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Contents © 1999
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

July/August 1999 LITTLE NOTES

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"Vinculum", to be published twice a month on Internet (http://www.vinculum-news.com), will be a useful source of information for the defense and promotion of marriage, the family, and human life, from conception to natural death.

On the "Website" you will also find a letter of encouragement from H.E. Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, to the members of "Vinculum".

ALTHOUGH HE IS THE DIOCESAN VICAR for ecumenical and interreligious affairs, and a copy of the 1994 covenant of understanding between Bishop Brom and Episcopal Bishop Gethin Hughes is posted in his parish church, Monsignor Dennis Mikulanis' support for ecumenism is not to be confused with a blind eye toward doctrinal differences, judging by his June 6 bulletin for St. Charles Parish in Imperial Beach:

"A situation arose in one of the parishes of the Diocese recently that caused a good deal of confusion and concern. The parish in question is not fortunate enough to have a parochial school, so many Catholic parishioners send their children to the local Episcopal School. 'Why?' is a good question. One would think that a parent sends a child to a religious affiliated school to learn about that religion. Well, the problem arose when Catholic children began attending the Episcopal Eucharistic Services and were receiving communion. Parents began attending Episcopal Services on Sunday rather than attending Mass in their own parish. Although there are tremendous similarities between the Roman Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church, we have not yet reached the point where we can share the Eucharist with one another.... People disagree with this and say that they have a 'right' to receive communion wherever they wish and still be considered 'good' Catholics. They are wrong....

As we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (The Body and Blood of Christ) this weekend, let us affirm our faith in our Catholic belief of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, which is our spiritual nourishment and bond of unity in this world. Let us be faithful to our Catholic teaching that shared communion with other Christians is the end to which we must find the means, not the means to an end. Catholics, Episcopalians, Orthodox, Reform Protestants are not 'all the same anyway,' as is commonly stated by people who don't know any better. Let us follow the teachings of our Church, not our own personal whims and fancies."

THE ST. DISMAS GUILD, an orthodox Catholic prison outreach in San Diego County, recently launched a Catholic spiritual mentoring program for inmates, in response to letters from inmates. A recent St. Dismas Guild newsletter included this excerpt from an inmate's letter: "I now am reaching out to the Church. I am scared and feel very much alone.... I need more than ever in my life to make contact with people. That's why I suggest a Pen Pal list. I don't want just any Pen Pal.... I want a Pen Pal within my Church, so as we build our friendship we can share with one another what we learn about the Church. I feel like the prodigal son coming home." Deacon Ken and Marie Finn described the typical inmate's plight in the June newsletter: "Most inmates, after they arrive in a facility, receive very little mail. Satan has a field day because he knows that this is his playground, and they are going to have to play by his rules if they want to survive. When they realize that God loves them, then they begin to hunger to be free, really free and that comes when Christ becomes the Lord of your life."

The St. Dismas Guild matches male inmates with male mentors, and female inmates with female mentors, and will provide program guidelines and any needed training. The privacy and safety of mentors are ensured through use of the Guild's post office box as their return address. All correspondence to and from inmates is first cleared through the Guild. Letters to inmates are to focus on Catholic evangelism, which would include topics such as the Bible and Bible study, the Catechism, Vatican documents and encyclicals, the lives of the saints, recommended Catholic books, etc. "The only qualification...is to have a strong personal relationship with Jesus Christ," according to the June newsletter. The Guild currently faces the problem of receiving more mentoring requests from male inmates than they can fill, whereas they have more than enough female mentors. Catholic men who might be interested in spiritually mentoring a male inmate are urged to contact the St. Dismas Guild-Spiritual Mentor Program, P.O. Box 2129, Escondido, CA 92033/e-mail: bendictus1@aol.com.

MORAL CONSERVATIVES have identified ten controversial bills introduced in the current California state legislative session as vehicles for implementing the gay agenda. Currently six of them are up for consideration: AB 1001, 1670, 26 and 107; and SB 75 and 118. AB 222, which would have inserted non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation into the state education code; and AB 525, which opponents said would have forced a radical social agenda onto private hospitals involved in mergers, have now been defeated in the Assembly. Some opponents of the gay rights movement believe that the avalanche of gay agenda bills is designed to overwhelm the opposition. The avalanche was the impetus for eight rallies against them, statewide, at various state lawmakers' offices, on Monday, May 24, including one at Democratic Assemblywoman Denise Moreno Ducheny's National City office. The Sacramento-based Capitol Resource Institute, a pro- family organization, suggested the rallies as part of a "Campaign for California Families."

