2001 Little Notes
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Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

APRIL 2001 LITTLE NOTES

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"Apparently, the building has been sold to new owners who were concerned about the the large crowds of pro-lifers and police, especially at our Roe v. Wade activities in January. (The La Mesa police department sent SWAT officers, paddy wagons, K9 units, etc.) We know that other offices in the building were upset by the pro-life presence, and one in particular began to complain loudly after being misidentified as the abortion mill on one of the local TV news stations.

"According to the security guard, the abortion mill was informed that its lease would not be renewed about two weeks ago and has not yet found another location. We also know that the FPA chain, owned by the notorious Edward Allred is experiencing some financial difficulties since losing a lawsuit and some of their business to Planned Parenthood. We are still gathering information but we are asking for you to PRAY that FPA will not relocate in the San Diego area and that the killing at this business will stop.

"We believe the lease is up in June. We will continue our activities there in front of that mill until the killing stops."


ONLINE PORNOGRAPHY is more insidious than you think, asserts the most recent (Fall, 2000) newsletter from the Catholic men's group, St. Joseph's Covenant Keepers. Writes Steve Wood: "At every Catholic men's conference I have spoken at over the past four years, I have encountered men addicted to Internet pornography.... A March 2000 national survey conducted by Zogby and Focus on the Family found that one in four American men seek sexual fulfillment online...."


ON SATURDAY MORNING, February 17, approximately 30 pro-lifers conducted a prayer march in the University City neighborhood of Mark Salo, CEO of Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties. Holding large graphic posters of aborted babies, the pro-lifers marched quietly three times past Salo's home near the intersection of I-805 and Governor Drive. Bright orange "Neighborhood Alert" flyers were placed on parked cars along the street. They said, "Your neighbor, Mark E. Salo, 7212 Florey Street, San Diego, CA 92122 is an ABORTION PROFITEER! According to Planned Parenthood's tax statement for 1998, Salo made $165,314 as CEO of a so-called 'non-profit' organization that earns money off the backs of aborted babies! Salo has opened his clinics in our neighborhoods so today we come to your neighborhood to tell the truth about what he does for a living. Please ask Mark Salo to repent and stop lining his pockets with blood money."

Several neighbors came out of their homes to observe the march. A woman in the house next to Salo residence called male marchers "pigs"; however, a woman in the house across the street told the pro-lifers "I'm on your side." California Life Coalition director Cheryl Sullenger described the end of the march: "I noticed a woman in hair rollers peeking over the wall surrounding the Salo residence. She was on a cordless phone and looked pretty much like a deer caught in the headlights. As we gathered for prayer in the public park next to Salo's house, [I] saw him and his wife run to their car, throw some clothes in the back seat, and speed away."


ON FEBRUARY 15, USD associate professor of theology and religious studies Evelyn Kirkley presented a class on Cults and Sects in the United States to Oasis, a continuing education program for senior citizens. In the course of her talk and in her outline, Kirkley included the Catholic Church as one of the groups that met the criteria of cult status. According to Kirkley, because of the "close relationship between religion, politics and social mores," "intolerance of dissent," "reinforcement and support of status quo values," "members born into it with no concept of conversion," and being a "total institution and only religious option in society," the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages in western Europe qualified as a cult. So much for the high point of Christendom.

One local Catholic in attendance questioned Kirkley's credentials, content and teaching style. "She made remarks about the Church that struck my mind as odd, since they are paying her salary and she's not too solicitous toward them. I felt that she was very glib. I felt like I was back in grammar school because she was trying to get people to agree with what she was saying.... She was 30 to 40 years younger than the mean age in that room. Most of the people in that room had been through at least one war, and her generation has seen none of that. She said up-front that she was used to dealing with 18- and 19-year-olds. Some of those people got on her about stuff, and these are people who are very tolerant of what goes on in the classroom.

"When she was talking, she'd walk into the rows, using a lot of hand gestures, voice modulation up and down -- it was not somebody that was delivering from an intellectual base. If you call a church a cult, it's a totally negative concept. I don't believe she's a Catholic, based upon what she said in that class, yet she teaches at a Catholic university."


CAN SAN DIEGO COMPETE with the Brooklyn Museum? Parthenos (Virgin), a vertical triptych of paintings that juxtaposes an image of the Blessed Mother with female genitalia has been on display since March 1 at the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park. Painted by local artist Effi Karakaldos, the top painting in the frame depicts an icon-styled Mary with the Child Jesus. In the panel below are several copies of a text titled "The Disregard for Virginity," pasted in various directions with silhouetted images of chastity belts and a cutaway drawing of two female legs wide open from one of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks on human anatomy pasted over the text. The bottom painting is an elaborate Georgia O'Keefe-like painting of a vagina in pastel colors.

