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Contents © 2005
by Jim Holman.
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NEWS
December 2005

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WHY DID POPE BENEDICT XVI choose Archbishop Levada as prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith? In an October 31 interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Levada said, "I think he wanted to find someone quickly." The pope, said Levada, "found me because I was a member of the congregation, I had worked there before. I think that he felt that experience was something, that counted a lot for him. Basically that's what he told me when he told me I was going to be his successor." Levada opined that he had been chosen because the doctrinal congregation oversees cases involving clergy sexual misconduct. "The responsibility for dealing with issues of sexual abuse of minors by priest, by clergy, given my experience of that, the explosion of that in the American scene over the past few years," Levada said, "my experience with that as both a local bishop and as a member of the mixed commission that was sent over by our conference to iron out some differences in our approach here with the Vatican -- those things may have said to [the pope] that it wouldn't be bad to have someone also who has this experience. That's my read of it anyway."

LAWYERS FOR THE HOLY SEE and Archbishop William Levada, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on October 24 filed a motion in U.S. bankruptcy court in Portland asking the court to limit the scope of the deposition Levada will give in a bankruptcy case concerning the archdiocese of Portland, Associated Press reported. The Portland archdiocese, where Levada was archbishop before being appointed to San Francisco, filed for bankruptcy on account of clergy sexual abuse lawsuits against it. Lawyers for alleged victims want Levada to testify, not only to shed light on Portland's policies in dealing with clergy sex offenders, but because he is "uniquely qualified" to testify on Vatican policies as well.

But the Vatican argues that Levada need not testify about Vatican policies, since they are not relevant to Portland. Further, being an official of the Vatican -- a foreign, sovereign state -- Levada enjoys immunity; and since the Vatican's laws and confidentiality oaths forbid revealing Vatican policies, Levada could face "excommunication, confinement to a residence or a house of penance for up to five years, and a prohibition from holding any office or faculty" if he spoke of them in a foreign court.

The subpoena issued to Levada on August 10 asked that his testimony cover such matters as conversations he had as archbishop with members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about the destruction of records of abusive priests, the secrecy oath he may have taken, and canon law. Lawyers for the Holy See say requiring testimony about the interior policies of a sovereign state by a foreign court violates "established principles" of sovereign immunity. Vatican lawyers further deny the alleged victims' lawyers' contention that Levada waived diplomatic immunity when he accepted the subpoena.

"OUT THERE" was the name of a conference held the first weekend of November at the Jesuit Santa Clara University "to highlight," said Catholic News Agency, "scholarships and student affairs being created to cater specifically to gays and lesbians at Catholic institutions." Representatives from several Catholic colleges and universities attended the event, which Santa Clara University described as an example of the "the Catholic" way to act with homosexuals -- promoting opportunities for homosexuals at Catholic institutions rather than emphasizing the immorality of sodomy. Workshops centered on such themes as "Curriculum and Same-Sex Marriage in a Jesuit University" and "Can I Be Gay and Catholic?"

Was the event scheduled to coincide with the expected release of a Vatican document addressing the admission of homosexuals into the seminary? No, that wasn't planned, Lisa Millora, Santa Clara University's assistant dean for student life, told Catholic News Agency, but the timing "is important," she said. Millora, one of the event's co-organizers, said the event addressed the needs of "an invisible minority, who face an oppression and tension different than racial minorities." Her job on campus "is to remove any obstacles to a student's education." A Catholic institution like Santa Clara, she said, "need(s) to pay attention to social injustices, no matter how uncomfortable they are for us."

BY THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT, November 27, "all parishes in the Oakland Diocese will have adopted the new [liturgical] norms, according to a directive by Bishop Allen Vigneron," said the October 17 Catholic Voice, the newspaper of the diocese of Oakland. The norms are those spelled out in the third revision of the General Instruction on the Roman Missal, issued by the Holy See in 2002, with adaptations approved for dioceses in the United States. Among the new norms are those dealing with the reception of communion. Communicants are to bow their heads as a sign of reverence before receiving the host or from the cup; and though they may receive communion either on the tongue or in the hand, according to directives approved by the U.S. Catholic bishops, "the faithful are not permitted to take up the consecrated bread or the sacred chalice themselves and still less hand them on to one another." This is because, said the Voice, the faithful "receive Communion. They do not take Communion."