The rally at Ducheny's office was organized by San Diego Citizens for Community Values, an umbrella group. Sylvia Sullivan, who served as the rally's media liaison, explained that Ducheny was targeted because, although she had not co-sponsored any of these bills, "it was our understanding that... in the past she had kind of quietly voted for these things, and that she would prefer to do that again." Since Ducheny is now term-limited out of the Assembly, there is speculation that she will run for Steve Peace's State Senate seat, which provided additional motivation for the umbrella group. Sullivan described Ducheny's district as strongly Democratic, but with "a large Latino population and other minorities who are very pro-family and find the homosexual agenda being forced upon them as something quite offensive." Some of the other targeted districts in the state were also Latino Democrats...where they ended up not voting for some of these bills," she explained. Targeted Democrats who voted no on AB 222 were Lou Correa, Nell Soto, Sally Havice, Sarah Reyes, Dean Florez, Dennis Cardoza, Carl Washington and Mike Machado.

At the two-hour rally in National City one participant held a large sign reading "Denise Ducheny: AIDS is Death" across the street from Ducheny's office, while, on the public sidewalk in front of her office, the other 23 picketers paraded with signs urging Ducheny to oppose the gay agenda bills. Given the rally's small turnout, there was a massive California Highway Patrol and National City Police presence, several officers inside Ducheny's office, some guarding the rear entrance to the building, and a phalanx of nine patrol cars in the parking lot of the commercial center where Ducheny's office is located.

Representing rally participants to the press were Leigh Hughes and Steve Knoblock, first vice-chairman of the San Diego County Republican Party. "The American people do not want their...children taught that homosexuality is a perfectly normal lifestyle," Hughes asserted, in reference to AB 222. "Furthermore...in the homosexual lifestyle the average age of the adult male is 42 years old when he dies, of the female, 48 years old. Why are we, in our state government, trying to promote a lifestyle that kills people?" One newsman asked, "What in this bill promotes the gay lifestyle?" Knoblock responded, "If this were a bank robber orientation bil l-- I think it would be safe to say, that if children were taught bank robbery is an acceptable, alternative lifestyle -- I imagine that, at the end of that educational curriculum, there would be a lot more bank robbers." Another newsman asked Knoblock, "Are any of these bills beneficial to the entire populace?" He answered, "I don't think they're beneficial to anybody except the homosexual community, in their recruiting efforts." Knoblock's version of Ducheny's stance: "Denise Ducheny...refuses to commit, I think, because she knows that her constituents oppose it."

Following the press conference, as rally attendees lined up to enter Ducheny's office to communicate their views to staff, a Highway Patrol employee instructed them to enter one by one. Sullivan entered first. "The reception in their office was unlike that of any other elected official I've ever seen," Sullivan recounted. "There are TV news cameras in there, there are four or five cops in there standing, and then there's this guy with his arms crossed...standing there, Al Ducheny, her husband. And I asked him if he worked there, and he let me know that, no, he's her political consultant." Sullivan was followed by Knoblock. Knoblock said Ducheny's husband was "stone-faced" and "had nothing to say." Through questioning, Knoblock, an attorney, said that he determined that Al Ducheny was not Denise's paid employee, was not a staff member and not on the state payroll and thus unable to conduct official state business. Knoblock then asked him, "So why am I talking to you?" Knoblock's description of his reception in Ducheny's office: "It's an official state government office, and they had no state representation. Her husband was here. All of her staff were cowering in the back rooms while her husband was in the lobby." Al Ducheny declined to say how his wife planned to vote on the bills, according to Sullivan.

"The assemblywoman believes that sexual orientation needed to be added to the nondiscrimination clauses of both the California Education Code and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act," Jeff Gattas, the district director of Ducheny's National City office, said in a June 10 phone interview. "She's convinced that these bills are necessary to protect students and others in our schools and workplaces from discrimination because of their sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. She also supports the efforts that will allow state and local government agencies the option to extend health benefits to domestic partners of their employees." Gattas stated that assertions that AB 222 would have promoted homosexuality in schools and discriminated against private religious schools in interscholastic activities amounted to misinformation.

