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Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
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NEWS
March 2004

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SULPICIAN FATHER GERALD COLEMAN will in June resign as president-rector of St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, said the January 26 Catholic Voice, the newspaper of the diocese of Oakland. Archbishop William Levada, to whose archdiocese of San Francisco St. Patrick's belongs, and Sulpician provincial Father Donald Witherup made the announcement of Father Coleman's resignation on January 12. Levada and Witherup said that Father Coleman's long-planned and delayed sabbatical provided "an opportune time to make this decision and to prepare for an administrative transition." The statement did not say whether Coleman's resignation was of his own initiative.

Levada and Witherup praised Coleman for his improvements to the physical plant of the seminary. They noted that "throughout his administrative career, Father Coleman, a distinguished professor of moral theology, has maintained an extensive teaching load, served as a consultant on hospital ethics, and published various articles and books in the field of moral theology."

St. Patrick's Seminary trains priests for the San Francisco archdiocese as well for other California and Pacific Coast dioceses.


AS A "DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR of moral theology," Father Coleman is well known for what he has written about is homosexuality. In 2001, he wrote an "Open Letter" to the San Francisco Faith, the Los Angeles Mission, and San Diego News Notes, which appeared in the archdiocese of San Francisco's Catholic San Francisco. In this article Coleman pronounced his support for life-long homosexual relationships. "Jesus did not change the meaning of marriage," he wrote. "Jesus did not create a sacramental bond that evaluates a non-sacramental bond as unworthy or undignified." In another article, in the context of "non-sacramental bonds, Coleman spoke about "long-term, committed and loving relationships, named by certain segments of our society as domestic partnership." Though Coleman said these relationships should be "chaste," he equated this modifier with "committed;" he wrote of "committed (i.e., chaste) life-long homosexual partnerships," leaving it unclear whether he included refraining from genital activity in the term "chaste." Coleman, as well, voiced his support for civil recognition of "committed. life-long homosexual partnerships, which, he said, should have "an important status, deserving our respect and protection."

Coleman seems to think homosexuality merely an orientation and has refrained from calling it objectively disordered, as does the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In a 1995 article published in the diocese of Sacramento's Catholic Voice, Coleman said "confusion of sexual orientation" is one of the warning signs of a pedophile. "It is important here to avoid the 'wish' syndrome, i.e., 'I wish I were heterosexual,'" he wrote. "It is crucial to be aware of and convinced of one's actual sexual orientation, normally identified as heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual." Coleman said that homosexual men should not be prohibited from entering the priesthood and called a Vatican ban on homosexual seminarians counterproductive. As reported in the July/August 2002 Faith, Coleman told the San Francisco Chronicle, "one effect of that kind of blanket statement would be that a guy who was gay could just lie. My fear is that he won't deal well with that area in his life." Coleman only asked that homosexual seminarians not announce their "orientation." "I don't like guys to announce they're gay," he said. "Then they're known as 'a gay priest.' A priest is a priest."


"WE MUST NOT BE RESIGNED to attacks on human life, above all, abortion!" Pope John Paul II told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Angelus on February 1, Pro-Life Day in Italy. According to a Zenit news report, the pope urged that all work "so that the right of life of yet unborn children is affirmed not against the mothers, but together with the mothers." The pope indicated that affirming the right to life requires not merely working for laws against abortion but in addressing "the cultural and social context" that "very often does not favor the family and the mission of parents." The pope acknowledged that "not a few parents would like to have more children, but are almost constrained not to do so because of financial difficulties. The assistance of public institutions, though appreciable, is often insufficient. There is a need for a more organic policy in favor of the family."


"ARCHBISHOP, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO about this?" This was the "challenge" offered San Francisco archdiocese's William Levada at the Jewish Anti-Defamation League's monthly luncheon in January. In a piece he wrote for the January 30 Catholic San Francisco, Archbishop Levada recounted a talk he gave for the luncheon on Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ. Levada said he told attendees that he might be accused of having given the talk "under false pretenses," for he had not yet seen the movie. In comments after his talk, the archbishop said he heard "sincere concerns about the possible anti-Semitic thrust of the film." He attended the luncheon, he said, to help "ease the tensions that many feel over the prospect of 'The Passion.' Both Catholics and Jews, he said, "ought to do what we can to make sure that this movie does not contribute to anti-Semitic feelings, much less anti-Semitic actions."

