NEWS
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
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NEWS
April 2004
DIRECTOR AND ACTOR, MEL GIBSON, "has chosen to live apart from the communion of the Catholic Church," said Cardinal Roger Mahony on February 20. Mahony was conducting his annual "Cardinal Mahony Online," a feature of the Los Angeles archdiocese's Religious Education Congress, held in Anaheim from February 20-22. One Leonel M asked Cardinal Mahony "what is the relationship of Gibson's church near Malibu to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles? Is it part of a schismatic group?" The cardinal replied that he knew "nothing about the Church in Malibu," saying "it is certainly not in communion with the Universal Catholic Church nor the Archdiocese of Los Angeles." Mahony said he did not know Gibson but does indeed "pray for him."
Cardinal Mahony reminded his interlocutors that "the Holy Spirit is promised to the Church, as well as the presence of Jesus: 'Behold, I am with you all days until the end of the world.' Those words were spoken to the Church, not to an individual in any century."
A NUMBER OF THOSE participating in "Cardinal Mahony Online" had questions about Mel Gibson. Since Gibson is called a traditionalist, the moderator of the session asked the cardinal to "briefly explain the Catholic traditionalist movement." Mahony replied that "there is no such thing as the 'Catholic traditionalist, modernist, movement.' Either one is in full communion with the Catholic Church, in unity with the Successor of Peter, or not. One cannot pick and choose which Pope to follow, especially dead ones, or which teaching to follow -- and then set aside the rest. Such people may be very nice people, but that doesn't make them 'Catholic' in the true sense.
"We must give full assent to the Creed and all that the Church teaches," said the cardinal.
Part of "all that the Church teaches" are the documents of the Second Vatican Council which, said Cardinal Mahony, "constitute the accurate, authentic teaching of the Church. If one chooses to set aside any of those, then they choose to separate themselves from the unity of the Church. Keep in mind that the first temptation of Adam and Eve was precisely this: Satan told them, 'you will be like gods, choosing good and evil.' Wrong."
SOME MIGHT FIND IT ODD, though, that for all his defense of the Church and her teachings, Cardinal Mahony should tolerate the speakers he does, year after year, at his Religious Education Congress. This year's Congress once again featured speakers affiliated with Call to Action, a dissident group that calls for the ordination of women to the Catholic priesthood, the acceptance of homosexuality as a valid orientation, a lifting of the "ban" on artificial contraception, among other issues. One of this year's speakers associated with Call to Action, Diana Hayes, has questioned the Church's hierarchical nature. She told the December 1997 CTA News, that she thought that, in its beginnings, "the church was a lay movement; ministry was not aligned with power and authority but with simple service, largely by the poor, the slaves and the women." Hayes is also affiliated with the Women's Ordination Conference. Other Call to Action speakers present at this year's Religious Education Congress were Father Michael Crosby, Barbara Fiand, Father Patrick Brennan, and Father Richard Rohr.
JOB # 1. But, perhaps, Cardinal Mahony has of late been too preoccupied with other matters to worry about conference speakers. After the February release of a report detailing the number of alleged victims of sexual abuse by archdiocesan priests over a 73 period, the cardinal once again said that protecting minors from molesting priests remained for him "Job #1."
Mahony's commitment can be seen, perhaps, in the report; for though it was part of a nationwide study ordered by the National Review Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Los Angeles reports goes a step further and names the alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse and the number of allegations against them. Cardinal Mahony himself is found on this list, with two allegations of sexual abuse against him. Of course, the report lists all alleged cases; not all have been proven and many are dubious. In five cases, the archdiocese was not able to find a record that the priests in question even existed. The names of 33 priests do not appear on the list, but the report assures that none of these "is the subject of a criminal or civil action." The names on the list have previously been made public.
Still, the report gives the number of abusers from 1930 to the present as 244; the number of alleged victims, 687. (This last number is overstated by 31, since every accuser who alleges molestation by more than one priest was counted as a separate victim.) The report noted that of the 687 alleged victims, 519 were male, 137 were female.
ANOTHER SIGN, PERHAPS, of the cardinal's commitment to ridding the archdiocese of the scourge of clerical molestation was his placing his former vicar of clergy (who oversaw sexual abuse cases) on administrative leave. Archdiocesan officials had told parishioners at Saints Felicitas and Perpetua in San Marino on February 1 that their pastor, Monsignor Richard Loomis, had been accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing a teenage boy between the years 1969 and 1971, when Loomis, not yet a priest, was teaching in a Catholic high school. Loomis, however, was to remain pastor of the parish, since, said the archdiocese, the allegations of misconduct were not credible. But on February 12, the archdiocese told the parish that another alleged Loomis victim had been identified and so the monsignor would be placed on administrative leave. Loomis denies the allegations. Though many in the archdiocese "know [Loomis] and love him as well," said Cardinal Mahony, "that's not the point. The point is we have policies. We have procedures and are following them regardless where that leads."
