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Contents © 2002
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

NEWS
SEPTEMBER 2002

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DADDY DON'T SPEAK FOR ME. After the ninth circuit court of appeals in San Francisco ruled that reciting the pledge of allegiance violated her daughter 's civil rights, Sandra Banning decided to speak out. Banning, who lives in Elk Grove, said her daughter is not upset by reciting the pledge of allegiance. "I was concerned that the American public would be led to believe that my daughter is an atheist, or that she has been harmed by reciting the pledge of allegiance, including the words 'one nation under God,'" Banning said in a statement released to the press.

The eight-year-old girl's father, Michael Newdow, had filed the lawsuit on her behalf saying that her First Amendment rights had been violated by the fact that her class in school recited the pledge of allegiance. Newdow, an atheist, has admitted that he is more concerned with invocation of God in the pledge of allegiance than is his daughter. The girl's mother says that she and her daughter attend church regularly. "We are practicing Christians and are active in our church," she said.

The ruling, by a three-judge panel, unleashed a storm of controversy. Throughout the state and country, people expressed their disbelief at the court's ruling. "Frankly, if the ninth circuit ruling were to be upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, I would be surprised. Within 24 hours, I would expect the introduction of a constitutional amendment to allow the pledge to continue in its current form," California superintendent of public instruction Delaine Eastin said about the ruling.


DUDE, LET'S NOT EVEN GO THERE. In hopes to unseat Governor Gray Davis, Republican nominee Bill Simon, Jr. has vowed to spend the rest of his campaign seeking Latino support. In doing so, he goes after one of Davis' core constituencies. Davis, in 1998, won 77 percent of the Latino vote and still enjoys a huge margin in the Latino community.

Both Simon and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo appealed for Latino votes on July 12 at the annual banquet of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, a nonpartisan effort to get 50,000 new Latinos to the polls in California this fall.

Simon told the group that he would improve the state's school system and promised to support a guest-worker program for illegal immigrants. Although noting his Catholic faith, he did not make any mention of morals issues, such as abortion. "He didn't want to go there," Simon's press office told the Faith.


STREET WISE FIVE-YEAR-OLDS. During the 2001-2002 school year, an elementary school principal in the Morgan Hill Unified School District gave a kindergarten class sex education material that was inappropriate for their age group, according to a June 13 press release sent out by Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute. Dacus said that the principal did not contact parents prior to the presentation, as is required by law, in order to allow them to opt out their children. Some of the parents were shocked at what was presented to the group of five-year-olds. "In the principal's presentation to the children," said Dacus' press release, "the process of how human beings are conceived and born was discussed. For instance, the principal explained that a baby comes from a woman's uterus and is made from the 'egg' of the mother and the 'sperm' of the father. With the aid of vivid pictures and illustrations from various books, like Making Babies, the principal also instructed the children on the medically proper terms for male and female genitalia (i.e. penis and vagina)," Dacus said in a press release.

After parents complained to the school board, the school district "resolved the matter," according to Morgan Hill Unified school superintendent Carolyn McKennan. When asked what the resolution was, McKennan cited for the Faith confidentiality policies regarding school personnel. When pressed further to elaborate on how the matter would be avoided in the future, McKennan refused to comment, saying only that the parents had complained to the school board and the "matter was resolved to their [the school board's] satisfaction."


EXCESSIVE JUSTICE? Jesuit priest Father Edward Burke has been sentenced to two years in state prison for sexually molesting a mentally retarded employee at the Jesuits' Los Gatos retreat house. Burke had pled guilty of sexually abusing a dependent adult at his May 23 arraignment.

Burke will have the dubious distinction of becoming the fifth Jesuit to be registered as a sex offender with the state of California. Burke's attorneys were hoping that Murphy would sentence Burke to probation or house arrest. A psychiatrist hired by the defense argued that there was no need to send Burke to prison since he was 80 years old, had a pacemaker, and was under a doctor's care. Prosecutor Ben Field of the Santa Clara district attorney's office said that he was satisfied with the sentence. "I thought the sentence was fair and reflected the gravity of the crime." Field said that Father Burke is entitled to "up to 50 percent custody credit. he could serve as little as one year."

California Jesuit provincial, Father Thomas Smolich told the San Jose Mercury that the sentence was too harsh. "What Father Burke did was wrong," Smolich said. "I once again apologize to the victims, their guardians and friends. But sending an 81-year-old man to state prison is excessive. From what I understand, this is not consistent with sentencing patterns for a first-time offender, and it's a waste of taxpayer resources."


NEW THREAT TO DIOCESAN COFFERS? A bill which the author, state senator John Burton of San Francisco, says will address shortcomings in current law regarding sexual molestation, was signed into law by California governor Gray Davis on July 11. The new law allows victims to sue both abusers and the organization for which they work. In an interview with the Faith, Burton's press secretary, Dave Sebeck, denied that the bill specifically targeted the Catholic Church. But in spite of his press secretary's denial, Burton has been very vocal in saying that the bill was prompted by sexual misconduct on the part of some Roman Catholic priests.

