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Contents © 2000
by Jim Holman.
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NEWS
JUNE 2000

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HAYNES PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION BILL DIES State Senator Ray Haynes (R-Riverside) made another attempt to outlaw partial-birth abortions in late April. The measure would have banned the procedure, except when the mother's life is in danger. The bill would have imposed civil penalties and suspension of a doctor's medical license for violating the ban. The measure did not even make it out of committee. On April 26th, the Senate Health and Human Services committee killed the bill by a vote of 4-3. Northern Californian representatives voting against the ban were Senators John Vasconcellos (D- San Jose) and Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont). For early legislative warnings on pro-family issues, check out the Capitol Resource Institute website at www.capitolresource.org.


CATHOLIC THEATER IN THE SOUTH BAY Quo Vadis, a three-year-old South Bay Catholic theater group in search of a permanent home is looking to the future with high hopes and enthusiasm. The non-profit company was founded in 1997 by a group of amateur Catholic playwrights, directors, and actors who were interested in putting on uplifting productions.

Dan O'Connell, a theater arts graduate of San Jose State, is the current president and Cathal Gallagher, a native of County Donegal, Ireland, the first president, now in-residence playwright. "Quo Vadis was formed around the philosophy that the dramatic portrayal of lives of saints and martyrs on stage can inspire the youth of today," Gallagher said. "We believe great drama can shape moral character. We also believe modern entertainment has contributed to the collapse of spiritual values. We, as Catholic artists, owe it to our young people to do something about it." Three plays have been produced to date, each dealing with a Catholic hero of earlier times. The first effort in the spring of 1997 was The Pearl of York, the story of Margaret Clitherow, daughter of the Lord Mayor of York, who was tried for treason for her faith during the religious upheavals of 16th Century England. A Fiddler In Granby Lane deals with Matt Talbot's alcoholism and his turning to faith. Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, a native of Dublin, attended this play and attested to its accuracy.

This spring will see another new play by Gallagher, Plunkett, which is about the martyrdom of Irish Archbishop Oliver Plunkett in England in the 1600s. The play is scheduled to run from May 24-27. Until now, all plays have been put on at the Sunnyvale Community Theater (550 East Remington Drive, just off El Camino Real). "It's a fine theater," Gallagher says, "but the rental is almost $5,000 a week. A theater of our own would enable us to put on several plays a year, train new playwrights and actors, and produce films and videos for the national market."

What about help from Catholic foundations? "That is our biggest disappointment," Gallagher said. "When we were first organized we contacted about 30 Catholic foundations about the possibility of obtaining grants. We did not receive a favorable response from any of these organizations. However, we have done quite well with small donations from people enthusiastic about our dramas. A pleasant surprise to date has been the number of young people in the audience. One school sent an entire student body and some history teachers will send students to the plays for extra credit.

For more information about Quo Vadis, call (408) 257-1149 or write PO Box 9023, San Jose,CA. 95157.


DOMINICANS CELEBRATE SESQUICENTENNIAL The Dominican Friars and Sisters of the West celebrated their sesquicentennial liturgy in mid-April in San Francisco at St. Mary's Cathedral. Archbishop William Levada was the principal celebrant at the Mass, concelebrated by bishops from all over the west and Father Timothy Radcliffe, master of the Dominican order. Father Radcliffe's homily traced the history of the Dominicans since the order first came to California in 1850. Father Augustine Anderson came to San Francisco to found St. Patrick's Church on lower Market. He was followed by fellow Dominicans, Father Joseph Alemany, Father Sadoc Vilarrosa, and Sister Mary Goemaere who took up residence in Monterey. Father Alemany later became Bishop of California.


QUINN TO JOIN USD FACULTY Retired San Francisco Archbishop John R. Quinn is joining the faculty of the University of San Diego under a special arrangement that will put him on the Roman Catholic campus two semesters over the next two years. According to published accounts, the 71-year-old Quinn, who retired from his position with the SF diocese in 1995, will teach a graduate-level theology seminar exploring such issues as the papacy and Christian unity. Last year Quinn came out with a book, The Reform of the Papacy: The Costly Call to Christian Unity. When a San Diego Union-Tribune reporter asked a USD administrator whether the unorthodox content of Quinn's book would cause problems among orthodox Catholics, the official said that a Catholic university needs to hear from diverse perspectives.


LA NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING CONFERENCE On March 25, natural family planning was embraced by more than 150 attendees of the seventh annual conference of the California Association of Natural Family Planning, held at the Los Angeles Archdiocesan Catholic Center. Representatives from the Salinas-based California Association of Natural Family Planning took part in the event.

Keynote speaker Dr. John Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Boston, told NFP supporters that they were, in society's eyes, "bold, brazen and delusional enough" to believe the culture of life could be constructed on the foundation of NFP. In his speech, Dr. Haas said that nations such as the United States have reverted to barbarism and the disintegration of life through acceptance of abortion and its related practices. Modern hostility toward procreation and marriage reflects the heretical practices of the Albigensians, a 13th-century French sect, Dr. Haas explained. Society's hatred for the fullness of the flesh is manifested in support of abortion, infanticide and the harvesting of fetal body parts. Haas said that the division between body and spirit can especially be seen in France, where abortion facilities are euphemistically called angel factories because they send unborn babies to heaven. Similarly, euthanasia supporters say they seek to release the sick from intense suffering, Dr. Haas pointed out. The practice of NFP, he said, makes us less susceptible to manipulations of the human body in opposition to its innate beauty and design. What is at stake, Haas said, is a sound understanding of ourselves and the family as rational, bodily and spiritual creatures.