The cardinal may wish those policies and procedures had been active in the early '90s when he transferred Michael Wempe, against whom the cardinal knew were allegations of sexual abuse, to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center -- without informing hospital staff of Wempe's problem. On February 18 Los Angeles County superior court judge Jacob Adajian ordered the now-retired Wempe to stand trial for allegedly molesting a boy between the years 1990 and 1995, said the February 19 Los Angeles Times. The alleged victim, now 24, said Wempe had molested him both in the priest's car and in his office at Cedars-Sinai. The alleged victim's two older brothers also have claimed that they were molested by Wempe; but when the United States Supreme Court invalidated the criminal prosecution of abuse cases whose statute of limitations had expired, the cases of the two older brothers were dismissed. Cardinal Mahony has said that he regrets having sent Wempe to Cedars Sinai. The cardinal says that he should have forced the priest to resign.
BUT DESPITE HIS TROUBLES, Cardinal Mahony was given an enthusiastic reception by the youth at the Religious Education Congress' Youth Day on February 19. According to the February 27 Tidings, the liturgy over which the cardinal presided had a "pep rally like atmosphere," with chants of "'We love Jesus, yes we do. We love Jesus. How about you?'" moving "from section to section of the packed arena as alternative rock Christian music rocked the room." A "video montage" opened the liturgy, featuring "people from all walks of life speaking the truth of their lives, using the 'if you really knew me' theme of this year's conference." As he processed to the altar, the cardinal himself "was greeted by cheers normally reserved for rock stars, with flashing lights and loud music."
The liturgy, by all accounts, had an electric atmosphere, for "even the assembled clergy got into the moment clapping and swaying along with the music." One student told the Tidings that seeing "everyone here worshipping God and having a good time" was "an awesome experience." Mahony moved lay participation to a new level by having two students join him in giving the homily. One student shared his reflection on the day's Gospel; "it is easy," she said, "to see that Jesus perhaps worried about his future, his relationships and his own destiny." For his own part, the cardinal delivered this memento mori: "it is Jesus Christ that gives us the strength to face our difficulties. The lesson of our Scriptures today is we have to walk each day in the love and mercy of God. And we must be courageous and realize that Jesus walks with us. Regardless of what happens each day, we must be about mending our relationships and live each day as if it was our last day."
ATTORNEY RICHARD ACKERMAN, one of the lead lawyers fighting San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom's illegal issuance of "gay marriage" licenses, on March 10 sent a letter to Cardinal Roger Mahony and five other major church leaders, including the Mormon church. In the letter, Ackerman said, "I am imploring you to take a stand for the common bond that we all share in the institution of marriage and its sacred relation to our Faith as Christians." Ackerman asked the leaders, "why are you failing to energize and incite your churches and members to take action against conduct which threatens the very definition of what it means to be the Church of Christ? I can only hope that you are not relying on the lawyers involved in these battles. We cannot singlehandedly save our mutual Faith in Christ and the millions of marriages solemnized by your leaders. We are losing miserably on the legal and political fronts, and your complete absence on the cultural battlefield has certainly not made management of the lawsuits any easier."
Ackerman said he was "extremely angered and disappointed" by the religious leaders' "lack of action in this historical moment." The six of them, said Ackerman "numerically represent the spiritual interests of more Californians than all of America's self-professed homosexuals combined;" thus, "it can hardly be the case that you feel outnumbered by those who would mislead the children of your churches by redefining the institution of marriage as so clearly spelled out in the Gospels. You just don't care enough to do more than subtly complain about the rapid decline of a culture that was once defined by America's devout and historically unique reliance on God."
FLIGHT FROM THE CULTURE WARS. By their inaction on the same-sex marriage issue, religious leaders, said Ackerman, "have, and continue to, mislead California's innocent children and their families by allowing a small percentage of the population to eviscerate the most sacred of God's sacramental institutions on Earth." The religious leaders' "desires to avoid a culture war have taken priority over the Church's commitment to Christ." It is not enough that "you and the spiritual leaders represented by your organizations may have issued a press release denouncing same-sex marriage, may have given the issue brief mention during a Sunday service, or happened to briefly mention the issue in a bulletin. You, as the leaders of the Body of Christ, here on Earth, have a solemn duty to LEAD your congregations and churches as a 'light on the hill' for all of us committed to marriage, and unto those beholden to the worldly bondage of homosexuality."
