NEWS
2004 NEWS STORIES
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
NEWS
January 2004
SAYING THEY HAD TO "give witness to the whole moral truth," the United States bishops in their annual meeting in Washington, D.C., affirmed that homosexual sex is a sin, said a November 13 Zenit news report. In a 234-3 vote, with three abstentions, the bishops, while affirming the injustice of discrimination against homosexuals, declared that same-sex civil unions are unjust. Currently, in the United States, only Vermont permits same-sex civil unions, while Hawaii and California extend some marital benefits to same-sex liaisons.
The bishops also approved a statement on agriculture and trade policy, called "'For I was hungry and you gave me food': Catholic Reflections on Food, Farmers and Farmworkers." The statement says that the "forces of increasing concentration and growing globalization" in agriculture "are pushing some ahead and leaving others behind." Bishop Ronald Gilmore of Dodge City, Kansas, the chairman of the bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Agricultural Issues, said that on the issue of agricultural subsidies the bishops tried to steer a middle course. "We recognize that agricultural subsidies can have a damaging effect on struggling farmers in developing nations," said Bishop Gilmore. "We're not suggesting that we should wipe the slate clean, but we believe we can reduce and target U.S. subsidies so that small and moderate sized farms can compete while the negative impacts on developing countries are minimized." The bishops' new document, said Gilmore, "examines agricultural issues in the light of Catholic social teaching, encouraging Catholics to seek the 'common good' on issues of food and agriculture and affirming the dignity and rights of farmers, ranchers and farm workers, both here and around the world."
SANCTIONS FOR PRO-ABORT POLITICIANS. The United States bishops on November 10 also said they were thinking of recommending sanctions against politicians who favor policies on abortion and other issues contrary to Church teaching, said an Associated Press report. Bishop Joseph Galante, a member of the bishops' task force on this issue, did not specify what sanctions may be available to bishops, saying canon lawyers and theologians would have to research the issue. The chief question to be decided is whether politicians who support pro-abortion legislation should be excommunicated. "I'm tired of hearing Catholic politicians saying, 'I'm personally opposed to abortion, but I don't want to impose my moral judgments on anyone else,"' said Bishop Galante. "Politicians make moral judgments all the time. That's a weaseling out of something."
PLEASE STEP DOWN. Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula asked Andrew Puzder, the CEO of the Carl's Jr. restaurant chain, to resign from the college's board of governors after the chain rain advertisements featuring porn king Hugh Hefner, said the November 22 Sacramento Bee. The advertisement features Playboy magazine founder Hefner in pajamas, surrounded by beautiful women. As he is about to bite into a bacon-cheeseburger, Hefner reflects that men desire variety -- both in women and food. Carl's Jr., he says, offers that variety -- in fast food, at least.
A Thomas Aquinas College spokeswoman, Ann Forsyth, told the Bee, "It's common knowledge that Hugh Hefner and Playboy stand for hedonism and unbridled pleasure-seeking, and that is impossible to reconcile with what we stand for." Puzder, who resigned from the Thomas Aquinas board of governors, had explained earlier in November that his company had hired Hefner because "we're appealing to an audience of young, hungry guys who expect a quality product but want to have something different from time to time. Hefner appeals to our target audience and credibly appeals to our message of variety."
TOO MANY PEOPLE AND NO PERMITS. The city of Santa Ana is looking to curtail the work of the Orange County Catholic Worker, said the November 27 Los Angeles Times. The Catholic Worker's Isaiah House, a two-story craftsman-style house on Cypress Street in a residential neighborhood near Santa Ana's Civic Center, in November housed 120 homeless people, including 70 children. In late November, Santa Ana city officials in a hearing declared the Catholic Worker a public nuisance, since it was operating a mission out of a house without a permit and had tents set up on the property -- to store food and clothes. The city gave the Catholic Worker and its landlord, Steven Dzida, an Irvine Catholic attorney, until January 20 to comply with the law.
Dwight Smith, who with his wife Leia heads the Orange County Catholic Worker, said the work of Isaiah house is necessary, since the city does not provide sufficient shelters for the homeless. Leia Smith said there were two options before the city: "Have tolerance for an imperfect situation or have children on the streets. If there was a third option, we'd all be happy."
According to the Times, Orange County has a population of homeless exceeding 20,000. Shelters only accommodate about 2,200 of these, and not all take children.
A FEDERAL COURT has prohibited a Long Beach high school from interfering with pro-life demonstrators on a sidewalk adjacent to the school, said a November 25 press release from Life Legal Defense Foundation. In September 2002, police told four pro-life demonstrators holding signs and distributing literature on a sidewalk in front of Millikan High School in Long Beach that they were trespassing. When threatened with arrest, three of the demonstrators removed to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street; the fourth protestor, Dan McCullough, however, remained and was arrested by police. One of the demonstrators videotaped the arrest, but police seized the tape. It was later recovered.
