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Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

NEWS
NOVEMBER 2001

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CORRECTION: In our October issue, when reporting on Mike DeNunzio's appointment to the county commission on the aging and adult services, we mistakenly identified DeNunzio as past president of the Sierra club. The text should have read, the San Francisco SERRA club.


CATHOLIC CHARITIES V. CATHOLIC CHARITIES. On September 26, the California Supreme Court agreed to review an appeals court decision from July that requires Catholic Charities to comply with the state law signed by Governor Davis in 1999, which mandates that employers include coverage for contraception in HMO plans that cover prescription drugs. Catholic Charities of Sacramento argued in a lawsuit filed in 2000 that the law violates the group's religious freedom. The appeals court said that it did not in its July ruling. Following the decision in July, Catholic Charities said that the decision of the court is forcing it "to act in direct contradiction of its religious, moral and ethical beliefs and any people of faith should be deeply disturbed." While Catholic Charities continues to say it is opposed to providing contraception, it has been doing so anyway since the law went into effect in January because it continues to provide a prescription drug benefit to its employees. Catholic Charities has chosen this approach despite the availability of health plans without a prescription drug benefit.


FATHER SPARKS' SUPPORTERS LASH OUT. There are more reports of controversy following Father Spark's weeklong lecture series at Wadhams Hall Seminary in Ogdensburg, New York in August. The lecture by Father Richard Sparks, of Berkeley's Holy Spirit parish, was opposed by a group of parishioners in Ogdensburg because of comments carried in the Wanderer where Sparks claimed at a February conference in Los Angeles that Christ fantasized sexual relations with Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary. Catholics opposed to the invitation in Ogdensburg have since been stripped from participation in Church activities and leadership positions, according to Rick Hevier of Syracuse. Hevier led Catholics on what de described as a "prayerful procession of crucifixes" from the cathedral to the bishop's chancery office and house on August 8. In March Hevier traveled to Rome to meet with Vatican officials about the controversial theologian, afterwards meeting Pope John Paul II. He accused Father Sparks of promoting "a Howard Stern kind of shock theology."

Some Catholics who participated in the procession of crucifixes were summoned to meet with Monsignor Harry Snow, rector of St. Mary's Cathedral of the Diocese of Ogdensburg on August 11 and were told that they would no longer be permitted to deliver communion to homebound Catholics, bring gifts to the altar, and have been removed from Church leadership positions, including assisting Eucharistic adoration devotions. "Monsignor Robert Aucoin, rector-president of Wadhams Hall Seminary has participated in the sanctions and the punishments have been made with the clear knowledge of the bishop, Most Reverend Gerald Barbarito," said Hevier. On the night of Sparks' lecture on human sexuality, Hevier said, "Sparks attacked me for calling him a heretic and blasphemer and added that the true heresy was Docetism, a failure to acknowledge the human nature of Christ." Heiver, in turn, is accusing Sparks of Nestorianism because he believes Sparks is separating Christ's human will from His divine will. Hevier said, "Amazingly, the controversy received a huge amount of television, radio, and newspaper coverage throughout the diocese and front-page coverage in The Wanderer.


GOVERNOR COULD OVERTURN MUCH OF PROP 22. Among the piles of controversial bills awaiting Governor Davis' signature is assembly bill 25, which would enact a long list of legal benefits for domestic partners, most of which are currently held exclusively by married couples. Assemblywoman Carol Migden (D -- San Francisco) said in September that the governor had committed to signing the bill. However, Randy Thomasson, executive director of Campaign for California Families, says the governor would be damaged politically if he signs the bill. From his analysis of the March 2000 vote for proposition 22, the Protection of Marriage Initiative, 65 percent of Latino voters, 62 percent of black voters, and 59 percent of Asian voters supported maintaining traditional marriage. Thomasson believes these ethnic blocs are crucial for Davis to win election and may cause him to veto Migden's bill.


ANOTHER AWARD FOR GALTEN. The Cardinal Newman Society, which concerns itself with renewal of Catholic identity in Catholic higher education, is holding its sixth national conference in Washington, D.C. on November 10. The event, held in honor of Avery Cardinal Dulles, will also recognize a Bay Area resident who has made news in the last year. John Galten, former director of the Saint Ignatius Institute at the University of San Francisco, has been selected to receive the Ex Corde Ecclesiæ Award for "substantial contributions to the renewal of Catholic higher education."

"The accomplishments and wisdom of the St. Ignatius Institute's graduates are a testament to Mr. Galten's many years of service to the Institute," said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society."

Fired by University of San Francisco president Father Stephen Privett for Galten's alleged insufficient qualifications and given one business day to vacate last January, Galten served the institute for 25 years. At the time of his ousting, Galten had served as director for five years and had recently welcomed the largest class since the institute's inception. Since the firing, controversy has surrounded the decision and the newly manufactured incarnation of the institute. With Galten fired, assistant history professor Paul Murphy was appointed as director. Six of the mainstay institute professors quit the program immediately and enrollment in the program has suffered. Tension has further mounted at USF among those in the administration and those who believe the school has compromised its commitment to Catholic higher education and in particular, the search for truth. Added Reilly, "The timing of the award is certainly prompted by his abrupt dismissal from the University of San Francisco, [which] demonstrated tremendous disrespect for [Galten's] accomplishments ... but is not the firing that qualifies him for the award-we are recognizing his outstanding work regardless of USF's action."

