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Will Bishop Brom Stand Up to Vargas?

Juan Told Us He Was Pro-Life

By Maria Elena Kennedy

(ACI-Prensa)

The son of traditional Mexican Catholics, state assemblyman Juan Vargas was known as a religious child by the parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in National City. Mindful of the pro-life sentiments of the community, Vargas told Latino voters at his parish that he was pro-life. Vargas pointed to the stint he spent as a seminarian with the Society of Jesus as indicative of his strong Catholic roots.

One long-time parishioner who has known Vargas and his family told me in early March, "We had a prayer group. Juan told us that he was pro-life. His mother also assured me that he is pro-life." When asked if he was brought up Catholic, the parishioner had no doubts, "Yes, I'm sure his mother taught him his faith." A visit to St. Mary's revealed a thriving Latino community. Small children were everywhere at the 10:00 a.m. Spanish Mass on Sunday, March 2nd. Parishioners said that Vargas still attended Mass at the parish. "He also goes to at Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles (Our Lady of the Angels) in San Diego," one elderly man told me. "His parents are now living in Santee, and he goes to Mass there with them," the man's wife added. This elderly couple has known Vargas since "before he was born," they said in Spanish with a laugh. "I know his father since we were young. They came here in 1950. The entire family is very Catholic; they worked in the fields." This parishioner said that Vargas didn't have political aspirations while growing up. "He went to Harvard; it was there that he decided to become a Jesuit. I remember when his father was saying, 'my son is studying to be a priest.' When he was young he attended the parochial school here."

Despite the Catholic upbringing, Vargas consistently supports abortion. Cheryl Sullenger of the California Life Coalition: "He votes with pro-aborts and the liberals. We have met with his staff members in the Chula Vista area on a number of issues. We don't get anywhere. We tried to sway his vote on [state senator Deborah] Ortiz's FACE bill [to keep pro-lifers away from abortion clinics], they said they would take our information. Talking to him on the life issues is like talking to a brick wall." Sullenger said that when Vargas was on the San Diego city council, he voted for the "bubble law"[also to keep pro-lifers away from abortion clinics].

A look at the Vargas voting record reveals the following: Vargas voted on September 6, 2001 for dispensing the Morning-After abortion pill. Six days later, he voted for school-based clinics to distribute contraceptives and refer for abortions. On May 31, 2001, he voted for the Drag Queen bill, which would have fined businesses for refusing to hire transsexuals and cross-dressers. On August 19, 2002, he voted for a bill that would have pressured foster parents to accept homosexuality and would have recruited homosexuals and transsexuals as foster parents.

On his website, Vargas says that he and his wife Adrienne "live in the San Diego community of Golden Hill where they are restoring their craftsman home." Thus his occasional attendance at Our Lady of Angels on 24th and Market Streets. A visit to the parish on Saturday, March 1 found pastor Father Hijinio Garcia with his parishioners making tacos. When I tried to interview him about Vargas and his support of abortion, he said, "I can't talk with you right now, but call Norma my secretary on Monday." Repeated calls to the parish did not result in a return call. When asked why Father Garcia wasn't returning calls for comment, the receptionist said, "He's been very busy since Ash Wednesday".

On January 22 at a Mass memorializing the 30th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, Bishop William Wiegand of Sacramento rebuked Governor Gray Davis for his support of abortion. Because of Vargas' strong support of abortion and homosexual rights, I wanted to find out if San Diego's Bishop Robert Brom would challenge Vargas.

Rodrigo Valdivia, chancellor of the diocese of San Diego, said Bishop Brom would not publicly challenge Vargas. "Our bishop disagrees with the way in which the bishop [of Sacramento] challenged the governor, although he doesn't necessarily disagree with what he said.... Politicians should be reminded and confronted, not in a public way, but in a pastoral way." When asked about Vargas' voting record, Valdivia said that oftentimes "they vote as politicians and not as Catholics."

Attempts to interview Vargas for this story were unsuccessful.

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