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Contents © 2000
by Jim Holman.
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NEWS
MARCH 2000

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ANTI-PROPOSITION 22 REPUBLICANS held a press conference at the State Capitol January 27 to announce their opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act. Proposition 22 says, "Only a marriage between a man and a woman is recognized in California." It was written in response to the attempts in state such as Hawaii and Vermont to legalize same sex marriages.

At the press conference, Assemblyman Jim Cunneen (R-Silicon Valley) and Ward Connerly, author of the anti-affirmative action Proposition 209 and University of California regent, detailed their opposition to the ballot measure. Cunneen said he was personally against gay marriage, and agrees that it is the Church's role to bless such unions. But he believes that government should ensure that civil contracts provide equal rights for all couples, regardless of sexual orientation.

Connerly related the furor over gay marriages to his own marriage to a white woman. He said many people at the time of his nuptials told him he was violating God's law and that interracial marriages would "destroy civilization. None of that has come to pass." He then noted that many were saying the same thing about same-sex unions, implying that the hue and cry surrounding the issue is misplaced.

Other Bay Area Republicans who oppose Proposition 22 are U.S. Congressman Tom Campbell, Contra Costa County Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier, and Santa Clara Sheriff Laurie Smith.

Prop. 22 proponents passed out information showing that 76 percent of all republicans and 67 percent of Latino voters support Prop. 22. They also said the California Republican Party has endorsed the measure. "I am not at all surprised to see that the author of Proposition 209, one of the most divisive measures ever introduced against Latinos in California, has chosen to join forces with a campaign against marriage," said Julio Calderon, northern regional director for the Mexican American Political Association.


BILLS AIMED AT STOPPING BABY ABANDONMENT. Two bills have been introduced to prevent mothers from abandoning their babies in trash bins were introduced in the legislature in January. Senate Bill 1368 and Assembly Bill 1764 would allow mothers to abandon their infants at places such as hospitals and fire stations without fear of prosecution. The bills are essentially empty shells in their present forms -- the details are to be worked out at a later time. Natalie Williams with the Capitol Resource Institute, a policy group in Sacramento said, "While their intent is good, these bills ignore the law of unintended consequences. Instead of encouraging more women to abandon their children to government agencies, we should remove bureaucratic strings to make private adoptions easier."


MARYLAND GETS GOOD FRIDAY RULING. The Supreme Court rejected an appeal brought by a retired schoolteacher that challenged a Maryland law requiring the closing of all public schools on Good Friday as a violation of the constitutionally required separation of church and state.

According to the appeal by Judith Kienick, a former teacher, the Maryland law "sends the message to non-Christians that the state finds Good Friday, and thus Christianity, to be a religion worth honoring while their religion or nonreligion is not of equal importance.'' The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a lower court, had also rejected her argument.

Catholic League president William Donohue said, "It is welcome news that Maryland has the right to continue its tradition, begun in 1865, to close all public schools on Good Friday. But the rationale employed by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which the high court left standing, is unsatisfactory."

In its decision, the 4th circuit court cited the expected high rate of absenteeism among teachers and students during the holiday. Donohue said, "It should instead have squarely faced the issue by saying that the Maryland law was accommodating -- not sponsoring -- a religious tradition that is grounded in our nation's history. Indeed, in Montgomery County, Maryland, schools properly close on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah; this accommodates Judaism without sponsoring anything."


ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION. While Gov. Gray Davis and California school officials agonize over the sad state of public education, one private school administrator feels they are missing the bigger picture. The first ever rankings for California schools were released in late January with the hope that intense public scrutiny would result in higher test scores. An Academic Performance Index (API) was assigned to nearly every school in the state enabling parents to determine how their children are performing in the neighborhood schools. The results were predictable and not encouraging. A few schools were doing well but most were below the state target of an API 800 for all schools.

Francis Crotty, founder and administrator of Kolbe Academy in Napa, believes improvement in public education must begin with the family, a factor not covered in the API report. "The fathers must be more involved," he recently told a Faith writer. "Too many are gone from the family and too many are not interested in their children's education and the boys and girls suffer. Single-parent families rarely help children when it comes to learning.

"I think something like the Promise Keepers (an organization of Christian men who gathered in the Nation's Capitol several years ago pledging to be better citizens, husbands, and fathers) is a step in the right direction. Until we fix the family, we'll continue to have problems at all levels of society, especially in the education area.

"If I were governor, I would cut the state education budget in half and hold school principals strictly accountable for the performance of their schools."

