November 14, 2008

St. Vincent de Paul experiencing longer meal lines George Slepnitkoff met a friend waiting for lunch at the St.Vincent de Paul Society in San Mateo and both mentioned that they have seen a lot of new faces in the food line in the past few weeks.

“It’s seem like the line is getting longer every day,” said Slepnitkoff, a parolee who is staying in a friend’s carport as he works with St. Vincent de Paul to line up permanent housing.

St. Vincent de Paul officials say they have seen a marked increase in meals served since August at the agency’s locations in South San Francisco and San Mateo. The San Mateo location served 1,800 meals in October, compared with 1,500 for a typical month. Executive Director Lorraine Moriarty said the change is due to the economic downturn and a resulting rise in first-time homelessness.

The society also is receiving more calls for its homeless prevention services. People whose incomes are tied to the financial industry are at risk, as are those in service industries such as restaurants and car sales.

Vincentians have conferences in 31 parishes in San Mateo County and are seeking volunteers, especially those fluent in Spanish. St. Vincent de Paul in Marin County is seeing a similar trend. “People who you would never think of asking for help are now asking for help,” Executive Director Steve Boyer said. For more information, contact the society in San Mateo at (650) 343-4405, Marin at (415) 454-3303, or San Francisco at (415) 977-1270.

(PHOTO BY RICK DELVECCHIO/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

By Rick Delvecchio

George Slepnitkoff is staying in a friend’s carport and working toward permanent housing.

Catholic san Francisco

U.N. General Assembly leader: ‘Together hunger and poverty constitute biggest sin on earth’

Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

U.S. bishops issue statement on nation’s economic challenges

By Patricia Zapor & Chaz Muth BALTIMORE (CNS) – The U.S. Catholic bishops issued a statement Nov. 11 addressing the economic crisis and reminding people “we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. We are all in this together.”

The brief statement released by Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, the bishops’ president, noted “hard times can isolate us or they can bring us together.”

It was drafted during the annual fall meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore and approved by the body of bishops in a voice vote Nov. 11.

“As pastors and bishops, we see the many human and moral consequences of this crisis,” the statement said. Families across the nation are losing homes, jobs and health care coverage; retirement savings are threatened and many people are losing a sense of hope and security, it continued.

U.S. BISHOPS, page 11

The following interview with Maryknoll Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, president of the United Nations General Assembly, was arranged exclusively for Catholic San Francisco. It took place in his office on the second floor of the U.N. building in New York.

By Gie Goris The United Nations General Assembly elects a president every year. For the 63rd session which began on Sept. 16, the world’s nations elected the former Nicaraguan foreign minister, Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann.

A colleague from the diplomatic community noted that the president prefers to be called “Father” and that he exhibits pride and respect for his vocation to the priesthood. He is not, however, permitted by the Church to exercise his priestly ministry because of his political involvement.

A harsh critic of the United States,

By Rick DelVecchio Supporters of same-sex marriage conceded that California voters handed them a stunning setback Nov. 4 with the passage of Proposition 8 and filed three claims with the state Supreme Court seeking a hearing to overturn the 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent mandate, which amended the state Constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman.

In turn, the Yes on 8 campaign

questioned the validity of the new legal strategy by same-sex marriage advocates and vowed to defend Prop 8. The measure passed by an unexpectedly large half-million votes and had significant support among Catholic voters.

Andrew Pugno, legal counsel for ProtectMarriage.com, the coalition that sponsored Prop 8, called the complaints “frivolous and regrettable” and the legal angle “absurd.”

LEGAL CHALLENGES, page 7

(CNS PHOTO)

Legal challenges follow voters’ affirmation of traditional marriage

Maryknoll Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann addresses the U.N. General Assembly June 4 following his election as assembly president.

he was born in Los Angeles in 1933, the son of a Nicaraguan diplomat. He is a graduate of St. Mary’s College High School, Berkeley, and St. Mary’s College, Moraga.

As a young Maryknoll priest in New York, he helped found Orbis Books, the publishing arm of the Maryknoll community. The stated aim of Orbis was to make the writings of liberation theologians such as Gustavo Guttierez, Juan Luis Segundo, Jon Sobrino and others available to a wider English language readership. What made him famous, however, was his accepting the post of minister of foreign affairs in the revolutionary Sandinista government of Nicaragua in 1979, a post he held until 1990, and a decision criticized by Pope John Paul II. Father d’Escoto was not the only priest in that government. Father Ernesto Cardenal was cultural minister, and his brother, Father Fernando Cardenal, was education minister.

The year 2009 has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Reconciliation.

CSF: The highest priority for your presidency has been “democratizing the U.N.” Could you explain that for us?

