2000 Little Notes
December
November
October
September
July/August
June
May
April
March
February
January

Letters

Confessions
Talk About Movies
Roamin' Catholic
Follow Me




Contents © 2000
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

MAY 2000 LITTLE NOTES

---

"Dear Planned Parenthood, "I was a client of yours just over nine years ago. At that time, I was 17, and the pregnancy test came back positive. You asked me if I wanted an abortion. I was very upset about the pregnancy; I was lieutenant of the drill team; on the prom committee, and got good grades in school. This would definitely prove to be a disruption in my life. Somehow, though, I knew I couldn't abort.

"But you didn't warn me. You didn't tell me how I would feel when I first held that little stranger in my arms. You didn't tell me of the pride I'd feel when people admired my baby daughter. You didn't tell me that I would use two rolls of film capturing her first bites of solid food. You didn't tell me how hard I would laugh when she turned somersaults and looked like a tumbleweed. You didn't tell me that I would stay up until 2 a.m. to finish birthday party preparations and Christmas presents. You didn't tell me that I would sob at at a kindergarten graduation. You didn't tell me that every time I sent her off to school, I would want to call the teacher to make sure she was having a good day. You didn't tell me that every time she got hurt, physically or emotionally, that the wound to me would last much longer. You didn't tell me that every time I saw a person graduate from high school or get married, that I would be dreaming instead of beaming brown eyes and chestnut hair above that gown. You didn't tell me that I would receive many good evaluations from employers, but the only thing I want to put on my resume is the note that says, "You're my best mommy in the world."

"You see, I missed my prom, but I couldn't care less now. I did graduate from high school, and with some extra effort, from college. However, none of this matters when I look into a pair of big brown eyes and hear my daughter's voice say, "I love you, Mommy." I've made many decisions in the last nine and a half years, but not one nearly as important as the decision not to abort. The consequences of that possibility now sicken me. Please remember this next time you ask a scared teenager (or adult) if she would like an abortion." -- Jenniffer Lindsley, El Cajon.


"HE'S BAAAAAAAACK ..." According to the April 16 San Diego Union-Tribune "Retired San Francisco Archbishop John R. Quinn is joining the faculty of the University of San Diego under a special arrangement that will put him on the Roman Catholic campus two semesters over the next two years, school officials announced yesterday.

"Quinn will be the first to hold the Monsignor John R. Portman Chair, an endowed position funded with a $2 million anonymous gift in honor of Portman, a retired San Diego priest who also chaired USD's religion department."

The U-T goes on to cite Quinn's anti-Vatican book (Reform of the Papacy), but neglects to mention that he will fit in well with the USD religious studies faculty, 14 of whose 15 members, according to a source close to the department, are also anti-Vatican.


A SAN DIEGO PRIEST RESIGNED as pastor of a North Park parish after being linked to a now-closed Web site for gay priests, a March 31 article by Sandi Dolbee in the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The site, "St. Sebastian's Angels," contained sexually explicit language and images. Several priests in other parts of the country were also disciplined. (For more information on the St. Sebastian website, see "Poor St. Sebastian," March 2000 News Notes]).

The news upset local Dignity members. Emails sent to a Dignity newsgroup on the internet offered sympathy for the priest. One described him as "a compassionate and caring person" who was "a regular at Dignity San Diego, until he became [a] pastor ... at which time he felt that to attend a gay Catholic group might arouse the immoderate wrath of the bishop." The same letter also describes News Notes as "the most vitriolically, hatefully conservative Catholic press establishment I have ever encountered."


WHO COULD DENY BIAS in press coverage of partial-birth abortion? Not after reading the story in April 6 San Diego Union-Tribune whose first paragraph (originating from the Boston Globe) tells us that the House passed a ban on "so-called partial-birth abortions" [italics added]. Deeper into the story the author says that "partial-birth abortion [is] a politically loaded term [italics added] for a medical procedure known as 'intact dilation and extraction.'" Most telling of all -- pro-abortionists are quoted for eight paragraphs and pro-lifers for two paragraphs.