Kolbe Academy currently has more than 2,000 children in its home schooling program. The school is located at 1600 F Street, Napa, CA 94559.


PROUD TO BE CATHOLIC WANDERER FORUM. Nearly 200 persons attending a mid-January Wanderer Forum in Carmel, California heard Father Francis Filice of San Francisco speak of the 'splendor of the Church' and its mission to evangelize the world.

Father Filice is a retired priest of the San Francisco Archdiocese and is chaplain to the Veterans' Administration Hospital. A pro-life leader in the Bay Area, Filice was a professor of biology at the University of San Francisco for 30 years and has six children and 32 grandchildren. He was ordained a priest in 1979 following the death of his wife.

"The Holy Spirit is at work in the Church", Father Filice assured his audience. "Your prayers are efficacious because they are the prayers of Jesus Christ and your sufferings are the sufferings of Jesus Christ."

He added that the Church has gone through more perilous times, especially around 900 A.D. when there was a succession of bad popes, the Vikings were sacking churches, and Muslims were in control from the Philippines to Spain. "God is working through you and me and we will win this current battle. Make yourself an instrument of the Heavenly Father."

The one-day conference was held at the Carmel Mission Inn near the Carmel Mission where Father Filice celebrated a noontime Mass.

The title of the Carmel event, chaired by John Blewett, president of the Wanderer Forum foundation, was "Proud to be Catholic in the New Age". Former commissioner of major league baseball and prominent Catholic layman, Bowie Kuhn spoke of his belief that Pope John Paul II may be one of the greatest popes of all time.

Citing a drift towards secularism and immorality, Kuhn asked how could this happen in a nation in which 80% of its peoples claim to be Christian. He quoted another prominent Catholic, Alan Keyes, who says, "we must first convert the Catholics".

"Nothing in the world can't be changed by people who have faith and love," Kuhn added. "The enemy is Satan. Stay out of his reach."

Regional Wanderer Forums are held throughout the United States and Canada with an international session scheduled for October 27-29, 2000 in Washington, D.C. For additional information, contact: The Wanderer Forum Foundation PO Box 684, Santa Paula,Ca. 93061-0689, Tel. (805) 933-8222 Fax (805) 933-3342


STANFORD OFFICIAL WILL ENTER THE PRIESTHOOD. The Stanford University dean of admissions is resigning his Palo Alto post to enter the priesthood. Robert Kinnally, 39, will enter St. John Fisher Seminary in Connecticut this summer. He has been director of admissions and financial aid at Stanford since September 1997. Kinnally leaves the university in July and expects to serve as a priest in the Diocese of Bridgeport.


THE DIOCESE OF SANTA ROSA is expected to suffer financial losses of at least $30 million dollars, nearly twice the original estimate, according to a church official. The disclosure came recently from Monsignor John Brenkle, the acting dioceasn financial officer, in a talk at St. Bernard's Church in Eureka. Brenkle reported that a Europe-based foundation used the name of the diocese and its nonprofit status as a cover for a high yield investment scheme. He added that a Swiss lawyer recently submitted a $200,000 bill for his work on a foundation called "Diocese of Santa Rosa--Europe". Other investment losses apparently occurred during the tenure of Bishop G. Patrick Ziemann, former head of the Diocese that reaches from Petaluma to the Oregon border.


SACRAMENTO LOSES FATHER RIZZO. Father John Rizzo of the Fraternity of Saint Peter has been reassigned to Melbourne by way of Rome. His superiors have tasked him with leading the way for the Fraternity's spread in Australia. He departed Sacramento on February 4th.

Father Rizzo came to Sacramento in 1997 to represent the Fraternity in California. He began saying a traditional Latin Mass at St. Rose Church among an existing Latin Mass community.

In the spring of 1998, he moved a few miles away to Immaculate Conception Church, where at first around 60 people attended his Sunday Masses. Two years later, over 400 people crowd into the church on Sundays. Immaculate Conception parishioners will be remember Father Rizzo for his passion for the sacraments and his pastoral care, especially to children, seniors, and the indigent.

Father Rizzo recently spoke to a writer for the Faith, "I've had an amazing time here. I want to thank Bishop Weigand for allowing the Fraternity of Saint Peter and me to come to the diocese of Sacramento. He is owed great credit for facilitating growth in the Latin Mass community." Father Rizzo continued, "I am also pleased that Bishop Weigand has extended the same invitation to my replacement from the Fraternity, Father Terra."

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