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
October 2003

---

The measure passed 46-28 along strict party lines and was transmitted to the governor's office. Because of the recall, he is expected to sign the bill into law.


CELEBRATING THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST, an annual conference for church ministers sponsored by the diocese of San Diego took place September 27 at the downtown convention center. The principal speaker was Cincinnati archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk.

Pilarczyk served as president (and was on the board for 11 years) of the Episcopal Board of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) from 1992-1997 as well as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops 1989-1992 and chairman for the Bishops' Committee on Liturgy.

ICEL, responsible for English translations of prayers and scripture for the Mass, has been marked by constant rejections of their proposed translations by the Vatican. In 1996, the St. Catherine Review reported, "Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati is, most notably, president of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) which has caused an uproar of opposition from bishops, priests, religious, and laymen alike concerning the group's proposed translations of the Sacramentary of the Roman Missal."

Arcbishop Pilarczyk appears to favor the revisionist/revolutionist view of the Mass as outlined in Cardinal Roger Mahony's notorious pastoral letter We Gather Faithfully Together. Pilarczyk sent a letter to his priests in January 2000, titled "Informal Assessment of the Sunday Celebration of the Eucharist" in which he directed parishes to conduct a self-evaluation of their Sunday liturgies using Mahony's letter as an ideal for self-assessment and comparison.

Since Pilarczyk's emulation of Mahony's dissenting directives for the Mass are a matter of public record, does Pilarczyk's address at this conference mean that Bishop Brom wishes to introduce Mahony's liturgical novelties to our diocese?


PILARCZYK'S LEGACY has other problems. In March, 1999, the archbishop announced the launching of the "Catholic Ministry with Gays and Lesbians," a part of his archdiocese's Family Life Office. An archdiocesan press release said, "the ministry may take various forms, such as prayer groups, days of prayer and reflection, providing resources, etc. It also will work at eliminating bias and discrimination and support inclusion."

Michael Rose wrote of Pilarczyk's group in the May/June 1999 St. Catherine Review: "It appears from all evidence that the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, following the path of so many other American dioceses, is being used as a stooge by homosexual activists agitating for change in both Church teaching and traditional Christian attitudes toward homosexual sex, same-sex marriage and the gay lifestyle."


VACATIONING IN SAN DIEGO on Sunday, July 27, Nancy and Moreno Navarini from Pleasanton and their four sons, ages 15, 12, 9 and 6, decided to go to the Zoo after attending Mass at Mission San Diego de Alcala and touring Balboa Park. Although aware that San Diego's annual "gay pride" parade had taken place in Hillcrest the day before, the Navarinis did not know about the "Zoo Party," a homosexual "circuit party" that has been held for more than 10 years as part of weekend festivities. The event attracts up to 4,000 homosexuals at ticket prices of from $75 to $100 each.

"We arrived at the Zoo around 1:00 p.m.," said Mrs. Navarini. "When we went in, there were no signs warning families about the gay event. We were handed a program that described all the different shows that were happening that day. At first, I didn't notice that the Zoo Party was listed, but I noticed it later when we rode on the tour bus, where we were surrounded by homosexuals.

"There were two guys sitting right in front of me on the bus. One was an older man, about 50, and his partner was a real young kid, about 24, and they were together. Two young guys were sitting across the aisle, and they had their arms around each other and were playing lovey-dovey."

After the bus ride, while Mr. Navarini took the youngest son to get ice cream, Mrs. Navarini said, "Some guy came up to my 15-year-old and was being talkative. He also grabbed my 12-year-old's arm and told him what a good-looking kid he was. My 12-year-old said no one's ever told him he's good looking, especially another guy. We tried to get away from him but he was following us later on when we left."

The family then visited the Children's Zoo adjacent to the circuit party area. "There was a lot of loud, seductive party music playing," said Nancy. "One of the kids peeked over the fence and saw a lot of men dancing with their shirts off."

Nancy said she did not complain to the Zoo that day because "It was getting dark and my older son said, 'Let's get out of here.' As we left, we saw a lot of homosexuals arriving in limousines or in expensive sports cars with two or four guys."

BY A VOTE OF 44-31, the Assembly passed SB 71, a bill that allows for comprehensive sexual education of public school students down to kindergarten without parents' explicit knowledge or consent. The bill allows the questioning of students on sex, philosophy of life, religion, drugs, suicide, and other topics, also without parental knowledge or consent. the bill removes the current law's strong bias toward abstinence until marriage and removes requirements that students learn of the emotional and psychological effects of intercourse, the financial obligations if they conceive a child out of wedlock, the issue of statutory rape, and ways to fend off unwanted sexual advances. and committed relationships." The bill now moves to the Senate for concurrence in Assembly amendments and then to Governor Gray Davis' desk. Davis is expected to sign the measure.


