2003 Little Notes
December
November
October
September
July/August
June
May
April
March
February
January

Letters

Confessions
Talk About Movies
Roamin' Catholic
Follow Me




Contents © 2003
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

LITTLE NOTES
May 2003

---

When informed that Call to Action was not recognized as a Catholic group and that its goals were inimical to Catholic teaching, Sanders wasn't surprised. "Sure. We know that they favor women's ordination and other things that this Pope doesn't agree with. But again, we allow for a diversity of viewpoints. You know, they're really working on having a dialogue to change the Catholic Church from within. I know that they met recently with Bishop Brom, so I don't think there's any problem."

Call to Action's local president, Janet Mansfield, confirmed that they had met with Bishop Brom. "Yes, we've met with him. We're very much grounded in social justice and that's one of the common ground issues we felt we could discuss with him.... Father Sanders is very open to us. He was a Catholic priest, but he left the Church to get married. There's a lot of crossover in this whole town."


USD'S NEW PRESIDENT, Mary E. Lyons, will take over July 1, after serving seven years as president of St. Benedict's College, an all-women's school in Minnesota. Although the March 26 Union-Tribune reported her selection as unanimous by the 36-member board of trustees, one faculty member doesn't believe it.

"I had heard that the board was very divided. The final two candidates were Monsignor Dillabough and Lyons. It seems to me that the board went in a direction that was less Catholic. That's why she's falling all over herself, saying that she's going to bring in Catholic speakers. There was another candidate that I think would have been much better, Dr. Daniel Carey, but the faculty didn't like him. When someone questioned him at a faculty meeting about Ex Corde Ecclesiae, he said that 'The Vatican has spoken,' and the faculty didn't like him after that."

Particularly suspicious for this faculty member was a sudden change at St. Benedict's to make Lyons look more "Catholic". "At the Cardinal Newman Society's website, St. Benedict's was listed as scheduled to show Vagina Monologues and I saw her name as the president of the college right next to it. It's a small college of 2000 women, very feminist, and I thought, 'They'll never want her if they're going to show that' but lo and behold, during the time she was interviewed, the Vagina Monologues just disappears from her college. The Cardinal Newman Society said that they weren't sure whether it was administration or who that decided to cancel it. She also has an editorial where she talks about how she was part of various protests in the '60's. She's just what the faculty loves, and old hippy liberal. The university has been struggling with this for some time, and to my surprise, they decided to take a decided turn left."

Lyons' selection will not lift the morale of orthodox faculty members. Another faculty member told News Notes, "I didn't even bother going to the selection meetings. I figured it was rigged anyway. I've quit trying to think of USD as a Catholic college. I just try to think of it as a job, to keep me going."


IN ITS DECEMBER 2002 FUNDRAISING LETTER, Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties enclosed the following "frequently asked questions" sheet: "What is Planned Parenthood's budget? The 2003 budget of $27 million is distributed in the following manner: Patient Services 72%, Management & General 16%, Community Outreach and Education 9%, Fundraising 2%, Public Events 1%.

"What are Planned Parenthood's fund-raising costs? In 2001, approximately $404,795 was spent to raise $2.7 million in pledges and contributions, a fund-raising cost of 15 cents for every dollar raised.

"Are there any new services provided by Planned Parenthood? Two new FDA-approved contraceptive methods were recently introduced at our clinics: Lunelle, a monthly injectable, and Mirena, a new type of IUD. We also added medical abortion services and began offering our abortion patients the option of donating their fetal tissue to medical research, to help fund cures for debilitating illnesses. We opened our first Express clinic in Mission Valley, which offers many of our most requested family planning services with no appointment necessary, and later added another Express Clinic in Pacific Beach."

Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties will hold its annual anniversary dinner celebrating 40 years of preventing and killing babies on Thursday, May 1, at the Sheraton Hotel on Harbor Island. The venue is changed from previous years' galas, which were held at the Town and Country Hotel in Mission Valley.

Dinner chairmen include Manpower CEO Mel Katz and his wife, Linda; former Scripps Clinic and Research Institute president and FDA commissioner Dr. Charles C. Edwards and his wife, Sue; and Dori Kaufman, owner of Bread & Cie Bakery & Café. Honorary committee members include Qualcomm CEO Irwin Jacobs and his wife, Joan; "Dr. Seuss" widow Audrey Geisel; and La Jolla Playhouse board chair Joel Holliday and his wife, Rosanne.