Father d’Escoto: To democratize means making the will of the majority count. A diplomat from one of the most powerful countries within the U.N. asked U.N. GENERAL, page 10

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Holy Land III . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Movie review. . . . . . . . . . . . 16

From Rome: cardinal shares papal insight ~ Page 3 ~ November 14, 2008

Mortgage reform sought by groups ~ Page 9 ~

Knights of St. Francis formed for Porziuncola ~ Page 11 ~

SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS

Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Classified ads . . . . . . . . 18-19

www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 10

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No. 35

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Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

On The Where You Live

by Tom Burke

The Class of ’46 from St. Agnes Elementary School gathered in October in Marin. “Six of us were there to celebrate and remember the nurturing Presentation Sisters who instilled high morals and fine virtues in each of us during our formative years,” said classmate Helen Austin. From left: Tony Calvello, Robert O’Keefe, Helen Wilkey Austin, Joan Perrin Hunt, Father Wilton Smith, retired pastor, St. Veronica Parish in South san Francisco; and Joan Kelly Gourley.

Angelina Dempsey, at the wheel of her “bathtub car,” with her sister Gina. The girls are fourth and first graders at St. Robert School in San Bruno.

“Welcome aboard” at Immaculate Conception Academy to new marketing director, Anne O’Dea, and while we’re at it, “Welcome home” to her husband, John O’Dea, a 1976 graduate of St. Ignatius College Preparatory.

The couple, proud parents of Danielle and John, met in Indianapolis – Anne’s hometown – and married in 2000.

John’s folks are Maureen and the late John O’Dea, longtime

members of St. Monica Parish in San Francisco and grads of St. Rose Academy and SI. ICA is rolling out the red carpet for its Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Mary’s Cathedral Nov. 16 at 3:30 p.m. with Archbishop George H. Niederauer as principal celebrant. The liturgy commemorates the school’s 125 years in the City. See Datebook. …. Fun at Holy Name of Jesus Parish Nov. 22 with its annual Crab Bash Family Dinner in Ryan Hall, 40th Ave. and Lawton in San Francisco.

I remember my first crab-feed shortly after I moved here 25 years ago. We have nothing like them back East and I was very impressed. Dungeness crabs have so much meat in them. I love the Chesapeake Blue Claws but their yield is not at all in the Dungeness class. Jackie Alcaraz is the engine behind the Holy Name event with much help from other members of the Sunset District parish. Father Don D’Angelo is pastor. Where’s my bib? See Datebook…. Well, it can easily be said that Angelina Dempsey had a “bumper to bumper” warranty on the “bathtub car” she drove to victory in the Brisbane Soap Box Derby in October. Bustin’ at the seams are parents Georgia and Steve. The bathtub design of the car came from Steve’s and Angelina’s grandfathers

told me, joking that the car “looked more like it would float than roll.” Also in the pit for the St. Robert’s fourth grader were grandmoms, Cara Dempsey and Kathy Bianchi. The car was “built from scratch in grandfather Bianchi’s garage,” Steve said, noting help came from all directions including family, friends and employees of the family’s Bianchi Plumbing Co. “The win goes to Angelina,” the proud dad said, pointing out that she endured 12 races to win the cup….

San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop William Justice joined students and staff of San Francisco’s St. Peter School for a Mass commemorating the Mission District school’s 130th anniversary Oct. 23. Principal Victoria A. Butler presented Bishop Justice, a former pastor of St. Peter’s, with a gift noting the school’s longstanding contribution to Catholic education and his part in it. Among those helping with the liturgy were David Campos, Delilah Guardado, Leslie Arroyo, Juan Contreras, Mercy Sister Helen Gilsdorf, Megan Johnson, Adriana Colvin, Yaneli Gonzalez, Vanessa Espinoza, Ylenia Escobar, Sarina Lee, Oscar Gonzalez, Lucy Martinez and Fatima Gonzalez…..This is an empty space without you! Send items and pictures via e-mail to burket@sfarchdiocese.org. Mailed items should be sent to “Street,” One Peter Yorke Way, SF 94109. Pix should be hard copy or electronic jpeg at 300 dpi. Don’t forget to include a follow-up phone number. Call me at (415) 614-5634 and I’ll walk you through it.

The Class of 1941 from St. Cecilia Elementary School in San Francisco gathered Sept. 13 at the Peninsula home of classmate, Tom Murphy. The group included Jim Sullivan, left, Mary Ahern Dean, Tom Murphy, Marie Brault Deloche (in wheel chair), Dolores Bosque Kelly-Hons, Holy Names Sister Barbara Howatt, who entered religious life as Sister Helen Claire and is now retired, Pat Krall Lucia, Norma Elkington Curley, Roland Boldt and Marian Fallon Sweeney.

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November 14, 2008

Catholic San Francisco

3

Rome journey, Part II Cardinal shares insights into pope’s theological mind

By Rick DelVecchio

(PHOTO BY RICK DELVECCHIO)

ROME. Sept. 12 – Pope Benedict XVI sees himself as a Gospel evangelist on a mission to recover the face of the risen Christ in a modern world that dangerously, if not precipitously, values mere knowledge over revealed truth, Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, an intellectual of the Roman Curia, told journalists during an educational seminar for them here.