Among other norms, eucharistic ministers of the chalice may consume at the altar what remains of the Blood of Christ and may assist the priest in cleansing the communion vessels -- but at a side table, not at the altar. In regards to liturgical appointments, according to the Voice, "fixed altars are to be made of stone or, in the U.S., of wood 'which is worthy, solid, and well-crafted,' the instructions state. The materials for sacred furnishings are acceptable if they are durable and 'considered to be noble,' and sacred vessels -- such as the paten, monstrance and ciborium -- are to be made of precious materials that are solid and durable, such as metal or hard woods like ebony."

IN HIS WEEKLY VOICE COLUMN for October 17, Bishop Allen Vigneron explained why it has taken so long to implement the new liturgical norms in the Oakland diocese. As the bishop pointed out, Pope John Paul II issued the revised Missale Romanum in 2000, with the General Instruction coming out two years later. So why the delay?

"Admittedly we have taken a significant amount of time for this," wrote Bishop Vigneron, "but that's because we are dealing with a mystery of incomparable importance: the Most Holy Eucharist in which 'is contained,' as the Second Vatican Council says so eloquently, 'the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch' (PO, 5). We have had the time we need as pastors and people to understand afresh the meaning of what we are doing."

And taking the time is important, said Vigneron, because then "we will not simply be 'complying with directives' but using the words and actions of the Eucharistic Liturgy to enter fully into the Mystery of Christ's Passover Sacrifice."

THE VOICE offered as well a frequently-asked-questions article on liturgical norms. Among the questions was, "Are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion really necessary at Mass?" The Voice presumably answers the question in the affirmative by quoting the "Norms for Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion under Both Kinds," which says, "extraordinary" ministers help distribute Holy Communion "when the size of the congregation or the incapacity of the bishop, priests or deacon requires it...." As for the number of communion ministers needed for communion (whether ordinary, extraordinary, or of both kinds, the article does not say), "when Communion is to be given under both kinds," said the Voice, "generally there should be two ministers of the Precious Blood for each minister of the consecrated bread. In this way, the Communion Rite will not be unduly prolonged."

The Oakland diocese will not, it seems, forbid kneeling for communion. Though "the norm for the reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing," says the article, "Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally by providing the faithful with the proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm." However, the article says nothing about these reasons, though it offers one for the norm of kneeling from the Sanctus until the "Amen" of the Eucharistic prayer. "Kneeling is a posture of reverence, openness and humility," says the article. "We kneel before Christ really and truly present in the Eucharist. We do this in both awe and supplication."

FEDERAL OFFICIALS WILL NOT EXORCISE a California mountain, the October 15 Los Angeles Daily News reported. Mount Diablo, near Walnut Creek, will remain Mount Diablo, the "Devil's mountain," though some locals have found the name offensive. One Oakley man wanted the Portland, Oregon-based U.S. Board on Geographic Names to give Mount Diablo an Indian name. His first suggestion -- Mount Kawukum -- turned out to be an invention of a real estate developer of the early 20th century. The Oakley man then suggested Mount Yahweh, which, he said, is not only of Hebrew origin but means "The Creator" in the language of the Miwok tribe. But a tribal spokeswoman countered that Yahweh does not occur in the Miwok language. Then a Marin County couple suggested naming the mountain after two local tribes. But federal officials have decided to stick with Old Scratch.

FATHER THOMAS SMOLICH, who has for six years been provincial of the California province of the Society of Jesus, will serve as president of the national Jesuit conference, which coordinates the work of the ten Jesuit provinces in the United States, Catholic News Service reported on October 11. Peter Hans Kolvenbach, the Jesuit superior general in Rome, made the appointment.

As head of the California Jesuit province, Smolich dealt with the aftermath of a cover-up of sexual molestation of mentally retarded workers by members of the order at its Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos. Accusations against one of the molesters, Brother Charles Leonard Connor, first surfaced in 1995, four years before Smolich became provincial. Though Brother Connor had admitted to molesting a mentally-retarded dishwasher, the provinical made no report to the police nor to the man's legal guardian. The Jesuits claimed to have dealt with the situation, and Connor remained at the retreat center until 2000, when detectives received reports of more abuse by Brother Connor. Only police pressure forced the Jesuit leadership, then under the direction of Smolich, to transfer Connor -- to a Jesuit boys' high school, Bellarmine College Preparatory, in San Jose. No one at Bellarmine was told of the accusations against Connor, Smolich told the Los Angeles Times in 2002, on account of "a breakdown in communication."

