NEWS

ARTICLES

LETTERS

FOLLOW ME

ROAMIN' CATHOLIC






Contents © 1999
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

NEWS
DECEMBER 1999

---

SHOW THE TRUTH. For two weeks in October, Operation Rescue West's Show the Tour Truth tour appeared in 23 cities with oversized pictures of real aborted children at abortion clinics and state capitols in five Western states. On October 12th, the group protested at an abortion clinic in San Jose and the next day at Planned Parenthood in Mountain View. On October 16th, a group of local high school students in Edmonds, Washington left class to confront the protesters, who were standing and singing hymns. Troy Newman of Operation Rescue said, "It looked like a whole grade level came out to counter protest -- there were at least a hundred kids." On October 19th, the group was protesting at an abortion clinic in Reno when they were assaulted by an abortion doctor, who kicked in two of their signs. On October 20th, the group was back in California protesting at a Sacramento abortion provider and at the state capitol building. Newman claims this kind of protest bears fruit. "Angie is alive today because her mother saw one of our Show the Truth signs at an abortion clinic," Newman said. "Her mother was on her way into the abortion mill when she saw the horrible pictures. She never stopped to talk to a sidewalk counselor, she never told anyone of her decision to keep little Angie. But a year later Angie's father stopped his car at a similar abortion clinic to hand Operation Rescue a picture of young Angie and relay the story of how her little life was spared. And I am sure that there are thousands of other Angies out there." The tour brought together other pro-life groups under a single umbrella. Murray Lewis of the Sanctity of Human Life Network heard about the tour and showed up for the Sacramento dates. At the state capitol, Lewis said, "I just joined this morning and we have already made a good pro-life presence at two abortion providers." When asked about the kind of reaction his group was getting from people, Lewis said, "We are getting both positive and negative reaction. But we had one group of young people come up and look at the signs and say, 'that would never happen to my baby.' That alone makes this activity worthwhile.

After 8 years of pro-life volunteer work -- four of these full-time -- Newman believes that the Show the Truth tour is unique in its impact. "You are out there on the street encouraging people one on one. Here is the picture of what abortion is, let's talk about it. We are out here doing the hard work of changing one heart and one mind at a time." Newman understands that the signs can provoke some who are on the edge. "Jesus came as a lamb to lay down His life for His friends. That's what we will do. We will turn the other cheek and not respond to violence with violence because the whole purpose of this [tour] is to come with love.... The Bay Area was good," Newman said. "There was some pro abortion opposition that came out -- defenders they called themselves -- but we also had a lot of pro-life support, Catholic and Protestant alike." Operation Rescue West is currently in need of up-graded computers. They can be contacted at Operation Rescue West, P.O. Box 11408, Las Vegas, Nevada 89111 (800) 705-1175.


THE 1999 CALIFORNIA MISSION ROSARY PILGRIMAGE ended on October 25th at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento. The group annually travels up from the southern most mission in San Diego, the Mission San Diego de Alcala. They started the pilgrimage on October 4th and made the first stop at a Northern California mission on October 19th at the Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel. From there, the group went to a new mission each day. First, on October 20th, Mission Santa Clara, then Mission San Jose, Mission Dolores in San Francisco (October 22), Mission San Rafael, the Sonoma Mission, and finally, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament off K Street near the state capitol building. At each stop, the group participated in Mass, rosary recitation, and the divine mercy chaplet. Group organizer Sherilyn Becker said, "The pilgrimage is a petition to God for our government and respect for life." The California missions were chosen because of their historical position as the first sites of Church government in the Americas. Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Jesus of Mercy accompanied the group. The annual pilgrimage is encouraged by the scriptural promises of the Second Book of Chronicles, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my presence, and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from Heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land."


