Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
Old St. Mary’s shown in the 1800’s and today. The Old Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception was dedicated Christmas Eve 1854. This first Cathedral in the State of California is a City and State Historical Landmark. Old St. Mary’s will mark its 150th anniversary with a series of events through 2005. The church requires major seismic retrofitting because of City and State codes, and $7 million has already been raised privately and spent on the first phase of seismically retrofitting the church and adjacent facilities. The Paulist Fathers are raising an additional $8 million for further work. Old St. Mary’s is one of seven historic Catholic churches in San Francisco that either have completed seismic retrofitting or are in the process of doing so at a projected total cost of nearly $50 million.
Speakers call for enlightened and humane immigration policy By Ann Carey Catholic News Service NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The value and dignity of every human being was the theme that permeated an international conference on “Migration and Theology” held at the University of Notre Dame in mid-September. This theme also prompted several speakers to call for a more enlightened and humane immigration policy in the United States. More than 400 people came to the conference from Europe and Asia as well as from all over South, Central and North America to hear presentations by 37 different speakers. The interdisciplinary conference considered the various aspects of migration — particularly the plight of
those who enter countries illegally — in an effort to highlight the issue and to guide pastoral care of migrant peoples at a time when U.S. border security has increased since terrorist attacks three years ago. Several conference speakers noted the irony that in the United States the economy in many states depends to a great extent on undocumented workers. According to conference speakers, about 10 million undocumented people reside in this country, most of whom are employed and many of whom, they said, are being exploited for their labor and subjected to unsafe and unfair working conditions because they are in the country illegally. Several speakers called for a policy that would allow undocumented workers to regularize their status.
Noting that the number of migrants is increasing around the world, Scalabrinian Father Graziano Tassello, who directs an Italian Catholic mission in Switzerland and sits on several migration commissions, told the conference that the political and economic problems that cause people to migrate cannot be considered marginal events. Rather, he said, such problems are structural realities involving all nations and affecting the religious, social and cultural lives of the nations the migrants leave as well as the nations that receive them. The church has a special role to play in this migration, Father Tassello said, for “within the church, no one is a foreigner.” Passionist Father Donald Senior, a biblical scholar IMMIGRATION, page 5
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Respect Life Section
Romance & metaphysics
~ Pages 8-11 ~
~ Page 17 ~
Modified crops . . . . . . . . . . 3 Post abortion healing . . . . . 5 Legion of Mary. . . . . . . . . . 7 RU- 486 death . . . . . . . . . . 8 Editorial and letters . . . . . . 12 Cuomo Catholicism . . . . . 15 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
St. Bart’s at 50 ~ Page 7 ~ October 1, 2004
www.catholic-sf.org FIFTY CENTS
VOLUME 6
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No. 31