Nor did Smolich tell authorities or legal guardians of an incident involving another mentally retarded man whom Father Edward Thomas Burke in 2000 had admitted to molesting over a period of four years. Burke was immediately taken to the Jesuit community at Santa Clara University. The Jesuits said they did not need to report Burke or Connor to authorities because their victims were not minors.

"GAYS" IN THE PRIESTHOOD? YES. Father Gerald Coleman, former rector/president of St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, weighed in on the controversy over homosexual priests in an article published in the October 26 San Francisco Chronicle. Saying he was not commenting on an expected Vatican document on homosexuals in the seminary, since no one knows what it says, Coleman's comments were more general. Coleman disputed with those who say that, since "81 percent of clergy sexual abuse victims were boys and two-thirds of these were teenagers ... ridding the Catholic Church of homosexual seminarians and priests would minimize or eliminate current and future clergy sexual abuse of minors." Such a view, said Coleman, is "highly disturbing;" it is, he claimed, an "accepted fact that sexual orientation by itself is not a risk factor for committing sexual crimes against minors." Other factors besides homosexuality go in to making one a molester, according to Coleman. Citing the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's 1986 letter on pastoral care of homosexuals -- "today the church refuses to consider the person as a 'heterosexual' or a 'homosexual' and insists that every person has a fundamental identity: a creature of God, and by grace, His child and heir to eternal life" -- as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which says, that those with homosexual tendencies "must be treated with respect, compassion and sensitivity," Coleman insists that candidates for the priesthood should not be excluded simply on the basis of a homosexual orientation. He admits that "Vatican congregations have warned that a homosexual tendency can push one toward evil behavior. Distorted behavior results from a distorted tendency." (This seems to refer to the catechism's calling homosexuality an objective disorder.) However, says Coleman, "extreme answers to the question of admission of homosexuals to the seminary and priesthood should be avoided: Either automatic exclusion or open inclusion as long as they have the capacity to live a celibate life. Careful and wise discernment distinguishes between a 'secure' or 'preoccupied' homosexual. Assessment aims at a sound judgment where an individual is capable of committing with integrity to a nongenital, nonpossessive, generous life of service in response to the Gospel."

Coleman has long been an advocate for homosexual rights. In 2000, he publicly supported domestic partner ships for homosexuals, saying, "I see no moral reason why civil law could not in some fashion recognize these faithful and loving unions with clear and specified benefits. These unions would then be recognized by society as sustaining an important status deserving our respect and protection. I believe that this possibility could be pursued without equating such unions with marriage, and without in any way demeaning our needed respect and protection for the institution of marriage." However, in an editorial published in the March 23, 2001 Catholic San Francisco, "An Open Letter to San Diego News Notes and Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission," a response to coverage of his 2000 article, Coleman wrote, "when I speak of 'committed life-long homosexual relationships,' I am speaking of chaste unions. I can see that I didn't make this point clear in the articles being attacked."

"WE ARE FACING A POWERFUL 'religious constituency' that claims to tell us what's on God's mind," Father Gerald Coleman wrote in an article published in the October 18 Valley Catholic, the newspaper of the diocese of San Jose. This "religious constituency," according to Coleman, includes not only Islamic terrorists, evangelicals such as Pat Robertson, but Christians and Catholics who take theologians -- like, say, Father Coleman himself -- to task for what are at least perceived to be heterodox positions. Paul's Epistle to Timothy and a recent appeal for dialogue by the Sant'Egidio community, said Coleman "are clear denunciations of violence in all its evil forms: e.g., terrorism, verbal and physical abuse, witch-hunting." And, said Coleman, "where humility and charity are lacking, faith becomes corrupt. Every form of violence is a cancer that calls for rejection in very open terms."

"Terrorists," on the other hand, "plant bombs in our heads," said Coleman. "They win only if we become like them: vengeful, imperious, intolerant, paranoid. Religious zealots have nothing but a holy cause to please a warrior God. They win if we become zealots, telling others exactly what is on God's mind." In the same category for Coleman are "these non-Christian, Christian and Catholic persons and groups" who "are causing violence, using God as their battering ram on virtually every issue." The temerity of these folks seemingly knows no bounds. Wrote Coleman, "a small group of self-appointed angry Catholics, e.g., have assumed the right to witch-hunt respected Catholic theologians teaching in Catholic colleges, seminaries and universities. God, of course, is on their side. This is a type of Constantine's Sign of Christ (the Christograph) on the shields and banners of his soldiers. It is a battle between the 'forces of righteousness' (them) and the 'hordes of hell' (us)."

