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Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
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NEWS
February 2004

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LIKE, SO INEPT! In a December 19 editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle, "Plan B pill is a win win," columnist Joan Ryan related a conversation she had with pro-life demonstrators outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in San Rafael. Ryan said she asked the demonstrators, both men, what they thought about the Food and Drug Administration's then-possible ruling to make the "morning-after" pill available over the counter. "As [the pill] would reduce the number of abortions by preventing unintended pregnancies," said Ryan, "the proposal seems like a rare win-win for those who support the right of women to make their own reproductive decisions and those who oppose abortion." But much to Ryan's dismay, the pro-life men were opposed making the pills so readily available. The morning-after pill, one of them explained, is an abortifacient. Ryan said she explained to him that medical experts have said the pill mostly prevents ovulation; "in other cases, if the egg has been newly fertilized, the pill prevents the egg from implanting in the uterus." The man merely shook his head, she said, and referenced the pro-life testimony before the FDA advisory committee.

"I don't know," wrote Ryan, "I prefer to get health information from the American Medical Association rather than, say, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops." Perhaps she did not realize that preventing the implantation of a newly fertilized egg is abortion -- at least to those for whom conception is the beginning of human life. The other pro-life gentleman received short shrift from Ryan when he opined that, with over-the-counter approval for the pills, girls would take them like "cough drops." Ryan said he was quiet when she explained that each pill cost 20 to 30 dollars a pop.

Well, perhaps, only rich girls will take them like cough drops.


"I FREAKED OUT,'' a girl inside the Planned Parenthood clinic told Ryan. The girl told Ryan that her boyfriend's condom broke during intercourse, so the morning-after pill was welcome relief. "I'm 26, and my boyfriend and I have been together almost seven years," said the girl, "so if I had gotten pregnant, I would have dealt with it. But it's not something I want right now.'' The girl had gotten the morning-after pill from Walgreens, one among the 14 percent of pharmacies in California that exercises the state right to give out the pill without a prescription.

Planned Parenthood's on-site manager, Jasmine Neal-Ahlers, shared Ryan's euphoria over the pill. "I can't see a downside to having more freedom of choice,'' said the hyphenated manager. "The more women have access to options, the more women have control over pregnancies, which benefits everybody." Neal-Ahlers did not explain how it benefits the unborn.

Referring to the females in the Planned Parenthood waiting room, Ryan noted, "these are the rooms where women come to pay the price for sex. They get to tell strangers in white smocks the intimate details of their sex lives and obtain prescriptions for pills and patches and shots and take pregnancy tests and stick their feet into stirrups and otherwise bear the responsibility for the complex business of reproduction." Ryan seemed to think this so unfair; for "men," she said, "get the luxury of choice: either to acknowledge this complexity or to stand outside clinics and deliver sermons."


A GROUP OF CATHOLICS in Fremont honored the Mother of God on December 12 by holding a prayer vigil outside Choice Medical Group, an abortuary on Mowry Avenue in Fremont, said the December 13 Oakland Tribune. The prayer vigil commenced after a 12-hour vigil at Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Fremont that began on the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 11. The night-long service ended with an 8 a.m. Mass on December 12, after which a group carrying a five-foot tall image of Our Lady of Guadalupe walked two miles to the abortion clinic, where they prayed the rosary, led by Father Terry Tompkins of Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Fremont. According to the Tribune, Father Tompkins prayed for forgiveness for women who have had abortions and for "those who are troubled by their pregnancy," that they will "trust in God's will." Passersby greeted those praying with honks of approval, but also with obscenities. "Patrons of the clinic, which is surrounded by dentists' and doctors' offices," noted the Tribune, "paused only briefly as they passed the crowd."


THE DIOCESE OF OAKLAND has settled on a site for its projected the Christ the Light Cathedral, said the December 6 Oakland Tribune. The 17-story, 1,800-seat cathedral will stand on what is now a parking lot at the corner of Grand Avenue and Harrison Street, on the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland. The complex will include a café, an underground parking garage, and a store. The first site proposed for the Christ the Light cathedral, at the south end of Lake Merritt, was nixed after Oakland voters in November 2002 approved Measure DD, a proposal to protect wet lands and the water quality of Lake Merritt.


