ARTICLES

Bishop Agrees To Pray Rosary At Planned Parenthood

WILL HE KEEP PROMISE TO YOUNG ADULTS?

By Anne Knight

Bishop Robert Brom spoke to the San Diego Mission Young Adults on February 14. The bishop spoke briefly on the view of the Church promoted by Vatican II, emphasizing the importance of the Church's mission to teach truth. He then turned over the floor to the young adults for a long question-and-answer session.

The questions from the audience indicated familiarity with Church teachings and concern for applying Catholicism to daily lives. Questions were asked about Church teachings on government social programs and about false ecumenism. One questioner asked what recourse the laity have if they hear clergy making unorthodox statements, to which Bishop Brom responded, "God." He then quoted Pope John Paul II's advice to him with regard to dealing with doctrinal dissent: "Discern the moment, lest greater harm be done." Sometimes, the bishop said, it's necessary to live with a problem.

"You must avoid the Goliath posture," he said, stating that such an approach would have a negative impact on both clergy and laity. Instead, he asserted, "You must assume the David posture and 'plant the stone' with as little attention as possible." He added that, in some cases, it's obvious that action must be taken; in others, it's necessary to go through a discernment process.

Another audience member, identifying herself as mother of small children, lamented inadequate moral formation among Catholic school teachers and asked the bishop how Catholic schools could be reformed. The bishop's advice was not to give up such efforts and to "become a leaven in the dough" by finding like-minded people and forming small faith communities. "Don't assume that, just because someone's in the [Catholic school] system, they share your beliefs," he cautioned. He also advised, "Remember that this is the Church and not the Kingdom."

Another young woman asked about dissenter Fr. Richard McBrien's February 2 talk at USD, as well as other diocesan-sponsored speakers she had heard present false teachings. Another questioner asked what could be done to prevent such situations. The bishop responded by explaining Cardinal Mahony's method of screening speakers for the L.A. Archdiocese: "The Church can't control someone who takes off on a personal agenda."

He said the diocese is working with advisory committees to screen speakers invited to USD, and indicated that he is satisfied with their work. He ended his comments, "This is all I'm going to say about McBrien," and did not address the issue of such speakers sponsored directly by the diocese.

A young woman who identified herself as a recent convert informed Bishop Brom that she owed her conversion to the new Catechism rather than the RCIA program she attended and expressed a desire to see the Catechism used as a central tool in RCIA. The bishop conceded problems with RCIA programs. In response to another question on the Catechism, he rebutted the claim that the Catechism is only for bishops and clergy and stated emphatically that it is also intended for the laity.

Asked whether it's appropriate to inform the diocese of problems, Bishop Brom answered affirmatively and asserted that those who make a complaint should not be made to feel that they themselves are the problem.

In this context he alluded to the controversy over University High School's sex education and explained that his strategy was to handle it in a way that would not cause division.

Patti Fallon, the Mission Young Adults' pro-life coordinator, asked the bishop for suggestions for promoting greater leadership on life issues on the part of clergy and lay leaders. The bishop suggested that they should contact the personnel in charge of the appropriate diocesan offices. "I wouldn't have them [the diocesan personnel] there if they weren't on track," he asserted. Fallon followed up her question with an invitation to the bishop to join the group's monthly Rosary in front of Planned Parenthood's Mission Valley abortuary, to which the bishop agreed. Fallon says she plans to follow up with the chancery to set a date for Bishop Brom to join the prayer group at the clinic.

The session's final question came from James Akin, an apologist at Catholic Answers. He asked whether, rather than tolerating problems until they reach "the breaking point," it would be more effective to take "a pro-active approach," to prevent problems before they start. As an example, he cited another bishop's periodic issuance of pastoral letters, read at Sunday Masses at all his parishes. Bishop Brom replied that, along the same lines, he will begin a "Know Your Faith" series in the Southern Cross.

What did Bishop Brom think of this thriving group of young pro-life activists, catechists, youth ministers, parish volunteers, and young parents, eager to incorporate the will of God into their lives? He gave his view a couple weeks later at a diocesan meeting, at which time he complained that he recently spoke to a group of young adults who were "agenda-driven... cause-people who have lost sight of the Church's mission."