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

MAY 2001 LITTLE NOTES

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Describing the reason for USD's award, the site states "USD conducted a yearlong examination of the relationship of the USD community to its sexually diverse members in light of its mission as a Roman Catholic institution. The dialogue among all factions was undertaken with frankness and respect, and disentangled misperceptions and misunderstandings that surround this complex relationship."

"In USD's case, the colloquium was a group of 10 people who met and discussed the issue of sexual diversity. Every viewpoint was represented in the colloquium." She said that the group included "someone from the provost's office, someone from the church (one of the fathers), professors, both traditional Catholics and non-Catholics, graduates and undergraduates, gays and non-gays. It was coordinated by a professor named Evelyn Kirkley."

Evelyn Kirkley is a full-time faculty member of USD's theology and religious studies department. According to the department's website, "Dr. Kirkley's area of concentration is the late nineteenth century, particularly issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality among non-mainstream religious groups."

In an April 2 telephone conversation, Kirkley explained the reasons for holding the sexual diversity colloquium: "The university received a sizable grant to do education and awareness regarding sexual orientation within the university community."

When asked how a sexual diversity colloquium comes under USD's mission as a Roman Catholic university, Kirkley said that it was in keeping with the Church's mission to reach out to all people. "We do have people on this campus who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered." She cited paragraphs 2357 and 2358 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, stating that homosexual persons must be treated with compassion and respect and that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.

Kirkley said she was not directly involved in the colloquium but confirmed that it included a variety of participants whose names she could not reveal. She said that the colloquium consisted of monthly meetings with no pre-determined format. "They might have discussed some readings, but there were no assignments. It was mainly a discussion group." One of the reasons for holding the colloquium, Kirkley explained, was because "We've had some incidents of hate on campus." When asked for specific examples, she did not provide any. "It's not a big problem, but there have been some incidents."


OPEN LETTER FROM PRIEST EJECTED FROM NJ CATHOLIC SCHOOL, READ THE HEADLINE in an April 5 EWTN feature story: "Dear Friends, Many of you have been emailing me to ask what happened at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Newark on Sunday March 18. You may have heard that I was physically thrown out of St. Patrick's School hall. This is true. I will give you a full report. I was present along with about 15 other demonstrators at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Newark. We used our First Amendment rights to heckle and boo pro-abortion politicians at the grand stand in front of City Hall. We also passed out leaflets along the way to protest Jim McGreevey who was chosen to be the Grand Marshal of the parade. As a State Senator in Trenton McGreevey voted twice against banning the gruesome partial-birth abortion procedure. The whole parade was one big Democratic Rally for Jim McGreevey. McGreevey for governor signs were everywhere and McGreevey campaign literature was passed out liberally. Afterwards, I visited several gatherings at taverns where McGreevey's supporters were gathered. I wore stickers which said "McGreevey Supports Partial-Birth Abortion" and "St. Patrick Is Pro-Life." One of the gatherings for McGreevey was at St. Patrick's School. It particularly grieved me that the Church officials would allow the Church to be used by a pro-abortion politician. I don't think Jesus, who drove the money changers out of the Temple, would allow himself to be used in this way.

"Some of us pro-life protesters decided to pay $10 and attend the gathering to talk to people and find out what was going on. Since this was obviously a political event to support Jim McGreevey we were clearly not welcome, but at no time did we engage in disruptive behavior inside the school hall. Other pro-life supporters remained outside with signs and passed out literature. One of the protesters who entered the hall with me was Larry Cirignano. Larry is a resident of Newark and the Director of Communications for the Catholic Alliance. This organization is run by Raymond Flynn, the former Mayor of Boston and Ambassador to the Vatican during the Clinton Administration. Flynn is a pro-life Democrat. Larry and I waited patiently to speak to Mr. McGreevey and Tom Giblin -- the New Jersey State Democratic Chairman. Mr Giblin was also the Chairman of the Parade Committee. (Remember the excuse given by Church officials to permit use of the Catholic school hall was that this was not a political event, but a cultural one.) I gave Mr. McGreevey a copy of the American Bishops document "Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics" which he assured me he would read. He was going on to other gatherings, but assured me he would be in contact. After our discussion we remained peacefully in the hall until I was confronted by a pro-abortion woman who shouted at me "How many children did you raise?" I answered her back and debated with several Catholic pro-abortion supporters of McGreevey. Some denied that McGreevey supported partial-birth abortion, but I had a newspaper article with a record of the vote to show his vote on the subject. At this point they began to say that I had no right to protest McGreevey's support of partial-birth abortion because of what Catholic priests do to little boys in confessionals. I was also accused of protesting the event simply because I wanted to help the Republican Party. (Anyone who is aware of my record of protesting former Governor Whitman would realize that that is also a lie.)