Coleman ended with this, dare we say, militant peroration: "these attacks against reason, truth, and objectivity are fast becoming a religious crusade. Religious bullies cannot be appeased. They must be opposed."

IN THE SAME ISSUE of the Valley Catholic, syndicated columnist Father Ronald Rolheiser applied a more gentle touch than Coleman to inter-Church controversy. "We disagree a lot and are forever frustrated with each other," wrote Rolheiser. But that's all right, he said, because that's the way it's always been. "There can be legitimate reasons to see things differently," said Rolheiser. "There's no principle that says that truth, as it is held in the hearts of sincere people, should fit together without friction. And there's a reason for this. God, by definition is ineffable, beyond grasp, beyond imagination, and it is a given, a truth beyond dispute, that our understanding of God (and of all the deep mysteries within life) will of necessity have a variety of expressions, none of them adequate to the reality." That any language or concepts expressing God "are inadequate" has never "been properly respected," said Rolheiser. But "if we really accepted that our concepts and language are inadequate, we'd more easily accept too the differences, tensions and disagreements that are inherent in family, Church, and community."

Rolheiser was unclear as to what differences, tensions, and disagreements should be accepted. Presumably all of them. Then what is the role of the Church's magisterium? "Liberals," said Rolheiser, appeal to freedom and the conscience, but "freedom and sincerity are not enough," for "we need to be reminded of the lessons learned from history, of mistakes already made, of moral imperatives that we're not free to accept or reject on our own terms, and of the dangers of naive freedom and the unchecked ego." But neither do "conservatives" have the whole story; "liberals," said Rolheiser, "are right ... in making us uncomfortable every time we believe that we've arrived in truth and that our present way of understanding things is sufficient to do justice to the complexity of reality and to God's understanding of things." So, for Rolheiser it seems, any Church teaching, though useful in restraining the "unchecked ego," is at best provisional and subject to change. "There's an important place both for authority and conscience, dogma and truth's incapacity to be captured in any one formula, and for the demands of Church and the demands of individual freedom," according to Rolheiser. "The secret is to respect both, refuse to betray either, and then accept the tension that ensues. This isn't easy. We hate tension. But we must try to carry it because life and truth need both sides of the equation."

"ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT IN VOCATION efforts is 'a must,'" wrote Bishop William Weigand in his October 15 "Feed My Lambs" column in the Catholic Herald, the newspaper of the diocese of Sacramento. The diocese's recent synod, said the bishop, revealed "a clear desire of our Catholic people for access to God's grace and salvation through the Mass and the sacraments," among other things. "All this highlights the great need for priests," which is why "among the Synod's pastoral priorities ... the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life ranks second, requiring parishes to have an active vocation committee and to pray and work for vocations," wrote Weigand. Among more temporary measures the diocese must undertake to deal with a looming priest shortage, clergy and faithful "must acknowledge that we can do more to encourage and pray for vocations to the priesthood and the religious life in our families and parishes," said Weigand. "Parents need to teach their children to esteem the priesthood and the religious life."

The priesthood, said Weigand, is "indeed, a happy and fulfilling life, even though, on occasion, the media may report otherwise." Through the administration of the sacraments, priests, though celibate, participate in family life. And "among the benefits of the priesthood and the religious life is the opportunity to have a deep prayer life," which includes "the privilege of offering the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, praying the Liturgy of the Hours, meditating on the Scriptures, and spending time before the Blessed Sacrament. Many spouses," wrote Weigand, "would love to be able to spend more time in prayer, but the demands of their lives do not allow for it."

A WOMAN CLAIMING TO BE a "pastoral associate" in the archdiocese of San Francisco wrote into the September 30 Catholic San Francisco (the archdiocesan newspaper) complaining about the paper's opposition to homosexual marriage. "As a Catholic, Pastoral Associate, mom, wife and heterosexual," Barbara Loughrey, was "appalled" by Catholic San Francisco's "blatant homophobic attitude towards gay marriage. When two people love and wish to commit to each other that shows that Jesus is present." Loughrey, it appears, is not only a pastoral associate but something of a seer. "I know," she said, "our Lord would be saddened by the leaders of our church today."