A "BLIND RUSH to a moral agenda," is what a Roseville Joint Union High School District trustee called some of the actions taken by the district board over the last eight months, said the December 28 Sacramento Bee. Against the advice of its lawyers, in July 2003 the district required parental notification before students could be released from school for medical visits. Since June, when a parent requested that arguments against evolution be presented in biology classes, the board has discussed how evolution should be taught.

Other school districts have discussed the issue of parental notification of medical visits for their children. In October, the Fairfield-Suisun school district began requiring schools to notify parents if their children leave school for any reason in the course of the school day -- including for abortions, testing for sexual disease, or sexual counseling.


NO STIGMA. In response to claims that the Catholic Church is causing a "stigma" around the issue of AIDS awareness, an op/ed piece written by Bishop Sylvester Ryan appeared in the December 6 edition of the Monterey Herald. Ryan defended the Church's teaching that "sexual relations are to be shared only between a man and a woman in marriage" and pointed out that sexual relations outside of the marriage bond significantly increase the chances of contracting HIV/AIDS. He also called attention to the Catholic Church's compassionate outreach by way of HIV/AIDS education, the diocese's Migrant Ministry HIV/AIDS awareness programs at migrant worker camps, and Catholic hospitals. The bishop criticized the reduction in state funding for AIDS awareness education, and asserted that the diocese would work "strenuously and collaboratively with people of good will to treat and eradicate this deadly disease."


WHAT WOULD JOHN XXIII DO? According to an article in the Californian, a Salinas-based newspaper, a Monterey diocese-based ministry, called the Pope John XXIII AIDS ministry, passes out every month 14,000 clean needles as well as "sex kits," including lubricants and condoms. The website for the ministry states that it is dedicated to providing housing services and emotional support for those infected with HIV/AIDS. When asked by the Faith if the ministry has the support of the diocese of Monterey, Katherine Thoeni, executive director for the ministry, responded that although Bishop Sylvester Ryan seems committed to helping those suffering with HIV/AIDS, he has not explicitly endorsed the group.

The diocese, however, seems to give at least tacit approval to the ministry by listing in the calendar section of the diocesan newspaper, The Observer, a John XXIII AIDS Ministry event (a deadline to turn in food baskets). When asked why the ministry is named after Pope John XXIII, Katherine Thoeni responded that the pope is "revered world-wide for his compassionate action." When asked if she thought Pope John XXIII would endorse the ministry if he were alive today, she responded that she "would not presume to know the mind of a pope who's been dead for so many years."


A FINGER IN THE DIKE? Two Bay Area dioceses suspended reception of communion on the tongue for the duration of the flu season. According to the December 19 Catholic San Francisco, Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco called for the suspension of the traditional form of receiving the Body of Christ as well as the use of common cup, the handshake of peace, and holding hands during the Our Father. In a letter to priests, Levada wrote, "while I realize that these measures are drastic, I have been assured by medical experts that they are necessary so that we can do our part to foster the health and safety of our people." The directive, according to Father Thomas Parenti, pastor of St. Brendan's in San Francisco, "was very well received." Parenti, however, was concerned about the impact the directive would have on parish life. "While we are glad to cooperate with the Archbishop's advice," Parenti told Catholic San Francisco, "my area of concern is that it will step us back in the introduction of the Precious Blood. We've been making it available for about a year and just recently more and more parishioners are beginning to receive under both species."

Archdiocesan spokesman Maurice Healy told the December 16 San Francisco Chronicle that Archbishop Levada's liturgical directives were not binding. The archbishop "did not say, 'I'm demanding that you do this,' but he presented a case of common sense," said Healy.

The diocese of San Jose issued similar directives which, like those of San Francisco, might last until spring. The December 17 Sacramento Bee reported that the diocese of Sacramento was also considering such directives. Sacramento diocesan spokeswoman Lynette Magnino told the Bee, "at this point, we're gathering all the appropriate information. We want to be careful because liturgical adaptations are very significant."


IN COMPLIANCE. Maurice Healy, spokesman for the archdiocese of San Francisco, announced December 12 that the archdiocese has been found to be in full compliance with the United States bishops' policies to protect children and youth from sexual molestaton, said the December 15 San Francisco Chronicle. Over the past year, all dioceses in the United States have been audited by the national conference of bishops to see if they comply with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, adopted by the U.S. bishops in June 2002. Beyond the declaration of full compliance, the San Francisco archdiocese, said Healy, received "a commendation for an effective outreach program to victims."

