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by Jim Holman.
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LITTLE NOTES
July/August 2004
FOR YEARS, EVERY BISHOP IN AMERICA, has been mailed every issue of News Notes and its sister papers, Los Angeles Mission and San Francisco Faith. And it appears the bishops are reading them. Only a couple of times have cancellation requests been returned, whereas many address-change notifications have been sent. More evidence: earlier this year, Catholic World Report interviewed Archbishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska on the subject of the National Review Board, established by the conference of bishops to study the problem of priestly pedophilia and assess the dioceses' efforts to combat it. After questioning the wisdom of appointing such members as Clinton chief of staff, Leon Panetta and Clinton lawyer Robert Bennett, Bruskewitz added, "There are other questionable people on the board. Why is Alice Bourke Hayes, the former president of the University of San Diego, on the Board? When she was at the University of San Diego, she put a known homosexual man in charge of religious studies; she also, as I understand it, had a Gay and Lesbian Club on her campus. What qualifies her, specifically, to be on the Board? In my view, certainly that is open to some question."In September 2002, after Hayes' appointment to the board, a story by Allyson Smith titled "Who Watches the Watchdogs" ran in News Notes. The story documented Hayes' promotion of homosexuality on campus at the University of San Diego.
THE VATICAN'S GOLD AND WHITE FLAG greeted parents and students entering the University of San Diego's main gate for graduation ceremonies on May 23. However, it was not the university that was raising the standard of the papal tiara and keys. It was a group known as Catholic Crusaders. Eight people, including an attorney, a software engineer, a financial planner and some housewives and retirees, turned up for the protest. Standing about 20 feet apart in a long row on the sidewalk outside Alcalá Gate, they hoisted signs proclaiming "Parents Beware, Gay Groups on Campus," "Gay Pride is Not Catholic," and "Gay Pride is Anti-Jesus."
According to the group leader, who held the papal banner, the purpose of the event was to alert parents and donors to the presence and activity of anti-Catholic Gay Pride groups on campus. He noted as a recent example of their activities that on April 21 USD's Gay Pride group passed out 250 commemorative "Day of Silence" T-shirts. The Crusaders contend that many parents are unaware of such militant homosexual groups on campus. They hope that by holding these protests on a regular basis -- at parent visiting days, move in, and graduation -- some parents and donors will withhold their children and their funds from the university until the Church's moral teachings are honored in practice.
A steady stream of cars, proceeding slowly due to the crowds, saw the signs. From the cars came both thumbs up and middle fingers up. One student popped his head up through a sunroof and shouted, "Why don't you people mind your own f***ing business!" A husband and wife driving in declared, "We support Gay Pride on campus," while a father driving his son commented through the window of his black Mercedes, "I don't support gays, period. That's all there is to it."
There was also plenty of foot traffic as students with academic gowns flying pressed onto the campus. Two young men hurrying to get to graduation expressed their desire to engage the protesters in debate, but couldn't spare the time. Another fellow in a blue gown said, "Free speech is great, but geez, I'm just trying to graduate!" A jogger said the protesters had ruined her day! A sari-clad woman from San Francisco named Michelle was out selling orchid leis and stopped to give her take on it all: "My opinion is that homosexuality is primarily a product of child abuse. It's a sad thing and shouldn't be supported or encouraged, but people should not harass them for it either. It has become very trendy, which is wrong. God gave us free will to choose what we will do, and will judge us in the end for our actions. But you have to accept them for who they are."
The Crusaders felt they scored some small on-the-spot victories. One parent couple stopped to speak with a protester and showed surprise that such things were going on in a Catholic university.
THE INDIAN CONVERTS OF FATHER JUNIPERO SERRA were the first native Catholics of San Diego. Their descendants live on reservations throughout the county built around the missions founded by the Franciscan fathers. Each of the county's 19 missions has an old church still standing: Barona, Cabuilla, Campo, Jamul, La Jolla, Los Coyotes, Mesa Grande, Moronga, Pala, Pauma, Rincon, San Ysabel, San Pasqual, Santa Inez, Santa Rosa, Soboda, Sycuan, Torres Martinez, and Viejas. None, however, has a priest.
In 1995 Desi J. Sanchez became executive director of the Mission Indian Housing Authority, a federally funded agency run by the local Indian elders. Sanchez, a Catholic, is concerned that mystical Indian religions and Protestant fundamentalism are making huge inroads into the missions, simply because there is no Catholic presence. The only full-time Catholic minister is Sister Marianne Torrano, a clinical psychologist.
