2003 Little Notes
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Contents © 2003
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

LITTLE NOTES
March 2003

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"'Abortion is doing harm to black Americans as did slavery in the nineteenth century -- and for similar reasons,' Mack explains. 'In the past, the Negro slave was considered by many authorities at the time to be not fully human.... Today as well, the 'fetus' [a Latin word meaning "child"] is regarded as not a person and not fully human. [Instead] it is thrown into a bucket in an abortion clinic.'

"As a young student and eventual recipient of a Bachelor of Arts degree at Princeton, Mack never forgot the message conveyed by his teacher. And he feels it is equally important for those in the black community to understand the moral consequences of abortion. He thinks that black leaders -- in particular, most black ministers -- do not convey the horrors of abortion to their congregations.

"'Black pastors and black priests are largely doing little or nothing on this issue because of apathy or complicity,' Mack says."


SANTA SOPHIA PASTOR Father Michael Ratajczak is more brazen than ever in his support of homosexuality. The official website for the National Association of Diocesan Catholic Gay and Lesbian Ministries at www.nacdlgm.org, lists Father Ratajczak as its vice president. The website currently posts a statement entitled "Pastoral Implications of Blaming Gay Clergy for the Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church". Even thought the vast majority of abuse cases reported involve priests preying on teenage boys, the statement attempts to deflect the blame from homosexual priests, claiming that "blaming gay clergy for the crisis results from a skewed perspective on Church teaching about human sexuality. It results from selective emphasis on negative aspects of teaching. It ignores clear teaching that sexual orientation is not freely chosen and therefore cannot be in and of itself sinful. It seems to betray a predetermination that anti-homosexual attitudes justify wholesale blaming of gay clergy for a crisis that they did not cause." Father Ratajczak's phone number and e-mail address are listed at the top of the page as a resource for more information.


FATHER RATAJCZAK penned the following explanation in his July 7, 2002 bulletin for Santa Sophia why he and a growing number of his brother priests are living in homes off site from their parish campuses.

"....In looking over the campus, I believe that one can quickly come to the conclusion that there is no place on our Parish Campus where a home could be built that would afford needed quiet and privacy for the priests.

"The conclusion then was to follow the trend of many Pastors across the Diocese. The Parish would purchase a home off campus. It was also my desire that the Pastor and Associate Pastor live separately, in order to provide each with a sense of their own space.

"All of this was brought to the February 2002 meeting of the Finance Council at which there was lengthy discussion and support of moving forward in regard to off-campus living arrangements for the priests.

"It is important to note that having the priests live off campus is not a unique situation to Santa Sophia. This is a growing trend. In our area alone, the priests of St. John of the Cross Parish in Lemon Grove, Holy Trinity Parish in El Cajon, and St. Luke Parish in Rancho San Diego all live off campus. A number of priests across the Diocese have such arrangements.

"The home that the Parish has purchased as a Pastor's residence is located in the same complex in which Fr. Jerry O'Donnell, Pastor of the Church of St. Luke, lives. We are almost neighbors. He lives just one short street away.

"The Pastor's home has been purchased with a loan from the Diocese and will be paid for from Vision 2000 funds. The home is located in an area called "West Village of Singing Hills" on Willow Glen Drive near Dehesa Road. It is just 8 miles from the Parish and less than 15 minutes away by car.

"This home is the property of Santa Sophia Parish. It does not belong to me! When I would be transferred from Santa Sophia Parish, I will move out and the new Pastor will move in.

"The home is about 15 years old. It has 1629 sq. ft with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, kitchen, dining room and living room and a two car attached garage. One bedroom will be the master bedroom, one room will become a Study, and the third will be a guest room.

"The purchase price of the home was $325,000.

"It is important to compare this price with present home resale statistics. The two- year median resale price for a home in San Diego County is $330,000. The median resale price for a home in El Cajon, 92019, in which our Pastor's residence is located, is $388,000. The purchase price is below the median resale price of homes county wide and well below the median cost of a home in zip code 92019.

