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Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

NEWS
MARCH 2001

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MORE SURVEY RESULTS The results from the Bay Area parish survey we published in October, November, and December issues of the Faith keep rolling in. New responses are printed below. Some parishes got more than one vote, but we are listing them no more than once.

MUSIC

Best Parish

1. Sacred Heart, San Francisco
"Exuberant Gospel choir with several gifted singers."

2. St. Margaret Mary, Oakland
"A little organ pre-Mass."

3. St. David of Wales, Richmond
"[The]organ and organist are awesome."

4. Our Lady of Peace, Santa Clara
"The music offered by Professor William Mahrt's Stanford choir at the Latin Mass on the first Saturday evening of each month is superb."

5. St. Pius, Redwood City

6. St. Victor's, San Jose
"Excellent choir, 10:45 a.m."

7. St. Christopher's, San Jose
"Music enhances the Mass and adds to the beauty of the Mass without distraction."

8. Five Wounds, San Jose
"Excellent choir 5:30 p.m."

9. Annunciation, Stockton

Worst Parish

1. St. John Vianney, San Jose
"Mish-mash music."

2. St. Thomas More, San Francisco
"Constant caterwauling interrupting silence, particularly when meditating on Christ after Holy Communion."

3. St. Michael's, Stockton
"The people refuse to sing with the choir -- feels like I'm the only one singing -- especially 5:15 Mass. No community."

4. St. Joseph Cathedral, San Jose
"This church also functions as a concert hall with paid admissions. The secular music is better than average, but since it is profane music, it has no place in a church."

SERMONS

Best Parish

1. St. Mary's Cathedral
"All priests give heartfelt, spiritual homilies."

2. St. David of Wales

3. St. Christopher's, San Jose
"I left one parish because the homily was an act. I travel miles to St. Christopher's to hear a profound and "learning" sermon every week. I've learned more about my faith at St. Christopher's in less than one year!"

4. St. Margaret Mary, Oakland
"Well prepared, integrated -- sin mentioned."
"Father Atwood is a true pastor in every sense."

5. St. James, Petaluma (Monsignor Joseph Alzugaray)
"Every single homily of Monsignor Joe's is a nugget daily or Sunday. They inspire and he is famous at St. James for them."

6. Five Wounds, San Jose (Father Jack Larocca)

7. St. Joseph's, Modesto

Worst Parish

1. St. Dominic's, San Francisco
"New-age jargon."

2. Sacred Heart, Anderson
"[The] priest has appointed a woman deacon who sometimes gives the homily."

INTERIOR ART

Best Parish

1. Saints Peter and Paul
"Beautiful altars throughout the church honoring many saints."

2. St. Dominic's, San Francisco
"Gothic -- many crucifixes. East window; wood and stone side altar."

3. Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Sacramento

4. Nativity Church, Menlo Park
"The stained glass windows, especially that of the nativity above the original altar, are outstanding."

5. St. David of Wales
"[The] original altar will replace current 'renovation'."

6. St. Christopher's, San Jose
The interior has been designed to inspire people to be with the Lord in His house. It is beautiful, relaxing, and without distractions."

7. Five Wounds, San Jose
"Self-explanatory, see for yourself."

Worst Parish

1. St. John Baptist, Milpitas
"All statues placed in a narrow room apart from the church. [The] altar looks like it's been made smaller."

2. St. Thomas More, San Francisco
"Indecipherable colored glass. Dwarf wood statues of Mary and Joseph hidden in corner."

3. St. Anthony's, Manteca
"Feeling of emptiness. Barn-look to it."

4. St. Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco
"Aircraft hangar-like. No crucifix over the altar. Huge sanctuary dominated by large marble chair above-level of side of tabernacle."

5. St. Joseph's Cathedral, San Jose
"The green, round altar beneath the dome looks more like a roulette table than an altar. The tabernacle is hidden from view. All kneelers have been removed. The art is tasteless. The most prominent feature of this cathedral is an over-sized and tasteless bishop's throne behind the main altar."