"A man in plain clothes identifying himself as a police officer heard the commotion and blamed it on me, accusing me of harassment. At this point I was physically thrown out the door and shoved down the stairs. This same person earlier ripped up a sign of another pro-life protester who was exercising his First Amendment rights as he peacefully walked along the sidewalk along the parade route. His sign read "McGreevey: Herod's Hero." One pro-life protester was worried that I would be arrested and grabbed me and tried to get me to walk away, but I insisted that I was in my right mind and that I had done nothing wrong or of which I was ashamed. I was prepared to be arrested if necessary, but I wasn't going to walk away. As I was complaining about being thrown out the door Larry Cirignano was also shoved out the door even more forcefully then myself. In fact, he came very close to falling down the stairs. Earlier Mr. Giblin said that he would give him a copy of the Parade Journal. We wanted the Journal to find out what organizations were on the Committee that chose the Grand Marshal. Among them were the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. When Larry was seen by a McGreevey supporter with the journal they simply assumed that he stole it. I argued forcefully with the security guards and others assembled outside. I brought up the irony that a Catholic priest had been thrown out of a Catholic school by abortion supporters as a pro-abortion politician was being honored inside. Realizing the possible political damage this could cause Larry and I were finally admitted back into the hall much to the chagrin of those responsible for throwing us out. In fact, there was an argument among them as to whether we should be let back in. One man told me to proceed while another kept shoving me back. Michael McGlynn of the Ancient Order of Hibernians was finally responsible for getting us back inside. We stayed there until McGreevey went on to his next gathering. At this point most of hall cleared out.

"Other pro-life protesters, who apparently went unnoticed told us that while Larry and I were outside McGreevey's parents addressed the crowd to talk about their son's Irish roots. I do think we made our point, but I am afraid that this will not be the last time that Church officials allow themselves to be the silent partners of pro-abortion politicians in New Jersey. Church officials defended the use of Church facilities for this event which they deemed non-political. (If you can call this event non-political you can call almost anything non-political.) I have no doubt that McGreevey will find a sympathetic priest to host more political events at Catholic facilities. One priest gave the opening invocation and two other priests marched in the parade. When this happens we need to be there in force. Fifteen protesters was enough to make a noise, but we will need many more to convince Church officials that it doesn't make sense for them to allow themselves to be exploited by pro-abortion politicians. Sincerely, Father Peter West (I am a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, ordained in May 25, 1991 I currently live in Staten Island New York at Immaculate Conception Rectory, but my home is in Fairfield, NJ. My home parish is St. Thomas More.)"


WARNING. The St. Athanasius Apostolate in the Fresno diocese sells "Responsible Catholics' Tithing Kits that have bright yellow, red, and green coupons for the collection basket (warning, stopping, and reinstating). Athanasius Apostolate phone (209) 323-5003.


OUT OF ACTION. The San Diego chapter of the Catholic League was suspended by the national chairman, William Donohue, on April 17. The catalyst, according to local chairman, Gary Stahler, was Stahler's purchase of letterhead and envelopes without "prior approval from N.Y."


GOOD GENES. From the Independent in London, April 16: "James Watson, the 'father' of DNA science, has called for the law to be changed so that scientists can alter the genes of sperm, eggs and embryos and so rid genetic defects from future generations.

Dr. Watson, who with Francis Crick shared a Nobel prize for the discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953, says that fears over the creation of "designer babies" are misplaced and that the potential benefits of controlling the ultimate engine of human evolution far outweigh the risks.

