NEWS
1999 NEWS STORIES
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 1999
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
SEPTEMBER 1999
THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH has disciplined a priest and sister team active in ministry to homosexuals. In a notification dated May 31, 1999, the Vatican, on July 13, notified Sister Jeannine Gramick, SSND, and Father Robert Nugent, SDS, that they are "permanently prohibited from any pastoral work involving homosexual persons" and "are ineligible, for an undetermined period, for any office in their respective religious institutes."
Investigation into the Father Nugent's and Sister Gramick's presentation of Catholic teaching on homosexuality began in 1984 after James Cardinal Hickey, archbishop of Washington, D.C. forbade them to work in his diocese. That same year, the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life ordered Nugent and Gramick to separate themselves from New Ways Ministry, an organization they had founded in Washington, D.C., in 1977 to promote "justice and reconciliation between lesbian and gay Catholics and the wider Catholic community."
In 1988, the Holy See established a commission under Adam Cardinal Maida of Detroit to investigate whether Gramick and Nugent were faithful to Catholic teaching. Six years later, according to the notification issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the commission "while not overlooking the presence of some positive aspects in the apostolate of Father Nugent and Sister Gramick," found "serious deficiencies in their writings and pastoral activities, which were incompatible with the fullness of Christian morality." Nevertheless, Father Nugent served on the drafting committee for the United States bishops pastoral letter to parents of homosexual children, Always Our Children. In 1995, Gramick's and Nugent's case was transferred to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In 1997, after a profession by Gramick and Nugent that, according to the notification, "refrained from professing any adherence" to Church teaching on homosexuality, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asked Gramick and Nugent each to respond independently as to their positions on Church teaching. Their responses were evaluated in February 1998 by members of the United States episcopate, moral theologians and members of the congregation, and it was concluded that Gramick's and Nugent's responses were unacceptable. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith then asked Gramick and Nugent to formulate a public declaration where they were asked "to express their interior assent to the teaching of the Catholic Church on homosexuality," and to acknowledge that their books contained errors.
Sister Gramick, according to the notification, "refused to express any assent whatsoever to the teaching of the Church on homosexuality." According to a July 30, 1999 National Catholic Reporter report. In her reply, Gramick told the Congregation that she accepted responsibility for the contents of her books; that she had corrected whatever erroneous views she had; that she promised greater clarity in the future, and asked pardon. However, she said, since her ministry of being a "bridge-builder" between the Church and homosexuals required reticence, pastoral reasons required that she not reveal what she believed about homosexual acts and the homosexual orientation.
The doctrinal congregation thought Father Nugent "was more responsive, but not unequivocal in his statement of interior assent to the teaching of the Church." According the National Catholic Reporter, Nugent wrote that "as such," certain propositions contained in his public writings "are contrary to certain doctrines of the authentic magisterium that require religious submission of will and intellect." After asking pardon for any harm done by his writings, Nugent wrote, "I accept the doctrine contained in Persona Humana (1975), Homosexualitatis Problema (1986), and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) and the adherence which is due to it."
Though this response was deemed insufficient, yet, because he was more responsive, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith gave Nugent, in December 1998, another chance to express unequivocal assent by signing a declaration of assent. However, in his response, dated January 25, 1999, Father Nugent refused to sign the declaration and, instead, formulated an alternative text which, says the notification, "modified the Congregation's declaration on certain important points. In particular, he would not state that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered, and he added a section which calls into question the definitive and unchangeable nature of Catholic doctrine in this area."
Though, according to the July 17, 1999 Los Angeles Times, Father Nugent said that, in obedience, he would abide by the Vatican's prohibition of his ministry, still he stated that he had "explicitly clarified and corrected" the views the Holy See declared erroneous. "I acknowledged that these problems arose from a lack of precision or clarity in my expression or an imbalance in my methodology," said Nugent. "I also acknowledged that these had caused misunderstanding in certain quarters." Sister Gramick had not stated, at Mission press time, whether or not she would abide by the Vatican's ban.
In September 1997, as reported in the Mission, Sister Gramick read the first reading in a Mass celebrated by Roger Cardinal Mahony at the Fourth Annual Conference of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries hosted by the Los Angeles archdiocese. She was not, however, a featured speaker. On September 10, following the conference, Nugent and Gramick led a seminar in Orange, entitled "Voices of Hope" for parents of homosexual children.