The May 24 rally participants were not permitted to speak to Ducheny's staff, Gattas explained, because "what her statement was regarding this issue was given to them. That was not going to change if they talked to staffers, not at that point. It was the same statement that was made to the press.... On a normal basis, we do open up our doors to all of our constituents. We ask that they make an appointment first, and we would be happy to meet with them. This was not considered a normal basis; there were 40 to 50 people outside." When I contradicted those figures as an eyewitness, he said, "Right, whatever, it was not a normal basis; the CHP had to be called in." I had arrived at the rally site early, and I noticed that the CHP and police cars arrived at Ducheny's office before the arrival of most of the rally's attendees.

Shortly after the May 24 rally Ducheny mailed the summer 1999 issue of her "1999 Report to Voters" to her constituents. The four- page newsletter features four short articles on current legislation and a "Summary of '99 Legislation." None of the so-called gay agenda bills were mentioned and neither were any other controversial bills of this legislative session, such as assisted suicide.

The Capitol Resource Institute can be contacted at 4825 I St., Ste. 100, Sacramento, CA 95819/916-498-1940 / www.capitolresource.org / e-mail: capitolres@aol.com.

BUD AND CARIE NEWELL dreamed of creating a facility where, in Carie's words, "the elderly would have something to really look forward to: to live instead of die...." Ingleside Lodge, a fully licensed, 15-bed, assisted living facility opened in February, with Bud and Carie serving as administrators. It was built next to Our Lady of the Desert School in Yucca Valley, orthodox Catholic in curriculum and administration. Carie has been its principal for 16 years. Bud previously served as the administrator of a 146-bed psychiatric facility in Rosemead. The Newells originally envisioned the school by itself, but their vision expanded after observing the treatment received by an elderly relative in a residential care facility. "Often times families...today...are so busy that they can't take the time to take care of the elderly like we used to be able to do, and we always did, especially in Catholic families," Carie commented.

The Newells' philosophy is to maintain quality care while minimizing the feeling of being in an institution. "We have very qualified staff: people who have worked with the elderly before," Carie said. Likewise she is proud of its cuisine: "We have a very large food budget, and we do serve them wonderful food."

Other amenities include a double tennis court; facilities for Ping-Pong, horseshoes and croquet; a weight room; a full-time handyman with a wood shop; three rose gardens; a newly planted orchard; and a 1,700-foot commons for barbecues and other social events.

Residents can watch the students at the neighboring school at play, visit classrooms and tutor students. Once a week students serve the residents a formal tea and entertain them. Located on the school grounds is a 180-seat chapel, where residents can participate in the daily rosary and an occasional Mass said by a visiting priest.

For more information, contact Ingleside Lodge Assisted Living, 55747 Mountain View Trail, Yucca Valley, California 92283, (760) 228-1180.

JERRY USHER, graduate of Franciscan University at Steubenville, seminarian for the Diocese of Portland, Oregon, helped Catholic Answers launch its daily call-in show last year. Now he's working with a Catholic radio station in Reno, and the newsletter for seminarians he helped found, In Persona Christi , has with the summer, 1999 issue come under the aegis of Catholic Answers. Included in the summer issue are articles by Father Ray Ryland, formerly of San Diego, now moved to Steubenville (on priestly celibacy) and Father Richard Perozich, pastor of Our Lady of Sacred Heart in City Heights (on the priest and ecumenism). For more information, call Catholic Answers, P.O. Box 17490, San Diego CA 92177.

MORMONS AND CATHOLICS. Clyde Romney, local Mormon bishop, and Kent Peters, head of the diocesan social ministries office, fired off a joint letter to the Union-Tribune on May 18. The letter was in response to the U-T article which, the letter said, "was less about the 'normalization' of pornography and more about its glorification." The letter, which was vetted by local man-about-town George Mitrovich, complained that in the article "there was not a word about the victims of pornography, the families ripped apart by this efil in our midst. that was the story, the story the U-T so shockingly missed."

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