An editorial note accompanying Loughrey's letter explained that the article in question, a September 16 editorial, while supportive of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's promise to veto a homosexual marriage bill, nevertheless "praised and encouraged advancements toward an increased 'dignity and respect' for homosexual persons in line with Catholic teaching," while favoring a "continued recognition of marriage as belonging to a commitment between one man and one woman."

CRITICS ARE SKEPTICAL but hopeful that Wal-Mart Incorporated will live up to its latest pledge to improve its treatment of employees both in the United States and abroad, the October 25 Los Angeles Times reported. Critics of the retail behemoth have said Wal-Mart has sacrificed employee wages and benefits to low consumer prices, which makes it a threat to unionized retail stores. In September, a labor rights group filed suit in Los Angeles superior court claiming that Wal-Mart ignores sweat-shop conditions in factories run by its suppliers overseas.

In response to such criticisms, Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott, Jr. on October 24 told employees and managers that the company would work with other multinationals to enforce better working conditions in factories overseas, improve the energy efficiency of its trucks and store design, and reduce solid waste from its stores. Scott said the company would work to make health insurance more affordable to its U.S. employees with a new plan that would set premiums as low as $11 a month for some employees, while others would pay about $25 a month for individuals and $65 a month for families. This is 40 to 60 percent less than what employees pay under the company's current health plan. (However, critics charge that a full-time Wal-Mart employee, who earns on average $17,500 a year, could end-up paying out of pocket $2,500 a year or more under the proposed plan.) The new plan will maintain the current $1,000 deductible but would allow employees three doctors visits with only a $20 co-pay before the deductible is exhausted.

According to the Times, fewer than half of Wal-Mart employees can access the company's insurance plan. The company will also support a raise in the federal minimum wage -- a measure that, some critics say, will burden Wal-Mart's smaller competitors.

HOW WILL WAL-MART pay for its newfound generosity? An internal memorandum sent by M. Susan Chambers, the company vice president for benefits, offered some suggestions. The New York Times obtained the memorandum from a group critical of Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart Watch, and on October 26 published a report on it. Chambers' memorandum suggested that Wal-Mart seek out younger, healthier employees to save on health care costs. Unhealthy workers should be discouraged by requiring "all jobs to include some physical activity (e.g., all cashiers do some cart-gathering)." Chambers suggested as well that Wal-Mart hire more part-time employees and decrease from two years to one the amount of time required before they can access health benefits. Chambers admitted that despite this more generous healthcare policy, the larger number of part-time employees "will lower Wal-Mart's healthcare enrollment.") Chambers suggested further that married employees pay higher premiums than they currently do for a spouse's health insurance.

In another suggestion, Chambers said the company could reduce its contributions to employees' 401(k) plans. She "voices concern," said the Times, that workers with seven-years' seniority earn more but are no more productive than workers with one year's seniority.

Chambers admitted that Wal-Mart's critics "are correct in some of their observations." The company's "coverage is expensive for low-income families," she observed. The company enrolls fewer employees in its "health insurance plan than do most national employers (48 percent versus 68 percent)." And, said Chambers, "46 percent of Associates' children are either on Medicaid or are uninsured." One suggestion Chambers offered to improve Wal-Mart's image would be to offer after only 30-days employment "limited funding" to help new employees "gain access to the private insurance market." According to the memorandum, this assistance "would give us a powerful set of messages to use in combating critics. (For instance, 'Wal-Mart offers associates access to health insurance after they've worked with us for just 30 days.')"

LAWSUITS TARGETING PARENTS of students harassing homosexuals may be on the rise, Mercury News reported on October 12. Though school districts are usually the targets of litigation alleging "gender" discrimination involving homosexual students, the case Shaposhnikov v. the Pacifica School District and John Roes 1-10, may be the harbinger of a new trend. Mark Shaposhnikov has charged that the San Mateo County school district did not do enough to stop students using anti-homosexual slurs against his son, a competitive dancer, for two years in middle school. But Shaposhnikov's suit, using the principle of vicarious liability that holds parents responsible for their children's behavior, has targeted the parents of the ten alleged bullies. Shaposhnikov's lawyer, Paul Smoot, explained why the parents were named in the suit: "our position was, 'OK, school, you're responsible,' and the school came back repeatedly and said, `No, we're not. We communicated with the parents and repeatedly told them about this.'"

