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Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

NEWS
FEBRUARY 2001

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ANTI-ABORTION PRAYER PROCESSIONS IN SACRAMENTO As part of an observance of the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Monsignor Edward Kavanagh, pastor of St. Rose parish in Sacramento and Father John Berg of the Fraternity of St. Peter, led a procession and prayer vigil on December 10 from St. Rose on Fruitridge to a Planned Parenthood abortion facility on Franklin Boulevard in Sacramento. The Planned Parenthood facility was targeted because pro-lifers suspect it is strategically located to target the mostly Latino neighborhood that surrounds it.

Monsignor Kavanagh led another group on December 28 from the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacramento past the capitol to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on T Street for Mass. The event commemorated the holy innocents that were killed by King Herod in his failed attempt to kill the Christ child, and the millions of babies that have suffered prenatal murder. Also in attendance were Monsignor Andrew Coffey, pastor emeritus at St. James in Davis, and Father James Murphy, pastor at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.


PRIESTLESS IN CONCORD. It was announced on December 17, at all the Masses at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Concord that the parishioners will be without priests beginning January 15. The pastor, Father William Macchi, a man in his early sixties, is retiring from active service due to Alzheimer's disease. The parochial vicar, Father Nicholas Glisson, is being transferred to Christ the King church in Pleasant Hill. Last July, deacon Chuck Palomares, announced that St. Francis was in a dire financial situation. He said there was a possibility that if contributions did not increase the church might have to close. Parishioners have accepted heavy financial burdens not only to rebuild the church following a fire in the 1980s, but also to repair the new church several years later when the roof began leaking and mold and dry rot problems were discovered.

At the time of the July announcement the parish was in another period of building, this time the remodeling of a former convent to accommodate expanded parish offices. There are at least ten paid staff plus office workers, the deacon and the two priests. No funds have gone to support the school for several years. In the December 17th prepared statement read by Deacon Palomares, he said, "We, as a community of the people of God, are the Church and by our baptism, were responsible as priests and prophets for our own parish."

On December 11 the parishioners were given a glimpse of what that responsibility would entail during an Advent service presided over by the St. Francis lay staff. The two priests sat in the audience dressed in civilian clothers. The priests and the deacon were called to the altar to allow the congregation to come forward and bless the priests.

Following the service, a representative of the diocese addressed the congregation. Parishioners were asked to break into small groups of 15, and to write down their desired values for the church and future pastor on large sheets of paper. Following the meeting people lingered in the church talking in small groups, some sitting up on the altar, some talking on cell phones. During the time of transition, Deacon Palomares will run the parish.


WORKING TO ADVANCE CAUSE OF FATHER SERRA The cause of Father Junipero Serra, is now publishing a newsletter called Siempre Adelante! The Spanish title means "always go forward" and is derived from Father Serra's motto, "Always go forward and never turn back!"

The cause of Father Serra, "the apostle of California" and founder of California's missions, was opened in 1934. Subsequently Franciscan fathers Maynard Geiger and Eric O'Brien completed much of the required historical research. Father Noel Moholy, a theology professor at Old Mission Santa Barbara Theological Seminary, took over as vice postulator and passed away in Santa Barbara in September 1998. Father Moholy's efforts on behalf of the cause were rewarded on September 25, 1988, when he witnessed Serra's beatification by Pope John Paul II in Rome. The cause is now pursuing Blessed Junipero's canonization as a saint.

Brother Timothy Arthur, of Old Mission Santa Barbara, serves as the cause's director. In addition to the newsletter, a newly published booklet of Blessed Junipero devotions, "Meditations and Novena," is now available. A $5.00 donation is requested. For more information about the Blessed Junipero Serra cause, contact Brother Timothy Arthur, at Old Mission Santa Barbara, 2201 Laguna Street, Santa Barbara, California 93105, (805) 682-4713/ FriarTim@aol.com.


FREEMONT SOCIETY LOSING SISTER MARIE LISCHWE Medical Mission Sister Marie Lischwe is being transferred to southern California in January. For 15 years, Sister Marie served as office manager of the Fremont Society, A Catholic crisis pregnancy center in Sunnyvale. She also volunteered for a Catholic Charities Foster Grandparents' program. Sister Marie said, "It has always been my privilege to work for the saving of human life from conception to natural death. I am grateful for the vocation, which has led me in this direction serving God and my fellow man." The Medical Mission Sisters recently celebrated their 75th anniversary at St. Mary's cathedral in San Francisco.


DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY TO THE RESCUE Forty eight low income families will lose their homes if the owner of the Carriage Manor complex sells to a developer who will raze the property to build condominiums and town houses. The nuns, who are already performing minor miracles in the areas of education and day care in a small community along the Bayshore Freeway are waging a campaign to buy the building and forestall any evictions. With the assistance of the Junior League of Palo Alto Midpeninsula and the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, the Daughters of Charity are hoping to purchase Carriage Manor, fix it up, and retain it for its current occupants. All of this is contingent on the owner, Benyam Mulugeta, finding by 28 February, a replacement property to avoid a sizeable capital gains tax. The price tag is $5.2 million of which $4 million has already been raised in donations. The group hopes to come up with the balance prior to the deadline, For the past three years, the Daughters of Charity and the Junior League have run free English classes and a child care program in two of the apartments. The nuns are also responsible for the Elizabeth Seton elementary school, which draws nearly all of its students from low-income families in East Palo Alto. Mulugeta, an Ethiopian immigrant who came to this country penniless, has prospered in the booming Bay Area real estate market, He purchased Carriage Manor less than a year ago for $2.1 million and stands to make a tidy profit, regardless of the purchaser. The bulk of the Manor's residents work at the minimum wage as janitors, busboys, gardeners, and house keepers and speak little English. They pay from $400 to $800 a month for the studio and one-bedroom apartments. Donations for the purchase of Carriage Manor may be sent to: Daughters of Charity Ministry Services Corporation 3663 Martin Luther King Blvd, Lynwood,Ca. 90262.


WHERE ARE THE YOUNG PEOPLE? Every Saturday morning a small group of San Francisco pro-lifers hold a lawful prayer vigil for the unborn outside an abortion mill at the California and Baker Street intersection. Gray-haired senior citizens are said to dominate these gatherings, which started eight years ago.


ROSARIES FOR LIFE Although Vice-President Al Gore attracted more Catholic votes than Bush nationwide, one Bay Area activist is waging a nationwide campaign to have at least one rosary said a week for four years for the president and congress to bring about pro-life legislation, starting with a ban on partial-birth abortions, all the way to a reversal of the Roe decision. Rita Donnelly, of Los Altos, organizer of the drive said, "This should be a national endeavor. It has been said that all it takes for evil to triumph is for the good to do nothing. Our Lady helped us this time. She will surely continue to help us if we are faithful to our commitment to the cause of the unborn, and a return to God and morality."

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