UNABLE TO PRESS F.A.C.E. (Federal Access to Clinic Entrances) charges against the El Monte Police Department as planned, the ACLU has, instead, gone after a sole pro-lifer.
Charles Castle, president of the Whittier/San Gabriel Valley chapter of the ACLU, told this reporter in a 1998 interview that the ACLU would be filing FACE charges against the El Monte police department. Castle also said that Pamela Johnson of the U.S. Attorney's office would be seeking federal charges against the police chief and his department. Neither one of these strategies ensued. Instead, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office filed charges against Cecilia Easton for allegedly threatening a woman who was attempting to enter the clinic. Easton told the Mission that she was merely giving the woman pro-life literature and in no way attempted to block her entrance to the clinic.
The woman whom Easton purportedly threatened was accompanied by her foster mother on her way to have an abortion at the El Monte abortion clinic where Easton and other pro-lifers regularly pray the Rosary. The incident that lead to the charges occurred on August 1, 1998. After a year of delays and continual flux of prosecutors and judges, the trial began on August 10. During the jury selection, the district attorney immediately excluded one women who was the mother of six. Pro-lifers speculate that she was excluded because of the number of children she has. Another prospective juror was excluded because she had made a contribution in a church envelope to a pro-life cause. In all, six prospective jurors were excused by the district attorney's office.
The district attorney repeatedly made Easton's religious conviction an issue. The district attorney told the jury about Easton's 10 year vigil outside the clinic, adding that some one as committed to the "cause" might possibly want to physically stop women from having an abortion.
The night before her trial, Easton had been in church until midnight praying. The morning of her trial, Easton arose and did the family's washing at 5 a.m. Because she regularly prays the Rosary at the clinic on Tuesdays, Easton and her companion were at the clinic as usual. That afternoon, Easton reported to Judge Rudolph Saldano's court room for her trial. Each evening after the trial, Easton would change into her uniform and head off to work at the office of the Department of Motor Vehicles where she works as a cleaning lady.
When asked how she was doing, John Hanrahan, who also regularly prays the Rosary with Easton at the abortion clinic, said that she was very calm. "She's convinced that our Lady will not let her down" Hanrahan told the Mission.
On August 13th, the jury found Easton guilty. Judge Rudolph A. Diaz set an August 24 sentencing hearing.
A legal defense fund has been set up for Cecilia Easton's defense. Those wishing to contribute should send contributions to: P. O. Box 42254, Los Angeles, CA 90042.
GENTRIFICATION PUSHES OUT CHARITY. A thrift store, largely funded by the Catholic charity Loaves and Fishes will be forced to move from downtown Glendale, according to a June 22 Los Angeles Times report. The thrift store, located on Brand Boulevard, will make way for a 15 acre Town Center development. Babcock Investments of San Marino, which owns the property, wants to replace the thrift store with a restaurant or retail establishment. "Several big names have been thrown around," Bernie Babcock told the Times. "It will be an upper-crust tenant."
The thrift store, which provides $10,000-12,000 a year to Loaves and Fishes, however, will not close because it is forced to move -- though "there is always that possibility," said Moeed Khan, Catholic Charities regional director in Canoga Park. Khan said the store was given below-market rent, because, Babcock told the charity, the property would be "upgraded." The new store will look for a new location in Glendale.
FAMILY PLANNING WITH DONALD DUCK. The Burbank-based Walt Disney Corporation has reissued a cartoon that encourages married couples to limit their family size. In 1968, Disney created the cartoon Planification Familiar (Family Planning) for the U.S. Population Council for distribution in Latin America.
According to Zenit news, the 1968 cartoon features Donald opening a kit of medical supplies containing reproductive health supplies, oil paints and an easel. With the paints and easel, Donald Duck illustrates how rapid population growth leads to starvation. A narrator declares "the world is overpopulated. "With every generation, the population is growing too fast.... Let's say in time that this couple will have more children.... The mother ... is unhappy, weak and sick. The children will be sickly too.... But this situation can change." Taking from his kit a golden key, Donald Duck says: "Science gives us the key for a new personal freedom: family planning!" At the end of the cartoon, Donald Duck tells the viewer, "we are all responsible for humanity and that means you too!"
