LETTERS

LETTERS
July/August 2004

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HELP CATHOLIC PRISONERS

I am the Catholic chaplain at North Kern State Prison. We have 5,000 inmates in this facility; 4,000 of these are in reception. This means that they are only here for 120 days. Afterwards they are transpacked to other institutions. As a result, we have a very high turnover of inmates.

Many of our inmates are Catholic. One of my main concerns is providing Catholic Bibles and Catholic reading materials for them. Our Catholic inmates are exposed to anti-Catholic rhetoric. Thus the need for solid Catholic material is very much wanted.

Please contact me at the prison (661) 721-2345 if you would like to donate any Catholic materials.

John Messina,
Catholic Chaplain,
North Kern State Prison,
Delano

ONLY SERFS

Thanks for your generally accurate report on the recent "Imaging the Future Church" conference at USF. [See "You Can't Dialogue with Serfs," June Faith.] We do want to point out a few improvements.

First it was not titled, billed, or discussed as "a New" church as your headline says. Robert Kaiser is a fellow, not the ex-director, of the McCarthy Center at USF.

But more importantly you quote Bishop Vigneron that Voice of the Faithful "made critical comments on church doctrine" and "refused to affirm some elements of authentic magisterial teaching." That does need a corrective response. VOTF has stated over and over it has no desire or competence to ask or lobby for doctrinal changes. The real story is that the bishop asked at the VOTF meeting where some members stood on women's ordination ... and the VOTF answer was that they would like to discuss this issue at greater length. Discussion not allowed! The bishop must believe that the Holy See's pronouncements of no discussion of the women's ordination issue must also apply to laity [serfs, as you noted]. Wow ... a new stretch for "authentic magisterial teaching." Hey, we're just a lowly "serfs"; who are we to set an agenda for "discussion?" VOTF has been sotto voce banned, and maybe by your June issue, we will be "officially " banned. We'll see.

Ed and Peg Gleason
NorCal coordinators
Voice Of The Faithful

Editor replies: Our subtitle, "San Francisco Conference Calls for a New Church," was accurate. Though the conference did not specifically bill itself as calling for a "new" Church, its speakers offered recommendations that, if implemented, would result in a "new" Catholic Church. A democratic Church structure, governed by a constitution; ordination of women deacons; "discernment" over the ordination of women (a subject declared closed by the highest authority in the Church) -- these suggest a "new" Church.

Bishop Vigneron's statement that the ordination of women may not be discussed even by the laity is accurate, if "discussion" means "discernment" with a view to a change of doctrine rather than a humble attempt to understand that doctrine. Papal doctrinal pronouncements do not govern the clergy alone; the laity, too, are subject to apostolic authority.

Though bishops have abused their authority and treated us laymen as "serfs," that we are such has never been Church teaching. We are priests, prophets, and kings. But this truth must be understood correctly. Just as all Levites were not sacrificing priests, so all Catholics do not share the same office. The full realization of lay dignity will not come through structural change -- a chimera of democratic mythology. Rather, it will come when clergy and laymen alike fully conform themselves to the image of Christ. As Peter Maurin used to say, structural change without interior transformation is like a clean shirt on a dirty back. Or, to quote an epigram of Hilaire Belloc: "The accurséd power which stands on privilege/ And goes with Women, and Champagne and Bridge)/ Broke -- and Democracy resumed her reign:/ (Which goes with Bridge, and Women and Champagne.)"

NEWSOM HALF QUOTES

Mayor Newsom should be more complete than when he quotes Santa Clara's "men for others." [See "Quite a Defeat," May 2004 Faith.] It comes from Jesuit Father General Pedro Arrupe's 1973 address to the Tenth International Congress of Jesuit Alumni of Europe. We should always include the full sentence when we cite Father Arrupe's "men for others." The sentence begins: "today our primary educational objective must be to form men for others; men who will live not for themselves, but for God and His Christ...." "God and His Christ" must never be left out when we cite this adage.

Father Philip Conneally, S.J.
Loyola High School,
Los Angeles

MAYOR NEWSOM, MEET ST. PAUL

Your May 2004 issue informs us about Gavin Newsom's latest adventures in twisting the law and morality.

In all those lectures he complained about he must have never been introduced to St. Paul, who wrote for our instruction, "it is an abomination for two of the same sex to lie together." I think this puts to rest Newsom's strong feeling that his values are consistent with the Catholic values of openness, diversity, and forgiveness. Better think again, Mayor, and take on some different "feelings" before you connect your belief in homosexual marriage with the Christian or Catholic believers.

Somewhere along the way, Mayor Newsom, you missed this important admonition. Better think longer and harder next time you decide with impetuosity to start such a project. Why don't you try doing something about the homeless instead? It should keep you busy for a long time.

J. Cooney,
Oakland

MORE POWER TO BISHOP VIGNERON

San Francisco Faith always has articles to upset those of us who adhere to the magisterium. Jesuits take a vow of obedience to the pope. Now I ask you, does hosting the Voice of the Faithful by the University of San Francisco at Lone Mountain sound like obedience to the pope? And why does the president of the University always appear in a suit and tie? Everyone knows the Voice of the Faithful is trying to "change" the Catholic Church. More power to Bishop Vigneron. He has a hard task, but I believe the Holy Spirit will give him the graces he needs to fight the battle. He is in my prayers.

The University of San Francisco has gone off the deep end in countless ways. It is not easy to find a Catholic University these days, and the Jesuits have most definitely gone astray. Also the speaker at the recent graduation ceremony of Dominican University in San Rafael was none other than Barbara Boxer! Then the article on the Most Holy Trinity church in San Jose [see June 2004 Faith] leaves much to be desired. I note that the priest was also a Jesuit. The reporter mentions that there was no processional cross, lay people were sprinkling the holy water on the congregation, no altar servers and appalling music, chairs without kneelers, etc. Does this sound like the church that Our Lord instituted?

In the Gospel according to John on Thursday, May 20, we are reminded that "you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy." May this Gospel reading give us hope that the Church will triumph despite all the turmoil that takes place today.

name withheld
received via e-mail

A MISLEADING REPORT

Today I listened to an audio recording of a forum on gay marriage on the web site of the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, which sponsored the forum. Directly afterwards, I read on your web site John Herreid's "Ambiguous at Best" [March Faith], which purported to be a report on the forum.

I found Mr. Herreid's report biased, misleading, and even flatly inaccurate in reporting the comments of the participants. Given that your web site reflects a Catholic perspective, Mr. Herreid's bias certainly didn't surprise me. However, his article purported to be a journalistic report, not an editorial.

Given the nature of your web site, I think one can fairly assume that most of Mr. Herreid's readers will share his biases. What interest is served by his misleading readers who already agree with him?

Sherman L. Greene,
New York

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