ARCHITECTURE

Best Parish

1. Mission Dolores, San Francisco

2. Holy Spirit, Fremont
"Enlarging to include the old and the new. Very nice!"

3. St. Brendan's, San Francisco
"Small, dark-wooded, Spanish."

4. Five Wounds, San Jose

5. St. Christopher's, San Jose
"It is what a church should portray."

6. Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Sacramento

7. Nativity Parish, Menlo Park
"This church is a gem inside and out..."

Worst Parish

1. St. John Baptist, Milpitas

2. Our Lady of the Valley, Fall River Mills

3. Queen of Apostles, San Jose
"The church is boxy and the tabernacle is removed to a boxy side room. There is very little to excite devotion in this barren church."


SILICON VALLEY PRAYER VIGIL On a bright, sunlit morning on January 15, Silicon Valley commuters were taken aback to see nearly 200 pro-lifers of all ages surround a Sunnyvale abortion mill singing religious hymns and praying for the unborn. Monsignor Philip Reilly, the founder and executive director of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants, led the peaceful prayer vigil. The procession began with an early Mass at Our Lady of Peace Shrine in Santa Clara, concelebrated by Reilly and Monsignor Sweeny, pastor of the shrine. After Mass, they drove to St. Martin's Church in Sunnyvale and began their half-mile walk to a Planned Parenthood facility. Participants of all ages showed up from Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Walnut Creek, San Lorenzo, Palo Alto, San Jose, and nearly every other city in the Bay Area. For the past eleven years, Reilly has traveled the world leading pro-life prayer vigils. In his own Brooklyn, New York diocese, the number of abortion mills has dropped from forty-three to twenty three. He said, 'We need a bridge from the culture of death to the culture of life. If the current revolution in the biological-scientific field is not guided by Judeo-Christian values it will be an age of barbarism. We must proclaim the Gospel of Life to people and as long as someone is praying at a clinic, it shows someone cares." Seventy-five bishops and five cardinals around the world have joined Reilly in his endeavors. "We must take a stand with Christ at the foot of the Cross," he adds, "with love, patience, and without hatred for those involved in the business of abortion. The exploited mothers need you. The babies need you. Do not let God's precious infants die without love." On the last Saturday of each month, about 60 pro-lifers gather for hymns and prayers at the same clinic on Fair Oaks and Evelyn in Sunnyvale, following an 8 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Peace. Several years ago, another event led by Msgr. Reilly brought out l,500 pro-lifers in San Francisco.


BURIAL RITE FOR FLUSHED INFANTS. A rite of burial was said at the Sacramento sewage treatment plant by pro-lifers on January 22 to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the Roe decision. Sacramento's Monsignor Kavanagh, pastor of St. Rose parish, and president of the St. Patrick home for children, led the prayer on the west side of Franklin Boulevard, 2 miles south of Mack Road. The burial rite was said for the thousands of aborted babies who have been flushed into Sacramento area sewers and now lie buried in a vile cemetery. Many of the remains come from abortion mills that use garbage disposal units to shred the bodies before sending them down the sewer drain. Some years ago, the sewer outside the Sacramento Pregnancy Consultation Center was completely clogged by a baby's body. The numbers of aborted prenatal babies flushed into sewers will increase due to "morning-after" early abortions and RU-486 "pill abortions".


HIV HEALTH REPORT CAUSES STIR. When local and national health experts joined together to give a draft preview to the media of their updated estimates of HIV infection on January 24, eyebrows were raised in the homosexual community. The researchers from the state and San Francisco departments of health, staff at the University of California San Francisco and other research organizations concluded that the rate of new HIV infection among homosexual men has more than doubled -- from 1.04% in 1997 to 2.2% in 2000. Researchers also found that since 1997, the number of male rectal gonorrhea cases in San Francisco has risen 44%. According to the San Jose Mercury News, members of ACT-UP are disputing the numbers, which they believe have been trumped so the research bodies can get additional research money. In response to the criticism, The AIDS Research Institute and the San Francisco Department of Health issued a statement: "While a few don't like the numbers and will argue about the analysis of them, there has been little shock that there appears to be a range of 750-900 new infections this year. That the majority of these infections are occurring in men who have sex with men is also not surprising to most observers of or members of the San Francisco gay community." The joint statement attributed the higher HIV estimate to the fact that new drugs are increasing the life-span of HIV-positive men, and a larger homosexual population in San Francisco than they had thought. They estimate that homosexual men compose between 15-20% of the adult male population of San Francisco.


