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

LITTLE NOTES
July/August 2003

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According to a May 14 report in the Oakland (Michigan) Press, "The city's police officers pulled Brock over ... searched the vehicle, confiscated his personal property and impounded the truck as evidence in a charge of 'obscene literature,' according to the Thomas More Law Center, which represents mostly conservative and religious clients. Brock's truck was held for two days, though he was never charged with a crime."

Ruling in Brock's favor on April 30, "Federal Judge Paul Gadola ordered the city to pay Brock $44,707.17 in damages and attorney fees, and signed an order to keep the police from interfering with Brock's peaceful demonstrations in the future," the Oakland Press report said.

In a May 28 interview, Brock shared his elation: "I didn't do a single thing other than be in the cruise. The police pulled me over and impounded my vehicle. In the Lord's grace, it's nice when they don't give you any choice. It cost [the city of Royal Oak] $45,000 for not giving me a choice."

"The police changed the charge three times. They kept trying to find something to nail me on. The first charge was that I was a disorderly person. The cop was being very nasty. I think he was trying to get me to respond, but I just stood there and listened to him. When he got done, he started running a DMV check. He was trying to find anything he could find wrong with it.

"They changed the charge to obscene material, but that wouldn't fly. Then they tried to charge me with causing a riot, but that's for things like turning over cars. When they tried to use that, nobody even responded; the cruise was one of the quietest events I've ever been in."

Ed White, attorney from Thomas More filed an injunction requesting a temporary restraining order against the city of Royal Oak on Brock's behalf so that he could participate in future cruises. "Since he filed it, I had to be back for the Dream Cruise last year," said Brock. "The court date was on a Thursday -- just two days before the Dream Cruise. The judge ruled in our favor, granted the injunction, and told the city of Royal Oak that I was completely within my Constitutional rights and to leave me alone."

By then, said Brock, news of his lawsuit had hit the local Michigan press. "They had pictures of what my vehicle looked like the year before. The press was in court to cover the case. I had no idea it was going to get that kind of attention. It hit the news just before the Dream Cruise, which is naturally what we wanted."

Brock said that his lawsuit has given other pro-lifers encouragement to enter vehicles in the event. "Nobody had had anything to do with the Dream Cruise in the past, but once it hit the press last year, there were four pro-life vehicles, including an old ambulance. Three of them didn't exist the year before. Now, it's going to be an annual thing. We're planning even more stuff this year."


COMPLAINTS HAVE BEEN FILED with the federal government against four Mexican bishops accusing them of violating the Mexican constitution by engaging in partisan political activity, but the bishops say they have done nothing illegal and will not be silenced. The complaints were filed with the Mexican attorney general on May 26 by José Buendi of México Posible, a small political party that includes in its platform the legalization of abortion, official recognition of gay marriages, and the decriminalization of marijuana. In México City, the party is running an openly gay candidate for a seat in the Mexican federal congress.

Buendi filed complaints against Mario de Gasperín, bishop of Querétaro; Jacinto Guerrero, bishop of Tlaxcala; Florencio Olvera Ochoa, bishop of Cuernevaca; and Felipe Aguirre Franco, archbishop of Acapulco. Buendi told the news media he also plans to file a complaint against Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, the archbishop of México City. He said all of the bishops named had violated Article 130 of the Mexican constitution, which prohibits clerics from engaging in partisan political activity.

At issue are a series of pastoral letters issued by the bishops to voters in their dioceses regarding the upcoming July 6 federal elections in México, when voters will elect 500 members of the federal congress. For example, on April 27, the bishop of Querétaro issued a pastoral letter that said, in part: "You cannot vote for a party or candidate that is against the absolute respect owed to human life, from conception to its natural outcome," or for a candidate or party who "does not respect the dignity of the human person" by promoting or defending prostitution, gay marriages or contraception.

Bishops across México, many of whom were not named in the complaints filed by Buendi·, have been equally vocal in their advice to voters. In a May 18 homily, for example, Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, said: "If someone supports the abortionists with his vote, he becomes morally responsible for the murder of innocents."

On May 27, federal elections officials sent a letter to the Mexican Bishops Conference, advising that bishops, priests, and deacons should refrain from all political activity. But the bishops steadfastly maintain that they have broken no law and violated no election rules because they neither favor nor support any particular candidate or political party. "We will not remain silent," said the secretary general of the bishops conference.

Federal authorities say they have the complaints "under investigation." If found to have violated the law, the bishops face fines of up to $2000 for each violation.


BISHOP ROBERT BROM was named June 14, 2002 to head the U.S. Catholic bishops' committee to address bishops' accountability for clergy sex abuse cases. He was appointed by Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, according to an October 1, 2002 Catholic News Service report.

Other committee members include Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco, Cardinal Francis George and Auxiliary Bishop Jerome Listecki of Chicago, Bishop John Kinney of St. Cloud, Minn., Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh, and Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota.