In addition to holding organizations liable for sexual abuse, the law also changes the time limit in which victims can sue their molesters. Current law does not allow victims who are over 26 years of age to sue. The new law gives victims of whatever age three years after they have discovered the abuse to sue the perpetrator and the organization responsible for them.


THE WANDERING JESUIT. In June, Michigan-based Ave Maria College announced plans to open up another campus, perhaps in Florida. The four-year-old liberal arts college graduated it first class this past June. When looking for a seasoned educator, Ave Maria president Nicholas Healy, Jr. said that he had asked the Society of Jesus if it would assign Father Joseph Fessio to the new campus. The Society of Jesus "graciously agreed" that they would assign Father Fessio to Ave Maria, said Healy.

Last March, Jesuit provincial Father Thomas Smolich moved Father Fessio, the founder of Ignatius Press and of the University of San Francisco's Saint Ignatius Institute, to Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte in what some considered a punitive move. After University of San Francisco president Father Stephen Privett changed the character of the Saint Ignatius Institute, Father Fessio started Campion College in a building nearby the University of San Francisco. Father Smolich ordered Father Fessio to cease all ties to Campion College when he assigned him to work as a chaplain at Santa Teresita Hospital.

Father Alred Manuche commented for the vacationing Father Smolich on the assignment. "It's a great move," he said. "It's an appropriate use of Father Fessio's many gifts." When asked if having Fessio serve a non-Jesuit institution was in keeping with the Jesuit tradition, Manuche said that although the school was a new one, it was still a Catholic school. "The Jesuits still consider themselves Catholic," he said.


THE CALIFORNIA BISHOPS' MORAL LOOPHOLE. California Gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon's San Francisco spokesman, Mike DeNunzio, has been elected to lead the San Francisco Republican Party. The current chairman, Donald Casper, resigned last week to head up the San Francisco Civil Service Commission. Before being elected chairman of the San Francisco Republican Party, DeNunzio held the post of Vice Chairman for Finance for the party.

DeNunzio is heavily involved in Catholic charities and organizations. A Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, DeNunzio's group provides charitable assistance to people living in the Holy Land. He is also a former president of the San Francisco chapter of the Serra Club, a worldwide group which works on fostering vocations to the priesthood. DeNunzio and his wife have lived in San Francisco for 30 years.

When asked about moral issues such as homosexual rights and abortion, De Nunzio told the Faith that the Republican Party "is inclusive; we make no distinction between race, religion and even sexual orientation." DeNunzio noted that Bill Simon holds similar views, as does President Bush. When asked about the abortion issue, DeNunzio said that he did not see abortion as an issue of concern to the majority of people. "I don't think it's an issue. For a small percentage it is an issue but for the vast middle it's not an issue." DeNunzio said that only 13 percent of the people were concerned with abortion.

When asked how a Catholic politician could reconcile pro-abortion views with the Church's teaching against abortion, DeNunzio said that not one bishop in California has chastised politicians for this. "I have not seen one bishop in California oppose this," he said. When told that the National Conference of Catholic Bishops chastised politicians who are Catholic and support abortion, DeNunzio quickly said that no California bishop had done this. "That's where we are at, in the state of California".


A BILL THAT PRO-LIFE GROUPS say will, if passed, harm women, especially minorities, is making its way through the California legislature. The bill (SB 1301, Sheila Kuehl-Santa Monica) will allow non-physicians to administer abortifacient drugs such as RU 486 and the "Morning After Pill," according to pro-life sources. In addition, the bill will make the right to privacy with regards to abortions and birth control a "fundamental right" which could pose legal problems for medical providers who are pro-life. Carol Hogan of the California Conference of Catholic Bishops told the Faith earlier this year that the "fundamental right" provision in the bill may lead to legal prosecution of medical personnel who for religious reasons refuse to perform or assist with abortions.

Similarly, California Right to Life is very worried about the ramifications of the bill which, they say, "would legalize non-physicians performing or providing non-surgical abortions, such as RU 486. Partial-birth abortions (intact dilation and extraction) would be legal," California Right to Life spokeswoman Cecilia Cody said in a statement sent to the Faith. Cody pointed out the fact that the victims of this legislation are women, especially minority women. California Right to Life "opposes SB 1301, not for its basic acceptance of abortion on demand to the day of birth, but for its acceptance of seriously reduced medical standards. With little oversight of abortion facilities presently, [the bill] would create an atmosphere where no oversight would be required. There would be no public accountability for the use of public tax dollars for abortions. The lack of reporting will also allow abortionists to target minorities more openly. Injuries and medical complications to aborted women may not be recorded or reported."

Although pro-life groups are pointing out the fact that the senate bill will disproportionately affect minority women, Latino Democrats in Sacramento, who represent minority communities back home, have given the bill wide support.


SACRAMENTO IN THE AVANT-GARDE. Zero tolerance for priest molesters has long been part of diocesan sexual abuse policy, Bishop William Weigand of Sacramento told a news conference on Monday, June 17, according to the June 18 Sacramento Bee. Weigand said that he was glad that the United States bishops at their meeting in Dallas is mid June committed themselves to what "we are already doing in Sacramento, and it will not require a lot of new response from us, but rather an ongoing response."