Roberta Ward, spokeswoman for the diocese of San Jose, told the Chronicle that her diocese has also been found in compliance but would announce the results of the audits when the United States bishops released results for all dioceses in January. The January 6 Chronicle reported that all California dioceses were in compliance; however, Sacramento received an "instruction," which diocesan spokeswoman Lynette Maginio said arose from the fact that a visiting priest on administrative leave was hired for a musical event in the diocese without the bishop's knowledge. In December, Sister Barbara Flannery, chancellor for the Oakland diocese, said Oakland had also been found in compliance, but was given three recommendations for improvement. Flannery said the diocese has already made the recommended changes.


WITH THE PASSING of the December 31 deadline for filing civil cases for decades-old molestation charges against clerics, the diocese of Oakland faces a flood of litigation, the Associated Press reported on January 5. Oakland diocesan spokeswoman, Sister Barbara Flannery, said, "we definitely have seen a surge in the last two weeks." Sister Barbara said the latest charges concern "priests whose names we already knew," but that the charges have been brought by "individuals who had never come forward." Sister opined that, for some of the alleged victims, "I'm sure it's about money. For others, I'm sure it's to recoup losses for years of therapy they've had to pay. Some have been in therapy for 20 years. So just cost that out." The exact number of accusers is unknown, since those filing the cases did so under the alias "John Doe."


MUCH LITIGATION. An "initial estimate" given in a January 6 Associated Press report said the number of those who filed molestation lawsuits against California Catholic dioceses at year's end reached about 800. Some dioceses, however, were still being served lawsuits as of January 5; the diocese of Monterey, in particular, sent paralegals to courts to count the number of lawsuits against it. Of the estimated 800 lawsuits, about 500 were filed against the archdiocese of Los Angeles, the state's largest diocese. Another 175 were divided up between the dioceses of Orange, San Bernardino, and San Diego. Another 125, said Associated Press, were filed in North California, though it was not specified which dioceses were involved.


MANDATORY KINDERGARTEN -- AGAIN. Though in 2002, Governor Gray Davis vetoed a bill that would have required mandatory schooling for five-year old children, a new bill has revived the issue. Assembly Bill 56, authored by Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), would push the mandatory schooling age from the current six years to five years. According to Home School Legal Defense and the Sacramento-based Family Protection Ministries (both oppose the bill), the requirement the bill proposes "will apply to all children, whether their parents plan to send them to public school or private school (including private home schools.)" It also "takes an incremental step toward a universal preschool program for 3 and 4 year-olds" by making "'free' public preschool available to every child under 5 years of age on a voluntary basis. Should this bill pass, it could easily be followed by legislation to make institutionalized preschool mandatory."

Universal preschool, say Home School Legal Defense and Family Protection Ministries, "has been proposed by legislators in the past and is openly encouraged by proponents of early childhood education. This bill goes beyond education. It states, 'There is a further compelling need in California to ensure that early childhood development programs and services are universally and continuously available for children so that children enter school in optimum health and are emotionally well developed and ready and able to learn.... Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to provide.... Universal preschool programs that offer group experiences, developmentally appropriate curricula, and allow for a seamless integration to K-12 education for all children three and four years of age."

In early January, the bill was in the state assembly appropriations committee. For more information on the bill, go to www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1259.


MISSION SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL may never reopen, said a December 25 Associated Press report. The mission, located near Paso Robles, suffered severe damage after a December 15 earthquake rocked the area. After the magnitude-6.5 quake, the diocese of Monterey, which has oversight of the mission, closed it. Richard Ameil, executive director of the California Missions Foundation, told Associated Press that the quake caused a one-inch fissure on a wall from floor to ceiling, major cracks in five pillars, and crumbled an Indian mural. The Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises money for the missions, estimated that repairs would cost anywhere from $7 to $10 million dollars.

Though San Miguel, built between 1816 to 1818, is the only mission that has its original interior paint, it has not drawn many visitors or donors. For more information on the California Missions Foundation, see www.missionsofcalifornia.org


A FORMER ANGLICAN MINISTER was ordained a priest by San Francisco archbishop William Levada in December. In a December 1 message to the archdiocese, Archbishop Levada explained that the Rev. James Livingstone would be the first married priest ordained for the archdiocese. After entering the Catholic Church, Livingstone petitioned Levada for ordination in 1998. Since then, he has undergone a "review" of Catholic doctrine, served as a deacon at St. Catherine's parish in Burlingame, and taught religion classes full-time at Archbishop Riordan High School. Livingstone, a native of Canada, had been ordained a priest for the Anglican diocese of Nova Scotia in 1975. His wife, Virginia, was also received into the Catholic Church. They have one adult daughter.

