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Contents © 1998
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

October 1998 LITTLE NOTES

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In 1969, the priest said, when the U.S. bishops adopted the current norm of kneeling from after the Sanctus to after the Great Amen as set forth in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), "they were in concert with the rest of the world. By 1995, when they voted to reaffirm that norm, they were not. I think the stance of bishops like Bishop Brom, who seemingly ignore the norm, is that they are merely anticipating a change which at this point seems inevitable. And I think they're on pretty solid ground as far as that goes."

It's just another example, the priest says, of the Vatican "prioritizing its battles" by allowing long-standing disobedience to be codified "in order to avoid a lot of skirmishes and focus attention on the bigger, doctrinal battles" like women's ordination. "We've seen it happen with altar girls," he pointed out. "We'll see it happen in other areas."

Unfortunately, he said, the western Church in general ignores Rome even in the more weighty matters. "Take, for instance, the Vatican's instruction on the laity [On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priests, issued last fall]. The instruction, which carries the weight of an formal papal act, forbade the use of extraordinary Eucharistic ministers except under specific and severe conditions: no priest present, priest present but 'truly unable' to distribute Communion, or if not using lay ministers would 'excessively prolong' the Mass." Most pastors, he said, have used the latter condition as a reason to ignore the instruction altogether. But Rome, he said, "obviously doesn't have the manpower" to police all the dissent in the world.

"If I were a bishop," the priest said, "instead of anticipating changes in the liturgy, I would focus my energies on making sure the members of my presbyter were following clear Vatican directives." But, said the priest, "I thank God almost every day I'm not a bishop."


SPEAKING OF THE U.S. BISHOPS, they have decided to acquiesce to instructions given by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to remove their 1995 imprimatur for the Psalter translated by the controversial International Commission on English in the Liturgy. The decision was made at their June 19 meeting even though canon law "made no provision for such a demand," said the National Catholic Reporter.

One bishop, speaking anonymously, told NCR that Rome's action is "all about their fear of women's ordination and the whole feminist agenda." Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Philadelphia complained that, in forcing the issue of the imprimatur, Rome was abandoning the processes set up for the approval of liturgical texts. (Pilarczyk served as liaison for the U.S. bishops to the Internatinal Commission on English in the Liturgy when the Psalter was approved.)

According to NCR, the Psalter uses "'inclusive language' principles, such as avoiding masculine pronouns for God." Since 1995, the Psalter has been widely used in English-speaking countries for common prayer, even though it was approved only for "study," not "liturgical use." Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said it contains "an unacceptable manipulation of the texts of sacred scripture."


THE DR. BRUCE STEIR DEFENSE COMMITTEE claimed in a late July e-mail sent to supporters that the California Medical Association, the National Organization for Women, the National Abortion Federation, and the California Abortion Rights Action League all supported dropping murder charges against abortionist Steir. (In December 1996, Sharon Hamptlon, a Barstow woman, died a few hours after Steir aborted her 20-week-old baby. He was charged with murder in October 1997.) According to Dr. Eugene Albright, one of two physicians who reviewed medical records for the Medical Board of California's investigation, Steir showed "a conscious and willful disregard of a life-threatening condition" during the abortion procedure.

Hobart Swan, spokesman for the California Medical Association, said Steir and numerous others requested that the CMA review the Hamptlon case. Why did they agree to? "Organized medicine is concerned about the nascent trend toward the criminalization of the practice of medicine," Swan said.

According to the California Medical Assocation, the Hamptlon case was reviewed by a panel of three abortionists experienced in performing second-trimester abortions, including abortions of 20 weeks. The panel published its conclusion in a report dated July 1998: "Based on the information reviewed by CMA experts and their collective experience and judgment, the conduct of Dr. Steir on December 13, 1996, as regarding Sharon Hamptlon, cannot be characterized as criminally negligent behavior, manslaughter or any kind of criminal act."

The California Medical Association will have no further involvement in the Steir case, as far as Swan knew. The Association opposes parental and spousal notification requirements in cases of abortions for minors, but does not recognize partial-birth abortion as a medical procedure.


FATHER RICH PEROZICH of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in City Heights sent a letter to the Tidings, the Los Angeles archdiocesan newspaper, responding to an August 21 article by Father Peter Liuzzi. The article, "Homosexuality: What the Church teaches, what it doesn't teach, and why you need to know," was the first of a two-part series. It represented what those familiar with Father Liuzzi, director of the L.A. archdiocese's office of gay and lesbian ministry, call his "ambiguity and contradiction." Father Liuzzi "often resorts to a vocabulary where everything is in process, in flux, is forming, nothing is tangible or concrete, it's hard to put your finger on," psychologist Joseph Nicolosi told News Notes after the priest gave a talk in San Diego in October 1996. (Dr. Nicolosi, a Catholic, is a leading international proponent of "reparative therapy," which assists homosexuals who wish to change their sexual orientation.)

In his two-part article, Father Liuzzi cited the books of Scripture which condemn "same-sex genital activity," saying the Church only "finds a foundation" for its teachings in Scripture. But, he said, "[Church] Tradition teaches us to nuance and make distinctions.... It is Tradition that leads us to realize...homosexual orientation is a very recent concept unknown and not addressed in the Bible. We are assured that the church will continue to study and develop its understanding of orientation and its pastoral concerns, while safeguarding its teachings."

As he did in his San Diego talk, in his articles Father Liuzzi addressed the immorality of same-sex sexual activity couched in a discussion of the immorality of all sexual activity outside marriage or not open to life: "The church does speak strongly to gay people on acting on their sexual urges as disordered and objectively sinful. Any discussion of this subject should be made in the context of the sexual morality of all the members of the church." He went on to point out the "serious violation of nature and God's plan" of any sexual activity, even within marriage, that is not open to the transmission of life. "In view of this teaching, the sexual acts of two men or two women are also sinful and disordered."

In his letter to the Tidings, Father Perozich developed more fully the Church's teaching using the Catechism, The Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, a 1986 document, and the U.S. bishops' recent statement, Always Our Children. "Natural and Church families in general are accepting of people," Father Perozich wrote. "What causes problems in these families are occasions when a member seeks special status for any reason, proclaims what is wrong as right, insists on ways to justify immoral tendencies or behaviors. Any parish will welcome all people regardless of any tendency to moral disorder, be it sexual or other, if one acknowledges a tendency to sin for what it is, does not try to elevate it to special status, justify it, practice it, or otherwise present it as positive.

"If parish or diocesan ministries try to say what the Church does not say about same sex attraction, they will encounter resistance from the truth in the hearts of the faithful, and must accept responsibility for any adverse reaction which may inevitably and unfortunately affect those who suffer same sex attraction."

The Tidings did not publish Father Perozich's letter.


SINCE BOTH CANDIDATES FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR are Catholic, how do they stand on life issues? According to a July 28 Los Angeles Times report, Democrat Gray Davis "supports abortion rights" and favors the death penalty. Republican Dan Lungren, who touted his Catholic faith during last spring's primary, though an opponent of abortion on demand, yet thinks legislation should allow abortion in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is endangered. Lungren, too, is a supporter of the death penalty.

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