2005 LETTERS
December
November
October
September
July/August
June
May
April
March
February
January

Little Notes

Confessions
Talk About Movies
Roamin' Catholic
Follow Me




Contents © 2005
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

LETTERS
April 2005

---

Stanford Espedal is obviously an alarmist with a sick agenda [see "Kid in a Candy Shop", March 2005 issue]. Maybe he would do better writing for the National Enquirer. He seems to have a penchant for ridiculous supposition based on his own depravity and lack of facts or scientific knowledge.

Message to you: Because a person is homosexual does not mean that he is a pedophile. One has nothing to do with the other. Because a person is a homosexual it does not mean that he is "recruiting" boys to "gayhood". If it wasn't so sad, it would be laughable.

That "article" is simply a despicable smear campaign by an uneducated man with some serious emotional issues. My best guess, God (you know, the loving one) would take far more issue with Stanford Espedal's sleazy tactics than Father Mott's ministry.

T. Potter

Stanford Espedal responds: To allow a priest with a past of homosexual activism access to adolescent boys in the confessional because he has been through therapy is a monumental risk to the boys' souls.

QUESTIONS ABOUT HOLTEY

Astonishingly, Father Gary Holtey has been assigned no jail time for the heinous crime of child porn, and probably worse [see "Little Notes," February 2005 issue]. The Diocese of San Diego, under Bishop Robert Brom, used trusted loyal Catholic donations to bail out a betraying wolf who fed off of heresy and pederastic images to head off the justice that the diocese of San Diego constantly proclaims. How can any real Catholic trust anything the pederast protectors say? How much did the diocese have to pay for Father Holtey's defense and ongoing treatment? Will the diocese's broken promise of transparency ever reveal the cost? Why does the diocese and local media neglect to mention that the treatment center Father Holtey is attending in Silver Springs, Maryland is the infamous St Luke's Institute headed by Father Stephen J. Rossetti? Is it because Rossetti has been a featured speaker at USD? Some of Father Rossetti's notorious graduates have been Rudy Kos and Paul Shanley who wound up here in San Diego. Coincidentally Kos took paralegal classes at USD.

As a new Catholic, I am utterly amazed that, after the raid at St. Charles, at a meeting run by principal Michael Deely, the parents of Catholic children at St. Charles Borromeo gave Father Holtey a standing ovation. This is a priest who is now convicted of 10 counts of child porn possession and has to register as a sex offender. Why hasn't Bishop Brom fired every person in authority at St. Charles, especially the Parish Council? Father Holtey admitted in a homily he had left the priesthood under the guise of suffering from depression for three years. I think Catholics in this diocese have a right to know where Father Holtey was during his first treatment. On top of that, in the midst of the Holtey debacle, Father James Mott who had earlier been banished to Orange County because of his homosexual "outreaching," was allowed to return to San Diego. Because Bishop Brom has allowed the reinstatement of Father Mott, he is now hearing Catholic boys' confessions at St. Augustine High School! Coincidentally, Father Mott was running a homosexual outreach program at Santa Sophia while Father Holtey was serving there.

Chuck Stout,
El Cajon

WHERE ARE THE PRO-LIFERS?

In response to the letter "Where were our bishops?" (March 2005) — yes, it is admirable that the pro-lifers in San Francisco organized an event on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, but the bishops in San Francisco didn't organize it. And so, neither did the bishops of San Diego. It is the failure of the pro-life people in San Diego not to coordinate such a large event. Where are the pro-lifers?

For many years the pro-life organizations in San Diego did organize an annual event to commemorate and memorialize the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. And every year that we organized it, the bishops and the Catholic church in San Diego was very active in helping coordinate it and attend. But, the turn out was low every year no matter how far and wide we advertised. Twenty-three local organizations (Protestant and Catholic) and 99 churches of the San Diego Diocese could only get 800 people to show up year after year. So, we quit paying and organizing an event that no one would show up for. Where are the pro-life people?

The shame is not on the bishops, it belongs to the people of San Diego who apparently are not as motivated to take a stand for life as those that live in the Sodom and Gomorrah of our day. Instead of pointing the finger at three men who should have taken a stand on yet another issue they battle daily, how about the other 3.3 million people in San Diego get involved and do the organizing and attract 7,000 San Diegans ... and I'm sure the bishops will attend.

Dana Serrano Chisholm
Escondido

ARROGANCE AND CORRUPTION

When I had my second son a few months ago I started to think about going to church again. In my house we were Catholics but hardly practiced the faith. After having my second child I started to feel like we needed something more than just ourselves. Shortly before relocating here from Boston was when I told my husband we should meet with a priest to discuss the Catholic faith. He was resistant and was relentless in talking about Paul Shanley.

Before moving to Boston we lived in Tampa and Miami. We knew about a number of out of court settlements the southern Florida diocese paid in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. These were for priests molesting boys. During our arguments I constantly told my husband that there are many priests and most of them really devote their lives to serving God and we should likewise think about doing so ourselves. Last month somebody told me I should read your Little Notes and Letters sections.

At first I wasn't going to send this email. My husband encouraged me to do so. He has a kind and loving attitude despite our arguments in the past about meeting with a priest and attending church. If possible I want to see if you can answer the following questions for me: In the Point Loma-Ocean Beach area were three relocated priests who molested children. Rudy Kos and Paul Shanley like Bishop Brom are from out of the state. It looks like this is no coincidence. Why did they all relocate here? People who run the diocese must have known about it before these people from out of the state came here. A few months ago Gary Holtey was indicted for having child pornography. The San Diego Diocese posted his bail and pays for his defense. They support him. In the past he was teaching heresy in his Sunday school classes. Why is Gary Holtey only facing misdemeanor state charges instead of felony federal charges? Was there a plan by people running Catholic churches here to have him convicted of something petty? Why did they do this? There was no mention of him facing charges for molesting children. People who look at pictures of naked children are molesters too. These administrators in the San Diego diocese must know of some instances.