"What we need [in religion] is not teaching the kids, but teaching the adults," said Sanchez. "Sister [Torrano] tried to organize sewing circles to get people together so she could talk religion. There are huge problems out here because there is no sense of self-worth. These things I cannot help with."
"But first and foremost we want the good Catholics of San Diego to know that there is a problem. Many parishes sponsor groups of poor in Mexico. I think they will do the same for our first Catholics here in San Diego when they realize there is a need."
Working with a well-connected volunteer, the Mission Indian Housing Authority already has a running start. According to Sanchez, they have a commitment of help from the Catholic Society of Evangelists in Riverside County. "John Leach and Tom Balboa [cofounders of the Society] are ready to start now," Sanchez said.
John Leach, a close friend of Mother Lillie, said he knew she would pitch in. (Mother Lillie is the foundress of the Trinitarians of Mary in Tecate, Mexico, and has over 30 nuns in the area.) Katie Moran, an author and lector, has agreed to make audiotapes of Catholic education geared to the Indian children. Several members of St. Joseph Communications in Orange County are ready to assist.
For more information, call Desi Sanchez at (619) 316-2689 or Sister Marianne Torrano at (909) 654-2086.
CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER calls himself a Catholic and claims he's a member of Saint Monica's parish in Santa Monica. But his pro-abortion stance, and the way he was recently spotted making the Sign of the Cross, tell a different story. During the televised coverage of former President Ronald Reagan's funeral ceremonies the week of June 7th, Schwarzenegger was seen to make the Sign of the Cross backwards. Dan O'Connell, who saw Schwarzenegger at the Reagan Library, reported, "He made the Sign of the Cross from right to left." O'Connell saw the Governor do this twice.
In a telephone conversation, a staffer at Saint Monica's said she had also seen the Governor make the Sign of the Cross from right to left, but she was unable to say whether the Governor was actually Catholic or a member of the parish.
Austria is geographically close to Eastern Orthodox countries where the sign of the cross is made right to left. However, Austrian Catholics do not share in the practice of their neighbors, says Austrian ex-patriot, Bernie Tittmann, who added, "For most Austrians these days, it is not a popular thing to show up at mass. So the governor probably doesn't know any better."
FATHER RICHARD PEROZICH, former pastor at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in City Heights, current Maryknoll missionary in Honduras, finds himself in a familiar position; pastor of an impoverished parish. "On June 3 about 5 p.m.," Father wrote in his email newsletter, "Fr. Ron Potter the pastor of Santiago Apóstol mission parish here in Honduras for 11 years, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while speaking with another Maryknoll priest in New York. Fr. Ron had gone home for vacation. He spoke with me by phone the day before when he was recovering from his hernia operation, and anticipated returning in July. Fr. Ron died June 5.
"I was getting everything ready for Ron's return, fixing the little things he was slow to repair, organizing things, cleaning up the areas around the parish. All the parishioners are shocked, because the death was unexpected. They have a great affection for this Maryknoll priest of 43 years because of his generosity and kindness to them.
"I was enjoying my time without administration, being able to go to the prayer meetings, developing spiritual talks, and other non-administrative duties. Now I have to keep track of finances, do budget, fundraising, employee matters, and so forth. We have been given a large plot of land by the city with the stipulation that we build the Catholic grade school and technical school in a certain time. I believe we are beyond the time limit, but the funds have not been raised yet. So I now have a new administrative project."
In the same newsletter, Father Perozich (rperozich@maryknoll.org) noted the passing of his own father, Louis Francis Perozich. Dona ei requiem.
THE WEST COAST OFFICE of the Thomas More Law Center, a national, public-interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed a lawsuit in federal district court seeking to prevent Los Angeles County officials from removing the cross from the County's official seal. The county had decided to remove the seal after threatened with a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. Attorney Charles LiMandri, who heads the San Diego office of the More Center, brought the lawsuit on behalf of Ernesto Vasquez, a County employee, who objects to the removal of the cross because it sends a government-sponsored message of hostility towards Christians in violation of the United States Constitution. LiMandri commented, "California has become a battleground for anti-Christian forces. Whether it be same-sex marriage, the removal of 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance, or now the removal of a small cross from the LA County seal, the impact is the same: the de-Christianizing of our society. The Thomas More Law Center is committed to fighting this battle here in California through its regional office and throughout the country."