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Contents © 1998
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

NEWS
OCTOBER 1998

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CALLING FOR DISARMAMENT AND AN END TO SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ, a group of 30 protestors attempted a "citizens weapons inspection" at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Oakland, July 31, according to a report in the National Catholic Reporter. The group, named the Citizens Weapons Inspection Team, requested access for an on-site inspection of Lawrence Livermore.

The protest was organized by the Bay Area Catholic Workers, and included Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit. According to NCR, Gumbleton told the lab officials and police at the gate that if the United Nations has "a right to inspect nuclear facilities in Iraq, certainly we have a responsibility to do the same thing in our nation." Protestors cited as the cause of their protest the sufferings and deaths of thousands of Iraqis on account of sanctions.

Police arrested 16 of the 30 protestors, including Bishop Gumbleton. The 16 were issued citations and released after a brief detainment.


IN THE AUGUST 17 NEWSWEEK, THE WORK OF DR. JOSEPH NICOLOSI is cited in an article on homosexual reparative therapy. One of Nicolosi's patients, referred to only as Matt, is quoted as saying he hated "Joe at first," but now supports Nicolosi's treatment: "Matt read Nicolosi's book 'Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality.' 'It could have been written about my family,' he says -- distant father, very attentive mother, no interest in sports. Matt started to come around. He looked into mainstream 'gay affirmative' therapies, which hold that gay tensions derive from 'internalized homophobia.' Nicolosi had an answer to each. 'It was a battle of theories, and Joe's really convinced me more.' Matt says his attractions to men have diminished."


A NEW ORGANIZATION TO COMBAT DISSENT in the Church has formed in Fresno. Scott Kellor, the founder of the Athanasius Apostolate, said to the Faith that the fledgling group will inform Catholics, through conferences and tapes, of their "rights and obligations."

"We are using Athanasius as the title for the apostolate because he stood up against a majority of the bishops when they were in a state of heresy. He stuck with the Church. Catholics have to realize that they are standing for the Church's teachings and not some specific individual's agenda which could be in opposition to the Church's teachings."

A pilot for American Airlines, Kellor says that traveling has opened his eyes to widespread heresy and error in the Church. He has seen traditional Catholics "abused" and the mass perverted. "I fly all around the country. I go to different masses...[The mass] is more an entertainment fiasco than it is worshipping Christ in the Eucharist." Kellor wants Catholics to know that they have a "right to a reverent mass," and intends to refer disgruntled Catholics to the St. Joseph Foundation in San Antonio, a canon law organization that vindicates the rights of traditional Catholics.

Christ wants the faithful to be "sheep, but not stupid sheep," says Kellor. "We are here to be the salt and not the sugar."

For more information about the Athanasius Apostolate, call (209) 323-5003.


CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST IS MIRED IN A DISPUTE with its workers, according to the August 25 San Francisco Chronicle. "Nursing aides, housekeepers and other service workers" are claiming that the hospital network is using threats and intimidation to prevent them from joining a union. They say that "cost-cutting measures" have "made it hard for them to do their jobs" and hope "a union will give them more of a voice in setting hospital policies" and secure "better pay and benefits." Catholic Healthcare West, according to "union organizers," is "one of the few Northern California hospital chains that doesn't pay for health coverage for its employees' dependents."

Officials with Catholic Healthcare West deny that they have harassed workers, but "fear that a union would be a disruptive 'third party' that would make it harder for employees and managers to work together. And they said that, while unions may have been necessary in other times and places, they are not necessary at CHW."


THE SAN LUCAS SCHOOL, A K-3 GRAMMAR SCHOOL IN WALNUT CREEK, is looking for students and donations. Dana and Anne Lopez, the directors of the school (named in honor of their son Lucas who died shortly after birth), "started the school because they saw a need for orthdox Catholic educational options and they want to keep it as affordable as possible for the parents who are interested in that kind of education," says Elizabeth Hockel, a San Lucas associate.

"The purpose of San Lucas School is to assist parents to carry out their role as primary educators guiding their children to follow the universal call to holiness as described by Pope John Paul II," reads its mission statement. "In matters of faith, San Lucas will adhere to and affirm the foundational principles of the Roman Catholic Church. All facets of education will be faithful to the Teaching Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church and will be guided by pre- and post-Vatican II documents on education and the Catechism of the Catholic Church."

To contact The San Lucas School, write, call or fax: 1291 Marlboro Ct., Concord, CA 94521, (925)937-9776; (925)689-2864.


THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE FOR CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS RIGHTS is appealing for donations in order to protest Corpus Christi, a blasphemous play about Jesus that is scheduled to open this fall under the sponsorship of the Manhattan Theatre Club. The play depicts Christ and his followers as a foul-mouthed, licentious lot, prompting one London reporter to describe it as "more flagrantly blasphemous than anyone has yet realized," writes William Donahue, president of the Catholic League. "With your support, the Catholic League will mount a protest that will send a straightforward message to those behind this despicable play. We won't do this alone -- we'll reach out to our friends in the Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim communities, asking them to join with us. We want to make sure that those who defend this bigotry receive the kind of resistance they deserve."

The Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights can be contacted at 1011 First Avenue, New York, NY 10022, (212)371-3191, (212)371-3394-fax.