According to a November 8, 2002 report in the Chicago Tribune written just prior to the start of the bishops' bi-annual meeting in Washington D.C., "Brom said he does not foresee new rules or penalties for bishops who abuse their power or mishandle a crisis. Instead, Brom said he envisions guidelines for more informal -- perhaps private -- rebukes among the bishops.... Whatever the final policy, Brom said any discipline or reprimand would encompass aspects of 'fraternal support, fraternal challenge and even fraternal correction.'"

On November 11, 2002 Bishop Brom presented the committee's "Statement of Episcopal Commitment" to his brother bishops. The report, which can be viewed online at www.usccb.org/bishops/commit.htm, acknowledges and apologizes for the bishops' mistakes in moving errant priests among dioceses.


THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA continued its inroads at the University of San Diego. A few examples:

In December, USD's Pride Law group cooperated in recruiting children into pro-gay activities by forwarding the following message from Jennifer Davis-DeFeo, Hillcrest Youth Center coordinator, which said:

"The Hillcrest Youth Center is recruiting Rubberbandz. Rubberbandz are youth, ages 14-24, who provide HIV prevention outreach to coffee houses, GSA's and other areas where youth are present. HYC will provide extensive training to those who are interested in becoming a Rubberband. Please contact me if you are interested."

On March 5, theology and religious studies professor Dr. Evelyn Kirkley invited Pride students to see the movie Trembling Before G_d, which she described as "the award-winning documentary about gay & lesbian Orthodox & Hasidic Jews showing at USD. The director will introduce the film & answer questions.... Hope to see you there!"

On March 25, the Pride Law group forwarded a message from Agustin "Augie" Garibay, program coordinator for the United Front Multicultural Center, soliciting applicants for USD's "Rainbow Educator" program. After receiving Garibay's message, Cheryl Getz, associate dean of the School of Education, had difficulty accessing the website. She wrote, "Augie, I tried to go to the website listed, and there was an error message. I imagine this may have happened to otheres [sic]. Just wanted you to be aware of this -- and don't want to lose potential applicants. Cheryl Getz"

Another section of the website lists the following co-sponsors and supporters of the Rainbow Educators: The Irvine Foundation, Cultural Competencies Project Team, Student Activities, United Front Multi-cultural Center, Human Relations Workshops, Social Issues Committee, University of San Diego.

In contradiction to Catholic Church teaching, which states that homosexual inclination and acts are disordered, the Rainbow Educators website answers the question, "What Does the Bible Say?" as follows:

"In the past, many have claimed that the Bible's message about homosexuality is unequivocally negative. Contemporary Bible scholars, however, raise questions about the matter and suggest that biblical texts must be read in their historical & cultural contexts. Read this way, biblical authors do not appear to address issues of lifelong sexual orientation or adult, loving homosexual relationships as we understand them today."


A NEW CATHOLIC THEATER COMPANY in Los Angeles. The project is headed by San Jose playwright Cathal Gallagher, who founded a Catholic theater company in Northern California known as Quo Vadis. "Our experience at Quo Vadis has shown that theatergoers want inspiring works. We put on plays about the saints and martyrs and found a very receptive audience. A theater of our own will facilitate this kind of drama. It will also give Catholic playwrights a place to submit their work."

An organizing committee will meet shortly to launch the new theater. Volunteers are needed. Also fundraisers, directors, costumers, stage technicians, etc. For information, call 310-621-5164.


WHEN BILLY GRAHAM APPEARED at Balboa Stadium in 1960, local Catholics, in keeping with rules against attendance at Protestant services, were forbidden to attend. When he returned to Jack Murphy Stadium in 1976, the diocese was silent. The signs of ecumenical thaw were more apparent during Graham's May San Diego Crusade, finding many Catholic parishes poised to work with Graham's team in reaching out to Catholics.

The highlight of any Graham appearance is the altar call, where thousands of people flood the stadium field to "personally accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior." On-field volunteers offer Bible tracts to each altar-call respondent and take down names, addresses, phone numbers, and denominations. This time around, Graham sent notice to all local denominations to prepare a four-week Bible Study on the Gospel of John for respondents.

Carol Becker has been working to help Catholics return to the Church at St. James in Solana Beach for 15 years. Her pastor, Father Richard Duncanson, asked her to coordinate the Billy Graham follow-up program at St. James. "Now we have eight or nine teams of people ready. Graham passed out a booklet to everyone there that outlined the Bible study. Apparently, people who went down for the altar call gave their information, and anyone who said he was a Roman Catholic had his name sent to Father Mikulanis (vicar for ecumenical and interreligious affairs) in Rancho Bernardo, who then divvied them up according to zip code and parishes. The only thing is, many parishes are not ready for the Billy Graham follow-up."