Though the cartoon went out of production in 1988, it was reissued this year to be distributed by an affiliate of Planned Parenthood in Chile, Associacion Chilena de Protection de la Familia, for viewing in homes and schools. The Associacion Chilena is selling the video in a set (costing $25) that includes Felices Familias Planeadas (Happy Planned Families), a Planned Parenthood cartoon, and an educational video, La Confianza No Es Un Metodo (Trust is Not a Method).
THE CALIFORNIA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE is prepared to butt heads with the State Legislature when lawmakers return from summer recess at the end of August. Senate Bill 41 will mandate that the insured who do not want or need contraceptive drugs will have to subsidize other insured individuals who want the drugs. The bill would force Catholic employers into a position of dropping all prescription coverage for their employees.
During debate over the measure in the Senate last month, Ned Dolejsi of the Catholic Conference attempted to get a conscience clause amended into the bill that would have exempted Catholic employers. The conscience clause the Catholic Conference is looking for is identical to one in a similar Democrat-authored bill from last session that did not become law. The amendments were not adopted before the bill passed the Senate floor and was sent over to the Assembly.
Dolejsi says that according to Catholic Conference legal counsel, Catholic health care systems, some Catholic Charities operations, and possibly the parochial school system and other related organizations would not be covered by the narrow conscience clause that is in the present version of the bill. Since Catholic teachings include the belief that all sexual acts within marriage must be open to the transmission of life, at issue is whether Catholic organizations should have the freedom to act in accord with the tenets of their faith in the provision of health, social, and educational services.
The Assembly Appropriations Committee was scheduled to take the bill up on August 18.
RESPONDING TO BEING "INUNDATED with telephone calls from at least 300 patients who received letters at their home addresses," California's largest abortion provider, Family Planning Associates (FPA) has sued Ingelwood pro-life advocate, Timothy D. Wilson. The complaint arose from a series of letters that Wilson sent to various Family Planning Associates employees, their neighbors and patients. According to the abortion provider's complaint, on April 23, "approximately 50 FPA licensed allied health personnel, working at FPA facilities throughout California, began receiving letters ... [which] stated that the recipient was employed by FPA and gave the recipient's correct job title." The complaint then states that "on or about May 1st, neighbors living on the same block as the licensed nursing personnel who had received letters from defendants began receiving letters also from defendants." The letters told neighbors that Family Planning Associates personnel lived on their block, noting that Family Planning Associates was the largest abortion provider in California.
It was during the week of May 7, that the Family Planning Associates clinics were overwhelmed by calls from angry women demanding to know why their medical records were left in open dumpsters. One of the women, Rhonda Witherspoon, filed a class action lawsuit against Family Planning Associates on June 4. The complaint asked the court for damages arising from violations of privacy and injunctive relief to prevent Family Planning Associates from "removing, destroying or tampering with any telephone logs, records, computer files or data." The court had required Allred to post a $15,000 bond, a sum that plaintiffs contend is a small sum for Allred, a millionaire.
At a June 9th hearing, Family Planning Associates asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order against Wilson to enjoin him from further contacting women whose medical records he had in his possession.
Initially, Family Planning Associates' attorney wanted the court to allow them to file anonymous declarations by women whose medical records had been found by Wilson. Plaintiff's attorneys argued that violence at abortion clinics made it necessary to protect the identity of the women involved. The Family Planning Associates' attorneys went so far as to point out that in the NOW vs. Schiedler case, the court had allowed pro-lifers to file anonymous declarations. Wilson then pointed out to the court that the Schiedler case was different because both sides had agreed to the anonymous declarations and had not been forced by the court as the Family Planning Associates' attorney has intimated. Later that day, Judge Robert H. O'Brien handed down his order, which granted Family Planning Associates' request for a temporary restraining order against Wilson and ordered Wilson to return the documents to Family Planning Associates. In his order, Judge O'Brien wrote: "The court has not used the pseudonym declarations. The relevant facts to this hearing are undisputed as set forth in plaintiff's papers"
On June 15, the Associated Press reported that Wilson returned the documents to Allred.
"SOME SAY WE CHRISTIANS ARE OBSESSED WITH SIN," Ignatius IV, Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East told the Los Angeles Times. "It is because we have eyes and ears. We are only seeing the reality that is around us.