Ackerman suggested that the religious leaders "could easily amass something akin to a 'Million Marriage March' on the Governor's Office in Los Angeles, or institute a simple letter-writing campaign directed at the City & County of San Francisco." Why, asked Ackerman, "are you failing to protect the Church? Why are you not standing up for our Faith at this crucial time in the history of Mankind?"
A CENTER FOR MIGRANT WORKERS may close if it does not get sufficient funding, said a March 8 Glendale News-Press story. The center, run by Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, has served as an employment center for migrant farm workers since the late 1990s. According to the News-Press, Glendale police agent Sam Hopper called the Temporary Skilled Worker Center a national model for cleaning up blight and providing a centralized hiring center for migrants, keeping them from gathering on street corners or in parking lots. The center runs on a budget of $100,000 a year, derived from the city of Glendale, federal funds, Catholic Charities, and the $25-a-month fees paid by workers who use it. But a citizen advisory committee charged with distributing $610,000 in federal money to Glendale organizations in March refused to give the center the $87,521 it requested. The citizen panel refused a subsequent request of $25,000 by the center to keep its doors open. The center has suffered as well from a decrease in the number of those using it. Glendale no longer enforces a law allowing police to direct migrant workers to the center. Thus, workers can get work standing on street corners or in parking lots without paying the dues the center charges.
OPPONENTS OF THE DEATH PENALTY gathered at St. Monica's Catholic church in Santa Monica on February 3 to protest the slated execution of Kevin Cooper, said the February 4 Orange County Register. Cooper, 46, was to be executed February 10 by lethal injection for the 1983 murders of four members of a Chino family. Members of the Orange County chapter of California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty gathered at Saint Monica's. With them were the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Los Angeles auxiliary bishop Gabino Zavala, and Mike Farrell, the leader of Death Penalty Focus and formerly of the television series M*A*S*H*. The demonstrators chose Saint Monica's as the site of their protest since it is the parish church of Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger, who had refused clemency to Cooper.
Cooper was convicted for the brutal murders of four members of the Ryen family of Chino. The youngest son, Joshua, then eight, survived, though his throat was cut. Cooper, an inmate at the Chino Institute for Men, had escaped and stolen the Ryen family car. He fled to Mexico, where he joined a couple on a houseboat. After allegedly raping the woman off the coast of Santa Barbara, he fled to shore in a dingy, where the Coast Guard intercepted him. Though Joshua Ryen says he is certain of Cooper's guilt (in a letter to Schwarzenneger, he said, "now I know for sure and beyond a shadow of a doubt that Cooper is the killer"), opponents of his execution say new evidence raises the suspicion that San Bernardino County officials tampered with evidence in investigating the murders. According to the March 2004 Catholic Agitator, the publication of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, at the time of the investigation, blood samples taken from Cooper disappeared from the evidence locker and were found later at the murder scene. Another bit of evidence is a lock of blond hair that was found in the hand of one of the victims. Cooper is black.
Less than a day before Cooper's execution, the United States ninth circuit court of appeals issued a stay of execution. The court said it would order the case to district court on March 2.
GAY LIFESTYLE, YES. GAY MARRIAGE, NO. A poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California on February 20 said that 62 percent of California voters polled accept the "gay lifestyle" as part of society, but less than half of those polled said they favored homosexual marriage. Still, while 51 percent of voters polled opposed, and 43 percent favored homosexual marriage, the number of those favoring it has risen six percentage points since 2000. The poll questioned 1,013 likely voters and had a plus or minus three percentage points sampling error.
Among religious voters polled, Catholics were the most likely to support homosexual marriage (64 percent), while Protestants split 46 percent for acceptance and 47 percent against.
THE DIOCESE OF SAN BERNARDINO on February 27 released the numbers of priests accused of sexual molestation and their alleged victims from 1950 to 2002 and from 1978 to 2002, said the San Bernardino County Sun. In 1978, the diocese that includes San Bernardino and Riverside counties was formed from the diocese of San Diego. According to the diocese, from 1950 to 2002, 38 alleged victims have accused 25 priests of sexual abuse. Of the accused, 25 were male; 13, female. The majority of the accused were 13 to 17 years of age. From 1978 to 2002, 13 priests allegedly molested 20 accusers. Again, the majority of alleged victims were boys; only four were girls. Most of the alleged victims were between the ages of 13 and 17.
Unlike the archdiocese, the diocese of San Bernardino did not release the names of the accused priests. According to the Sun, Bishop Gerald Barnes had wished to release the names but had been dissuaded from doing it by his lay advisers.