Two priests from the Los Angeles archdiocese, the Reverends Marcos Gonzalez and Roberto Pirrone, told participants in their workshop that priests must spread the gospel of life from the pulpit without fear of rejection from people in the pews. "They walked away from Jesus when he preached the truth," said Father Gonzalez, associate pastor at St. Andrew's in Pasadena, responding to a question about priests' fear of losing people and collection money. He said that people respect a priest who has the courage of his convictions and supports Church teachings, and he stated that parishioners have responded to sermons on NFP with standing ovations. To break down walls of resistance in Church circles, Father Pirrone, associate pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul in Wilmington, said NFP must be explained as a reasonable, practical and theologically sound alternative to parishioners and should form part of adult education and marriage programs. He related that he has preached NFP for 12 years and he has "never been stoned yet."

For more information, contact the California Association of Natural Family Planning, 1217 Tyler St., Salinas, CA 93906 / 1-877-33-CANFP / 831-443-3746 voice or fax / info@canfp.org / www.canfp.org.


REBUILDING BABEL -- UNITED RELIGIONS CHARTER STATEMENT DUE IN JUNE The United Religions Initiative is a group that seeks the coming together of all religions in order to solve "global issues and problems." Its global headquarters and interfaith board of directors are located in San Francisco. Supporters have waited since 1996 for the release of a draft charter for the organization for a future United Religions. The draft of this document is scheduled for release in June.

The group was inspired when Episcopal Bishop William Swing was asked by the United Nations to host the 1995 celebration of its 50th anniversary founding at San Francisco's Grace Episcopal Cathedral. Also present was Father Gerry O'Rourke, director of the office of ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Since this multi-denominational celebration, Father O'Rourke has traveled throughout the United States and Europe seeking support for the United Religions Initiative. Thus far members do not enjoy support from the Vatican, but Father O'Rourke, and Bishop Levada have played a role in its spread.

In 1996, the United Religions Initiative was launched with Bishop Swing as its president and Father O'Rourke and Father Jon Lo Schavio, chancellor of the University of San Francisco, as members of its board. They began to publish a journal to raise support. Its spring 1997 issue featured a prayer on the cover that read, "Peace is energy, a qualitative energy which emanates constantly from the One imperishable source. It is a pure force that penetrates the shell of chaos, and by its very nature automatically puts things and people into balanced order." United Religions claims that since 1996 over 1,000 people have participated in six regional conferences around the world. Published reports indicated that the cathedral in Chartres, France is the latest to join the movement.

Locally, the Interfaith Center at the Presidio is a model for future United Religions projects. Before the army's departure from the facility in 1995, a local multi-denominational group called the Interfaith Center became a nonprofit corporation and began negotiations to take over the Presidio's main chapel. A month after the Army's departure, the Interfaith Center group hosted an event called A Gathering of Blessings at the Presidio where the attendees gathered before an altar decorated with flowers and lit candles, gave speeches and chanted together. The event is described on the Interfaith website thus: "By 9:30 an extraordinary group of unacquainted but like-minded individuals started arriving to the sounds of the Shakuhashi flute, a Zen Buddhist instrument. Each session was introduced by a brief reading, passages drawn from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Native American sources. At mid-day a chant called Humankind Is Our Family prefaced lunch, and a stirring gospel rendition of Ordinary People concluded the day's discussion." Shinto members then led prayers to a "primary parent" during their purification blessings. A Wiccan choral group sang blessings as the group processed west, representing "an ancient outdoors-worshiping tradition where God is found in nature." The bizarre ritual ended with a coconut blessing for new beginnings by Hindus while Sanskrit blessings were chanted.

In March of 1996, the national park service invited the Interfaith Center group to officially take over the Presidio chapel for its own uses. Archbishop Levada was a co-signer of the petition that requested the transfer. Father O'Rourke is known to the Interfaith Center as head of the San Francisco Interfaith Council, which is listed as a sponsor of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio. Father O'Rourke's group was the initial fiscal agent that wrote the checks and oversaw the financial planning of the center. The center's website provides a link and a plug for the United Religions Initiative, which has since used the facilities along with Zororastrian groups, Hindus, Methodists, Mormons and others.


EUROPEAN PENSION SYSTEMS SET TO COLLAPSE -- LOW FERTILITY BLAMED According to the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, the president of the European Commission recently warned governments that by 2025 nearly one-third of the European population will be collecting pensions. Italian Romano Prodi also warned that nearly all pensions will be covered at government expense, paid by European taxpayers. Prodi's warning is another in a line of predictions as to the results of population control. Most European countries are no longer replacing themselves. The average woman in an advanced industrial society must have 2.1 children in her lifetime in order for the country's population to remain stable. The United Nations reports that 61 countries, and all of Europe, are experiencing "below replacement fertility." Experts expect this number to grow to as many as 80 countries in the coming year. Experts predict that Italy's population will shrink 28 percent to 41 million by 2050. It is also predicted that the European Union as a whole will shrink to 18 million people fewer than the United States that continues to grow. At this time the European population is larger than the US. Population problems are not just vexing Western Europe. The former Communist countries in the east are having even greater problems. In a report just released by the UN Economic Commission for Europe, it is predicted that population levels are expected to drop by a third in former communist countries by 2050. The report states that the countries of Eastern Europe have the lowest fertility rates in the world. The latest figures, from 1998, reveal that women are having on average 1.3 children in Eastern Europe, compared to 1.6 in western Europe. The immediate result of "below replacement fertility" is population aging. As the older population grows to retirement age, they must rely on rapidly expanding social security and medical systems. The bind doubles as this growing need cannot be met by a shrinking number of younger and more productive workers. Pro-lifers are concerned that the European scenario of rapidly aging populations increasing the strain on social services will lead inevitably to increased reliance on euthanasia. Euthanasia is already practiced in the Netherlands.

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