NEWS
2001 NEWS STORIES
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
NEWS
OCTOBER 2001
AFTER ELEVEN YEARS, on August 31, Father Peter Liuzzi stepped down as head of the Los Angeles archdiocese's Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Catholics. According to the Tidings, the archdiocesan newspaper, Father Liuzzi, along with his assistant, Marge Mayer (who will also retire from the ministry) had been "carrying the pain of the lesbian and gay community for more than a decade," and it had taken its toll. While Mayer will spend more time with her family, Liuzzi will take a year's sabbatical during which, said the August 18 Los Angeles Times, he will study the anthropological and biological aspects of homosexuality.
Liuzzi told the Tidings that he felt the call to minister to gay and lesbian Catholics when making a call to a man dying of AIDS. According to the Times account of the same incident, the man, Kevin, was the lover of Liuzzi's cousin, Gary Rini. Both Gary and Kevin had left the Church because of her teachings on homosexuality. Confronting Kevin, Liuzzi felt his priestly attire, the holy oils, the rituals of the Chuch were "meaningless," said the Tidings. He fell on his knees and asked Kevin's blessing. "If I'm to assist you, you need to assist me," Liuzzi told Kevin, in the Tidings account. "You're supposed to be dying, but I'm afraid to die. I think I'm afraid to live. I just have a sense as I look at you here that you seem to be brave enough to have done both of those things." With a curious twist to the Sacrament of Anointing, Liuzzi noted, "the only way to somehow minister the healing of Christ is that you have to come out of brokenness.... We're meant to be close to people's pain." Neither the Times nor the Tidings noted whether Liuzzi finally administered last rites to Kevin.
The Tidings noted that when Liuzzi began working with the Ministry with Gay and Lesbian Catholics (which Cardinal Mahony founded in 1986), only one parish in the archdiocese had an outreach to homosexuals. The archdiocesan paper did not say how many parishes now have such an outreach, but the Times revealed that it is only eight out of 292 parishes. Nationwide, only ten dioceses have a ministry to homosexuals, said the Times, and, Liuzzi noted, only the archdiocese of Los Angeles has a full-time ministry to gays and lesbians. To Liuzzi, the slow growth "shows the woundedness of the [gay and lesbian] community itself, who wouldn't know they should or could ask for such ministries, and other pastors and people don't want to bother."
Liuzzi said that, under his tenure, the emphasis of the gay and lesbian ministry has been "hospitality." "We're just trying to make the Church a hospitable place," he said.
DENYING CHARGES of sexual misconduct, an Orange diocesan priest, Monsignor Michael Harris, has angrily accused the archdiocese of Los Angeles and the diocese of Orange (who settled with his alleged victim out of court) of consulting "their own business interests." Marcus Ryan DiMaria, 28, accused Monsignor Harris of molesting him ten years ago when DiMaria was a student at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita. Four other men have accused Monsignor Harris, known as "Father Hollywood," of molestation. The Los Angeles archdiocese and the diocese of Orange have apologized to the four alleged victims.
The dioceses settled with Di Maria for $5.2 million. Though the alleged molestations occurred in Orange diocese, the archdiocese is involved because one of its priests is said to have failed to follow up on allegations that Monsignor Harris molested a student in the late 70s. Besides the dollar amount, the dioceses agreed, in the future, to be governed by guidelines dealing with molestation. Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray, who agreed to the settlement, will oversee the application of the guidelines.
According to Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the archdiocese of Los Angeles, the settlement adds nothing to current archdiocesan policies. "None of the things are going to cause us to make radical changes to existing policies," Tamberg told the Tidings.
According to the settlement, the archdiocese and the diocese of Orange must establish an "assistance officer program" in which a "mental healthcare professional receives and follows-up any complaints about sexual improprieties involving diocesan personnel. According to the Tidings, the archdiocese has such a program "currently under development." Priests must also sign a paper declaring that they have received diocesan policies on sexual abuse and will abide by them. Los Angeles and Orange also agreed to allow a third party to hold exit interviews with men who leave the seminary for whatever reason and to report any reported problems to diocesan officials. Both dioceses are to prepare an information pamphlet on ministry and working with children, which they will distribute once a year at parishes and at parent-teacher meetings.