Archbishop Levada wanted to address "a too-common feeling" among his "dialogue partners" that "Catholic, and Christian teaching in general, held the position that Jews are guilty of deicide, of being 'Christ-killers.'" Levada said "a correct understanding of the person and mission of Jesus, a Jew whose life is told in such dramatic fashion in the Gospels, rejects any interpretation of the events of the passion and death of Christ that imputes to Jews in general, either those living in Jerusalem in Jesus' day, or Jews throughout history, a responsibility for his death." It is true, he said, that particular Jews (such as the religious authorities) called for Jesus' death; but Romans, such as Pontius Pilate and the soldiers that mocked Christ, also share the blame. "The Christian interpretation of the event of Christ's passion and death," said the archbishop, "is this: you and I, his disciples in every generation, are responsible for his crucifixion and death. It is for the forgiveness of our sins that he willingly became 'obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross' (Phil 2:8). Not to any credit of mine I can say that in my experience throughout all my years of catechetical instruction, this interpretation of Christ's death as caused by my sins, and those of all mankind, has been the focus." In this spirit, the archbishop affirmed that he would stand with his Jewish brethren to combat any resurgence of anti-Semitism.

Noting that Vatican officials have praised Gibson's film as a spiritual experience, Archbishop Levada said he would go see The Passion. "When I go to see it," he said, "I hope it will be a spiritual experience. At the same time, I will try to see it through the eyes of my Jewish brothers and sisters as well."


AS A CATHOLIC BISHOP, Levada said it is his duty "to remind all of us in the Church about how Catholics should view the controversial topic of Jewish responsibility for the passion and death of Jesus." In his talk before the Anti-Defamation League, Levada read two paragraphs from the Catechism of the Catholic Church that reiterate the Vatican Council's teaching that all Jews do not bear responsibility for deicide. He pointed out that the Catechism cites the old Roman Catechism, commissioned by the 16th century Council of Trent: "We must regard as guilty [for Christ's death] all those who continue to relapse into their sins. Since our sins made the Lord Christ suffer the torment of the cross, those who plunge themselves into disorders and crimes crucify the Son of God anew in their hearts (for he is in them) and hold him up to contempt. And it can be seen that our crime in this case is greater in us than in the Jews. As for them, according to the witness of the Apostle, 'None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory' [1 Cor 2:8]. We, however, profess to know him. And when we deny him by our deeds, we in some way seem to lay violent hands on him." On the basis of this citation, Levada said "there is no basis there for the false interpretations of Scripture that some Christians sadly have made to impute responsibility for the passion and death of Christ to the Jewish people, thus fostering anti-Semitic sentiments."


ON HIS TENTH ANNIVERSARY as bishop of Sacramento, Bishop William Weigand made a surprising revelation -- for the past 23 years he has suffered from a rare form of liver disease. According to the January 27 Sacramento Bee, Weigand for his condition travels about every six weeks to San Francisco for treatment. In recent months, Weigand's condition has worsened, and doctors say he probably will soon need a liver transplant. The bishop said he is not in pain but that he will likely undergo transplant surgery while he is in good health.

Weigand made the revelation about his health at a celebration honoring his anniversary. He said he decided to talk about his condition "in the interest of transparency. I don't want something to happen two months from now and people say, well, we didn't even know he was sick. What was he hiding?" Recently, Weigand has been talking to potential donors in view of the impending operation. Donors have to be healthy, have type O blood, and be 55 years or younger.


CITIZENS IN THE BAY AREA community of Orinda in early January began a movement to recall members of their city council and fire the city manager, said the January 15 San Francisco Chronicle. The recall effort was inspired by news that the city council had decided in closed session, January 6, to use an empty library in the city as a temporary homeless shelter. Supporters of the council's decision, including the Contra Costa Interfaith Council (which had applied to run the shelter) defended the shelter as a temporary measure to bring homeless people out of the winter cold. Opponents complained that their affluent community has no homeless population; they also objected to the location of the shelter -- in proximity to a school and park. Some objected that opening the shelter would bring crime, loitering, and begging to the community. Many said the council should have informed citizens before making the decision for the homeless shelter.

In a letter sent to Orinda citizens in late January, Orinda mayor, Joyce Hawkins announced that the Interfaith Council had withdrawn its application for the library site "at the request of the City." The city made the request, wrote Hawkins, "because we realized that the review process could not have been completed in sufficient time to allow the program to commence this winter even if it were ultimately approved." The review process, she said, "would have required development and distribution of information to the public, and responses to the legitimate questions and concerns raised." The Interfaith Council, said the mayor, "has an excellent track record and presented the City with a thoughtful business plan."