Cory Graves and her husband, Bob, were one of the teams at St. James. "We were asked to participate, and Bob and I told them that we could help on Tuesday nights. But we haven't had enough people to do anything yet -- we were expecting more people. There are other small groups meeting on Wednesday nights. The cards that I've followed up on were either younger teenagers, who we turned over to our youth minister or were unable to meet at our particular time. We have a three or four people that we plan on meeting with. . But our pastor was very positive about the project."

Graves found nothing inimical to the Catholic faith at the Crusade. "It was well handled, ecumenically. People went forward and identified themselves as Roman Catholics and their information was turned over to the diocese. There was nothing that had anything to do with Billy Graham that was anti-Catholic, but I did see some literature being passed out in the parking lot that was very anti-Catholic."


A LOCAL CATHOLIC PARENT found more reasons to continue homeschooling her children after attending a school Mass on June 6 at St. Martin of Tours Church in La Mesa. "Sarah" found herself at the church when an appointment fell through and she wanted to follow through on her First Friday Devotion."

"After Mass, in the parking lot, two mothers were talking about the Serra Club's essay contest, and they were both near my car, facing me. One said, 'Did you hear? One of the eight graders here won the essay contest on vocations. Her subject was, "Why I Want to Be the First Woman Priest."' The one woman left, but the lady talking was still facing me like she wanted to keep talking about it. So I said, 'Excuse me, but did you say that this girl won the essay contest for writing about becoming the first female priest?' and she said, 'St. Martin of Tours! What a church!' She thought it was great. Then she said, 'My son wrote in his essay that he wanted to be in the military, but they discouraged that. You're not allowed to say things like that.' So I thought, 'I think I'll call the principal and find out more.'

"I called up the school and didn't say why I was calling, so they wouldn't put me through to the principal (Nancy Ryan). So I told the second person I talked to why I was calling, and she put me on with the principal. The first thing she said to me was, 'I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know about any essay.' But then she said, 'Why is this [women priests] a problem for you?' I told her, 'Because I thought this was a Catholic school.' She then gave me a lengthy lecture on how this isn't a doctrine of the Church, but Pope John Paul II's personal opinion and the next pope may not have this opinion. Why shouldn't a girl aspire to this?' I didn't want to get into an argument with her, so I let her talk. Finally, she admitted, 'The Serra Club does sponsor an essay contest.' But she said the subject was not vocations, but commitment. Then she lectured me some more, and she would pause in her lecture to get feedback from me, hoping I was on the same page as her -- but I wasn't. When she realized that I wasn't changing my opinion, she got exasperated with me, and we hung up.'"


A SMALL GROUP OF PRO-LIFERS was on hand to greet Democratic presidential candidate Senator Joseph Lieberman at a fundraising stop in San Diego on May 28. Lieberman, a devout Jew but avid abortion supporter, gave a short speech at UCSD before heading to the Pamplemousse restaurant in Solana Beach for a $1000-a-plate reception. There he was met by seven pro-lifers with signs, including large photos of aborted babies bearing the caption "Lieberman's Choice." Pastor Gary Cass and Allyson Smith called out to him to stop supporting the murder of children through abortion. Lieberman responded by waving to the protesters before hurrying inside. "We were only about 30 feet away from him," noted California Life Coalition Director Cheryl Sullenger, who organized the protest. "He heard us loud and clear."


IN AN APRIL 3RD LETTER to Christine Montejano of the California Medical Board in San Diego, Rich Ackerman of the United States Justice Foundation outlined evidence of the failure to report child sexual abuse of minor girls by Planned Parenthood. The evidence that Ackerman sent to the California was obtained in discovery surrounding the Megan Allen lawsuit (See "Ex-Employee Sues Encinitas Planned Parenthood," October 2002). The letter, and supporting documents, outline how Planned Parenthood requires unlicensed personnel "to make medical diagnosis, complete triage evaluations, take vital signs, assist in surgical procedures, perform lab tests, screen patients and a variety of other medical practices that require specialized knowledge".

In a June 9 telephone interview Ackerman said that Montejano had not responded to his letter. "Every day that goes by means that more children are getting hurt by the failure of the Medical Board to take action."


FROM A JUNE 11 PRO-LIFER'S E-MAIL: "Yesterday Planned Parenthood and NOW had a press conference scheduled for 10 AM at the very public Community Concourse in San Diego to complain about the Davis Recall Drive and that their 'right to choose' might be eroded under another governor that may not be as rabidly pro-abortion as Governor Davis.

"We found out about it only just the day before and quickly made plans to attend. Eight pro-lifers arrived early, each bearing large graphic signs depicting aborted babies. You would think the pro-aborts, who work so desperately to make sure every child possible ends up like the babies in the photos, would be proud of the depictions of their handiwork! On the contrary!

