(CNS PHOTO/NEIL COHEN, IDF, VIA REUTERS)
(CNS PHOTO/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA, REUTERS)
(CNS PHOTO/MOHAMAD TOROKMAN, REUTERS)
Gaza conflict relief appeal made An appeal for support of Catholic Relief Services emergency response work in Gaza was issued Jan. 9 by the archdiocesan Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns. See pages 12-13 for a report and other stories on the conflict there. From left to right above: Palestinian children in the West Bank city of Jenin take part in a Jan. 13 protest against the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip; an explosion is seen following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip; Israeli soldiers advance Jan. 12 in the northern Gaza Strip.
San Francisco police chief warns of hate-based crimes Religious congregations in the Bay Area should be prepared and vigilant in the wake of what “appear to have been incidents of hate-based acts” in recent weeks, San Francisco Chief of Police Heather Fong wrote in a Jan. 9 letter addressed to the San Francisco Interfaith Council for distribution to its members. Fong urged congregations to be on the look-out for “suspicious or threatening phone calls, voice mails, e-mails or letters” as well as “any suspicious packages, particularly if the item displays evidence of powder, residue, stains or liquid, or if it shows any sign that it may be a potential explosive device or biohazard.” She asked that the police be contacted if graffiti or other damage was detected at church or memorial sites and that “suspicious persons hanging around religious or memorial facilities” be reported.
“I write at this time out of concern born of recent events,” she said, citing incidents of “vandalism and threatening communications.” On Jan. 4 San Francisco’s Most Holy Redeemer Parish was defaced by a spray-painted message apparently alluding to Church support of the passage of Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment to define marriage as only valid between a man and woman. On Jan. 5 archdiocesan personnel discovered Pastoral Center walls, windows and walkways hit by anti-Prop 8 graffiti. On Nov. 21 Star of the Sea Church in San Francisco received a suspicious package containing batteries and a purple liquid in a plastic bag. No message was included. “These indidents of intolerance are in direct conflict with the spirit of the city that we all love,” Fong wrote.
Urged to care for migrants By Patricia Zapor WASHINGTON (CNS) – More than a week before he was to take office, Presidentelect Barack Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, prompting advice and recommendations about how the two leaders’ governments should be handling immigration, among other matters. Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops’
migration committee, encouraged the two men to end abuses against migrants and put more effort into economic development to deter people from leaving their homelands. “The issue of illegal immigration transcends borders and must be addressed on a regional, if not hemispheric level,” Bishop Wester said in a statement released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington Jan. 12, the day Obama and Calderon met.
Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
Archdiocese issues statement about County Recorder action The Archdiocese of San Francisco is contesting a plan by the San Francisco County Recorder’s Office to impose a property transfer tax on the Archdiocese based on an internal reorganization of Church property begun last year. Following is a press statement released Jan. 12 regarding the matter: “San Francisco County Recorder Phil Ting has taken a step that is unprecedented in the history of the state of California. He has determined that an internal reorganization of Church property, without consideration, within the family of corporations of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, constitutes a ‘sale’ and is subject to a property transfer tax. The Archdiocese, therefore, has filed a formal appeal to contest this determination. As noted in the Dec. 7, 2007 issue of Catholic San Francisco, in which Archbishop George H. Niederauer outlined certain archdiocesan corporate struc-
ture changes, ‘The goal here in San Francisco has been to allow the day to day operations of our parishes and schools to continue in a cohesive, efficient manner while at the same time establishing simple ownership models that clearly distinguish the canonical assets of the parishes and schools from those of the Archdiocese in general.’” The statement concluded: “The law is overwhelmingly in favor of the Archdiocese in holding that Church property ‘transfers’ of this nature are exempt from transfer taxes. The California legislature, courts, the State Board of Equalization and the Attorney General have repeatedly stated that religious corporations are merely permitted as a convenience to assist in the conduct of the temporalities of the Church – which is the real owner of Church property. Counties throughout the state have recognized this fact in connection with similar corporate reorganizations in other dioceses.”
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Senior Living . . . . . . . . . . 8-11 Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Archbishop: are we timid of heart? ~ Page 3 ~ January 16, 2009
Rookie NFL coach relies on his faith ~ Page 7 ~
Eucharistic adoration inspires many faithful ~ Page 14 ~
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
‘Frost/Nixon’ review . . . . . . 21 Classified ads . . . . . . . . 22-23
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 11
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