Institute spokesman Donna Woods said that the painting was chosen for the current show by Sandra Chanis, an Oceanside artist and institute art jurist. Museum employee Kim Obade defended the painting's content. "To me, it says that we have, on one hand, placed women on a pedestal. We have the Virgin Mary, as one example of women, yet our actions treat women in a different way (referring to the text with the chastity belts)." Pointing to the vagina at the bottom, she said, "This is an abstract image of ... you seem to find it to be, uh, feminine. And it's beautiful. So somehow we have these distorted images of who women are and how we treat them. Rather than having the regard for women, her [the artist's] point is, there's so much disregard for women. These articles are reflective of some of the atrocities that are performed against women -- specifically to their sexual organs." Referring to the vaginal image, she said, "I think that it is showing women as the giver of life. Yes, there is conflict in the piece, because there is conflict in the way we treat women and the way we view women, who women are supposed to be and who they are." Neither employee had heard of any complaints about the work.


PRO-LIFE ACTIVITY at Chula Vista's Clinica Medica para la Mujer de Hoy (Today's Woman's Medical Clinic) has increased over the last few months. Over the past two years the California Life Coalition has sponsored regular pickets there on most Wednesdays, from about 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. During the same time period Catholic pro-life activist Duke Weilbacher showed up at the clinic before 7:00 a.m. most Saturdays, usually by himself, although he was sporadically joined by small groups of fellow Catholics for prayer vigils patterned after those of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants. While praying, Weilbacher offered clinic customers literature, rosaries and sidewalk counseling.

The clinic, located at 335 H Street in Chula Vista's downtown business district, is a half block away from St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, at 293 H Street. In November 2000, for the first time, an invitation was issued to St. Rose parishioners, through informal channels, to join one of Weilbacher's prayer vigils at the clinic. On Saturday, November 18, approximately 25 Catholics showed up, including 22 from St. Rose. Those participating in the prayer vigil stood across the street from the clinic, while two sidewalk counselors were stationed outside the clinic. They prayed all fifteen decades of the rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet. Toward the vigil's end a woman came out of the clinic and told a sidewalk counselor she had decided against having an abortion. The St. Rose parishioners expressed interest in ongoing participation in such vigils, and it was agreed that there would be an effort to hold them monthly. With little advance notice, another vigil was held on December 16, with a total of nine participants, including eight St. Rose parishioners. After speaking with the sidewalk counselor prior to entering the clinic, one couple turned around and left.

Near the first of the year Weilbacher announced that he planned to move out of state in early February, so January's vigil was held without him, on the 27th, during cold and rainy weather. There were six participants, all from St. Rose, with one acting as a sidewalk counselor and one staying behind in the church to pray during the vigil. The fourth vigil was held on February 17, which included about sixteen St. Rose parishioners, one of whom brought a large image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This parishioner, who speaks Spanish, assisted the sidewalk counselor. As one couple drove into the clinic driveway, they focused on the image of Our Lady. They did not enter the clinic and were observed driving away.

In early February another group of pro-lifers has begun to picket the clinic on Saturdays and offer sidewalk counseling and literature. One participant said they had been inspired by Weilbacher's example and felt obliged to help fill in the gap left by his departure. The Chula Vista Clinica Medica, which targets the Latino community, belongs to a Southern California chain of abortion mills, which has been operated by abortionist Nicholas Braemer, who surrendered his medical license on August 1, 2000, under a settlement with the Medical Board of California. Charges against Braemer included gross and repeated negligence, incompetence and the commission of acts involving dishonesty or corruption. The June 22, 2000 San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "Braemer said his clinics will remain open, with another doctor as owner, but will not provide late abortions, as he did, between the 24th and 26th weeks of pregnancy." All ten of the clinics have subsequently continued to operate. The abortionist practicing at the Chula Vista mill is Phillip Rand, who has been sued over 30 times and was disciplined by the Medical Board in 1999.


ON WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK, April 11 at 7 p.m., San Diegans will have a chance to enjoy an evening of Gregorian Chant as the Chorus Breviarii (Choir of the Breviary) sings Matins and Lauds of Holy Thursday. Matins and Lauds are traditionally sung as the first Divine Hours of the day. During Holy Week, these Hours are called the Tenebrae, which means darkness. The liturgical service will be held at St. Maximilian Kolbe Roman Catholic Polish Mission, 1735 Grand Avenue, Pacific Beach. In the tradition of the Church, Matins is sung around 2 a.m. and Lauds is sung at first light. To allow for ease of public participation, both hours are moved back to Wednesday evening. Those having a modern Liturgy of the Hours, or a Bible are encouraged to bring them along in order to follow the Latin chanting of the Psalms.