Raymond Dennehy, a philosophy professor at the school and a former institute professor, was quoted in USF's student paper, The Foghorn, disputing the Catholic nature of the university. He said, "I do not regard the University of San Francisco as a Catholic school because there is nothing distinctively Catholic about it." He added, "You have campus ministry, but you wouldn't call Macy's department store a hospital if it had a first aid station on it." Hopes that the institute will be restored to its former state remain high among students, faculty, and alumni. It is public knowledge that the Holy Father has taken an interest in the matter and that he has signed a letter, drafted by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, which calls for the return of the old institute. Said Galten, "There's been such an outpouring for the Saint Ignatius Institute from the Wall Street Journal to numerous students and faculty and alumni." He added, "I am hopeful and encouraged that the institute will be restored."


SF CHARISMATICS ON THE RISE. The charismatic movement has been on the go in the Bay Area lately, thanks in part to a compliant archbishop and his appointed liaison, Father Joe Landi of Saint Cecilia's in the Sunset district. When Landi was given the job in September of 1997, there were around eighty prayer groups of this kind in the area. With his support and encouragement, the numbers have risen to 102 active groups. Although the movement traces its charism to the Bible, it has only been 25 years since the U.S. bishops gave reluctant support to the movement. The wariness arose from concerns that it would lead to fundamentalism and exclusiveness that would challenge the authority of bishops and diminish the importance of the sacraments. Despite much skepticism, according to Father Landi, the Catholic charismatics are distinguishable today more by loyalty to the pope and Marian devotion than to outlandish beliefs. Landi says that despite all these good things, many are unconvinced, and some are even repulsed by the group. "The biggest problem people have is praying in tongues," says Landi. Speaking in tongues, or glossolalia, is defined loosely as the result of an intense spiritual experience in which the individual begins to express himself in a foreign language that sounds nonsensical to many. It remains the one thing that most people think of when they think of charismatics. Landi said, "When exposed and understood that it's an ongoing process, people get involved." In accordance with this, changes have been made to ensure a more seamless transition for the first time attendant. Whereas in times past the event would begin with speaking in tongues and ecstatic singing, newcomers instead find the familiarity of the rosary being prayed to ease them into the proceedings. The local groups' annual gathering, the Holy Spirit conference, was held October 5th through the 7th at Saint Mary's Cathedral. On the occasion, Archbishop William Levada prayed that the event would be "reminiscent of the initial outpouring of the spirit on the first Pentecost."


SERRA CAUSE GAINS GROUND. On July 1, the Feast of Blessed Junipero Serra, the Very Reverend Finian McGinn, provincial minister of the Franciscan friars' St. Barbara province, announced a newly formed advisory board for the cause of Blessed Junipero Serra's canonization. The announcement was made concurrently with the 59th annual Serra International convention in Los Angeles. Serra International, which promotes priestly vocations and numbers over 24,000 members in 36 countries, has proclaimed Junipero Serra as its patron.

The Serra Cause's board of trustees is composed of Reverend John Vaughn, OFM, vice postulator and chairman; Honorable William Clark, vice chairman; Sir Thomas Tracy, chief financial officer; Reverend Warren Rouse, OFM, assistant to the vice postulator; and Brother Timothy Arthur, OFM, secretary/director. For more information on the Serra Cause and to receive its newsletter, contact Brother Timothy Arthur, OFM, The Serra Cause, Old Mission Santa Barbara, 2201 Laguna Street, Santa Barbara, California 93105 / 805-682-4713 / e-mail: FriarTim@aol.com.


MORE REACTION TO TRUCKS. An August 23 story in the Washington Times provided more tidbits about the abortion trucks in California (see page 1 of this issue):

"Columnist Nat Hentoff, a former labor organizer who writes about free-speech issues, says it's logical that pro-lifers not backed by sympathetic news media have resorted to the nation's freeways. Anti-abortion speech has been heavily restricted outside abortion clinics, he said, citing Hill v. Colorado, the June 2000 Supreme Court decision that criminalized unwanted close encounters between pro-life activists within eight feet of women on their way to abortion clinics. 'The trucks are free speech,' he says. 'They are not doing anything but giving an opinion. The only real restriction of free speech is if you are advocating something illegal and those people are not. If people are upset, they can post a counter message on their own convoy of trucks.' ...Why show first-trimester fetuses? 'That is when 90 percent of all abortions are performed,' he [Cunningham] says. 'Until we can get a consensus that this is a baby, women will continue to have abortions.' "...Cathy Cleaver of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops said such displays could traumatize children. 'There are different ways to convey the truth about abortion and the humanity of the unborn child,' she said. 'If you show photos of the violence of abortion, there is a risk your audience will feel so insulted by your depictions, they'll dismiss you and your message.' The American Life League declined comment, but the Population Research Institute supported using the trucks."

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