In a lawsuit brought by Catherine Short of Life Legal Defense, representing the four demonstrators, defendants argued that the plaintiffs' speech was offensive and so could be restricted; students leaving school, too, they claimed, were a "captive audience" to the demonstrators. Finally, said the defendants, the sidewalk belonged in part to the school district. Judge Edward Rafeedie of the federal central district court of California rejected these arguments. Rafeedie issued a preliminary injunction, prohibiting Long Beach Unified School District, the principal of Millikan high school, the six Long Beach police officers, and the city of Long Beach from arresting or interfering with the demonstrators "holding signs, distributing literature, and discussing abortion with students and others present on the sidewalk adjoining Millikan High School during school dismissal periods."
BISHOP GABINO ZAVALA will not become bishop of Phoenix. In December, the Los Angeles Mission reported that Zavala was among those being considered to replace Bishop Thomas O'Brien of Phoenix, who resigned June 18, 2003 after being arrested on felony charges for hitting a pedestrian and leaving the scene of the accident. On November 25, papal nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, announced that Pope John Paul II had named Bishop Thomas Olmstead of Wichita, Kansas, as the new bishop of Phoenix. The 56-year-old Olmstead was to be installed December 20.
THE CASE CONCERNING whether the archdiocese of Los Angeles must turn over to a grand jury the personnel files of priests accused of sexual molestation has continued in absolute secrecy, said a November 13 Associated Press story. Early in 2003, under court order, retired superior court judge, Thomas Nuss, was appointed to read the disputed documents to decide whether they contain privileged information. The court stipulated that the archdiocese pay Nuss' fee of $350 an hour. On August 29, Nuss made his ruling on whether the documents would be turned over to prosecutors; but, citing grand jury secrecy, Nuss blocked public access to his decision. He also ordered that all hearings on the case be conducted secretly.
Both the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and a team of media lawyers have challenged the archdiocese in this case. A hearing on it was scheduled for November 17. The archdiocese argues that the First Amendment's freedom of religion clause covers communication between priests and their religious superiors.
Though, last year, Cardinal Mahony pledged greater openness on the archdiocese's part in cases involving molestation by clerics ("We want every single thing out, open and dealt with, period," he said), his lawyers say they have convinced him to curb his zeal. "It was his lawyers that told him there was a limit to what he can and can't do," archdiocesan lawyer J. Thomas Hennigan told Associated Press. "He doesn't have a choice regarding certain categories of documents."
A "HOUSELESS" MAN who for the past two decades has cultivated an arboretum on the banks of the Santa Ana River in Anaheim, in mid-November was threatened with eviction by the owner of the land -- the Orange County Water District -- said a November 13 Los Angeles Times story. Richard Dumke, a 60-year-old former biologist, has planted on the small plot of land 250 evergreen and fruit trees, bushes, and exotic plants, which he gathered from nursery dumpsters, had donated to him, or bought with his meager earnings as a night janitor. The site also boasts a koi pond and bird feeders, built by Dumke, as well as a shack where he cooks his food and sleeps. Previously, he slept in a Ford van until it was towed away two years ago. Though Dumke has cultivated his garden for twenty years, the Water District did not know of his presence until late last summer when a Water District employee doing a property check discovered him. When offered a place in a homeless shelter, Dumke refused. Saying his presence sets a bad precedent, the Water District wanted him gone; but Dumke argued that his long presence on the site gave him squatter's rights.
Local business, including fast food restaurants which give him coffee and a bathroom, as well as others that give him water, have no problem with Dumke and want him to stay. Business owners in a nearby shopping plaza said he provides them extra security with his presence. The November 22 Times reported that supporters, including the Orange County Catholic Worker, formed a group called the Friends of Richard Dumke, which presented him with a used recreational vehicle to sleep in. They also arranged an insurance policy for him. The water agency, too, relented, allowing Dumke another 30 days to find another place to put his garden. But Dumke's supporters have formed a nonprofit organization to take over the garden so it can remain where it is, under Dumke's care. They also established a Help Richard Dumke fund, care of Washington Mutual, in Anaheim.
A SUMMIT ON HOMELESSNESS issued a report on November 11, saying the homeless phenomenon in Los Angeles County is more widespread than previously thought, said the November 14 Los Angeles Times. The summit, called Bring L.A. Home, which met at the Los Angeles Convention Center, included over 60 community leaders, among whom were Los Angeles mayor James Hahn, Cardinal Roger Mahony, as well as business leaders, police, and homeless people. Their plan is to work up a ten-year plan to end homelessness.