When going to church people should feel comforted and safe. However, this is not the case in the Catholic system in San Diego. Here priests and bishops get to behave like criminal entertainers and professional athletes. The arrogance and corruption in the Catholic system here is appalling. They need to suffer the consequences for their actions like everybody else.

Zivi Angelos
San Diego

WASTELAND WAS GREAT JOURNALISM

Congratulations on your fine publication. "A Semester in the Wasteland" (February, 2005) was great journalism, as well as frightening.

Jim Perman
Chula Vista

THE LAST OF THE ROMANS

I am a Roman, by blood, and through my ancient heritage in the Roman communion. We became Christians along the Appian Way before most of Europe had heard of the Good News. I reject the last paragraph of the column on the parish of St. Martin of Tours in which it is said that our evangelical and other Christian brethren are in divisiveness [see Roamin' Catholic, March 2005]. Then it is stated that their preachers are "self made millionaires." This stupid prejudice will not be allowed to deface us and I totally condemn this nonsense. For decades I have regarded our Lutheran, Anglican, and other Christian believers as my brothers and I will not be silent when this article insults them. Whoever confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord and the only begotten Son of the Father belongs to me. You will not disseminate this perversion of "Extra ecclesiam nulla salus" and you will be reminded that the Church is all those who accept Christ the Risen Lord as the center of life.

Michael Suozzi
La Mesa

IT WAS ERRONEOUS WHILE IT LASTED

The final paragraph of the "It Was Good While It Lasted" article in your March 2005 issue notes that none of the former Mission Young Adults contacted would discuss why the group was shut down, but as a former member of that group and a member of the former diocese Young Adult Advisory Council, I can offer reasons for the decline of that group. While the degree to which the factors I cite caused the demise of the group cannot be quantified, hopefully they can be used as lessons learned to ensure the revival of the young adult ministry in the Diocese of San Diego.

Your opening paragraph, "In 1991, faithful young Catholics in San Diego County had few options for fellowship," is erroneous. When the Young Adult Advisory Council existed between 1990 and 1992, many parishes had young adult groups which have since been replaced by larger regional young adult groups. In addition to the parish groups, the diocese had a "Roving Mass" on the final Sunday of each month which was held at a different parish each month.

In a way, Matt Pinto was a victim of his own success; creating a strong Mission Young Adult group he inadvertently weakened surrounding parish groups. St. Therese and Immaculata had strong groups during the era of the Young Adult Advisory Council, and Roving Mass hosts in early 1990's also included Blessed Sacrament and St. Columba. The transition from smaller parish groups (St. Brigid's, whose Pacific Beach location naturally attracts a significant young adult populace, has always been a large group) to more regional groups decreased the number of parishes with young adult groups willing to host a Roving Mass.

The loss of young adult opportunities on the parish level (it is ironic that Father Bud Kaicher, who was the director of the diocese Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the heyday of young adult groups, is now the pastor of a parish without a young adult ministry) was not Matt Pinto's fault, and in fact the Mission Young Adults were active participants in the Roving Mass during Matt Pinto's era. The loss of parish young adult groups led to the demise of the Roving Mass, which included a social activity after the service to allow young adults from different parishes to become acquainted with each other.

The actions of the Mission Young Adult group after Matt Pinto's departure are also obviously not his fault, but his words "an hour later, 45 of us were out at the pub" are telling of another problem which befell the group. The adjournment to the bar followed the weekly meetings, in contrast with the St. Brigid's model of the Father Bud Kaicher era in which trips to bars were scheduled as separate events rather than on group meeting nights. Young adult groups should have a combination of social, spiritual, and service, but they should be church young adult groups and not drinking clubs. Some of the members felt uncomfortable with the emphasis on the bar, and that led to a rebellion in which many members instead adjourned to a nearby restaurant. This was perhaps the first schism in the Mission Young Adult group.

I will own up to being part of that rebellion, and in member surveys during the late 1990's I also lamented the elimination of the monthly birthday dinners. In response to my enthusiasm about reviving the birthday dinners, I was put in charge of that activity. I will admit that the lack of success of those dinners was in part due to my schedule restrictions rather than to group priorities, and in February 2000 I turned over organization of that task to a member whose available nights were more suitable, although the success of that activity did not subsequently increase.

I continued to attend Mission Young Adult activities in 2000, even though I turned 36 in January of that year. The upper age limit of 35 no longer applied, but I noticed that most of the Mission Young Adult members were over 35 rather than under 30. Although I was willing to relegate myself to a senior advisor and I still encourage veterans of young adult groups to transmit their experience to newer members, a young adult group should serve the needs of young adults and not older adults, and the Mission group seems to have deviated from that sentiment.

My final separation from the Mission Young Adult group was in 2001; the monthly newsletter which had been sent by Postal Service was transitioned to electronic mail. Since I had a text-only e-mail which could not read calendars, I did not place my name on the electronic list and was not kept informed about upcoming group activities. In May the group offered the option of a mailed paper copy for $5 annually, but by that time I had decided that I did not miss the group activities and opted not to receive the newsletter.

My last Mission Young Adult activity was a February 2001 social, but I have kept in touch with some members of the group and understand that personality conflicts caused the parish to shut down the young adult group. The Mission Young Adult group was good while it lasted, but hopefully the revived group as well as other young adult groups can avoid the mistakes which shortened the Mission Young Adult group's life.

Joe Naiman
Lakeside

TOP