"Altering the genes of sperm, eggs and embryos -- so-called germ-line gene therapy -- is specifically outlawed in Britain, America and many other countries, ostensibly because of the risks of meddling with genetic material and introducing possible side-effects that will be passed on to subsequent generations. There are also ethical and moral concerns about tinkering with human DNA to improve a family's genetic stock either by eliminating 'bad' genes or introducing 'good' ones. Critics say it raises the spectre of eugenics, as practiced by the Nazis.

"Dr. Watson, who played a formative role in the human genome project and is president of the prestigious Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, argues passionately in The Independent today for society to review its opposition to germ-line gene therapy.

"'I strongly favour controlling our children's genetic destinies. Working intelligently and wisely to see that good genes dominate as many lives as possible is the truly moral way for us to proceed,' Dr Watson writes."


THE SAME DAY (April 16) in the Washington Post, the mainstream press caught onto the Bush-Vatican cabal: "Since taking over the White House, President Bush and top advisers have been assiduously cultivating Catholic voters in an attempt to realign a once-Democratic constituency in much the same way that the Republican Party in the 1970s and 1980s won over southern evangelical Protestants.

"A number of Republican operatives view the Catholic vote as the linchpin of a larger Republican strategy to gain solid majorities among all white religious voters -- critical to Bush's reelection prospects.

"'Religiously active voters have been gradually migrating to the Republican Party, leaving the Democrats as the party of the religiously indifferent as well as the politically liberal,' pollster Steve Wagner, who is a member of an informal Catholic advisory group to the White House, recently wrote in the conservative Catholic magazine Crisis. 'The migration began in the 1970s among morally conservative evangelical Protestants, especially in the South. Now, with Election 2000, it seems clear that religiously active Catholics are joining in, moving inexorably away from the solidly Democratic voting patterns that used to be a hallmark of American Catholics....'

"In the 2000 election, Bush made large gains among Catholic voters. According to Voter News Service (VNS) exit polls, Bush lost the Catholic vote to Al Gore by three percentage points, 50 to 47. In contrast, Bill Clinton's margin among Catholics was 16 percentage points in 1996 and nine points in 1992.

"Wagner said those gains were largely the result of Bush's success among the 42 percent of Catholics who regularly attend Mass.

"'Among religiously active Catholics, who have a discernible political identity in contrast to the nonreligiously active, Bush won by 55 percent to Gore's 24 percent,' Wagner wrote, citing private polling by his firm, QEV Analytics, and Penn Schoen & Berland Associates Inc. "This was the best Catholic showing for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972, equal to Ronald Reagan's 1984 showing and better than his 1980 showing...."

"Bush, bidding to improve on those margins in 2004, has met with Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis, Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh and Washington's Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. His staff has created an informal advisory group that includes Crisis publisher Deal Hudson and Princeton University political scientist Robert George.

"Perhaps most important, Bush has incorporated language familiar to Catholics -- what strategists call Catholic 'buzzwords' -- into speeches. In a March 22 address for a new Catholic University center honoring Pope John Paul II, Bush told a gathering that included Detroit Archbishop Adam Cardinal Maida and McCarrick: "'The culture of life is a welcoming culture, never excluding, never dividing, never despairing, and always affirming the goodness of life in all its seasons. In the culture of life we must make room for the stranger. We must comfort the sick. We must care for the aged. We must welcome the immigrant. We must teach our children to be gentle with one another. We must defend in love the innocent child waiting to be born.'

"...Republican appeals to Catholics are in many ways more complex than appeals to Protestant evangelical voters because Catholics are less hostile to government and many believe in the obligation of the state to relieve poverty, [Princeton's Robert] George maintains.

"What George describes as a Catholic 'third way' dates to the Encyclical letter 'on the condition of the working classes' issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, and has been evident throughout the 20th century. George cites John Paul II's 1991 Encyclical as an example: "'The obligation to earn one's bread by the sweat of one's brow also presumes the right to do so. A society in which this right is systematically denied, in which economic policies do not allow workers to reach satisfactory levels of employment, cannot be justified from an ethical point of view, nor can that society attain social peace.... Love for others, and in the first place love for the poor, in whom the church sees Christ himself, is made concrete in the promotion of justice.'"

"Opposition to abortion is crucial in appeals to religiously active Catholics but inadequate on its own, Hudson and George agree."

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