Perhaps the most controversial policy in the agreement -- one which Tod Tamberg said does not add to, but "will enhance current policies" -- is the establishment of a web site and toll-free number where cases of molestation can be reported anonymously. Some fear that disgruntled parishioners or students in Catholic schools angry with a priest could use the anonymous hotline to ruin a priest's reputation.
Dr. Burr McKeehan, who has served on boards of non-profits founded by Monsignor Harris, told the Times that Harris is "the most honorable person I've ever met." McKeehan said he was disappointed the dioceses settlement since Di Maria's accusations were not proven in court.
Attorney Joseph P. McNicholas, who represents the archdiocese of Los Angeles, revealed in a letter that, in the past 10 years there have been 50 cases of sexual misbehavior reported to the archdiocese. He said he could not disclose the status of the cases on account of confidentiality.
IN THE WAKE OF THE NEWS that the dioceses of Orange and Los Angeles will pay $5.2 million to an alleged victim of molestation by a priest, the Los Angeles Times asked both Catholic and non-Catholic clergy in the Inland Empire whether abolishing the celibacy requirement for priests and admitting women to ordination would make the priesthood "healthier." Father Vince Conor, Catholic chaplain for the California Youth Authority in Chino noted that sexual molestation of minors is not merely a Catholic problem; Boy Scout leaders, Protestant youth ministers, for instance, as well as priests, have been guilty of the crime. "This particular sexual compulsion did not suddenly materialize when they assumed their respective positions," Conor told the Times. "Statistically, there are many more sexual predatory assaults on children by married persons, often by a parent, than there are by individuals who are single/celibate." While abolishing celibacy and admitting women as priests "certainly would alleviate the shortage of Catholic clergy," they would not affect the character of the priesthood. What is needed, said Conor, is "more rigid evaluation and scrutiny of candidates for ordination to the priesthood" and to other ministries in the Church."
Father Tom Welbers of Our Lady of the Assumption in Claremont agreed that ordaining women and admitting married priests would not affect the health of the priesthood. The prevalence of pedophilia among priests is not one among the "many practical and theological arguments that can be made for and against both mandatory celibacy and the ordination of women," said Welbers. He noted that the percentages of pedophiles among the priesthood (two percent, with four percent having an attraction to adolescent boys) are "about equal to those found in the general public."
"Certainly the priesthood could be 'healthier' and the role of celibacy, along with gender and other issues, are being seriously debated by many good people in the Church," said Father Wayne Maro, Catholic chaplain at the Claremont Colleges. As for the connection between celibacy and molestations, "no matter what we would prefer," said Maro, "or what our expectations of any organization may be, humans will simply be human, and less than human. We certainly can expect the best and worst out of our cultural institutions and professions, and the facts show there will always be some people who will act in detestable, abominable, as well as noble, ways.... The public must be assured that, regardless of the cost, we are committed to work and prayer, as much as humanly possible, to prevent sexual abuse from happening in our Church, and in our world."
Father Catalin Mitescu of St. Anne Orthodox Church in Pomona told the Times that, while mandatory priestly celibacy is the discipline of the Catholic Church, it is not the tradition of the Orthodox. "'Opening' the priesthood to women has nothing to do with its 'health,'" said Father Mitescu. "On this issue, the Orthodox Church is firmly in agreement with Roman Catholics that two millenniums of Church tradition and practice are not lightly to be swept aside. Our basic reasoning is that, in his liturgical and sacramental role, the priest stands as an iconic representation of Christ."
LABOR DAY, SEPTEMBER 4, SAW LABOR LEADERS, including John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, converge on Los Angeles to participate in festivities celebrating workers. Sweeney, Governor Gray Davis, as well as Cardinal Roger Mahony were present at a Mass as St. Vincent's in Los Angeles in honor of the holiday.
Sweeney, speaking from the pulpit of St. Vincent's, thanked Cardinal Mahony for his "continuing support for working families and our unions. I cannot think of any leader of our church anywhere," he said, "who has done more for our union movement or stood up more often for the freedom of workers to join unions, and we are forever in your debt." The labor movement has a lot to celebrate, said Sweeney. "Our economy is struggling, but still strong, and consumer spending and new construction are still hardy ... despite the fact that corporations are laying off workers at three times last year's rates and we've lost over 800,000 manufacturing jobs this year."