MRS. ALMA ROSA VASIC is listed as a "stewardship member" on the website of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church. However, Mrs. Vasic may be better known throughout San Diego as president of one of the city's leading hardcore pornography purveyors, the F Street Corporation. F Street Corporation operates several sexually-oriented businesses throughout San Diego County and recently opened a new store in Leucadia. Mrs. Vasic owns in trust the property located at 2200 University Avenue in San Diego: the site of the Mustang Spa, a homosexual bath house in North Park. She has also donated to pro-"gay" organizations such as Stepping Stones, a homosexual alcohol and drug recovery center, and the Family Pride Coalition.

Located at 3025 Denver Street in Clairemont, St. George Serbian Orthodox Church bills itself as "the only all-mosaic church that sits high above Mission Bay;" its pastor is Very Reverend Bozidar Draskovic. During a September 9 telephone interview, a friendly Father Draskovic refused to discuss Mrs. Vasic's membership in his church.

When asked if he were aware that she runs a pornography business, Father Draskovic responded, "This is a private matter like in any parish, so I cannot discuss this with you. This is something that does not pertain to this parish. The church is for the sinners, not for the saints. Just like the hospital, the hospital is for the sick people. You're a Roman Catholic, so please try to understand this. Try to understand that it's a very personal matter that only pertains to the parish." Father Draskovic explained that Mrs. Vasic "is a steward, but she is not on the stewardship committee."

Speaking with a heavy accent, Mrs. Vasic said during a September 10 telephone conversation, "I'm sorry but I don't give interviews. I am the owner of F Street Corporation and I don't give interviews. If you want, you can talk to my lawyer." Vasic's lawyer is Andrzej "Andy" Zmurkiewicz, described in a March 2002 article on the San Diego IndyMedia website as "a specialist in defending individuals accused of lewd conduct and other charges related to sexual activities in non-private spaces."


UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO'S Mission & Goals statement reads: "A Roman Catholic institution, the University is committed to belief in God, to the recognition of the dignity of each individual and to the development of an active faith community. It is Catholic because it witnesses to and probes the Christian message as proclaimed by the Catholic Church." Evelyn Hoebel (not her real name), a former staff member at USD's business school, believes that those words are tantamount to fraud.

USD's hiring policy, according to Hoebel, is to not give preference -- or even consideration -- to Catholic applicants for faculty positions based on a philosophy of "wanting to hire only the very best for the position.

"There were no Catholics that I was able to find on their leadership team. The dean of the business school (Curtis Cook) is not a Catholic. None of the senior people are. It's actually the school of business and engineering, and the head of the engineering school is not Catholic. There may be a Catholic faculty member in there somewhere, but I couldn't find any Catholic faculty member within that school."

While Hoebel was on the staff, USD formed an alliance with the Ken Blanchard Company to offer a master's degree in executive leadership. The alliance brought in several new faculty from the Ken Blanchard company, including Blanchard himself. Blanchard has said publicly on numerous occasions that the Catholic Church has historically done more harm than good throughout the world. Another Blanchard-related faculty member is an avid, new-age person who Hoebel describes as anti-Catholic. "In my mind there is a difference between non-Catholics who believe differently, and people who are actually against the Catholic religion and believe it is bad."

"USD would say that if we only hired Catholic faculty members, it would be an issue of competency. We wouldn't be getting the very best available. Well, the head of the LIFE (Leadership Institute for Entrepeneurs) program is a guy named Dave Wyman. The reason they put him there is that they wanted to hire his wife (Elaine Worzala) to be a faculty member in the Real Estate Institute. She agreed to terms only if they would find a position for her husband. His exposure to leadership was when he took a Dale Carnegie course about How to Win Friends and Influence People. So when they asked him to design a leadership program for undergraduate students, he built it after the Dale Carnegie course! Anybody with even a basic level of understanding of leadership principles would not choose Dale Carnegie as a model for leadership education."

Hoebel says that the dean of the business school, Curtis Cook, is a nice man. "I thought he was Catholic too -- but I find out he was not. He was always saying how Frank Lazarus, the university provost, was the greatest boss you could work for and what a great job he was doing. When Alice Hayes resigned as president of the university, Lazarus was one of the people considered to replace her. Lazarus wanted to try to make the university more Catholic and move it in that direction. Well, it was generally known on campus that Cook lobbied the board of trustees to not appoint Lazarus. Monsignor Dillabough was another candidate, in fact one of two finalists for the position. Come to find out, Cook lobbied the board not to pick Dillabough. He thought he was too close to the bishop and all that kind of stuff -- and if you knew Dillabough, that's kind of an interesting assumption! So the non-Catholic dean of the business school lobbied against people becoming president of the university who were likely to make it more Catholic. There was strong opposition to Dillabough."

The anti-church intrigues of the faculty have convinced Hoebel that USD is operating fraudulently as a Catholic university. "The mission statement is used to raise funds for the university. If you read that statement and look at the way they really operate, it's fraud."

Former President Alice Hayes frequently described the university as having a "vigorous Catholic environment. Hoebel finds such sentiments laughable. "They don't offer a 'vigorous Catholic environment!' They don't even offer a Catholic environment. They have this guy who teaches ethics -- Curtis Cook likes to brag about how great he is -- turns out he's not even Catholic! The only guy who even teaches ethics in the MSEL [master's of science in executive leadership] program is a Buddhist!"