In his letter, Archbishop Levada explained that, since 1981, the Holy See has given permission for individual Anglican clergy to be ordained into the Catholic clergy upon their conversion to the Faith. Similar permission for ordination has been granted, as well, to other married clergymen from Protestantism and the Orthodox churches. Archbishop Levada explained that ordaining married clergy from other communions is unrelated to the question of allowing Catholics who left the priesthood and married to engage in the priestly ministry once again. The Vatican's 1981 decision "respects their [former non-Catholic ministers'] call to ministry accepted in good faith, in their tradition that permitted a married priesthood," explained the archbishop. "In this, their situation should not be compared to that of Catholic priests who committed themselves to a celibate priesthood, but later decided to leave that priestly ministry to marry. In providing this exception to individual married clergymen, the Holy Father and the Bishops wanted to make sure that everyone understood that celibacy remains the normal tradition for priests in the Western church. Among Eastern-rite Catholics (and clergy in the Orthodox Churches), celibacy is required only of bishops; many married men serve as priests."


WINE -- A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE. A part-time rabbi in Vallejo directs a non-denominational group "that explores the spiritual aspects of wine," said the December 25 San Francisco Chronicle. Rabbi David White's WineSpirit promotes the idea that there is something rather spiritual about wine; no other food or beverage is so intimately connected with religious ritual. "Wine allows you to have a ritual of the moment, which makes it memorable and precious," White said. "WineSpirit can serve as a complement to all of the religious traditions by awakening people to the moment." In mid-December, White and David Freed (who runs Universal Capital Corporation -- a wine industry investment firm of which WineSpirit is "an unofficial nonprofit arm") held what they hope will be the first in a series -- an event called Vintage Judaism. This event, in which participants discussed the unique role of wine in Judaism, may spur similar events for other religions. White said he hopes to meet with Buddhists, who, with wine drinkers, honor mindfulness. He has also been encouraging Catholic members of WineSpirit's advisory board to organize a Vintge Catholicism program -- since wine is central to Catholic ritual.


THE MOTHER OF LACI PETERSON has filed a civil lawsuit against her son-in-law Scott Peterson for allegedly killing Laci and their unborn child, Conner, said a December 22 LifeNews.com report. Nearly a year ago, Laci Peterson disappeared; in April, her body and that of Conner were washed ashore in San Francisco Bay. Sharon Rocha filed two wrongful death lawsuits in the Stanislaus County courthouse in Modesto; she is seeking $5 million in damages from Scott Peterson in reimbursement for funeral expenses, burial costs, legal fees, and other expenses. Rocha also wants to hinder Peterson from profiting from the case, as, for example, through a book contract or movie rights.

Rocha's suits will not be heard until the criminal suit against Peterson concludes. Peterson has been charged with the murder of Laci, as well as with the death of Conner under a California unborn victims law.


FATHER BILL O'DONNELL, known as "Wild Bill," died December 8 from a heart attack. He was 73. O'Donnell had been pastor of St. Joseph the Worker in Berkeley for 20 years. His 40 years of activism for social justice and peace began during the civil rights movement in the '60s; according to the December 11 San Francisco Chronicle, O'Donnell said that the movement caused him "to learn that we're all connected and that sin is when we're disconnected. Sin is the separation of human beings." A friend of Cesar Chavez, O'Donnell fought for the rights of farm workers. His social activism brought him frequently into conflict with the law, and he was arrested over 230 times. Last year, O'Donnell was convicted and served six months in jail for trespassing on the property of Fort Benning in Georgia in 2001, where he was protesting the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly the School of the Americas.) Father Louis Vitale, pastor of St. Boniface Church in San Francisco, told the Chronicle that at his sentencing, O'Connell "stood. and told the judge that the court was pimping for the Pentagon." O'Connell was known for his sometimes acerbic tongue. "When you fail to educate someone about the morality of an issue, then you shame them," he said.

O'Donnell's radicalism, however, led him into conflict with Church teaching. According to the Chronicle, he publicly defied Pope John Paul II's teaching on the impossibility of ordaining women by praying for women's ordination during Mass.

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