"We saw that the press conference was being set up in the public concourse (a traditional and open free speech forum that we have used a number of times) with a row of chairs for 'dignitaries' a lectern, and a banner attached to a metal frame behind the lectern as a backdrop. We decided to set up on either side of the metal stand behind the lectern and facing the row of chairs. Our dozen or so signs dwarfed their banner, that was blown about by the breeze and crumpled on itself so that it was barely readable.

"I wish you could have seen the looks on the Planned Parenthood and NOW folks' faces as they arrived. We had been careful not to interfere with the actual press conference site but stood adjacent to it on either side. Cameramen could still take a tight head shot of whoever was speaking at the lectern without showing our signs.

"The police were called and attempted to persuade us to move to one side. I knew that we were within our rights and contacted a police lieutenant that I had developed a working relationship with over the years, for assistance with the patrol officer. He contacted the patrol officer and told him to leave us alone and that we had as much right to the space as Planned Parenthood did.

"The Planned Parenthood spokesperson, Mary Ellen Hamilton, began giving piecemeal interviews to the large group of media that had gathered. Our Heather Mechanic quietly took her sign and stood behind Mary Ellen. Mary Ellen kept trying to move away from Heather's backdrop and then suddenly took off running across the Concourse. Heather moved with her and the cameramen ran after. Mary Ellen never was able to get out a clean sound bite and eventually gave up and left.

"From there the press conference fell apart. The organizer, a young man who looked to be near tears, cancelled it and spent the rest of the time whining about how we 'hijacked' their press conference. In reality, they could very easily held it, but they ended up being their own worst enemy. In the end, the news reports were about our graphic pictures, and not about their intended message."


ST. EPHREM CHURCH opened its Marian shrine to the public by celebrating its first annual Mariam Mother of Life Festival May 24 through 26. The festivities commenced with Bishop Salvatore Cordileone participating in a procession bringing flowers from the church to the shrine, during which the Litany of the Blessed Mother was recited. Assisted by St. Ephrem's pastor, Father Nabil Mouannes, Bishop Cordileone performed the ribbon cutting, blessing, and opening prayer ceremony at the shrine on Saturday morning, May 24, at which 50 white doves were released.

This was followed by a May crowning ceremony and pageant performed by youth choirs from the parish and its school, St. Ephrem's Academy, singing and praying in English, Aramaic, Arabic, and French. The three-day celebration featured Lebanese, Mexican, and American food, game booths, praying of the rosary, talks on Mariam (the Lebanese name for Mary) and the rosary given by Catholic apologist Naji Mouawad, an appearance by Spanish Jesuit Father Jorge Loring, and Gregorian chant sung by the Chorus Breviarii. Festival goers were entertained by Lebanese folk dancers, musicians and singers, Mexican mariachis, talent shows, a musical play about Our Lady of Fatima performed by St. Ephrem's Academy, and religious plays performed by parish youth groups. Hundreds attended the festival on each of the three days.

A festival highlight was the two outdoor Masses celebrated by bishops in front of the grotto built into the shrine's base. Bishop Sarhad Jammo, the new Chaldean Rite bishop residing at St. Peter's Cathedral in El Cajon, celebrated a Chaldean liturgy on Saturday evening. Bishop Brom celebrated a Roman Rite Mass there on Monday evening, May 26, where he gave a catechesis on Mary.

The shrine is reminiscent of hilltop shrines found in Lebanon, particularly the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, located near Beirut. The statue of the Blessed Mother holding Jesus in her arms stands atop winding steps circling a brick-covered base. The 21-foot high statue currently at the shrine is made of fiberglass and will be permanently replaced by a 35-foot high statue depicting Mariam, Mother of Life being sculpted from stone in Lebanon. Father Mouannes estimates that it will be completed in about a year. The permanent statue will be visible from the new extension of Highway 125. Some masonry remains to be done on the shrine's base, and there are plans to build a stone altar inside and paint depictions of Marian apparitions on the walls of the grotto located in the base. The shrine will also eventually feature depictions of the mysteries of the rosary, the four Marian dogmas (Mary's Immaculate Conception, perpetual virginity, motherhood of God, and assumption into heaven) and the cedars of Lebanon. For Maronite Catholics, cedars of Lebanon symbolize eternity and Mary, and evoke the first temple of Solomon, which was built with these trees, Father Mouannes explained.

Father Mouannes emphasized that the shrine is open to all visitors, Catholic and non-Catholic. In addition to the stairs, the shrine features a ramp providing full access for the disabled, and is open during business hours. On Wednesday evenings through August 20, St. Ephrem's is also sponsoring a Bible study taught by Naji Mouawad (see Dates sections for further details). For more information, contact St. Ephrem's Maronite Church, 750 Medford St., El Cajon, CA 92020, 619-337-1350, www.stephrem.org.

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