Weigand knows that victims' groups are saying that his diocese's abuse policies do not go far enough, but he thinks they simply misunderstand those policies. "Certain victims groups are already saying it's not enough, but I think they need to be patient," said Weigand. "I think it's too soon for them to say."

According to the July 6 Herald, the newspaper for the diocese of Sacramento, Bishop Weigand at the Dallas conference spoke in favor of a resolution calling on the American bishops to study ways in which each bishop can implement the charter on priestly sexual abuse in his own diocese. According to The Herald, "Bishop Weigand asked that the study look at a broader picture than the bishops' responsibility to implement the charter's provisions for responding to and preventing sexual abuse. He cited the need for increased lay leadership in the church -- referred to in a paragraph at the conclusion of the charter -- as an area that the committee could look at, not only in terms of the way a bishop functions in his diocese but also in terms of how the bishops' conference functions at the national level."

According to The Herald, one priest of the diocese of Sacramento thinks that the bishops went too far with their zero tolerance policy. Father Brendan O'Sullivan, pastor of St. Anthony parish in Sacramento and a member of the Council of Priests and the Priests' Personnel Board, said that he thought the bishops' policy is "very sweeping. It's an overreaction to the inexcusable negligence of some bishops.Under the scrutiny of not only the whole United States, but the world, the pressure on the bishops was extremely intense. That's a lot of pressure under which to make ongoing and lasting judgments that will guide the church for the future." O'Sullivan criticized the bishops' policy for failing to distinguish between differing degrees of sexual abuse or between serial offenders and priests or deacons who may have offended only once. O'Sullivan questioned the fact that clerics who have offended in the distant past have successfully undergone treatment, and who have had no recurrence of the problem, will now be dismissed from ministry.


"IT'S THE ULTIMATE DECEIT. People call expecting to get help from a trained counselor. Instead, they get a church-paid attorney who shrewdly manipulates victims, gaining information that can minimize the church's legal liability and protect its image."

So lawyer Joseph George told the Sacramento Bee, according to a July 9 article. George and another lawyer, Larry Drivon, are representing two women in a lawsuit, filed during the last week of June, against the diocese of Sacrameno. The two women, known in court documents as Joan K. and Delores S. (the latter actually Delores Sharpe Nelson), claim that Bishop William Weigand is guilty of fraud and negligence because the diocese's sex abuse advocate, who responds to callers on the diocese's abuse hotline, is a lawyer and not a trained counselor. Both women claim they were abused by priests of the diocese decades ago.

According to Joseph George, the lawyer representing the alleged victims, Nancy Milton, the diocese's victims' advocate, "is not an advocate for victims, she's an investigator for the diocese. She uses the hotline to gather information that can be used against the callers in court." Milton, though, had told the Bee last May that she held a law degree but was on inactive status with the bar. She said that at the diocese her "job is to provide pastoral care, exploring other ways to reach out, I'm not in the whole lawsuit arena. I'm here for pastoral outreach only," said Milton. Bishop Weigand instituted the hotline in early April.

Both Joan K. and Delores Nelson complain that Milton never told them she was a lawyer. Milton was also negligent, say the women, because she failed to provide them emotional support or access to professional therapy. Milton, too did not disclose, say the women, that she would relay what they said to diocesan officials and insurance carriers. The women's lawyers charge that the hotline is merely a cynical attempt by the diocese to protect guilty priests, improve its images and increase charitable contributions.

The women's lawyers said they would pull the suit if the Church agreed to "pull the plug" on the clergy abuse hotline. But diocesan spokesman, Vicar David Deibel said on Tuesday, July 9, that the hotline would not be discontinued. Deibel told the Bee, that his "overwhelming response" was "if we're going to be sued, I'd rather be sued for doing the right thing. The hotline was created as a way to reach out to those who were victimized, to listen and get proper resources to them. It's an important service."


THE 2002 LIFE CHAIN is scheduled to be held on October 6. Across the country, thousands of people, from all walks of life, will stand for an hour along roadways holding signs proclaiming that "Abortion Kills Children."

Royce Dunn of Yuba City, California, along with six friends, started Life Chain in 1985. Dunn noted that two years later, a Life Chain was formed in Bakersfield and soon the idea spread to Riverside and Orange counties. Now it's the largest pro-life event in the country in terms of the number of people its message reaches. Life Chains are now found in Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

In spite of Life Chain's success at getting the pro-life message out, this year Dunn fears that there will be fewer Life Chains across the United States. Over the years, there has been a consistent number of Life Chains, 900 to 1,000 total, throughout the United States. This year, Dunn says, he is not expecting to reach that number. When asked why fewer Life Chains are expected this year, Dunn cited a lack of resources to get the word out. "We don't have a fundraising letter, so we don't have the means to raise funds," he noted. "We are all volunteers; these are people working out of their homes." Dunn said that it is his hope that some of the larger national pro life organizations will see the benefit in Life Chain and make it their own, as has been done with the annual March for Life that is held in Washington, D.C.

Royce Dunn may be contacted at NationalLifeChain@otn.net; or at (530) 67l-5500.

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