Cocktails start at 5:30 P.M. followed by dinner at 6:30 P.M. Ticket prices range from $750 to $3,000 for a table of 10, and $75 to $300 for individuals.

The California Life Coalition will picket this event from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Every San Diego pro-lifer is strongly urged to participate. Call (619) 562-3519 for more information.


TWO LOCAL PRIESTS who've railed against kneeling for Holy Communion are showing a new tolerance, perhaps because of Vatican intervention. Although standing for Communion is the recently approved norm for the US bishops, many Catholics kneel when receiving Communion. After numerous complaints, Jorge Cardinal Medina Estevez, Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship, sent a letter to a U.S. bishop on July 1 2002, warning him that the new norms were approved with the stipulation that communicants who choose to kneel are not to be denied Holy Communion. The letter ends with the warning, "Priests should understand that the Congregation will regard future complaints of this nature with great seriousness, and if they are verified, it intends to seek disciplinary action consonant with the gravity of the pastoral abuse."

When a communicant approached Monsignor Mark Campbell on his knees at 7 a.m. Mass March 22, Campbell said nothing and gave him Communion. Patrick McCue, a former parishioner at Mission San Diego was surprised at Monsignor Campbell's new tolerance. "I remember there was one guy who would always go on his knees at morning Mass. He always went last, so he wouldn't disrupt the flow of the line. Anyway, one morning at Mass, Monsignor Campbell started telling the congregation that it was wrong to kneel for Communion. He just went on and on and on about how he was on this commission and that one and that it was against Vatican II. I went to speak to him about it and he just told me more of the same. I complained to Father Bill (Springer) and he said he would talk to Monsignor about it. He said that Monsignor never should have said that, but Monsignor Campbell never apologized."

Father Joe Carroll once told a News Notes staffer that he would refuse Communion to communicants who kneel, but at 6 p.m. Mass at St. Rita's on March 23, Carroll gave Communion to a kneeling communicant with no apparent misgivings.


ON APRIL 1, Assemblyman Juan Vargas lengthened his anti-Catholic voting record by approving two pro-homosexual bills in the Judiciary Committee, AB 17 and AB 205.

AB 17, Domestic Partner Benefits, authored by lesbian assemblymember Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) would force businesses seeking to contract with the state of California to pay for domestic partner benefits equal to spousal benefits without any religious or conscience exemption clause.

AB 205, the California Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003, would equate domestic partnership with marriage and recognize out-of-state partnerships as well.

To contact Juan Vargas, call his offices in Chula Vista at (619) 409-7979 or in Sacramento at (916) 319-2079, or e-mail Assemblymember.Vargas@assembly.ca.gov.


RAINBOW FLAGS WERE WAVING. That couldn't help but grab the attention of parents of prospective students as these families visited the University of San Diego campus on Saturday, April 12. A group calling itself Courageous Christians United was on hand to alert parents to the pro-homosexual agenda at USD.

Seven people turned out for the event. Four identified themselves as Catholics, and three called themselves "Christian, not Catholic."

The demonstrators carried signs reading "USD Teaches Heresy And Homosexuality," "USD Is Not A Catholic University," "Humility, Not Gay Pride," and "Homosexuality Is Not A Catholic Value." One sign said "It's Great To Be Gay at USD."

Demonstrators pointed out that USD bills itself as a Roman Catholic institution of higher learning, yet has two gay pride groups on campus: one for undergraduates and another for law students. They regularly host pro-homosexual or openly gay speakers such as James Dale who brought the lawsuit against the Boy Scouts, and Judy Shepard, mother of slain gay student Matthew Shepard. There are "coming out" groups on campus.

In a printed response, USD executive director of communications and marketing, Harlan Corenman, stated, "We recognize the presence of gay and lesbian members of our community, and respect the dignity of every individual. In accordance with the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, homosexual persons are accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity, and every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard is avoided."

Reaction from passing cars ranged from thumbs up to the middle finger salute. Occupants of one vehicle angrily screamed "God loves everyone! God is Gay! You are haters!"

A family stopped to speak with the demonstrators. Steve Michel and his daughter Amy are Lutherans from Minneapolis. Amy had a friend who went to USD. Although Amy called the demonstration "bizarre," she said she would reconsider the idea of attending.


"THE SCHOOL IS NOT SPONSORING IT. I knew nothing about it," said Jeanette Handelsman, student services director at the Academy of Our Lady of Peace, when asked why her school was listed as an official participant in the annual pro-homosexual Day of Silence on Wednesday, April 9.