DURING THE DEBATE preceding the partial birth abortion ban, California's Senator Barbara Boxer and Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania had this exchange as reported in the November 4th Wanderer: Santorum: "I ask the senator from California, again, you believe ... you said 'once the baby comes home.' Obviously, you don't mean they have to take the baby out of the hospital for it to be protected by the Constitution. Once the baby is separated from the mother, you wouldn't agree that baby is entitled to constitutional protection?" Boxer: "I will tell you why I don't want to engage in this. You had the same conversation with a colleague of mine, and I never saw such a twisting of his remarks." Santorum: "Let me be clear, then. Let's try to be clear." Boxer: "I am going to be clear when I get to the floor. What you are trying to do is take away the rights of women and their families and their doctors to have a procedure. And now you are trying to turn the question into: When does life begin? I will talk about that on my own time." Santorum: "What I am trying to do is get an answer from the senator from California as to where you would draw the line because that really is the important part of this debate." Boxer: "...The answer to the question is, I stand by Roe v. Wade. I stand by it.... It is very clear, Roe v. Wade. That is what I stand by." Santorum: "Are you suggesting Roe v. Wade covered the issue of a baby in the process of being born?" Santorum continues and presses Boxer on the issue of separation. Santorum: "Let's define that. Let's say the baby is completely separated; in other words, no part of the baby is inside the mother." Boxer: "You mean the baby has been birthed and is now in the mother's arms? It is a human being? It take a second; it takes a minute--" Santorum: "Say it is in the obstetrician's hands." Boxer: "I had two babies, and within seconds of them being born--" Santorum: "We had six." Boxer: "You didn't have any." Santorum: "My wife and I did. We do things together in my family." Boxer: "Your wife gave birth...." Santorum returns to the original question. Santorum: "...So I ask the question of the senator from California, if the baby was born except for the baby's foot -- if the baby's foot was still inside the mother but the rest of the baby was outside, could the baby be killed?" Boxer: "The baby is born when the baby is born." Santorum: "What we are talking about here with partial birth, as the senator from California knows, is the baby in the process of being born--" Boxer: "In the process of being born. That is why this conversation makes no sense, because to me it is obvious when a baby is born; to you it isn't obvious...." According to the Wanderer, Santorum asked twelve more questions and got Boxer to admit that she could not accept killing a baby whose toe or foot remained inside the mother. Santorum then asked: "If the head is inside the mother, you can kill the baby." Boxer did not answer.


CALIFORNIA'S "PROTECTION OF MARRIAGE INITIATIVE" would appear an electoral lay-up. It avoids mention of homosexuals, simply stating that, "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." But at press time, support for the initiative, which once enjoyed 63 percent support, had dropped down to 50 percent, according to the most recent Field poll. "We are up against a formidable opponent," says Rob Stutzman, campaign manager for the initiative. While opponents of the initiative have threatened to sue one contributor to the initiative, the Mormon Church, they have yet to challenge the donations of the Catholic Church. "I guess Salt Lake City is an easier target than Rome," says Stutzman. At least eight of the twelve Catholic dioceses have funneled cash into the initiative's campaign, totaling well over $300,000. But the opposition's traction may not generate into increased grassroots support. "We have out-raised them $3.9 million to $850,000," says Stutzman, noting that much of the opposition's money comes from the $300,000 donation by the CEO of E-Trade, and out-of-state organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and the ACLU.

"Compare that," says Robert Glazier, communications director for the Protection of Marriage campaign, "with over 10,000 individual donors who have supported this campaign at the grassroots level and almost 700,000 Californians who have signed a petition to get this issue on the ballot." Stutzman notes what may be another hidden weakness of the opposition: California homosexuals are far from united on the question of homosexual marriage. "If you monitor the media of the gay community there is anything but unanimity on the issue. You get everything from hardcore ideological opinions that marriage is an old, tired heterosexual convention to gays saying, 'Why do I want to pay alimony the next time I break up?" Stutzman continues, "[The opposition] is spending a lot of time and money just to organize the gay community." But what might be a bigger challenge to the initiative backers may be beyond their control. Stutzman said, "What happens if George W. Bush faces no primary challenge in California? "If GW comes to California without a challenge, frankly we are a little concerned with how it affects turnout, as opposed to Bradley and Gore possibly being in a death match."