"DEAR FRIENDS IN CHRIST," began this March 28 e-mail from Michael Horvath, who leads an effort to start an independent Catholic school in El Cajon. "Praised be Jesus in this holy season of Lent! The hearing for our school went okay. The city commission was missing two members. The vote was 2 to 1 in our favor, but the vote will not be final until the remaining two cast their vote on April 10. The good news is that we only need one of the two to vote on our side. The bad news is that those opposed will probably appeal to the city council if we get that one vote. We will need much support on the evening of April 10 -- as many families, friends, etc. as we can get! Please put that date on your calendars, and bring your families (children please). We will meet at the Council Chambers between 6:30 pm and 6:45 pm. We intend to pray the Rosary prior to the 7:00 pm hearing.

"Just a note on those opposed. They were residents in the general area of St. Ephrem Parish. On March 26 the opposition numbered about 18, and many of them spoke out against our school, primarily with traffic concerns. God's will be done, in His way and in His time. Michael Horvath, St. Ephrem Parish"


ABOUT 160 PEOPLE attended the seventh annual conference of the California Association of Natural Family Planning, March 25, held at the Los Angeles Archdiocesan Catholic Center.

Keynote speaker Dr. John Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Boston, told his audience that modern society attacks the "fundamental goodness" of the flesh on many fronts. Modern hostility toward procreation and marriage repeats heretical practices of the Albigensians, a 13th-century French sect, Dr. Haas explained.

Society's hatred for the fullness of the flesh is manifested in support of abortion, infanticide and harvesting of fetal body parts. He reported that the division between body and spirit can be seen in France, where abortion facilities are euphemistically called angel factories because they send unborn babies to heaven. Similarly, euthanasia supporters say they seek to release the sick from intense suffering, Dr. Haas pointed out. The practice of NFP, he said, makes us less susceptible to manipulations of the human body in opposition to its innate beauty and design.

Two priests from the Los Angeles archdiocese, Fathers Marcos Gonzalez and Roberto Pirrone, told participants in their workshop, "Creating a Culture of Life within a Parish: Begin with NFP," that priests must spread the gospel of life from the pulpit without fear of rejection from people in the pews. "They walked away from Jesus when he preached the truth," said Father Gonzalez, associate pastor at St. Andrew's in Pasadena, responding to a question about priests' fear of losing people and collection money. He said that parishioners have responded to sermons on NFP with standing ovations. To break down walls of resistance in Church circles, Father Pirrone, associate pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul in Wilmington, said NFP must be explained as a reasonable, practical, and theologically sound alternative and should form part of adult education and marriage programs. After one homily he gave on the abuse of marriage by contraceptive use, 35 couples interested in natural means approached him.

Dr. Paddy Jim Baggot, an NFP researcher and an L.A.-area ob-gyn, said that a "wall of ignorance" surrounds the concept of NFP in medical schools in spite of the advanced research available on the subject. Dr. Baggot spoke on "Creating a Culture of Life in Medicine: Begin with Naprotechnology." In a slide presentation he illustrated how NFP harmonizes with the design of a woman's reproductive system.

For more information, contact the California Association of Natural Family Planning, 1217 Tyler St., Salinas, CA 93906 / 1-877-33-CANFP / 831-443-3746 voice or fax / info@canfp.org / www.canfp.org.


DOZENS OF PRO-LIFERS lined the streets outside the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 26 to protest The Cider House Rules, the pro-abortion film nominated for six Academy Awards.

The pro-life group, called the Survivors, began their Oscar protest the day before the Academy Awards ceremony at the Bel Air home of actor Michael Caine, who portrayed an abortionist. Large graphic photos of aborted children lined the street, along with signs that read "Shame on Caine" and "Abortionists Donít Run Orphanages." Although Caine was not to be seen, several neighbors came out to watch as pro-lifers sang hymns and gave interviews to reporters.

The group moved their picket to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where Disney/Miramax was holding a pre-Oscar party. Many stars arriving in limos took time to flip off pro-lifers or yell disparaging remarks.