"There are some students who came to school today who are participating in it, but it's not sponsored by the school. We do not have a (gay-straight alliance) club, and we don't condone it," said Mrs. Handelsman.

"We're not saying students are condemned if they take part in it. If there is an issue between a student and a teacher, we leave it up to them. But I'm telling you as an administrator that I knew nothing about it."

When asked how OLP got listed on the Day of Silence website, Mrs. Handelsman said, "I have no clue. It could have been a student who did it, but the decision was made by the administration to not dignify it by not recognizing it."

Handelsman said that OLP's principal, Sister Dolores Anchondo, was out of town, "but you can be assured that I will let her know when she returns about what happened today."


MARY L. DAVENPORT, M.D, pro-life ob-gyn from the Bay Area sent this report in March: "The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists held its annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale in February.... Joel Brind spoke on the ABC (abortion-breast cancer) link. There is growing official recognition (informally) of the abortion breast cancer link, even as persons high up at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) tend to deny it. There was so much recent blatant misinformation and outright lies on the NCI website that it needed to be taken down.... In late February there will be a conference on breast cancer and abortion at NCI to which Joel Brind has been invited, and many of the authors of the major studies are attending.

"Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, a New Jersey surgeon, gave a great talk on breast cancer prevention. It included, of course, lifestyle factors INCLUDING abortion and the pill. She talked about the "triple whammy" effect of an early abortion delaying the first pregnancy, the effect of the abortion itself, and the added effect of birth control pills that are almost universally given to young women after an abortion. She has a program in her local parishes during breast cancer prevention month that has been well received. The Breast Cancer Prevention Institute has a great brochure that includes both abortion and pills as risk factors that can be ordered (see link below) OR downloaded from the web site (www.bcpi.org).

"A new, excellent 30-second commercial has been produced on the ABC link. It aired during the Superbowl in upstate New York, 85 times in the Phoenix area and a few other markets. It shows a woman soccer coach with breast cancer in her mid-30's pensively looking at her girls and wishing that she could tell them about the ABC link, "I wish I had known." ...This commercial was produced by Dr. Brind and Dr. Lanfranchi's organization, the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. The commercial can be viewed on the ABC Coalition web site www.abortionbreastcancer.com.. If you contact the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute (see web site link above), the commercial can be ordered to have it played in local television markets.

"An update on medical (RU-486) abortions was presented by Dr. Donna Harrison. This regimen was fast tracked improperly by the FDA under Clinton, without adequate data on safety and long-term effects, due to extreme political pressure. There has been an official petition to the FDA by AAPLOG, Christian Medical and Dental Association, and Concerned Women for America to put the drug on hold. The petition must be acted on by the FDA imminently. Also, it does not appear that the pharmaceutical company is complying with supplying safety data as it should in a fast-tracked drug. There have already been deaths from medical abortion from undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy, sepsis and heart attack.

"There were also excellent talks by Dr. Tim Hughes on maternal mortality and abortion, and Clarke Forsythe of Americans United for Life on abortion and conscience legislation. Dr. Dave Reardon presented information, including his own recently published studies, on the psychological harms of abortion. This was a wonderful event for physicians and other health professionals.

"AAPLOG was founded in 1973 to oppose Roe v Wade and be a pro-life voice within obstetrics and gynecology. Although the association does not take a position on contraception, physicians who are NFP-only have a "group within a group." These events were advertised in the Christian Medical and Dental newsletter, so a number of new physicians were there. It will take place next year at about the same time in Fort Lauderdale. The topics are geared to health professionals, but any one may attend. Information on next year's AAPLOG conference will be available at the web site www.aaplog.org."


TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUAL recognized as "woman of the year."

The Woman of the Year is an annual ceremony held by the Assembly to give each legislator the chance to recognize an outstanding woman in his or her district. This year, Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), himself a homosexual, chose Theresa Sparks, a Kansas native who underwent a man-to-woman sex change in Thailand in 2000. In 2001, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown appointed Sparks as the first "transgender" appointee to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, and Sparks was instrumental in the fight to get the city to pay for its workers' sex change operations. "This is just one step against discrimination," Sparks said at the time. "This is a medical condition, and there are medical procedures that can correct it." Sparks also has the goal of giving transgender issues "more visibility. That seems to be a way to get rid of the perceptions that we're sexual deviants or perverts."

When Sparks was introduced on March 24, many of the legislators cheered and clapped loudly. Others were seen literally sitting on their hands as the Assembly honored its first sex-change as an outstanding woman.

TOP