OAKLAND MAYOR LANDS MILITARY CHARTER. Jerry Brown will get the charter school he has been seeking since 1999. Brown will be helped by the passage of Proposition 39 this fall, which will make charter schools eligible for school construction bonds. In December, the state board of education approved a charter petition that had been previously denied by Alameda county education officials. This marks the first time that the California State Board of Education has granted a school charter. Governor Davis personally interceded with the state board to get Brown's petition approved. The school's name will be the Oakland Military Institute, College Preparatory Academy, and is scheduled to open in September. It will initially serve 162 seventh-grade students. At capacity, the school will have a student body of 972 students, covering grades seven through twelve. According to the mayor's office, the school will implement a curriculum that emphasizes the mastery of reading, writing and mathematics. In the seventh grade, students will dedicate three hours daily to reading and one-and-a-half hours to mathematics. The curriculum will also include 50-minute history and science courses, fifty minutes of physical education and a fifty-minute guided study hall. The school day will go from 7:30 a.m. to 5:10 p.m.


CALIFORNIA PROLIFE COUNCIL COMMEMORATION. Father James Murphy delivered the invocation at a California Prolife Council breakfast on the morning of the 22nd in downtown Sacramento. Sacramento Auxilary Bishop Richard Garcia spoke on life issues to about 200 people. Brian Johnston and Stanislaus Dundon spoke regarding the encroachment of assisted suicide. Dundon had personal testimony regarding his own near-death experience a few years ago--and the difficulties getting the medical care necessary to save his life. Today he is healthy and a daily jogger. Following breakfast, the Prolife Council held a rally in support of life at the capitol.


CPPF JOINS CATHOLIC CHARITIES CASE AS AMICUS The California Public Policy Foundation has joined the United States Justice Foundation and other pro-First Amendment groups in filing a "friend of the court" brief supporting Catholic Charities of Sacramento. Catholic Charities is seeking an injunction against California laws that require employers to pay for contraceptive coverage for their employees if the employer provides them health insurance. The United States Justice Foundation, a non-profit legal organization, is preparing the amicus brief. It will challenge the laws, on U.S. and state constitutional grounds, as violating Catholic Charities' religious freedom rights. Some pro-lifers are encouraging the expansion of the lawsuit to include all people of faith, regardless of their employers.


QUO VADIS GROUP LOOKING FOR VENUE. The Quo Vadis Theatre Company of San Jose, A Catholic group of actors and producers, is currently looking for a theatre in San Francisco to stage its spring play titled "The Last Novena". A non-profit organization, it is interested in a free or low-cost location. It has produced plays about a number of saints and eventually hopes to open a Quo Vadis Theatre in every community in America. Long-term plans include a major motion picture. For additional information call (408) 252-3530.


CALIFORNIA PRO-LIFE LEAGUE HOSTS CHARLES RICE On January 27th, Dr. Charles Rice addressed a few hundred members and friends of the California Pro-Life League at their annual dinner at the Concord Hilton. Dr. Rice has co-authored numerous briefs involving right-to-life and right-to-die issues, and has served as co-chair of Free Speech Advocates of Catholics United for Life. He spoke on the need to recognize that those in the pro-life movement are on "the winning side." He insisted that this was the case because, he said, "The culture of death is doing just that -- dying." Dr. Rice has authored a new book on this view called The Winning Side: Questions on Living the Culture of Life.

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