The Chorus Breviarii, led by liturgical musician, John Polhamus, is composed of eight men who will chant the Matins and Lauds Hours. A special, triangular, 15-candle "hearse," or candelabra, will represent each psalm, with one candle standing for Our Lord. The "hearse" is fully lighted at the beginning of the service. As the choir chants the nine psalms of Matins, and the five psalms of Lauds, one candle is extinguished after each psalm. When the last candle is put out, the candle symbolizing the life of Our Lord, that candle is then sequestered. Immediately following, there will be a pounding, either on a book or thefloor. In the darkened church, the pounding will symbolize the convulsion of the earth at the time of Christ's death.

For the Chorus Breviarii, the Tenebrae liturgy is the beginning, according to John Polhamus. He plans to begin Sunday Vespers at St. Maximilian Kolbe after Easter.


WHY WOULD A CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL'S newspaper turn down an ad for a pro-life organization? That's the question Catherine Ewers of Birthline is asking about University of San Diego High School's newspaper, El Cid. "The student business manager called me last month (February) to ask if I would like to place an ad. I said, 'Of course' and sent him our copy. Our copy is currently used in newspapers for Clairemont High School, Point Loma High School, University City High School -- you know, the high schools in the area. I was surprised that they ever called me, because for years we have tried to put an ad in there and they wouldn't even return our phone calls. But this year when they called us, I thought they had probably seen the ad in other papers. We've been in the community for 20 years. After I sent the copy in, he called and apologized and told me that the administration wouldn't accept it. When I asked for a reason, the kid said it was, 'unsuitable'." The ad shows a scared looking young girl with a blurb indicating that she is asking herself what her choices are. The copy reads: "Free pregnancy test. Talk to us, we can help. Strictly confidential" and gives a phone number and web address. Birthline, formerly Birthright, is a pro-life pregnancy counseling service and does not offer contraceptives or referrals for abortions. This time, Ewers didn't bother calling the school's journalism advisor. "In the past, I've called and left messages with the journalism advisor and the principal's office and they never once returned our calls." Journalism advisor Michael Fares did not return phone calls to this News Notes reporter.


PARKINSON'S MIRACLE CURE TURNS INTO A CATASTROPHE, read the headline in England's Guardian newspaper on March 13. The first few paragraphs:

"Hopes of an early cure for Parkinson's disease by the implantation of foetal cells into the brain have been dashed by the devastating results of the first full trial of the technique, which found that a number of the patients were left with tragic side effects which cannot be undone.

"The results of the trial will dismay Parkinson's sufferers around the world who had hoped the controversial treatment, which has been available in experimental form since the 1980s, might eventually spell an end to the crippling disease.

"The American scientists who conducted the research found the therapy did not benefit patients over the age of 60 at all. Some of the younger patients did improve, but for 15% of those who received the implants, the outcome was worse than the disease.

"After a year of apparently doing well, these patients began to writhe, jerk their heads uncontrollably and throw their arms about involuntarily as the foetal brain cells that were intended to produce dopamine, the chemical that is depleted in Parkinson's sufferers, went into overdrive. The cells appear to have grown too well and are producing excessive amounts of the chemical. The scientists have no way bringing the dopamine levels back down."


ON ASH WEDNESDAY, February 28, Michael Cain of Vista published on his website www.dailycatholic.org "An Open Letter to the Bishops of America: Excommunicate Pro-Abortion Politicians!" Calling on "Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, shepherd of the Washington D.C. archdiocese -- where Senate and House politicians work -- to the individual bishops who have jurisdiction over the politician in the diocese they reside," Cain exhorted them "to truly defend life, to stand up for Christ and take action!"

"We are now in year 28, and day 38 of the Holocaust of the Womb," wrote Cain. "His Holiness John Paul II has spoken out constantly. Many of you as responsible shepherds have spoken out often. And yet we wait, and wait, and wait, and continue to wait as certain politicians -- over 60 of them -- continue to call themselves 'Catholic' while totally ignoring Church teaching, while snubbing their noses at God and His Commandments.