The arrival of the 79 year old Patriarch Ignatius in Los Angeles during the week of August 9 marked the end of his second visit to the United States since 1985. The patriarch had visited New York, New Jersey, Detroit and Chicago. On Sunday, August 15, he presided at a patriarchal Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church in Los Angeles.
Syrian immigrants in 1895 founded the North American branch of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in New York City. In 1966 there were only 16 Antiochian Orthodox churches in North America, while today there are 250. Conversions from evangelical protestantism have accounted for much of this growth.
Though the Orthodox Church in North America is split between various jurisdictions, Ignatius believes these separate jurisdictions should be united under one head -- an idea controversial among Orthodox. This desire for unity among the Orthodox has made the patriarch optimistic about union with Rome.
However, according to the Times, Patriarch Ignatius is most troubled with the moral state of society. "We have to guard our morality," he told the Times. "I see we are becoming slaves to many things. People profiting while others are suffering and starving. What kind of morality do we have?"
HOW MUCH CONTROL WOULD PARENTS have over their children if the California state assembly passes AB 1363 mandating school-based health clinics? According to Alice Hemple of Parents and Students United of the San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Unified School District currently requires the consent of parents before students can receive care at a school-based clinic. However, "whether that is being followed up on and is in fact a policy that they adhere to," said Hemple, "is something else again. There are school districts around the country that will send home these consent forms, and then in the event you don't sign a slip saying, 'I do not want my child to receive these services,' then the child would be automatically enrolled in the program anyway.
When one understands, said Hemple that, according to AB 1363, "it's up to each individual school district to determine their own consent policy," and that these school clinics do not have to adhere, are not required to adhere to, California education codes, but they are tied to Medi-Cal and federal families funding regulations, then you understand that they can do what they want. Their clinics stand alone."
Currently, despite the requirement of parental consent in some school districts, abortion counseling, distribution of contraceptives and psychological counseling may be offered students without parental permission. "They don't need consent for any of that," said Hemple. "Whether they judiciously seek consent for other things remains to be seen. Since everything is done under the parameters of confidentiality, the bottom line is, we do not know what goes on in those clinics."
Hemple said her organization, Parents and Students United of the San Fernando Valley has, from its incorporation in 1986, taken on the issue of school-based clinics "particularly because of the state's desire to become the child's surrogate parent and also the usurpation of parental rights in this regard. You know, this is not a parent's idea, and parents are not clamoring for these services. These are the elitists and the statists that are endeavoring to dictate these proposals to parents. I think it is a horrible proposal all the way around, and certainly it's perceived as being very humanitarian and very progressive. I see it as just the opposite; I see it as prostituting public education. This distracts the public, and particularly the pupils, from the primary purpose of public education, which should be learning. On the other hand, you are infusing another medical, social welfare program on the schools when they are having such difficulty and are under such stress at this point to perform their primary mission."
CITING LACK OF DIPLOMATIC TIES with the Vatican, the Chinese government has barred John Paul II from visiting Hong Kong as part of his Asian tour scheduled for later this year.
China insists that the Vatican's diplomatic ties with Taiwan and the lack of ties with China are "not convenient." This was the message given to Hong Kong Bishop Joseph Zen, who talked about the situation with Reuters News Service on August 9. Chinese government spokesman Stephen Lam said in an issued statement: "It would only be appropriate to discuss the proposed visit after the Central People's Government (Beijing) and the Vatican have resolved the relevant issues."
Reaction in the Chinese Catholic community has been mixed. Father Matthew Koo of St. Leo the Great Church in San Jose, who spent many years in prison in China for his loyalty to the Holy Father, said: "The Chinese government is not reasonable. The Pope is not a political figure, he's a spiritual figure. He can go anywhere."
Locally, a receptionist at St. Bridget's Chinese Catholic Center in downtown Los Angeles said that no one had heard of the news. "No, we haven't heard anything. You are the first one to tell us about this." Parishioners at St. Bridget's were also surprised about the news. When told that Bejing was not going to allow the Holy Father to visit Hong Kong, a parishioner who identified herself as Connie told the Mission: "It [the ban] is not good. Religion and politics are two different things. The Holy Father brings peace to the world, not war." Another parishioner added "This is not good. There are lots of situations in China right now. It's going to be very hard to solve the Taiwan issue. I come from Hong Kong and it's very hard to talk about it. We hope all Chinese will come together, we don't want one land to to be cut into pieces."