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Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

NEWS
APRIL 2001

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PRO-FAMILY FORCES BEGIN UPHILL FIGHT IN 2001 LEGISLATIVE SESSION. While most of the media continues its fixation on energy issues -- on Valentine's Day, Senator Pete Knight and nine other pro-marriage legislators joined with the Campaign for California Families group and launched the campaign's marriage protection pledge. The group is challenging other legislators to sign the pledge and will publicly reveal on March 7 those who have not done so. March 7 is the one-year anniversary of the passage of proposition 22 (the Protection of Marriage Initiative). The legislative threats to marriage are numerous this session, despite wide approval of the marriage initiative by voters last fall. Of top concern is a Vermont-style civil union bill: Assembly bill 1338 is coauthored by three lesbian Democrats: Sheila Kuehl of Santa Monica, Carole Migden of San Francisco, and Jackie Goldberg of Los Angeles. The bill would "provide for the issuance of a civil union license, and provide that the rights and obligations of a civil union, which could be entered into by any two persons, are the same as those of a marriage." Another, assembly bill 25, by Migden reintroduces a variety of expanded rights for domestic partners.

On the senate side, two bills are being targeted by pro-family groups. The first, senate bill 225 will expand hate crimes definitions and regulations to interscholastic sports. The bill also circumvents current complaint filing procedures to allow people to bypass their local districts and file a complaint with Delaine Eastin's department of education. Senate bill 257 will require a "comprehensive school safety plan to include development of a discrimination and harassment policy and hate crime reporting procedures" between any agency in partnership with schools. To view the Campaign for California Families' list of lawmakers who signed the marriage protection pledge, go to: www.savecalifornia.com


FIRST TRIAL FOR OPT-OUT FORMS A SUCCESS. In early February, a mother with a son attending a high school in the Elk Grove unified school district learned that her son's teacher was advocating moral acceptance of homosexuality during class time that had been designated to teach tolerance. The mother contacted the Pacific Justice Institute who provided her with an opt-out form as well as advising her in how to have her child placed with a different teacher. At first the principal refused to agree with the parental request, but after receiving the parent's letter and conferring with the teacher, the son was placed in an alternative classroom. Brad Dacus with the Pacific Justice Institute said that thousands of parents statewide have asked for the form so far. Dacus said, "Most important is that schools are being put on notice. We have a network of over 500 attorneys who are ready, willing, and able to take up these cases if needed." To download a form, go to: http://www.pacificjustice.org/home.html


SAN FRANCISCO CITY EMPLOYEES TO GET SEX CHANGE BENEFIT if Mayor Willie Brown and the board of supervisors approve a proposal to add the component to the health care plans for city workers. If the measure passes, the benefits will be offered starting on July 1. The proposal quietly passed the city's health service systems board on February 8. Should the measure pass, it will cover sex-change operations, hormone treatment and related medical expenses. To change one's physical components from male to female costs about $37,000. Changing from female to male costs about $77,000. The proposal would impose a lifetime cap of $50,000 on sex-change procedures. While there is no other known civic entity in the United States that provides these benefits, the San Francisco Chronicle notes that, "a handful of foreign governments with socialized medicine do. Among them are the Netherlands, Denmark and a few Canadian provinces." The plan must pass a full vote of the San Francisco board of supervisors, the legislative body for the city and county. The vote has not been placed on the city agenda as of this writing, but the supervisors' rules committee will consider the appointment of three new members to the city's transgender civil rights implementation task force on March 1. Contact information for the San Francisco county supervisors can be found at: www.ci.sf.ca.us/bdsupvrs/


UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO FIRINGS DRAWING ATTENTION. Among the national media that covered the firings at the University of San Francisco last month, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial blasting the university on February 9. The dispute at the Jesuit institution arose last month after the president, Father Steven A. Privett, pulled the director and associate director from the Saint Ignatius Institute. Six members of the institute's faculty say they well not teach under the new paradigm. Father Privett privately set up a question and answer session, which he then released on February 6. Privett denied that he intends to blend the Saint Ignatius Institute with the existing Catholic studies program and in response to one of the posed questions, he responded, "I appreciate the sense of community that permeates the [the institute] and understand the concern behind this criticism. The [institute] has one director, and I could not appoint a new director without removing the former director. There was no way to do this that would leave everyone satisfied, including myself." The departing faculty responded in a publicly released letter on February 9, in part, "The reason you did not bother to take counsel with the faculty is, we submit, clear to anyone familiar with the institute: because most if not all of the core faculty of the institute too clearly are deeply committed to its religious vision and theological position. That is why you did not even bother to take counsel with the faculty. You hired Dr. Murphy precisely because he was not so tied to that vision and position; and you fired Mr. John Galten precisely because he was ... and not because he was not an academic. We submit that this makes sense of your action. We also submit that this sense is apparent not just to us, but to many others as well."


