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Contents © 2005
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

LITTLE NOTES
May 2005

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YOU CAN TELL WE'VE GOT A GREAT NEW POPE by who is upset about his election. Sam Sinnett, president of the dissenting gay Catholics group, DignityUSA expressed dismay. "The new Pope is seen as the principle author of the most virulently anti-gay, anti-GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender] rhetoric in the last papacy. The elevation of Cardinal Ratzinger is being seen by many GLBT Catholics as a profound betrayal by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and betrayal of one of the most fundamental teachings of Jesus Christ as the loving Good Shepherd who reached out to the ones separated from the flock. We believe the 21st century Roman Catholic hierarchical shepherds are themselves lost and it is up to the flock to call them back."

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of Maryland-based New Ways Ministry, which calls itself "a gay-positive ministry of advocacy and justice for lesbian and gay Catholics", had this to say. "Gay and lesbian Catholics are going to be very hurt by this election because Cardinal Ratzinger was the lighting rod for so much of the anger they felt under the previous pope."

In a press release, the D.C.-based Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual, "greet[ed] the election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI with dismay and new resolve. We join progressive Catholics and people of good will worldwide in hoping against hope that this papacy will be marked by inclusion, transparency, collegiality, and the horizontal integration of theCatholic Church as a "discipleship of equals.

"The election of Benedict XVI demonstrates that the papal succession plan unfolded on schedule with little evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. We expected nothing more from a flawed process that excluded women and reflected only the tiniest minority of opinions in the church. The man who functioned as pope for years finally assumes the title and power to enforce the repressive policies he authored against women, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people, and other marginalized Catholics."

SPEAKING OF THE GERMAN PONTIFF, his ascension to the Chair of Peter wasn't the only good news for German Catholics on April 19. That same day, Benedict XVI's home state of Bavaria in southern Germany — where Catholicism has remained the prevailing religion despite the Protestant Revolution — voted to launch a formal challenge to a law passed last October by the national German parliament which gave homosexuals the right to adopt each other's children, though it stopped short of granting full adoption rights to homosexuals. "The deciding factor in an adoption cannot be the wish of same-sex couples to have children but must be what is in the best interest of the children," Bavarian governor Edmund Stoiber said.

SAINT AUGUSTINE HIGH SCHOOL'S administration has sparked controversy among Catholic parents by allowing the Saints' Players to present the "rock opera" Jesus Christ Superstar at the Masonic Scottish Rite Center on April 14-16.

Superstar is the work of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice, both liberal Protestants who question the divinity of Jesus Christ. Webber and Rice have described their work as "A portrayal of Jesus Christ through the eyes of Judas." Ever since its debut in 1969, tradition-minded Catholics have considered this play blasphemous since it depicts Jesus to be merely human and confused about his purpose on earth, and insinuates that he had an immoral relationship with Mary Magdalene. Superstar ends with the crucifixion, leaving the resurrection in doubt.

The Scottish Rite Center referred our calls to David Hollings, who identified himself as a parent volunteer, with children enrolled at Saints. Mr. Hollings acknowledged that he personally selected the Masonic Temple for this play. His justification was that he could not find a venue large enough for the play; the Masonic property was the only location he could find that would accommodate this production.

Questioned about the reason Saints decided upon such a play, Hollings stated that the play had been modified so that Jesus would not be portrayed as a sinner, or confused about his role on earth. It would not include any parts implying that Jesus had an immoral relationship with Mary Magdalene. He further stated that the play was selected by the students and subsequently approved by the administration at Saints and the Pastoral Center. He claimed the purpose of the play is to "present theatre" and "broaden horizons of students.... It is not intended to promote Catholic doctrine or dogma," he said.

Asked if a play about Lourdes, Fatima, or the life of a saint might also help broaden horizons of students, Hollings adamantly declared, "We are not promoting religion."

To the objection that any play having Jesus as the central character is a religious play which either affirms the Catholic faith or subverts it, Hollings replied, "A person could not make that claim unless they first see it."

Mary Hills, mom of an eighth grader headed for Saints next year said, "I think it's totally inappropriate for a Catholic high school to put on a production which is a put down of Christ. What is that teaching these young men? Where is the leadership in the faculty?"

She added, "It's fitting that they're having this anti-Catholic show at the Masonic Temple. The Masons are a Luciferian cult; they hate the Catholic Church. No wonder they welcomed Saints to perform it there."

Calls to Joe Bernens, drama director at Saints were not returned.

THE LOCAL APOSTLESHIP OF THE SEA, under the leadership of Father James Boyd, a former Navy chaplain, is slowly expanding. Father Boyd has recruited several regular volunteers, including a deacon, and the Seafarers Union has donated a van. The Apostleship of the Sea ministers to the spiritual needs of merchant marine seamen while they are in the Port of San Diego, and provides hospitality for them at the Stella Maris Center, located at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, south of downtown San Diego. The majority of the seamen are from areas such as the Philippines, South Asia, South America and Eastern Europe. Many are Catholics.

Father Boyd began his involvement with the Stella Maris Center about a year and a half ago. "Some of the centers in other parts of the country are very well developed," he says. "Ours is small and we're just trying to build it up now, to provide more services. What I try to do is have Mass on the ships. I realized right away that we needed to get some more people down there.... Some of these guys really need to have Mass and confession aboard the ships and they never get a chance, because they're so busy. Some of the guys said, 'When we come in [to port], we're working the whole day. We may not get any time off at all. If we get an hour off, we're lucky. One guy on a car carrier told me, 'If we get in at night, then the best chance is for us to have Mass is around 9:30 p.m.' So I have to watch the schedule, then do a lot of planning. I also visit the captains; [they have] a lonely life."

The Apostleship of the Sea also serves crews on cruise ships, who, like the merchant marine sailors, labor under grueling work schedules. "These [seamen] are not roughnecks," Father Boyd expalained, "they're all well behaved and they're all family men. So we have phones here and they can buy cards so they can call their families; that's always the first thing they want to do. On some of the ships they don't have visas; they can't get off at all, so we have portable phones we take to them so they can call their families."

"The Center's very small, but they can play pool, ping-pong, half-court basketball outside; they can read books, watch television, eat snacks."

The Stella Maris Center tries to stay open daily and offers two shifts for volunteers: noon to about 4:30 p.m. and about 4:30 to 9 p.m. Members of the local Episcopalian community currently staff the Center on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays. Father Boyd is seeking additional Catholic volunteers to cover the remaining days of the week and would like to have two volunteers available for each shift: one to provide hospitality for visitors at the center and another available to drive the Center's van. The Center also welcomes donations of reading materials in English and Spanish such as National Geographic, Reader's Digest, and Liguorian magazines, as well as Catholic Bibles, books, and rosaries for the crews. People interested in volunteering or making donations should call Deacon Sam Martinez at 619-429-3580 or Father Jim Boyd at 858-292-1822.

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