AN ORTHODOX GRADE SCHOOL IN THE SOUTH BAY named Veritas Academy will open in the fall of 1999, according to Margaret Kalb, one of the school's organizers. It will start with grades K-4, but hopes "to expand upwards one grade a year until we have a full elementary school, K-8," says Kalb. "We plan to combine an excellent academic education with a focus on good character development and a religious education that is faithful to the Magisterium.

"The academics will be based on the 'Core Knowledge Curriculum.' It is a very challenging, content-specific curriculum, covering the full spectrum of studies including geography and history, the sciences, mathematics, literature and the fine arts. The character education will help the children to know, love and put into practice the virtues. We plan to do this both through the overall atmosphere of the school and by integrating themes of character and virtue into the curriculum, drawing our examples from the topics being covered in history and literature. The basis for the religious ed will be the Faith and Life series from Ignatius Press, with lots of supplementation from the Cathechism, Sacred Scripture, and the lives of the saints."

"We also recognize parents as the primary educators of their children. We hope to make this a team effort, where lessons from the school and the home are really complementary. Although we don't plan to make this a 'cooperative' school, in which the parents are the primary classroom teachers, we will fully expect the parents to be actively involved in their children's education. Parents will be welcome to review all materials and textbooks used in the classrooms, and will know ahead of time what topics will be covered. Although the school will provide Catholic doctrinal instruction, students of all religions will be welcome as space permits. We suspect that the academic instruction and character education will appeal to many non-Catholic parents, who can no longer find that kind of education for their children in the public schools."

To learn more about the school, contact Margaret Kalb at (408) 629-8691; MKKalb@aol.com


"I CRIED ALL THE TIME WHILE WORKING ON THE SERIES," said Bill Cane, S.J., in a May 17 talk he gave at Santa Clara University, as reported in the July/August 1998 issue of the San Jose-based radical feminist magazine, Catholic Women's Network. According to Cane, the creator and writer of the controversial television series Nothing Sacred, five completed episodes were never aired: a Jewish-Christian wedding, the Easter Vigil, sexual abuse by clergy, HIV and contraception.

Cane, unhappy that the series was cancelled, defended his show as an authentic representation of the Catholic Church, and noted that all episodes were submitted to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for review. The script for the pro-abortion episode, he said, had no margin notes written on it by the archdiocese except a comment stating that the parish secretary who had the abortion would be excommunicated. Following the article was a plea by CWN to its readers to contact ABC-TV, to protest its recent decision to cancel the series. To order the full text of Cane's talk on Nothing Sacred, contact the Religious Studies Department of Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053, (408) 554-4547.


IN A JULY 25 UPDATE E-MAILED TO ITS SUPPORTERS, the Dr. Bruce Steir Defense Committee stated that the California Medical Association, along with the National Organization for Women, the National Abortion Federation and the California Abortion Rights Action League, supports dropping the murder charges against Dr. Bruce Steir. Steir, an abortionist, was charged in October 1997 for the murder of Sharon Hamptlon, who died a few hours after he aborted her 20-week old baby in December 1996 at A Lady's Choice, a Moreno Valley abortion clinic. According to Dr. Eugene Albright, one of two physicians who reviewed medical records for the Medical Board of California's investigation, Steir showed "a conscious and willful disregard of a life-threatening condition" during the abortion procedure. Steir is also facing a wrongful death suit filed by Hamptlon's family.

Hobart Swan, spokesman for the California Medical Association's office, located in San Francisco, said that, although the CMA is not directly involved in Steir's criminal case, upon his and numerous other requests, it reviewed the Hamptlon case. Swan explained that, while Steir is not a CMA member, any physician can request that the CMA review a case. Whether the CMA grants the request depends on several factors. Why did the CMA decide to review the Hamptlon case? "Organized medicine is concerned about the nascent trend toward the criminalization of the practice of medicine," Swan explained. When asked whether the CMA had received other requests in the last five years for peer reviews of criminal cases, he cited one case.

According to the CMA, the Hamptlon case was reviewed by a panel of three abortionists experienced in performing second-trimester abortions, including abortions of 20 weeks, who had no affiliation with Planned Parenthood. Swan said that maintaining the confidentiality of physicians involved in a CMA peer review is standard procedure, and that the three doctors are not speaking to the press. The panel published its conclusion in a report dated simply July 1998: "Based on the information reviewed by CMA experts and their collective experience and judgment, the conduct of Dr. Steir on December 13, 1996, as regarding Sharon Hamptlon cannot be characterized as criminally negligent behavior, manslaughter or any kind of criminal act."

The panel's report does not address the cause of Hamptlon's death, because, Swan said, it was only charged with reviewing the facts of the criminal prosecution against Steir, and the degree to which his actions conformed to the standard of practice relevant to the facts of the case. The CMA will have no further involvement in the Steir case, as far as Swan knew. The CMA's position on abortion is that it is a decision between the woman and her physician. It opposes parental and spousal notification requirements, but does not recognize partial-birth abortion as a medical procedure. According to pro-life sources, the CMA has been controlled by a pro-abortion faction for the last three decades. One veteran pro-lifer took a dim view of the CMA's peer review of the Hamptlon case: "The CMA is willing to sacrifice truth and integrity simply because Steir's an abortionist. They're politically motivated, not patient-oriented."

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