ARTICLES

Local Church Snuggles Up with Lucy

Why Should There Be a Problem?

By Maria Elena Kennedy

(ACI Prensa)

In 1989 when former California assembly member Lucy Killea ran for the state senate, Bishop Leo Maher of San Diego forbade her from receiving Communion in the diocese of San Diego because of her public support of abortion. A February 1, 2003 column in the Sacramento Bee revealed that after Maher issued his order, Killea went to Bishop Francis Quinn, who was the bishop of Sacramento, and he told her, "No priest in this diocese will ever refuse to give you Communion." Later the Bee article said that Killea "has squared things with the new bishop [of San Diego]," Bishop Robert Brom.

In a February 10 telephone interview, Killea said that the reason that Maher issued his order in 1989 was because "he had just gotten back from a bishops meeting and he was all fired up." Killea said that the bishop informed her of his mandate by mail. "He sent me a letter, but he didn't bother to send it to my [parish] priest".

Killea explained her support of abortion, "I am not pro-abortion, but I do believe that people should make their own choices." When asked about Bishop Quinn in Sacramento, Killea replied, "He's a sweet, wonderful man. So I went to Communion in Sacramento instead of San Diego." Killea said that she believes that Bishop Maher singled her out because "he got caught by the pro-life people, he had let something slip by, and they were mad at him." When asked about her relationship with Bishop Brom, Killea said, "I run into him here and there." Regarding her receiving Communion in the diocese of San Diego, "I talked to him, and he said it was a matter of conscience. It's not a basic tenet of the Church, it's a law of the Church.... "He [Bishop Brom] said that the situation was different now, because I am no longer in public office." Asked about her church attendance now that she is back full-time in San Diego, Killea said that the pastor at her parish, Immaculate Conception in Old Town, does not have a problem with her receiving Communion. "Four years ago I joined the parish. I asked the priest if it was going to be a problem, and he replied, 'why should there be a problem; they have the problem.'"

Monsignor Alphonsus Moloney, pastor of Immaculate Conception, refused to take my call for comment. "He doesn't want to speak with you," the receptionist told me. When pressed about Killea's attendance at Mass, the receptionist retorted, "It's none of your business." I told the receptionist, "I interviewed Lucy Killea by phone on February 10. During that interview, she told me that the priest at her parish did not have a problem with her joining the parish, 'why should there be a problem, they have a problem' was what Killea told me that priest told her. What is Monsignor's reply to that?" After consulting with Monsignor Moloney, the receptionist said, "That's between Monsignor and Lucy and between Lucy and God."

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