FORMER FIRST LADY HILLARY CLINTON was greeted Monday, August 4 by about 15 members of the California Life Coalition who held graphic aborted baby pictures during a signing of her new book, Living History, at Warwick's in La Jolla.

Satellite news trucks and hundreds of Clinton fans, some of whom had begun lining up outside the bookstore before midnight, had gathered on Girard Avenue by the time pro-lifers arrived at 10 a.m. for a three-hour protest. By that time, the line stretched around the block.

As soon as Coalition members began displaying the posters, wrote California Life Coalition director Cheryl Sullenger, "Clinton supporters surrounded the pro-lifers and began shoving and covering their signs. Suddenly, one man violently kicked one of the signs, shattering the foam insulation board to which it was mounted and putting a hole in the middle of the vinyl photograph. Pro-lifers Sylvia Sullivan and Rayna Sullenger were slightly injured in the assault. Police were called and the attacker, Andrew Vergowuen, was detained. In lieu of charges, the Christians accepted an apology from Vergowuen and his promise to pay for the destroyed sign. This decision was made in the interest of police cooperation."

Joe Manzo of Hesperia, a parishioner at St. Joan of Arc in Victorville, was attacked by a woman who disagreed with his views. "I got kneed first and told the lady, 'You're assaulting me,' then she spit on me. She walked away from me when I told her I was going to call the police. I went and got the police, and then she tried to apologize." Within minutes of that attack, another woman dumped a drink down the back of pro-lifer Frank Dawson but ran away before she could be detained.

Sullenger immediately met with two police officers on the scene to discuss the attacks; however, they exhibited an uncooperative attitude. Officer C. Reesor told Sullenger that he thought the attacks were minor. At that point, Sullenger demanded to talk to Supervisor Bob Jackson, who in turn called more officers to the scene. Said Sullenger, "Although notified ahead of time about the Clinton appearance and the pro-life protest, police expressed surprise at the size and behavior of the crowd. 'We were not ready for this,' remarked one officer."

In addition to displaying the abortion pictures, "Pro-lifers preached against abortion, debated, and bore witness of the horrific sin of abortion and the shame it brings on those who support it," said Sullenger. "Many of the Christians gave interviews to the throngs of media covering Clinton's rare San Diego appearance and were featured on every local television station.

Other protesters at the event included members of Free Republic, a conservative Internet news forum. "Freeper" Hildy Linn of Spring Valley held a sign that said, "Lying History." Linn said she came to protest Clinton because "I can't think of a more polarizing figure in politics today. It makes me so angry that people bow at her feet like she's a goddess."

La Jolla resident Vaughn Woods learned of the protest a few days earlier when he visited Warwick's to buy books for his daughter, who attends Point Loma Nazarene University. When he saw a sign in the bookstore advertising Clinton's appearance, he said, "I told the cashier I'd be the first one here to protest her." Others held signs that said, "We won't buy your book. We don't buy your morals" and "Living lies." Another group of protesters occasionally chanted "Liar, liar, pantsuit on fire" whenever the bookstore's front doors swung open to admit more Clinton fans inside.


CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, who supports abortion and homosexual domestic partnerships, received Holy Communion during 9:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday, August 31 at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica.

John O'Neill, president of Monrovians Against Planned Parenthood, snapped a photo of Schwarzenegger receiving the sacrament from a female Eucharistic minister. Schwarzenegger's wife, Democrat newscaster and Kennedy clan member Maria Shriver, is shown preceding her husband in the picture.

When asked how he discovered the Schwarzeneggers attend St. Monica's, O'Neill said, "I did some research and found out that Arnold gives money to St. Monica's. That morning, I went to the church and was planning on staying there for two or three Masses. I wasn't sure they were going to come, but then I saw Maria Shriver come in after the homily. Apparently Arnold came in some other way.

"I was hoping to see Richard Riordan," said O'Neill. "Riordan's name is in the vestibule alongside Arnold's as having given a lot of money to remodel of the sanctuary. I also saw (former gubernatorial candidate) Bill Simon and his wife Cindy."

St. Monica's website (www.stmonica.net) discusses the progress of a $1.3 million renovation of a 1940s-style parish building into a new "Spirituality Center." The website also contains information about the church's "Clown Ministry" and "Gay and Lesbian Fellowship". After the Mass, O'Neill e-mailed the photo to Cardinal Roger Mahony asking him to "step in and say something" about Schwarzenegger's sacrilegious reception of Communion. To date, he has received no response from the archdiocese.

Repeated calls to St. Monica pastor Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson were not returned. On September 15, a News Notes reporter spoke with parish administrator Mike Mottola. When asked why Schwarzenegger was allowed to receive Holy Communion when he has publicly stated his pro-abortion, pro-homosexual views, Mottola said, "I don't know."

TOP