Six of the parents of the alleged bullies, the suit's "John Roes," (four have not been found) have settled the case out of court. But Michele Garside, Pacifica School District superintendent, said the settlement "does not reflect the merits of the case." The school district will fight Shaposhnikov in federal court. The trial is set for April.

SACRAMENTOFEDERAL JUDGE Lawrence Karlton, who ruled in September that two Sacramento school districts violated students' freedom of religion by having teachers lead a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance that includes the words "under God," came to an agreement with lawyers on both sides of the case to speed an appeal, the October 6 Sacramento Bee reported. Under the agreement, Michael Newdow, an atheist who represents parents who object to their children reciting the pledge or even being in a room where the pledge is recited, was on October 26 to file a motion with Karlton calling for a permanent injunction barring the school districts from reciting the pledge. The school districts were then to reply to the motion by November 16. If Newdow's motion is properly supported, Karlton will issue a permanent injunction but stay its implementation pending appeal. This would ready the case for appeal to the ninth federal circuit court of appeals in San Francisco.

In 2003, the ninth circuit ruled in favor of Newdow in a separate case, saying that the recitation of "under God" in public schools was unconstitutional. Eventually the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Newdow had no standing as a plaintiff. Though Karlton ruled in favor of Newdow, he did not rule on the merits of the case but said he was bound by the 2003 ninth circuit court decision.

WHEN PARENTS DISCOVERED that their children at Mesquite Elementary School in Palmdale were given a questionnaire with sexually explicit questions, they sued the Palmdale School District, saying the district had violated their right to decide how they should raise and educate their children. More specifically, first before the Palmdale school board and then in federal court, the parents argued that the school district's actions violated their federal and state right to privacy and constituted a violation of the parents' civil rights and negligence. Last June, when the U.S. district court in Pasadena ruled against the parents, they appealed to the ninth U.S. circuit court of appeals. On November 2, writing unanimously for the court in the case Fields v. Palmdale School District, Judge Stephen Reinhardt ruled for the school district. In his opinion, Reinhardt noted that the parents learned from their children of a survey which asked students how frequently they were "thinking about having sex" and "thinking about touching other peoples' private parts." Reinhardt said the appeals court agreed with the district court's dismissal of the plaintiffs' claims and added that the appeals court holds "that there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of informa tion regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it." Reinhardt also ruled "that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students."

THIRTEEN SEMINARIANS are currently studying to serve as priests in the diocese of Oakland, five of whom entered seminary only in September, the October 17 Catholic Voice reported. Of the five, four are foreign born: two are from the Philippines, one from Sudan, and one from Mexico. The seminarians demonstrate what seems to be a trend in the Church in the United States -- an increasing number of older seminarians. Of the five Oakland seminarians, only one is younger than 25. The remaining four range in age from 35 to 41. Four of the seminarians are enrolled at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, while the fifth, and youngest, attends Mount Angel College Seminary in Oregon.

THE OAKLAND DIOCESE is seeking to increase vocations in ethnic communities, the October 17 Catholic Voice reported. Bishop Allen Vigneron has appointed four priests, each represent ing an ethnic community, to be vocations directors for the black, Filipino, Latino, and Vietnamese commu nities. The priests, working with diocesan vocations director Father Larry D'Anjou, will serve as mentors for candidates for the priesthood. Each of the directors will spend five hours a week contacting parishes that have a high number of people in his ethnic community.

A CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL that will serve students who could not otherwise afford private education will open in Sacramento in the fall of 2006, the October 15 Catholic Herald, the newspaper of the Sacramento diocese. The proposed Cristo Rey High School will be part of the Cristo Rey Network, a nationwide association of high schools that provide college preparatory education to the children of low-income families. Sacramento's Cristo Rey High School will be located on the site of the former St. Peter School in south Sacramento. The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, the Auburn Sisters of Mercy, and the Jesuits will sponsor the school, over which they will share oversight with the diocese of Sacramento. The school hopes to open with a freshman class of about 100 students, adding a class each year until it reaches 420 students. The school will be coeducational and will accept both Catholics and non-Catholics. As with other Cristo Rey schools, the Sacramento school will partner with local businesses, which will provide jobs where students will work one day a week.