The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s self-image is humble, as reflected in the laden bear symbol on his coat of arms, said Cardinal Stafford, who heads the Apostolic Penitentiary, a major Vatican tribunal.

Backgrounder “That’s very key if you want to understand Ratzinger – that laden-down bear,” he said during his lecture at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

But if Pope Benedict goes about his work as “a faithful pack animal, in strong contrast to his predecessor John Paul II, he is at heart an intellectual who poses a

Cardinal J. Francis Stafford

radical, systematic challenge to secular ideology. His challenge is no less than to upend the system of the 18th century philosopher Kant, who split faith and reason. Benedict insists on reversing Kant by making reason secondary to beauty – the

beauty of God’s glory that fills John’s Gospel,” said Cardinal Stafford, who is the former archbishop of Denver.

Beauty, to Benedict, is ultimate because it reflects God’s unification of reality by the power of the incarnation, Cardinal Stafford said, drawing on his close association with the pontiff and a close reading of his writings since the 1950s. The pope sees a “restless God in loving search for us” constantly working in history through the moral challenge of Christ to bring out this all-penetrating beauty, the cardinal said.

Scandalized, Jewish theology and Greek reason rejected the intrusion of God in history, as modernism refuses it in its worship of technology, Benedict maintains, said the cardinal. But the separation of knowledge from the truth of the incarnation makes the subjective human person a servant of objectivity, a mistake that Benedict sees as corrupting and potentially devastating. The future of humanism, Benedict maintains, is impossible without God. Benedict, a systematic theologian as opposed to a biblical scholar, does not see reality in terms of good vs. evil, Cardinal Stafford said. His God bound the two together paradoxically and sacrificed his Son on the cross so that history should know that salvation is love.

“Love alone is credible,” Cardinal Stafford said, paraphrasing Benedict. The pope’s primary metaphor for salvation is his role model Augustine’s “flaming heart of love.”

Benedict is troubled but what he sees as the crisis of modernity. “He believes the spiritual climate today is a new ice age,” Cardinal Stafford said. “Ratzinger sees the

A key to Pope Benedict’s self-image is reflected in the laden bear symbol in his coat of arms, according to Cardinal J. Francis Stafford.

same forces that haunted the 20th century operating in the 21st.” Benedict stresses that today no less than in St. Peter’s time it is the martyr’s conscience that in its powerlessness is the true challenge to dehumanizing power.

For Benedict, the cause of the crisis is not the elevation of man to God-like status but man’s separation from God’s truth, as evidenced in technology’s equating of truth with what is feasible. He fears parallels to Hitler’s Germany, where he personally witnessed the frightening gap because secular possibility and moral energy. “What is happening today in hedonism is directly ROME JOURNEY, page 15

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Catholic San Francisco

NEWS

November 14, 2008

in brief

Still feels pain of Kristallnacht VATICAN CITY (CNS) – German-born Pope Benedict XVI said he still feels “pain for what happened” in his homeland in 1938 when Nazi mobs went on the rampage against Jews, an event that became known as Kristallnacht.

The pope was 11 years old when, on the night of Nov. 910, 1938, “the Nazi fury against the Jews was unleashed in Germany,” he said. Marking the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht – German for Night of the Broken Glass – the pope asked Catholics to pray for the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and he condemned all forms of anti-Semitism.

Condemns Congo atrocities VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI condemned the systematic atrocities, killings and violence targeting innocent people in Congo and called for all sides to work for peace. Recent waves of “destruction, pillaging and violence of every kind have forced additional tens of thousands of people to abandon what little they had in order to survive,” and more than 1.5 million people are now refugees, the pope said. African leaders attending a summit in Kenya Nov. 7 called for a cease-fire between rebels and pro-government forces and urged increased numbers and powers for U.N. peacekeepers in the eastern region of Congo.

Holy Sepulcher brawl erupts JERUSALEM (CNS) – The brawl that erupted Nov. 9 between Armenian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox clergymen at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher never should have happened and is the result of people not knowing what is in the Status Quo agreements, said a Franciscan official. The 19th-century agreements include many oral traditions or customary law, but often each Christian community has its own codes, and clashes and contradictions occur, said U.S. Franciscan Father Athanasius Macora, who monitors the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. The Status Quo agreements regulate the jurisdiction of and access to key Christian sites in Jerusalem for Catholic, Orthodox and other Christian communities.

Among those sites is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where tradition holds that Jesus was buried.

Father Greeley hospitalized CHICAGO (CNS) – Father Andrew Greeley, a Chicago archdiocesan priest who is a well-known soci-

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ologist and novelist, was in critical but stable condition Nov. 10 after being hospitalized for a skull fracture.

The Chicago Sun-Times newspaper reported that the priest, who is 80, fell to the ground after getting out of a cab Nov. 7. The paper said his jacket got stuck in the car door.