According to data released at the summit (based on county records, census counts, and national homeless surveys), in Los Angeles County 80,000 people on any given night are homeless; 254,000, throughout the course of the year. Researchers, however, noted that the homeless numbers could vary greatly, since it is difficult to gather accurate counts of homeless people. The research showed that the largest concentration of homeless is not on Skid Row in Los Angeles, but in South Los Angeles (accounting for 33 percent of the total.) Homeless people, said the research, make up five percent of the population of the Antelope Valley; the San Gabriel Valley and South-Bay Harbor also had high concentrations of homeless.
The research also found that family groups, mostly a mother and children, make up two-thirds of the annual homeless population. Among the causes of homelessness, drugs and alcohol are the most frequently reported. The vast majority of homeless -- 95 percent -- experience only short periods of homelessness, usually for less than a year.
UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND DIVISIVE are what some called the prayer with which incoming Huntington Beach Cathy Green started off her first city council meeting as mayor on December 2. According to the December 4 Huntington Beach Independent, the prayer was given by Green's father, Thomas Cary, a bishop of the Free Catholic Church. Mayor Green was the first to offer an invocation in two years.
While some welcomed the prayer (before, attendees would offer prayers during the public comments part of council meetings), Mark Bixby, whom the Independent called the "city watchdog," said it violated the constitution by excluding certain religions. "By choosing who gets to deliver the reinstated invocation, this city will be going down the road of implicitly deciding which religions are the acceptable religions," said Bixby. But Green said, "I don't see how saying prayers and thanking God for our blessing and asking for guidance is exclusive." She said she plans to work with the interfaith council to make sure the invocations in the future are as inclusive as possible.
ANTIDOTE FOR DEPRESSION. "The spread of depressive states is worrying," Pope John Paul II told the 18th International Conference on Depression, organized by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, said a November 14 Zenit news report. The pope told the conference that "psychological and spiritual human frailties are manifested which at least in part are induced by society." The consumerist messages spread by the media, said John Paul, are among the societal influences leading to depression. "It is important to be aware of the repercussion that messages transmitted by the media have on persons, by exalting consumerism, immediate satisfaction of desires, the ever greater race for material well-being," said the pope.
To counteract these influences, said John Paul, "it is necessary to propose new ways so that each one will be able to build his own personality, cultivating the spiritual life, foundation of a mature existence." For people undergoing the "spiritual trial" of depression, the pope recommended meditating on the Psalms "in which the holy author expresses his joys and anxieties in prayer." The pope also recommended the recitation of the rosary in order to see Christ through the eyes of Mary, and participation in the Mass, "source of interior peace."
ABORTION CLINIC CLOSES. During the week of October 24, pro-life activists learned of the closing of the Ventura Family Planning Associates abortion clinic. A 16-year-old girl had called a pro-life pregnancy help hotline saying that she had tried to schedule an appointment at the Ventura clinic and was told that it was closing. Clinic personnel told the girl to seek an abortion at the Family Planning Associates clinic in either Mission Hills or North Hollywood. The girl then called the pregnancy help hotline since she did not have a way of getting to either clinic. Pro-life activists called the clinic and confirmed it was closing. One pro-lifer said that when she called the clinic, an employee named Cynthia seemed devastated at its closing. "They just told us about closing on Friday, October 24; we were devastated; everyone lost their job," she said.
The Ventura clinic has been the scene of many pro-life protests over the years. There have been many "saves" at the clinic, often prompted by the protestors bringing babies and children with them while they prayed in front of the clinic. With the clinic's closing, protestors will focus their energies on the Planned Parenthood clinic on Ralston Street in Ventura.
AN MIT RESEARCHER says he may have found a method to grow adult human stem cells indefinitely, said the Novermber MIT News. The difficulty with adult stem cells has been getting them to act like embryonic stem cells. MIT associate professor James Sherley, however, has demonstrated that by exposing adult stem cells to metabolites he can induce them to multiply like embryonic stem cells. Sherley and his staff did their study on stem cells from rat livers.
CHEWABLE CONTRACEPTIVES FOR CHILDREN? On November 14, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved a spearmint-flavored, contraceptive tablet that is to be chewed and then swallowed, said a November LifeSiteNews.com report. The new drug, Ovcon 35, contains elements found in contraceptive drugs currently marketed: a progestin (norethindrone) and an estrogen (ethinyl estradiol). Thus, according to LifeSiteNews.com, the drug carries the same risks as older oral contraceptives: increased risk of blood clots, heart attack, stroke, breast and cervical cancer, and other side effects and complications The drug is manufactured by Bristol Myers Squibb Company of Princeton, New Jersey.