Sweeney said that, on his "own list of repairs" is immigration reform, which must include a program to legalize the "millions" of workers who contribute to society, but are undocumented. These undocumented workers, said Sweeney, "are being denied basic human rights and benefits." When they do "stand up for their rights to reject child labor, or to have a safe workplace, or to join or form a union, employers," said Sweeney, "often use their undocumented status to intimidate them." Current immigration and naturalization policies, said Sweeney, "are keeping families apart, rather than bringing them together," because many immigrant women are mothers of children who, born in this country, are thereby citizens of it. "Our faith teaches us that work is an expression of our dignity and creativity, and that does not become less so because of one's ethnicity or legal status," said Sweeney.
Sweeney said that the union movement is facing another problem; "the freedom of workers to join or form unions is being abridged in our country on a wholesale basis," he declared, and 'union-busting,' as we call it, has become a sport of choice for employers large and small.... In the union movement, we believe the freedom to choose a union is just as important as the freedom to worship as you please and the freedom to speak as you please. Our constitutional rights of assembly and speech are directly related to the right to join together to petition employers for fair wages, benefits and working conditions."
Sweeney also addressed the affects of globalization on labor. The "ultimate test" he said "of globalization" is "whether it increases freedom, promotes democracy and helps lift the poor from poverty.... whether it empowers the many, and not just the few ... whether its blessings are widely shared ... whether it works for working families here and in other countries. We can no longer allow multi-national corporations to scavenge the world for cheaper and cheaper sources of labor, pitting workers against workers in a cruel contest for more profits." He quoted Cardinal Mahony's Labor Day statement: "Our concerns for workers extend beyond our borders since we live and act in a global marketplace. Through the eyes of faith, we are called to see others, not as economic rivals or problems, but as members of one human family. The moral measure of economy is not simply the information shared, the wealth created, the trade encouraged, but how the lives and dignity of the poor and vulnerable, the hungry and the destitute are protected."
Cardinal Mahony also addressed those gathered at St. Vincent's. The cardinal said he wanted congress to give "new opportunities" to undocumented immigrants. Mahony said he also favors a congressional bill to increase the minimum wage.
AS CHAIRMAN OF THE U.S BISHOPS Domestic Policy Committee, Cardinal Roger Mahony on September 3 issued a Labor Day message, "The Dignity of Work and Workers: The Message of Laborem Exercens." In his message, the cardinal cited Pope John Paul's 1981 encyclical, Laborem Exercens. "Work," said the pontiff is "a key, probably the essential key, to the whole social question." "Catholic teaching on work," wrote Mahony, is "based on the principle that people are more important than things." This "reflects a compelling Christian revelation." Catholic social teaching holds that "work is for the person, not the person for work."
Mahony noted the struggles of many low-wage workers to "meet their needs and those of their families." He drew attention to the dilemma arising from the "restructuring of the welfare system to focus on work;" it has "reduced the welfare rolls" but has not removed the "reality of persistent poverty and wages too meager to provide for a family's needs." As for illegal, low-wage workers, Mahony recommended a "legalization program" for them that "would help protect their basic labor rights and ensure that all workers in the United States are afforded a living wage and decent working conditions."
Raising the minimum wage, wrote Mahony, "is just a beginning;" it is "the least we should do." Even with the increase promised by the minimum wage bill currently in Congress, "a head of household who works full-time, year round" would "still live in poverty."
The virtue of solidarity, said the cardinal, insists that we "see others" outside our borders "not as economic rivals or problems, but as members of one human family." The question raised by globalization is "whether it will lift people up, or push them down; whether it will drive people apart or bring them together; whether it will increase gaps between rich and poor, or build new economic bridges between the peoples of the world." Catholics in the United States -- the most powerful nation in the world -- must "reflect and act on these matters."
The Catholic social tradition, wrote Mahony, holds that "the economy -- including the global economy -- exists to serve the human person, not the other way around. The moral measure of any economy is ... how the lives and dignity of the poor and vulnerable, the hungry and destitute are protected and promoted."