Nuns kidnapped in Kenya VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Two Italian nuns, both in their 60s, were kidnapped Nov. 10 in northeastern Kenya near the border with Somalia, the Vatican newspaper reported. L’Osservatore Romano identified the nuns as Sister Caterina Giraudo, 67, and Sister Maria Teresa Oliviero, 61, both from Cuneo, Italy, where their religious order, the Contemplative Missionary Movement of Father Charles de Foucauld, is based. The newspaper said the women had been working for years with Somali refugees in Kenya.

Donor Sabbath Weekend Nov. 14-16 is National Donor Sabbath Weekend, an effort by the California Transplant Donor Network and other organizations to call attention to “organ and tissue donation as the gift of life and an expression of our highest humanitarian ideals,” according to a CTDN news release. Information on tissue and organ donation is available from CTDN at (888) 570-9400 or on its websites: www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or www. doneVIDAcalifornia.org.

Catholic, Muslim scholars meet VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Christians and Muslims must work together to protect religious freedom, they must learn more about each other and they must witness to the world the reality of God, said members of the Catholic-Muslim Forum. The forum participants, 28 Muslim and 28 Catholic representatives, met at the Vatican Nov. 4-6 to discuss their faiths’ understanding of the obligation to love God and to love one’s neighbor.

The final statement said both Christians and Muslims recognize the dignity and sacredness of human life because each person is “created by a loving God.”

hours of debate, the Uruguayan Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to legalize abortion, 49-48. The legislation now must be approved by the Senate. Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez, whose wife is Catholic, has signaled he would veto the bill.

Philippine Muslims write pope QUEZON CITY, Philippines (CNS) – Catholic bishops in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao have expressed interest in working on concerns some Muslims raised in a letter to Pope Benedict XVI. “Anything that deals with the end of fighting and aid to victims is of great concern to the bishops,” Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro said Nov. 4. “Mindanao

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican opened a major exhibit on the life and pontificate of Pope Pius XII, highlighting the late pope’s actions on behalf of Jews and others who suffered during World War II. The retrospective show – featuring photos, articles of clothing and documents – opened Nov. 4 in an exhibition hall adjacent to St. Peter’s Square. Several sections of the exhibit are dedicated to the Vatican’s actions during the war.

Bishop Jin dies of cancer HONG KONG (CNS) – Retired Bishop Pius Jin Peixian of Liaoning, considered by Catholics worldwide to be a prominent leader in the Chinese Catholic Church, died of kidney cancer Nov. 4 at the age of 84.

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bishops would be happy to listen to the letter and see what actions they could take.” The Asian church news agency UCA News reported Nov. 5 that in the letter to Pope Benedict the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy appeals for his help to “convince the Philippine government and the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) to go back to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”

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Deacon candidates lie prostrate during their Nov. 1 ordination Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland. Bishop Allen H. Vigneron of Oakland ordained 17 permanent deacons for the diocese.

Uruguay closer to legal abortion Pope Pius XII exhibit opens MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (CNS) – After 12 tense

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November 14, 2008

Catholic San Francisco

5

Vatican nuncio to U.N. headlines local Advent series Four high-profile Church human rights advocates, including the Vatican apostolic nuncio to the United Nations, will be the keynote speakers for an Advent lecture series at St. Rita Parish, 100 Marinda Dr., Fairfax.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican’s U.N. ambassador, will deliver the concluding lecture Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. in the series which draws its theme from the 60th anniversary of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 40th anniversary of Comunita di Sant’Egidio, and the 25th anniversary of the U.S. bishops’ pastoral letter “The Challenge of Peace.”

Comunita di Sant’Egidio is a ministry to the poor and marginalized founded in Rome in 1968 that has become an international movement with communities in more than 70 nations.

Title of the archbishop’s talk will be “Leadership Is Responsibility to Protect.”

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, founding president of Pax Christi USA and a founding board member of Bread for the World, will open the series Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. Title of his talk will be ““The Challenge of Peace, God’s Promise and Our Response: 25 Years

Father Louis Vitale, OFM

Archbishop Celestino Migliore

Later – What Is the Challenge? What Must Be Our Response?”

The retired auxiliary bishop of Detroit is one of the authors of “The Challenge of Peace.”

Franciscan Sister Mary Litell, a community organizer and non-violence educator in Brazil, will speak at 7 p.m., Dec. 8,

Sister Mary Litell, OSF

on “Living the Gospel: Practicing: NonViolence in Today’s World.”

Franciscan Father Louis Vitale, former pastor of San Francisco’s St. Boniface Parish and a founder of Pace e Bene, will address the topic “Love Your Enemies: Reject Torture, Uphold Human Rights” on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.

Pace e Bene promotes non-violence education.

Archbishop Migliore’s lecture will be followed by a fund-raising “Christmas Dinner” at which he will be a guest at Deer Park Villa restaurant. Proceeds will benefit St. Rita School Scholarship Fund.