AT THIS WRITING, it appears that Supervisor Tom Ammiano a prominent gay activist in the city, will square off against Mayor Willie Brown in the San Francisco mayor's race run-off on December 14th. Veteran politicos are not able to recall whether any one has ever gotten to a mayoral runoff with a write-in campaign. The race pits Ammiano, a former schoolteacher, and prominent "gay activist" against the Democrat establishment's candidate, Willie Brown. Brown has key endorsements locked up from labor and business and from many members of the statehouse -- including Assemblyman Kevin Shelley, who is rumored to have enough votes from the assembly Democratic caucus to succeed Antonio Villariagosa as the next speaker of the state assembly. Villaraigosa has already committed to the LA mayoral race to succeed Riordan. Brown and Ammiano are both to the left of center, with Ammiano a bit farther to the left than Brown. Brown will have a large advantage in money while Ammiano is reported to enjoy greater grass-roots support. Brown will have to consider Clint Reilly, who spent millions of his own wealth and did not make the run-off.


A CASE PENDING before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals asks questions watched by legal scholars across the country. The lawsuit, Bollard vs. the California Province of the Society of Jesus, begs the court to determine if the California province of the Society of Jesus can be held liable for the sexual harassment and firing of John Bollard, Jesuit seminarian from August of 1988 to December of 1996. In his lawsuit, Bollard claims that he was subjected to sexual harassment by priests in the order. Bollard is suing under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination in the workplace.

It is clear from his court papers that Bollard assumed that he was entitled to be ordained a Jesuit priest by becoming a seminarian. The court transcript from the January 16, 1998 proceedings show the Jesuits' attorney, Paul Gaspari, answers that Bollard's lawsuit for damages under civil rights laws is unfounded because the law excludes religious organizations.

In addition to suing Father Previtt and the California province, Bollard sued the Maryland province of the Jesuits, Father Thomas Gleeson, a member of the Maryland province and president of the Jesuit school of theology in Berkeley, Father Andrew Sotelo, a faculty member at St. Ignatius College Prepatory High School in San Francisco, Father Anton Harris, member of the Oregon province of the Jesuits, also on the faculty at St. Ignatius High School, and the Jesuit Conference. In his lawsuit, Bollard stated "commencing on or about June 1, 1990, and continuing through June of 1996 [he] was subjected to unwanted verbal and physical conduct of a sexual nature by defendants Harris, Sotelo, and Gleeson." Bollard says that the "unwanted conduct included ... delivery of sexually explicit pornographic materials through the mail, unwanted sexual comments and gestures, unwanted solicitations, invitations for and discussion of sexual acts by ... the defendants named herein."

On May 15, 1998, Judge Susan Illston of the United States district court for the northern district of California dismissed the lawsuit, citing lack of jurisdiction. Bollard appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals where it currently stands. UCLA professor of law Eugene Volokh who specializes in sexual harassment law said in an October 7 interview, "Under the Free Exercise Clause, churches have almost unlimited authority over the employment of their clergy and other religious officials."

After a 60 Minutes story aired on May 9 of this year, Catholic San Francisco, the diocesean newspaper, published a letter to the editor in which the writer pointed out that during the 60 Minutes interview, the interviewer Morley Safer mentioned that Bollard was a homosexual. The letter stated "how far we have degenerated when the 'fact' that a Jesuit seminarian is a homosexual is just lightly passed off as if it had been noted that he was tall, short, blond, left-handed.... On one of the most watched TV news magazine shows in the county, the statement that a seminarian is a homosexual seems to be accepted as a given ... what kind of future will the Jesuit order have when it permits the perversion of homosexuality into theranks of 'Alter Christi'?" When asked if the Jesuits do screen or will screen seminarians for homosexuality, Father John Mitchell, executive assistant to the provincial, said, "No, we don't have a policy on that at all." Father Mitchell also added that Bollard had voluntarily left the order.

TOP