"VERY PROBLEMATIC" is what the California Catholic Conference called Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposals for 2004­05, said the January 26 Catholic Voice. Conference director Ned Dolejsi criticized the budget proposals for their proposed caps on such social programs as food stamps for documented immigrants, aid to the disabled, Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and Child Health and Disability Prevention. Dolejsi said the budget proposals will also cut funding for homeless and battered women's shelters by 25 percent. The budget proposals might negatively affect services to the elderly, the blind, and disabled. Al Hernandez, associate director of the Conference's Hispanic affairs, objected to the governor's proposal to place monies for food stamps and cash assistance for documented immigrants in block grants to counties; "some counties," he said, "would not be prone to help these groups." The Conference, said Hernandez, will press for reinstatement of funding for naturalization, since Catholic Charities utilizes these funds to prepare immigrants for naturalization. Hernandez said, "I don't see anything in (the budget) that asks the rich to share the pain, only the middle and lower classes."

Hernandez, however, welcomed some of Schwarzenegger's proposals "We like the signals coming out of the governor's office in regards to prisons, freezing construction of new prisons, releasing some non-violent offenders," said Hernandez. Some prisons, he said, might also be closed.


GOOD NEWS AND BAD. In a January 19 guest editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle, writer Jennifer Nelson came out in defense of legally requiring parental notification for minors before they receive an abortion. The editorial pointed out that polls have shown that most Americans support some restrictions on abortion -- in particular, laws that require parental notification or even consent for minors. This is the good news. The bad news is that "abortion rights groups," according to Nelson, need not fear the overturning of the Supreme Court's 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade. Indeed, says Nelson, every time some restriction on abortion threatens, "abortion rights groups try to scare voters. into believing that Roe v. Wade is on the brink of being overturned." This is simply not true, wrote Nelson. "Two-thirds of Americans," she says, "support the decision that made abortion legal in the United States."


NELSON DID NOT INDICATE where she got her "two-thirds" figure, but, in 1998, the New York Times reported that, according to a poll conducted that year, "public support for legal abortion plummets from 61 percent if it is performed in the first three months of a woman's pregnancy to only 15 percent in the second three months." In February 2003, National Review Online said a TIME/CNN poll indicated that "55 percent of respondents said they support a woman's right to have an abortion in the first three months of pregnancy." The same poll asked the question, "Is it too easy for women today to get an abortion?" to which sixty percent said yes; 31 percent, no. How all this jibes with another "fact" recounted by the Times article is difficult to say. According to the Times, in 1998, at least, abortion was "becoming less of a political issue and more of a private, moral one. nearly 60 percent of those polled [said] that the government should stay out of decisions on whether abortion should be legal."


QUEER ENTERTAINMENT. "Generation Queer" (GQ), Cosumnes River College's "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Straight Alliance," sponsored a movie showing for its members on December 2. One might suppose an educational film would be in order, since the movie was shown in one of the college's classrooms; but GQ offered nothing so straight-laced. No, according to the group's website, the movie presented for Alliance members was the 1972 film, Pink Flamingos. The movie, according to the website, stars a "sleaze queen," a male transvestite named Divine, who "lives in a caravan with her mad hippie son Crackers and her 250-pound mother Mama Edie." The family is "trying to rest quietly on their laurels as 'the filthiest people alive.' But competition is brewing in the form of Connie and Raymond Marble, who sell heroin to schoolchildren and kidnap and impregnate female hitchhikers, selling the babies to lesbian couples." What presumably leads to the film's climax is Marble's challenging of Divine; and then, according to the website, "battle commences...."

The GQ website added this tantalizing tidbit: "If you're going to make a movie as blatant, graphic, and tasteless as Pink Flamingoes, this is the way to do it, with plenty of humor, bizarreness, and a tad of satire." But beware. "You must have a strong stomach to watch" it.


IN RESPONSE TO LAWSUITS and criticism, the San Francisco County jail will change its policies in regard to strip searches and the use of safety cells, said the January 13 San Francisco Chronicle. Among those complaining of ill-treatment by the county jail is a 70-year-old Catholic nun, Sister Bernie Galvin, who was arrested in the spring of 2003 for participating in a peace protest. Sister Bernie charged that she was subjected to a strip search. Others, also, who, like Sister Bernie, were being held on minor charges, have been subjected not only to strip searches (sometimes, it is alleged, standing naked or nearly so for as long as 12 hours), but were deprived of food and water and left in "safety" or isolation cells.

Under interim changes to county jail procedures, inmates who are considered dangerous to themselves will be strip-searched. Those deemed dangerous to others will be pat-searched, unless a supervisor "can articulate reasonable suspicion that the prisoner has contraband hidden.'' State law, according to the Chronicle, prohibits strip searches on those held for misdemeanors, except in cases involving weapons, drugs, or violence. In other cases, police must offer "specific articulable facts" that a person is concealing a weapon or contraband.