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton

“With Advent as a preparation for the celebration of the birth, life and legacy of Jesus Christ, and in commemoration of the three anniversaries, the intent of the lecture series is to offer Bay Area laity and clergy the chance to reflect on and discuss Jesus’ Gospel message of solidarity and liberation in the context of human rights, world poverty, global peace, political leadership, and the economic crisis,” said Father Ken Weare, St. Rita pastor.

For more information, contact Noele Kostelic at (415) 456-4815 or nkostelic@ sbcglobal.net.

‘Unbridled profiteering’ criticized by Vatican’s U.N. ambassador UNITED NATIONS (CNS) – Public reaction to the current financial crisis should not be limited to criticisms of what went wrong or expressions of sympathy to those most affected, said Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to the United Nations.

Instead, world leaders need to “come up with the ways and means to avoid similar crises in the future,” he said.

In an Oct. 30 address to the U.N. General Assembly as part of a panel discussion on the global financial crisis, the archbishop urged delegates not to forget those “at the edges of the financial system” such as retirees, small family businesses, cottage industries and those who rely on their savings as an essential means of support.

“Above all,” he said, “there is a need to invest in people.

Once the inevitable financial salvage operations are over, governments and the international community should invest their money in aid to the poorest populations.”

Archbishop Migliore said blame for the current financial crisis could not just be placed on an ineffective regulatory system because it also extended to “the broader realm of ethical codes and moral conduct.”

“Unbridled profiteering and the unscrupulous pursuit of gain at any cost have made people forget basic rules of business ethics,” he said.

The archbishop stressed that financial activity “needs to be sufficiently transparent so that individual savers, especially the poor and those least protected, understand what will become of their savings.” To do this right, he said, there needs to be effective measures of oversight by governments and also a “high standard of ethical conduct” for financial leaders.

The archbishop also commented on the lifestyles and values of the general public, saying that “increased and uncontrolled consumption” without regard for savings is “economically unsustainable.”

Other speakers at the U.N. gathering similarly spoke of the effect of the financial crisis on the world’s poor and emphasized the need for an immediate global response.

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Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, the retired Nicaraguan Maryknoll priest currently serving as president of the General Assembly, said the stakes were “too high for half-measures or quick fixes put together behind closed doors.” He said solutions to the financial crisis “must involve all countries in a democratic process.”

As reported by The Associated Press, Father d’Escoto said the financial crisis revealed “unbridled greed and pervasive corruption enabled by governments who lost sight of their responsibility to protect citizens.”

“It would be folly to put it back together again as it once was,” he said, adding that all nations “must be subject to financial discipline” and guided by a “passion for justice and fairness and inclusiveness.”

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Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

First-person report – III The Holy Land is steadily being emptied of Christians (George Wesolek, director of the archdiocesan Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns, took part in a factfinding trip to the Middle East Sept. 21 to Oct. 6 sponsored

by Catholic Relief Services, the overseas relief agency of U.S. Catholics. Following is the last of three reports on that journey.)

By George Wesolek The 14-year-old Palestinian boy did not hesitate when I asked him the question, “How long have you lived in the refugee camp?” He said, “Since 1948.”

His historical memory and his identity were defined by 1948. That is the year his family along with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from small villages just like his were herded out of their homes to make place for another group of people.

Sometimes they resisted and many of those who did were killed. Most often they fled. They fled the homes that had been theirs for hundreds of years, their olive groves, their land.

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Our Catholic Relief Services delegation had the opportunity to meet with Melkite Archbishop Elias Chacour of Akko, Israel, the spiritual authority of most of the Christian minority living in the West Bank. The Melkites are an Eastern rite church united with Rome.

The archbishop tells the haunting tale of his family’s expulsion from their village. He speaks about his father, who when he heard about the armed men coming into his village, was adamant about receiving them as guests, peacefully. But the armed men demanded that they leave the village; so, his father and mother packed up their 11 children and went to sleep in their olive grove.

After a few days, his father and other men of the village went back and said they wanted to return to their homes.

They were met with this message: “Leave now and cross the border (into Jordan). If you return, you will be killed.”

Thus began a journey of separation and pain to be repeated by Palestinians from every part of that land. There are still tens of thousands of refugees in the West Bank living under U.N. auspices. The refugees remember the villages that they came from, keeping their traditions and their hopes alive.

There is a special and serious concern over the fate of Christians in the Holy Land. The proportions of Christians in the Palestinian territories have dropped from 15 percent in 1950 to just over two percent today.

More and more of the Christian population are still fleeing. Because of the Israeli military occupation, the severe inability to travel and, therefore, to have any kind of viable economic system, young Christian Palestinians are leaving their homeland for other places. They flee also because of intimidation by their occupiers, because of the endless personal humiliation as they try to cross the checkpoints at “the Wall.”

One young man told me that he had never been to Jerusalem to worship at the holy sites even though he lives only a few miles away.

Since they are such a minority, Christian Palestinians are especially hard hit. Some say sadly that Christians will be almost nonexistent if the climate does not change soon.

The hostility of some Israelis, especially illegal settlers, is based on their conviction that this is their land, given

George Wesolek and Father Firas Asib Aridah, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Aboud, West Bank.

to them by God. They could care less where the Christian Palestinians go.