SISTER GRAMICK SIGHTING IN OAKLAND at Christ the King parish. On February 3rd, Sister Jeannine Gramick, addressed a gathering of adherents to the organization she co-founded. The New Ways Ministries conference was sponsored by Dignity San Francisco/San Jose and a Call to Action chapter from Christ The King parish. Sister Gramick is a well-known figure in Rome. Cardinal Ratzinger, prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote on May 21, 1999: "The ambiguities and errors of the approach of [New Ways Ministry co-founder] Father Nugent and Sister Gramick have caused confusion among the Catholic people and have harmed the community of the Church. For these reasons, Sister Jeannine Gramick, and Father Robert Nugent are permanently prohibited from any pastoral work involving homosexual persons and are ineligible, for an undetermined period, for any office in their respective religious institutes." In an excerpt from a counter-statement by Sister Gramick on May 25th, 2000 in response to the Vatican ban: "Society hears the pain of battered women who remained silent for too long, often because of fear of further reprisals or concern about others, particularly their children. When a woman has found sufficient strength to name the oppression she has endured and seeks help, she is often pursued by the batterer, who tries to cower her into submission and begin the cycle of intimidation once again."


KRONZER FOUNDATION SUES RELIGIOUS FUNDRAISERS FOR DECIETFUL BUSINESS PRACTICES IN CALIFORNIA The Philip Kronzer Foundation for Religious Research is a Los Gatos-based non-profit foundation. According to Jonathan Levy, an attorney for the group, it was established to help victims of religious fraud. The group filed a lawsuit February 12 in the California superior court in the county of Sacramento against a national religious group who, the suit alleges, have used deceptive fundraising methods to swindle thousands of California residents. The suit says groups from Alabama, Indiana and New Jersey have used alleged visions of the Virgin Mary and phony papal indulgences as a front to engage in money laundering, tax evasion, and smuggling, rather than their stated charitable goals.

The suit filed in February targets the Birmingham, Alabama-based Caritas organization for their fund-raising and sales in California that, the suit alleges, were used primarily for the enrichment of its leader, Terry Colafrancesco. The suit also alleges Caritas uses mind control, false promises, and other deceptions to extract money from donors in California. Other groups cited in the suit include the Children of Medjugorje of South Bend, Indiana and the New Jersey-based Children of War.

Among other things, the suit says, "former members of the Caritas community allege that Terry Colafrancesco utilized funds raised from donors for his own use by purchasing equipment and vehicles for the exclusive use of himself and his family. Further Colafrancesco has purchased real property adjoining the Caritas compound and placed the titles in his name or his proxies. Colafrancesco has engaged in money laundering for personal gain. Community members under his control were issued checks by Caritas and instructed to cash these checks and return the proceeds to Colafrancesco."

Attorneys for the Kronzer Foundation have indicated that this suit is the first of many that the foundation plans to file to expose the religious fraud worldwide. Foundation attorney Jonathan Levy says of the suits, "We know there are real abuses associated with Medjugorje, in particular, that discredit the faith."

For more on the Kronzer Foundation visit http://www.kronzer.org


CONCORD'S WOOD ROSE ACADEMY EXPANDING TO HIGH SCHOOL In its fifth year, the Concord private K-8 school is finding an unexpected demand for slots in their small school from West-Bay residents who are relocationg en masse because of the real estate boom in San Francisco. Phil Sevilla is spearheading the Wood Rose planning committee and is tasked with finding space for all the kids whose parents are clamoring to get placed there. "Right now we are busting at the seams," he said. The school has seen its attendance soar from 20 kids to over 80 kids expected next school year. Nonetheless, the school is planning on offering 20 new slots for high school students in the fall. Wood Rose was first established in a two-story building that once served as a Baptist elementary school. Wood Rose is leasing the property from the First Baptist Church of Concord. To make room for additional students, the planning committee is exploring adding portable buildings to the existing site, but they are also trying to buy a small Protestant church nearby to serve as a permanent location.

The school is a private and independent. When asked if the school has considered applying for a charter from the state so they can be eligible for average daily attendance money from the state, Sevilla said, "No, we explored that, but we are leery of the strings attached." Sevilla sees a nationwide trend towards increasing popularity of independent schools like Wood Rose Academy.

The school offers a strong religious component, including a weekly lecture on virtue for all upper grade students (grades 4-8) and staff. The lectures will be expanded for high school in the fall. Parents are encouraged to attend. The school also uses the Faith and Life series from Ignatius Press. For its high school students, Wood Rose hopes to establish an agreement with local community colleges for extra instruction. For more information about the school: www.woodroseacademy.org/

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