Bishop William Weigand, who several years ago spoke with Father Thomas Smolich, provincial for the California Jesuits, about opening a Cristo Rey school, said "the opening of a Cristo Rey school is also another indication of our efforts to implement the Diocesan Synod on the importance of Catholic education and our outreach to those who need assistance. The diocese played a key role in promoting this idea over the years, in its feasibility study, and in the selection of a site and school facility."

"MOTHER NATURE PROVED just how vulnerable America is to supply disruption," said Representative Richard Pombo (R-Tracy) in the U.S. House of Representatives, referring to Hurricane Katrina. "We must do more to increase and to diversify domestic supplies." Pombo's suggestions for doing more are contained in a bill he has sponsored that would remove obstacles to energy development, including a moratorium on coastal drilling for oil and natural gas, the October 3 Los Angeles Times reported. The bill would grant energy companies exemptions from anti-pollution laws to encourage development, shorten public comment periods for proposed development, curtail the number of lawsuits filed over Bureau of Land Management decisions, and allow a waiver of the National Historic Preservation Act on private lands, which requires an assessment of the effect of development on Indian historic and archaeological sites.

But among the most controversial provisions of Pombo's bill is its easing of a 1981 moratorium on coastal drilling in federally-controlled coastal waters (which lie outside of a state's boundary three miles off the coast and end 200 miles off the coast). The bill would allow states individually to opt out of the moratorium, which would allow federal drilling in waters outside the state's boundary. In return, the state would receive a share of federal royalties from drilling. This would allow states to protect their coastal waters themselves, if they so willed. But, say critics, it would threaten the moratorium that has protected coastal waters and coastlines from pollution. "States that opt not to drill but are adjacent to those that choose to drill will be vulnerable to the consequences of their neighbors' actions," said West Virginia representative Nick Rahall. In a letter to Pombo, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger requested that "future congressional legislation exclude any language that threatens this moratorium that has been protecting our shores more than two decades."

STATE REGULATORS AND FARMWORKER advocates have been saying for years that county agricultural commissioners only issue warnings or impose small fines on growers who negligently put their workers at risk of pesticide poisoning. Now, according to the October 10 Los Angeles Times, with more housing developments abutting fields and orchards, the issue of pesticide drift has taken on a new urgency, at least for the state. Mary-Ann Warmerdam, director of the state's department of pesticide regulation, said her department has drafted a policy to tighten up enforcement of regulations, including referring egregious cases of neglect to prosecutors. Warmerdam points to increased enforcement, instancing high fines levied by commissioners in Stanislaus and Fresno counties and a recent civil case filed by Kern County prosecutors. This case involves a pesticide-applicator company which, it is alleged, continued spraying even after it noted workers in a downwind grape orchard. Twenty-three of the 27 workers were taken to the hospital.

Citing the failure of past promises to enhance enforcement, workers' advocates sponsored a bill, SB 455, in the state legislature. The bill would have made it more difficult for commissioners merely to issue warnings in cases where injury could result. Critics of the bill said it was premature; while admitting inadequacies in current enforcement, they cited the department of pesticide regulation and county commissioners' tightening of enforcement. Passed by the state assembly, the bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger on October 7.

A SEXUAL ABUSE CASE against a former volleyball coach at the Catholic San Joaquin Memorial High School was dropped in early October, the October 7 Fresno Bee reported. Last February, the coach, Frank "Sonny" Perez, and his roommate, Bill Bimat, were arrested and pleaded not guilty to having sex with a teenaged boy. While still at San Joaquin Memorial, Perez allegedly contacted the boy (not a student at the high school) through a homosexual internet site and invited him to his and Bimat's apartment, where they allegedly used drugs to intoxicate him and performed sexual acts on him. The boy picked Perez, 39, and Bimat, 52, out of a police lineup and police had seized online internet messages between Perez and the alleged victim. But Fresno County superior court judge Joe Kapetan ruled that the alleged victim was not credible, and the judge could find no probable cause to believe Perez and Bimat committed felony sexual crimes. The alleged victim represented himself as both 18 and 19 years old on the homosexual website, where he said he was looking for relationships, and continued to frequent it after hearings on the case last July. The boy, however, did not turn 18 until this past September.

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