The Christian erosion continues at an alarming pace. The village of Emmaus, the place where Jesus revealed himself to his disciples after the Resurrection, has been extinguished and has become a “park.” There is danger that the village of Aboud in the mid West Bank that we visited will suffer the same fate. In this small village is the lovely and ancient church of Our Lady Mother of Sorrows, which has been a holy site since the earliest centuries of the Church’s existence.

It is said in Aboud that Jesus himself passed through their village. But “the Wall” and the settlers have encroached, illegally, on the land of these villagers, controlling the water source, making it almost impossible for them to care for their small farms. In the process of building the wall and the settlements, hundreds of olive groves were uprooted, erasing a cultural and economic reality of a thousand years.

The pastor of Our Lady Mother of Sorrows, Father Firas Asib Aridah, thinks that the Christians will be gone in 10 years. And, thus, so would the village of Aboud.

Christian exodus worries Latin patriarch Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, an organization founded to assist Arab Christians in the Holy Land. In a talk WASHINGTON (CNS) – If Latin Patriarch Fouad at the luncheon and in later remarks, he spoke of the problems Twal of Jerusalem had had a chance to send a message to of being a Christian in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

He told reporters that before the Holy Land can have President-elect Barack Obama, he would have urged him to peace there must be solutions to the creation of a Palestinian follow his conscience.

“I wish the next president to be a free president, to state and a definition of its borders; the status of Jerusalem, move according to his faith and his conscience, according which Israelis and Palestinians view as their capital; and the to justice,” the patriarch told Catholic News Service in a situation of refugees and displaced people in the region.

Christian emigration from the Holy Land is troubling, he Washington interview in mid-August. However, he said, “We know that politics is politics. I will pray for him for sure.” said. Young people must have “more awareness that their presPatriarch Twal, installed as head of the Latin Patriarchate ence is not like any other presence; it is a mission ... to witness of Jerusalem in June, was in Washington to be honored by the toward this faith,” he said. “If it is a mission – any mission in the world means sacrifice, means a cross – they have to bear the cross.”

However, he said, to be convinced to stay, young people must have “hope in the future,” including employment.

About Christians who have emigrated to countries such as the United States, he Who are we? said, “They found another Since 1883, thear Young land with more dignity, W ho e w e?Men’s Institute (YMI) has been operating as a fraternal Catholic order supporting its motto of “Pro Deo, Pro more work, more freedom, maybe more culture. At the Patria” (For God, For Country). Today, over 2500 members (called same time, I wish them not brothers) honor this motto by working together on worthwhile to forget those who are still programs & activities for our Catholic faith & communities. in the Holy Land ... to have this sense of belonging to In addition, the YMI sponsors a variety of fun, social events the land.” (e.g., dinners, tournaments, picnics) and offers generous benefits (e.g. scholarships, death benefits) for members & their families.

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Catholic San Francisco

7

Role of canon law is ‘to create order,’ Nevada bishop says Church’s mission to proclaim the Gospel.

“All Christian faithful are to assume a role KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CNS) – “Canon in this necessary work,” Bishop Calvo said. law does not drive the Church,” Bishop “The love and unity of the disciples are a Randolph R. Calvo of Reno, Nev., told some witness that the world may believe in Christ.

400 fellow canon lawyers meeting in Kansas Canon law itself contributes to this mission.”

City Oct. 13-16.

Bishop Calvo said canon law provides “Its role is to create “infrastructure” for the order in the Church. It Church. But he cautioned is to get us to where we against confusing “unity” ought to be,” he said on with “uniformity.” the final day of the Canon “Unity is not uniforLaw Society of America’s mity, but allows freedom for annual convention. diversity,” he said.

“It is the Church’s misCiting St. Paul’s metasion that drives canon law,” phor of one body having said Bishop Calvo, a past many parts, Bishop Calvo president of the society called the Church a “comand former priest of the plex organization” of many San Francisco Archdiocese parts working, ideally, in where his last assignment harmony. was as pastor of Our Lady “Diversity respects who of Mount Carmel Parish in we are and how we respond Redwood City. to our needs,” he said. “We Bishop Calvo delivare all cooperating in and ered the closing address are responsible for the buildBishop Randolph Calvo at the convention, which ing up of the Church.” this year focused on the 25th anniversary of “People in the Church are not reticent about the presentation of the 1983 Code of Canon expressing themselves on matters both large and Law, an update which the late Pope John small,” Bishop Calvo said. “This is good, but Paul II sought to reflect the teachings of the there can be a disturbing and polarizing aspect Second Vatican Council. to it if it is not handled in a constructive way.”