The same day Cain inaugurated a Lenten series titled 'Herod's Heroes'. "In each issue we will reveal one 'Catholic' politician at a time and call on their specific bishop to get tough...." The first issue of Herod's Heroes profiled "the worst offender of Church Doctrine in the Senate. For lo these many years Senator Edward M. Kennedy has been one of the most liberal and outspoken supporters of the culture of death, promoting abortion, voting to continue partial-birth abortion and living a life totally out of sync with how a Catholic should live. He is Catholic in name only and has mislead many, causing great scandal because of his stubborn liberal agenda that has been a slap in the face of God, His Church, Catholics everywhere, Kennedy's fellow countrymen, and the people of Massachusetts."

The March 1 edition of Herod's Heroes featured Kennedy's fellow Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. "We also call on Senator Kerry to repent of his apostasy and return to the fold," said Cain. "The time has come, your Eminences, to put Senator Kerry on the clock. We truly want him back into the fold as one of the good sheep, but if he persists in being a wolf in sheep's clothing, then it will be time to put him out to pasture."The complete archive of Herod's Heroes can be viewed at http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/2001Mar/2001hh.htm.

After receiving a letter from a San Diego Catholic calling for the excommunication of California state assembly members Charlene Zettel and Juan Vargas, Cain replied, "God bless and yes, we'll get to the local politicians after we address the national embarrassments."


SAN DIEGO'S MARONITE COMMUNITY turned out in full force and with great fanfare on February 26 to welcome Cardinal Mar Nasrallah Peter Sfeir on his first visit to St. Ephrem's Maronite Catholic Church in El Cajon. Cardinal Sfeir, who resides in Lebanon, is the Patriarch of the worldwide Maronite Catholic Church and holds the formal title of Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. The Maronite Church, rooted in Lebanon, is one of the Catholic Church's several Eastern rites. The Patriarch's original itinerary included a morning Mass on February 27 at St. Ephrem's, which Bishop Brom had planned to attend. Due to a last-minute itinerary change, the February 27 event had to be cancelled and instead the Patriarch left San Diego that morning. Although it was His Beatitude's second visit to the United States as Patriarch (his first was 12 years ago), it was historic in several respects, according to Father Nabil Mouannes, pastor of St. Ephrem's Church. The primary reason for the visit was the ordination of Bishop Robert Shaheen, the Maronite Church's first American-born bishop. The ordination took place at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis, Missouri and was attended by Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis along with two dozen bishops representing the Maronite, Latin and Byzantine Rites. The Patriarch's month-long journey across the U.S. brought him, for the first time, to Orange and San Diego Counties and to several other U.S. Maronite communities. Nine bishops from Lebanon accompanied him.

On February 26th, late in the afternoon, eager parishioners waving Lebanese flags waited outside St. Ephrem's rectory for the Patriarch to emerge. Cardinal Sfeir's visit to St. Ephrem's coincided with Ash Monday, the beginning of the Lenten season on the Maronite liturgical calendar. Prior to conducting the traditional Ash Monday liturgy, he walked in solemn procession from the parish rectory with the bishops, numerous other clergy and parish groups, including St. Ephrem's choir and students from St. Ephrem's Arabic School and St. Ephrem's Academy. The procession first led to a location on the parish grounds where a Marian shrine is planned. After the Patriarch blessed the ground, the procession headed toward the small church, which was filled to capacity, with an overflow crowd outside. At least several hundred were in attendance. Just prior to entering the church the Patriarch was greeted by El Cajon Mayor Mark Lewis, who attended the liturgy. The choir sang Maronite hymns throughout the procession. The liturgy was conducted in Arabic and Aramaic. A missalette, specially produced for the occasion, provided a transliteration and English translation of Arabic and Aramaic prayers. Ashes and Holy Communion were distributed and much of the liturgy was accompanied by the choir and an orchestra performing distinctively Middle Eastern sacred music in Arabic and Aramaic as well as a few English hymns from the Roman Rite. Several Missionaries of Charity sisters were in attendance.

His Beatitude gave a brief homily in English, in which he congratulated St. Ephrem's on its achievements (it recently acquired its spacious new property and has just started the first Maronite parochial school in the U.S.). With noticeable emotion in his voice, he exhorted the parishioners not to forget Lebanon, their mother country, to ensure that Lebanon's Maronite Catholic legacy is bequeathed to future generations and to pray for peace in the region.


THE HUMAN LIFE ALLIANCE a national pro-life organization located in Saint Paul, MN, is seeking an executive director. Send résumé to personnel@humanlife.org, fax 651-484-2264, or mail to Personnel Committee, Human Life Alliance, 3570 Lexington Ave. N. #205, Saint Paul, MN 55126

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