A FRESNO ABORTIONIST, KENNETH WRIGHT, who performs abortions in Bakersfield, faces two malpractice suits for botching two abortions, according to an August 18 Fresno Bee report. The first case, which was filed in Fresno superior court in April, accuses Wright of overlooking a fetus when performing an abortion on Heather Shaw from Tulare County on November 10, 1999. The patient later suffered from hemorrhaging, cramping, nausea and "borderline gangrene." She later required emergency surgery to remove the body of the child. Wright's lawyer denied that Wright left an unborn child in Shaw, but that it was merely "tissue." Wright, said his lawyer, had warned Shaw of possible problems; she could have returned to Wright's office for follow-up, he said.
The second case, filed the week of August 18 in Fresno Superior Court, concerns an abortion Wright performed in May of 2000 in which the woman fell into a coma and later died. Both this and the Shaw case seek unspecified damages.
Tim and Terri Palmquist, whose LifeSavers Ministries stands across the street from Wright's clinic in Bakersfield, noted in their newsletter that "many times we have seen ambulances take women away from the Bakersfield abortion chamber, but it is very rare for us to find reliable information about whether or not the maternal victim died." Kenneth Wright, said the Palmquists, "is one of the 'pioneer' abortionists, who started killing children when abortion was legalized.... He is one of the most 'experienced' abortionists in the business. The fact that this 'highly qualified' baby killer is being proven to be a careless butcher may hopefully help to show our nation that all abortionists are butchers."
For more information on LifeSavers Ministries, one may contact them at P.O. Box 40972, Bakersfield CA 93384; (661) 323-BABY.
POPULATION NOT THE PROBLEM. A United Nations department has issued a report that questions the negative assumptions of population growth, according to a September 7 Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute report. The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in the "World Population Monitoring 2001" declared many of the ill predictions about world population growth are unfounded, even if world populated reaches 8.9 billion by 2050.
The United Nations document noted that population growth over the past century has been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the food supply and, because of technological and industrial advances, by a growth in average well being. "The world per capita food available for direct human consumption," said the report, "increased by 24 per cent, and there is enough being produced for everyone on the planet to be adequately nourished." Population growth, from 1900 to 2000, increased four times, from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion persons, but the "real gross domestic product increased 20 to 40 times, allowing the world to not only sustain a four-fold population increase, but also to do so at vastly higher standards of living."
Population, says the report, may contribute to environmental degradation, but it is "much less important as a driving fore of such problems than is economic growth and technology." Global warming, in particular, will be "mainly due to modes of production, not to the size, growth and distribution of population." Consumption in developed nations, where the population is shrinking, also has a negative impact on the environment.
The report notes that population is only one of many factors influencing the environment and human development. "Inadequate physical and/or economic access to food" can result from "poverty, political instability, economic inefficieny and social inequity," not simply from too great a population.
SAYING HE WAS "PLEASED" that President George W. Bush had addressed "nuances on both sides" of the embryonic stem-cell research debate, Father Richard Benson, dean and professor of moral theology at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, nevertheless told the August 17 Tidings that the president's compromise is problematic. "Attaining a 'moral' end through immoral means," said Father Benson, "negates the end result."
The problem, said Father Benson, is that Bush's policy allows "federal money to be used in 'material cooperation ... with a previous evil action." So far, so good; but, it seems, Father Benson does not think the "evil action" is a violation of the rights of a person. Benson told the Tidings that, though the "five-day old embryo is not yet a human person, it is a human life."
In a letter published in the August 31 Tidings, James Hanink, professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, took issue with Father Benson's language. Since "many people equate being a person with having an observable personality," wrote Hanink, "it's often easier to present such an embryo as (merely) a human life." Such a way of speaking, though, Hanink noted "is dangerously ambiguous."
While Hanink believes Father Benson would admit that every human life is a human being, he is not certain that Benson would admit that every human being is a human person. Hanink said one must be "extra careful" in speaking in Benson's manner because the judgment that "some human beings are not human persons" may lead "supporters of embryonic stem-cell" to ask: "'Why then might it not, in some cases, be legitimate to sacrifice (mere) human lives for the lives of (real) human persons?' The question's a plausible one -- and since all persons have a privileged moral standing, it's not easily answered."
More importantly, wrote Hanink, though the magisterium does not offer "a specific philosophical account of personhood," Pope John Paul II in Donum Vitæ and in Evangelium Vitæ writes from "a history of reflection that sees the soul as the first principle of life of the human being and affirms the unity of that soul through the whole of one's life."