In the new code, the rights and responHe recalled a group of parishioners who sibilities of all segments of the Church are came to his office and demanded that the bishop spelled out, as well as structures that foster fire their pastor; they cited a section of canon collaboration and collegiality in service to the law that they said their pastor violated. unity and communion that is necessary to the Bishop Calvo said he pointed out to them

By Kevin Kelly

Father Padazinski elected to CLSA governing board Father Michael Padazinski, chancellor for the Archdiocese of San Francisco as well as judicial vicar for the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese, was elected to a three-year term on the Board of Governors of the Canon Law Society of America at the organization’s national gathering Oct. 13-16 in Kansas City, Mo. Based in Washington, D.C., the CLSA has more than 1,500 members in 43 nations.

A CLSA member since 1997, Father Padazinski holds licentiate (1997) and doctoral (1999) degrees in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Father Padazinski serves in the U.S. Air Force Reserve where he is a chaplain, and another section of canon law that showed the pastor to be well within his responsibilities, and other sections outlining procedures that must be followed to remove a pastor.

Such apparent conflict within the code, he said, is part of the genius of canon law. Rather than creating tensions, they should open the door to collaborative decision-making that

Father Michael Padazinski

he was recently invested as a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Among its functions, the CLSA “assists the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in drafting and formulating responses to canonical questions that arise in areas from temporal goods and penal laws to marriage law,” Father Padazinski said. should be done in “truth, justice, mercy and charity” in recognition of the rights and responsibilities of all parties, Bishop Calvo said.

“Canon law is vital when it promotes our unity and love,” he said. “It is in the interest of our communion that we listen to one another and do so in charity and respect to one another’s views.”

Two bishops defend Mormons’ role in interfaith Prop 8 effort

By Rick DelVecchio Bishops John Wester of Salt Lake City and William Weigand of Sacramento defended the role of the Mormon Church in the success of Proposition 8, and Bishop Weigand decried “bigoted attacks” against Mormons by the No on 8 campaign.

Legal challenges . . .

■ Continued from cover “We will vigorously defend the people’s decision to enact Proposition 8,” he said.

A lawsuit Nov. 5 by the San Francisco and Los Angeles city attorneys and the Santa Clara County counsel argued that “such a sweeping redefinition of equal protection would require a constitutional revision rather than a mere amendment,” according to a statement from San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office. “Article XVIII of the California Constitution provides that a constitutional revision may only be accomplished by a constitutional convention and popular

E D U C A T I O N

At the same time, Protestant ministers who took part with Catholics, Mormons and members of others faiths in the ProtectMarriage coalition that sponsored Prop 8 condemned “continued targeted attacks on the Mormon people” during and after the election.

“Many California churches have also experienced harassment, drive-by attacks, ratification, or by legislative submission to the electorate.”

Prop 8 “devastates the principle of equal protection” and threatens the rights of any potential electoral minority, Herrera charged.

Amid confusion over the legal status of the 18,000 gay and lesbian weddings that have taken place in California since the Supreme Court’s ruling last May expanding the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal also moved for a new judicial debate.

Prop 8 is invalid because the initiative process “was improperly used in an attempt to undo the Constitution’s core commitment to equality for everyone by LEGAL CHALLENGES, page 18

obscenities and defacement of property,” ProtectMarriage said Monday in a statement from Los Angeles. “Such attacks do not build trust with the voters of California.”

The statements came amid demonstrations by same-sex marriage supporters at Mormon temples in Los Angeles, Oakland and Seattle.

The protesters pinpointed the Mormon Church because of Mormons’ substantial financial and organizational contribution to the Yes on 8 campaign.

At the close of the campaign, with Yes on 8 gaining momentum in the polls, a No on 8 television ad caricaturing Mormons prompted an outcry from the ProtectMarriage coalition.

The ad depicted two Mormon missionaries accosting a lesbian couple in their home, rifling their belongings and tearing up their marriage certificate.

Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, president of the California Catholic Conference, condemned the ad as “a blatant display of

religious bigotry and intolerance.”

Bishop Wester noted the affinity between the Mormon and Catholic faiths on the sacredness of traditional marriage and the importance of family: “While acknowledging that this position is not universally held in our society today, our churches are committed to proclaiming the truth and we cherish our ability to participate in the democratic process.”

Former San Francisco auxiliary bishop, Bishop Wester said a wide alliance of faiths and ethnicities contributed to the success of Prop 8. He urged respect, civility and courtesy in the debate over the definition of marriage.

Bishop Weigand, a former bishop of Salt Lake City, said Mormons have a long history of commitment to family and giving to community causes.

“I personally decry the bigotry recently exhibited,” he said, noting it came from “opponents of Prop 8 who, ironically, have called those of us supporting traditional marriage intolerant.”

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Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

Restored statue dedicated On Oct. 18, 40 people attended a luncheon at the home of John Consiglieri to celebrate the dedication of the restored Madonna Della Guardia statue at Corpus Christi Parish in San Francisco. The original statue, brought to Corpus Christi Parish in 1941 by family patriarch John P. Consiglieri’s mother and other ItalianAmerican parishioners, was heavily damaged by fire in 2006. Pictured, left to right from the top, are: Stephanie Hendricksen, Catherine Consiglieri and John Consiglieri; woodworker Matthias Gordon-Murer and painter Adrian Card; Rosemarie Consiglieri and Joann Consiglieri; John P. Consiglieri and sculptor Phil Diers; Diane Morrissey, Robert Meslinsky and Tom Morrissey.