"The home purchased by the Parish is about 15 years old and is in need of repair. It is estimated that $35,000 is being spent to refurbish the dwelling. This refurbishment includes new kitchen cabinets and countertops, appliances (microwave oven, stove top, oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, washer, and dryer), carpeting, tile, painting, and window treatments.

"The Parish has rented a two-bedroom apartment for our Associate Pastor in a complex on Jamacha Road only a few minutes away from the Parish. The monthly rental fee is $1,030. This cost too is very reasonable and in line with monthly rents of apartments in the San Diego area.

"Because the priests are living off campus, the question of availability often arises. I believe it is important to note that location on campus does not connote availability. A priest can live on the Parish Campus and not answer doors and phones and, thus, not be available. Both Fr. Dennis and I are only minutes away. We utilize an answering service. Both of us have duty days, when we are responsible for emergency calls. Please have no doubt that your Priests are available as needed."

"....In the May 26 , 2002 Bulletin I gave the following rationale: 'Both Pastor and Associate Pastor should be able to live in a certain degree of privacy, respecting their need for their own space. In my almost 7 years at Santa Sophia, I have had the privilege of ministering with four Associates -- Frs. Langille, Viet, Holtey and O'Connor -- a new Associate Pastor almost every year and a half. Personally, I find it very difficult to adjust my home situation to a new personality that often. Making this happen successfully in the ministry environment as well as the living environment can be very challenging. Also, I believe that an Associate Pastor truly appreciates the Parish's willingness to provide him with his own space by not making him move into the 'Pastor's Home.' So it is for these reasons that I decided that Pastor and Associate Pastor should each be provided with their own living quarters.'"


THE REAL RACIAL DISPARITIES, a January 31 National Review online story by USD's Anne Hendershott pokes holes in the "erroneous claims that blacks are more likely than whites to come home from war in body bags" and points out that the promoters of such claims, congressmen Conyers and Rangel, and presidential candidate Al Sharpton, "continue to miss the real story of racial disparity in casualty rates: the disproportionate numbers of black casualties in the war on the unborn...: The abortions/births ratio for white women was 184 abortions per 1,000 live births; for black women, it was 543 abortions per 1,000 births.... They might begin by listening to the poignant lyrics of hip-hop artist Nas in his recent mega-hit, 'One Mic.' Nas knows that his community has been devastated by abortion and in a courageous plea, the rapper simply asks women to stop abortion because 'we need more warriors here.'"


VALENTINE'S DAY WARNING Based on information from the Yuba-Sutter Right to Life Committee. (www.ysrtl.org/v08-no4rtlbulletin.PDF), See's Candy is no friend to Catholics, the poor, or unborn babies. No longer a family business, See's Candy is now owned by Warren Buffet. Buffet has donated millions to the International Project Assistance F Fund the principal maker of the suction pumps used by the UN Population Fund for 3rd-trimester abortions in Third World countries. He has also donated heavily to the National Abortion Rights Action League and funded the abortion pill, RU486.


HAVE THE SEXUAL ABUSE SCANDALS driven the diocese's office of Gay and Lesbian ministry into the closet? The diocesan website used to list the office in its directory, but as of February, it disappeared. The secretary at the office of social ministries said that there was a Gay and Lesbian ministry at the chancery and that Kent Peters was in charge of it. When asked why it was not on the website, she said that the website was being "updated".


THE CATHOLIC MEDICAL LETTER was the headline on email from nurse practitioner David Picella of the St. Gerard Fertility Care Center (located at Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte). "I would like enlist your help in launching the exciting new on-line journal called The Catholic Medical Letter. Please take a moment later today to view the website and register for your copy of the newsletter. http://www.santa-teresita.org/fcc/cml

"This e-mail is part of an initial grass-roots effort to boost readership and registration, so I am in desperate need your help. I would ask that you identify at least three additional e-mail contacts and urge them to also sign up for this important on-line journal by forwarding this e-mail message as soon as you get a chance."

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