The next day the Survivors and members of the San Diego-based California Life Coalition stood near Shrine Auditorium. Protesters lined the street across from the famous red carpet. Others were stationed on the street where limosines paused to turn onto the cordoned-off avenue and deposit their celebrities in front of the awaiting crowds of fans and media. As each limo awaited its turn to enter, Heather Mechanic of San Diego pleaded with the occupants to repent for supporting abortion and proclaimed to each passerby the shame this movie was bringing on the movie industry.

Several of the stars rolled down their windows to comment to or photograph the picketers. The man who found the stolen Oscar statuettes in a dumpster appeared distressed when he saw the large photos of an aborted child. "Don't roll up your window, sir," asked one of the pro-lifers. "Please don't turn your back on these poor children. This is the truth about what happens to them at the abortion clinics of America. We should face the truth so this will stop." He nodded his agreement and smiled before his limo drove on.

Other reaction was not so positive, however. During her pre-Oscar program aired on E! Joan Rivers had some comments to make about the protesters to Cider House director Lasse Halstrom. "What a marvelous picture! Rivers said as she began her interview.

"Oh, thank you! Say it again," responded the beaming Hallstrom.

"What a marvelous picture! repeated Rivers. The she asked, "Were you upset coming in when you saw some of the posters they had out that were kind of protesting the whole point of Cider House Rules?

Hallstrom sighed, then smiled, "We missed them all, fortunately.

"I wanted to open up the door and go like "Go to hell!" said Rivers.


SAN DIEGO POLICE OFFICERS arrested pro-life activist Jeremy Fowler, 21, at the annual EarthFair environmental fair in Balboa Park on Sunday, April 16, after he refused to stop displaying a graphic abortion poster among crowds on the Prado.

Fowler is a theology student at Life Bible College in San Dimas and president of the San Bernardino chapter of Rock for Life. Jeremy and San Diegan Brenna Sullenger witnessed in front of the adjacent National Abortion Rights Action League and Zero Population Growth exhibition booths.

While Sullenger passed out pro-life literature, Fowler walked around holding an 11" x 24" poster titled "The Changing Face of Choice" containing three full-color photographs of Holocaust victims, a lynching victim, and a dismembered aborted fetus. Soon, the pro-abortion exhibitors confronted them. "Both ZPG and NARAL told us to move across the street," said Brenna, "so we walked over to the south side of the Prado and stood there."

"As pro-lifers, we're used to being cussed at," said Fowler. "But it was amazing; young people especially were coming up and listening and talking to us. Some people asked us for information and wanted to know how they could help. One Jewish girl wanted to know why there was a picture of a swastika on the poster.

"NARAL and ZPG called the park volunteers, who then called the police. Some people had been heckling us, but they immediately stopped when the park volunteers surrounded us and they saw what was going on."

Sullenger recalled, "Some other guy had been standing next to us passing out literature on environmental issues, and no one hassled him. But the volunteers came and told us we couldn't just stand there; we had to keep moving for 10 feet. So we did, but then they told us to leave. We told them that we weren't going to leave, so they said they were going to call park security.

"They began calling other volunteers over, like it was an emergency situation, and pretty soon there were about 20 of them surrounding us, trying to block us so other people wouldn't see our sign.

Fowler added, "The volunteers tried to block our view, but in doing so, they only drew a larger crowd. The crowd got upset with the volunteers; they were saying things like 'This is America!' and 'We have the freedom to express our views in this country!' until the cops came.

"I had determined before the police came that I would not take my sign down. When they told me to take it down, I refused. When they arrested me, I went limp and they had to pick me up. A lot of people stopped and stared while they arrested me," said Fowler. "People were shocked when they found out what was going on."

"After they arrested Jeremy, they couldn't decide what to charge him with," said Sullenger. "They finally charged him with demonstrating without a permit. They also wrote on his ticket that he was handing out handbills, which isn't true."

The officers took Fowler to a city substation for booking. "The cops who arrested me were nice, but the issuing officer was a real jerk. He informed me that I was being arrested for expressing myself. He actually said that you can't have free speech, hold a sign, or express your faith without a permit."

TOP