EIGHT ALLEGED VICTIMS of sexual abuse by priests filed claims against the diocese of Oakland in the last two weeks of December 2003, said the January 12 Oakland diocese Catholic Voice. The eight claims were filed before a December 31 deadline for the one-year window provided by the California legislature to file civil claims on sexual cases whose statute of limitations had expired. In all, the diocese faces 29 unresolved sexual abuse cases from last year. None of these, the Voice said, involve "previously unnamed priests who remain alive. It did, however, receive one new name of a priest who has died."

Diocesan attorney Stephen McFeeley of Los Angeles told the Voice that some of the cases most recently filed involve the Boy Scouts and members of religious orders and so might not directly impact the diocese. All of the eight cases involve priests already accused in other lawsuits.

The January 25 Oakland Tribune reported that on January 23, the diocese of Oakland agreed to pay $3 million to a woman who as a young girl was raped repeatedly by a priest in Hayward. The settlement is the highest paid by a California diocese to a single victim of sexual abuse. Lawyers for abuse victims would not say whether the case sets a precedent for other sexual abuse cases filed against Oakland and other dioceses, though one lawyer, Raymond Boucher, said that it is "a pretty good indication of case values."


LAWSUITS AGAINST THE ARCHDIOCESE of San Francisco, involving allegations of sexual misconduct involving clergy and minors, filed between January 1 and December 31, 2003, number 66, said the January 30 Catholic San Francisco. In the same statement making this claim, the archdiocese published the results of a study done by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City for the United States bishops which gave the aggregate numbers for all cases of clergy sexual abuse in most U.S. dioceses between 1950 and 2002. Including with the study results of information available as of January 30, 2004, the archdiocese reported that 56 priests have been accused of sexual abuse of minors; for five of these priests, the archdiocese said, "there was insufficient evidence to sustain the allegations." The 51 priests with credible allegations against them, said the archdiocese, represent 1.4 percent of all priests who have served in the archdiocese since 1950. Over 85 percent of the credible cases occurred before 1980, said the archdiocese. Expenses, including legal and those for therapy and counseling, come to $10.25 million for the 53-year period. The monies, said the archdiocese, have been paid out through insurance carriers and through the archdiocese's self-insurance program.

The figures presented in the John Jay College study, said the archdiocese, include priests in dioceses that were formerly part of the San Francisco archdiocese. "In some cases, therefore," said the archdiocese, "the same alleged perpetrator and victim claimant are included in the reports of both the Archdiocese and another diocese."


CLERGY ON TOUR. The year-long suspension of the statute of limitations, ending in December 2003, resulted in seven pending sexual molestation cases against clergy in the diocese of Monterey, according to diocesan officials at a January 28 meeting at St Francis Xavier Church in Seaside. Bishop Sylvester Ryan and other high-ranking diocesan officials toured the diocese in January to update parishioners about the civil cases and their potential financial impact on the diocese. In six of the seven cases, the alleged abuse occurred prior to 1975, and most of the seven accused priests are long deceased. Ryan assured parishioners that the diocese is doing everything it can to protect children and is in complete compliance with the clergy child-abuse charter adopted by the United States bishops in June 2002. He also claimed "there is no priest in the diocese of Monterey with a credible claim of sexual misconduct against him."

Diocesan finance officer, Tom Riordan, reported that the diocese settled for $760,000 in the case of the Rev. Michael McDonald, who died in 1971. The money to pay for the settlement came from a land reserve fund, which as a result was emptied. In the settlement, insurance paid an additional non-disclosed amount. Riordan assured attendees that money from the collection plate would not be used to pay off the settlements. Instead, non-parish property would be sold, though, he cautioned, "if we have a huge judgment, then parish property could be put on the radar screen." Attendees at the meeting, numbering about 70, were given index cards on which to write questions. The bishop said that many were asking about Monsignor Charles Fatooh, former vicar general, who resigned last February after it was discovered he was renting his Maryland condo to "friend" and alleged serial sexual abuser, Father Robert Trupia. The bishop said Fatooh was a "priest in good standing" and on sabbatical. He described Trupia as an "outstanding canon lawyer".


SANTA ROSA'S BISHOP, Daniel Walsh, in a December newsletter gave a comprehensive picture of the extent of the sexual abuse problem in his diocese over the past 40 years, said the January 18 San Francisco Chronicle. Of the 410 priests who have served in the diocese since 1962, 16 have been guilty of sexual misconduct, said Bishop Walsh. The number of underage victims has been 59, according to Walsh's report, ten of whom came forward last year. The diocese and insurance have paid out $8.6 million in settlements.

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