served in parishes in Long Beach, Santa Ana, Covina and Los Angeles, committed suicide in 1997.
Initially, said the Times, Mahony paid for the alleged victims' therapy, but stopped paying when they filed a lawsuit. Archdiocesan spokesman, Father Gregory Coiro, according to the Times, said the archdiocese has no obligation to the alleged victims. "If an individual who represents the church has done something wrong," said Coiro, "it doesn't mean it's the church's responsibility."
A BILL TO LEGALIZE ASSISTED SUICIDE has been introduced into the California State Assembly by Assemblywoman Dion Aroner, according to the Pro-Life Infonet. The bill introduced by the Berkeley Democrat would allow doctors to prescribe poison to terminally ill patients who request to die. The bill would allow patients who are within six months of dying to receive the prescribed poison. The patients would have to administer the poison to themselves.
The California Catholic Conference's spokeswoman Carol Hogan said the Church opposes the Aroner bill. "The Catholic Church believes in the sanctity of life from conception to natural death," she said.
For more information, contact the California Pro-Life Council, 2306 J Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95816; phone: (916) 442-8315; e-mail: prolife@californiaprolife.org.
SETON HOME STUDY SCHOOL, the largest Catholic home school organization in the world with over 9,000 students, opened an office in Lancaster, California on January 4 in an effort to increase California enrollments. According to the director of the California office, Mark Gallagher, Jr., a graduate of Christendom College and the University of Dallas, "Most Catholics who homeschool in California, in order to legally educate their children, either file an affidavit with the state, or join an 'umbrella' school or an ISP (Independent Study Provider) which files an affidavit for them. The law views these umbrella schools and ISPs as any other private school. The requirement however is that the private school must be located in the state. Now Seton is.
"One notable difference between Seton and these other organizations," said Gallagher, "is that we have a full curriculum from kindergarten through the 12th grade and we are accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges."
Gallagher added that "the Church says that parents may choose the means and institutes to educate their children. Home education is one of these, and Seton Home Study School is effective for many Catholic parents." On February 3 Seton completed the Private School Affidavit process and the affidavit was entered into the data base of the Los Angeles County Office of Education. For more information, email at setonca@networkone.net, or call 661-948-8881.
PRO-LIFE REPUBLICANS survived an abortion-rights faction's revolt at the GOP's "Sacramento convention in late February, which followed incoming chairman John McGraw's pro-life comments to the San Francisco Faith in December ("The most important political issue by far is the abortion issue"). Nick Bavarro, a Modesto businessman, immediately challenged McGraw for the chairmanship. Bavarro also implied that a believing Catholic is not fit to lead the California GOP, "We are electing a chairman, not a Pope." McGraw benefited from legwork done long before the Faith flap; he had the endorsements of 14 out of 15 Republican state senators and 29 of 32 GOP assembly members before the convention began. While presidential candidates Senator John McCain, Lamar Alexander, and even Dan Quayle sidestepped social conservatives at the convention, Alan Keyes, Gary Bauer, and Senator Bob Smith appealed to them. Keyes emphasized that the party's support for smaller government, less regulation, greater financial freedom, and parent-run education only make sense if the American people possess the virtue and wisdom necessary to govern themselves. Gary Bauer hit upon similar themes. "The party of Lincoln and Reagan shouldn't be walking around with its finger up in the air trying to figure out where the wind is blowing...We ought to be willing to tell the American people what we believe without shame and embarrassment." "26 years ago the Supreme Court did an unimaginable thing. It took a whole group of Americans and it said to them, 'You have no rights.' That decision has given us unbelievable horrors. It means that we wake up in the morning and we open up the newspaper and we read stories about babies being thrown in trash cans....We are better than 1.5 million abortions a year. The party of Lincoln and Reagan must never abandon unborn children and if it does we will never get the White House back again." Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire made direct reference to the Faith controversy. "John McGraw was right," he said. Abortion, not taxes, is the "central issue" facing America."