ABOUT 150 PEOPLE paid $50 a pop to watch Cardinal Roger Mahony bless an 18-inch high porcelain statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, said a November 19 Los Angeles Times story. The November 17 blessing was to raise money for Work Is Noble, a program sponsored by the cathedral and Homeboy Industries that places "at-risk" high students with employers, paying a $7-per-hour salary plus insurance costs for their first 200 hours of work. Guadalupe statues like the one blessed by Mahony will sell in the cathedral gift shop for $1,250 each, with about $400 from each sale going to support Work Is Noble. The statues are a limited edition produced by the Lladró of Spain, a porcelain art company.
The blessing took place, said the Times, in a ballroom. Guests ate taquitos and carmelized bananas, sipped cocktails, while listening to "Spanish-flavored guitar and percussion." Other Lladró statues graced the ballroom, ranging in price from $450 to $6,950. Wearing a Mexican stole, Mahony blessed the Guadalupe statue, which rested on revolving platform inside a locked glass case. (The case was surrounded by guards.) When he sprinkled holy water on the glass case, said the Times, Mahony "wasn't quite sure where to aim. 'She keeps turning,' he said."
A HOMOSEXUAL CHURCH in Los Angeles received a confusing letter from President George W. Bush, said the November 28 National Catholic Reporter. The letter, dated October 14, sent congratulations to the Metropolitan Community Churches on its 35th anniversary. The 43,000-member church was founded to accommodate homosexuals. The odd thing, is that during the week of October 14, Bush proclaimed "Marriage Protection Week" in opposition to same-sex marriage -- and the Metropolitan Community Churches perform about 6,000 such "marriages" every year. "By encouraging the celebration of faith and sharing God's love and boundless mercy," said the letter, "churches like yours put hope in people's hearts and a sense of purpose in their lives." A spokesman for President Bush, said the Reporter, did not answer queries about the letter.
LAMBDA LETTERS PROJECT, a group dedicated to largely homosexual issues, has released its 2003 scorecard for the California legislature. A legislator's score is determined by how he voted on bills of key importance to the radical homosexual lobby.
Legislators were given 0.5 percent on a vote if they abstained or were absent. The scores for southern California legislators (Catholics in italics) were, in the assembly: Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel), 0 percent; John Benoit (R-Riverside), 0 percent; Rudy Bermudez (D-Bellflower), 100 percent; Russ Bogh (R-Yucaipa), 10 percent; Ron Calderon (D-Montebello), 100 percent; John Campbell (R-Irvine), 0 percent; Edward Chavez (D-City of Industry), 90 percent; Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), 100 percent; Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), 80 percent; Lynn Daucher (R-Brea), 20 percent; Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga), 3.3 percent; Mervyn Dymally (D-Compton), 100 percent; Marco Firebaugh (D-Southgate), 76.7 percent; Dario Frommer (D-Glendale), 100 percent; Bonnie Garcia (R-Palm Springs), 16.7 percent; Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), 100 percent; Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach), 3.3 percent; Jerome Horton (D-Inglewood), 73.3 percent; Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), 100 percent; Paul Koretz (D-W. Hollywood), 100 percent; Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), 100 percent; Carol Liu (D-Pasadena), 100 percent; John Longville (D-San Bernadino), 100 percent; Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), 100 percent; Cindy Montanez (D-Mission Hills), 100 percent; Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia), 0 percent; George Nakano (D-Torrance), 90 percent; Gloria Negrete-McLeod (D-Montclair), 100 percent; Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), 100 percent; Jenny Oropeza (D-Carson), 93.3 percent; Robert Pacheco (D-Walnut), 0 percent; Fran Pavley (D-Woodland Hills), 100 percent; Keith Richman (R-Granada Hills), 20 percent; Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), 100 percent; Sharon Runner (R-Lancaster), 0 percent; Todd Spitzer (R-Orange), 30 percent; Tony Strickland (R-Camarillo), 0 percent; Herb Wesson (D-Los Angeles), 100 percent.
In the state senate, the scores were: Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton), 0 percent; Richard Alarcon (D-Van Nuys), 95.5 percent; Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), 0 percent; Jim Battin (R-Palm Desert), 13.6 percent; Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach), 100 percent; Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga), 0 percent; Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), 100 percent; Joe Dunn (D-Garden Grove), 100 percent; Martha Escutia (D-Norwalk), 100 percent; Ross Johnson (R-Irvine), 22.7 percent; Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach), 100 percent; William J. "Pete" Knight (R-Lancaster), 4.5 percent; Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), 100 percent; Bob Margett (R-Arcadia), 9.1 percent; Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), 9.1 percent; Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), 95.5 percent; Gloria Romero (D-Rosemead), 100 percent; Jack Scott (D-Pasadena), 95.5 percent; Nell Soto (D-Ontario), 95.5 percent; Edward Vincent (D-Inglewood), 77.3 percent.