CCCYO to offer confidential, free memory screenings Nov. 18 Catholic Charities CYO will offer free confidential memory screenings to the public Nov. 18. The service will mark National Memory Screening Day, an annual initiative of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America that stresses the importance of proper detection and treatment of the disease and related dementias.

Hundreds of sites will hold similar screenings nationwide.

Screenings will be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at CCCYO’s Adult Day Services office at 787 Walnut St. in San Carlos. The face-toface memory screening takes from five to 10 minutes and consists of questions and tasks that assess memory and cognitive function.

For more information, visit www. nationalmemoryscreening.org or call (650) 592-9325.

Dominican University concert Nov. 21-22 Dominican University will perform its annual fall concert featuring the Dominican Winifred Baker Chorale and Orchestra Nov. 21-22 at two locations.

The first performance will be held 8 p.m. at St. Raphael Parish, 1104 5th Ave., San Rafael.

The second, also at 8 p.m., will be at St. Paul Parish, 221 Valley St., San Francisco. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors; children 12 and under are free.

Tickets may be purchased at the door. For more information, contact the Dominican Music Department at (415) 485-3236 or visit www.duwbc.org.

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Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

9

Local organizations look for mortgage reform A nationwide grassroots campaign aimed at helping millions of families avoid foreclosure of their homes has gained traction in the Bay Area.

Several hundred homeowners met with bank and government representatives Oct. 27 at Holy Rosary Parish in Antioch for what was billed as the largest-ever meeting of citizens on the mortgage foreclosure crisis that has accompanied the collapse of U.S. financial markets. More than 20 national PICO affiliates also participated in the event via webcast.

Sponsored by the PICO National Network and the local Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization, the campaign urges lenders to help struggling families keep their homes by restructuring their mortgages to reflect an affordable monthly payment.

“The basic principle is that lenders and borrowers come to the table with an emphasis on keeping the family in the home by modifying the loan so that it is economically feasible,” said Adam Kruggel, CCISCO executive director.

Holy Rosary is one of several Catholic parishes among the 20 area churches that comprise CCISCO. Each congregation has teams that meet to identify and prioritize community issues and develop strategies.

Most families who face foreclosure are victims of subprime loans and adjustable-rate mortgages, which begin with a low monthly payment that escalates or balloons after a few years. Often the new payments reach 50 percent or more of a homeowner’s monthly income.

PICO proposes that the U.S. Treasury Department and financial institutions that benefit from the recent federal bailout adopt broad-based loan-modification protocols similar to those implemented by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation after it took control of the failing IndyMac Bancorp in July.

Specifically, PICO calls for lenders to modify subprime and ARM loans for homeowners threatened with foreclosure so that their monthly payments do not exceed 34 percent of their income. The means to accomplish this include converting to a conventional mortgage and cutting interest rates — and, if necessary, writing off part of the principal.

In August, IndyMac sent letters to 10,000 delinquent homeowners offering a new mortgage with a lower interest rate and a reduced monthly payment. Most have accepted these offers, which have cut monthly payments by an average of $430, according to a PICO report.

The plan represents “an extraordinary win-win situation” for both borrowers and lenders, Kruggel said, saving investors 87 cents on the dollar for every foreclosure that is averted compared to only 23 cents for a nonperforming mortgage.

“The investors and lenders will still get a return on their investment, and it will save families tremendous hardship,” he

(PHOTO BY XAVIER MARIN)

By Gerald Korson

Participants in an Oct. 27 meeting at Holy Rosary Parish in Antioch heard strategies for avoiding home foreclosures.

told The Catholic Voice, the Oakland Diocese’s newspaper.

Some 2.1 million families will face subprime foreclosures through the end of 2009, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, while the financial firm Credit Suisse says 6.5 million families holding ARMs could lose their homes within five years. Twenty-eight percent of all foreclosures this year have been in California. In some neighborhoods in Antioch and Richmond, up to 35 percent of single-family homes have been foreclosed.

In a settlement with 10 state attorneys general, Bank of America has said it would seek to renegotiate mortgage terms with some 400,000 struggling Countrywide Mortgage borrowers, 125,000 of whom are California residents. A few lenders have modified loans on a voluntary, case-by-case basis.

CCISCO also is pushing for a local “foreclosure divergence program” similar to one adopted in Philadelphia, where city officials work with borrowers, lenders and the courts to negotiate a loan modification. Of the 552 homes that came up for foreclosure in a recent three-month period, 230 were saved from foreclosure and 200 others had theirs delayed.

The foreclosure crisis is “kind of like capitalism run amok, the worst excesses of the abuses of the financial markets,” Kruggel said. “Families are at the center of our communities and our economy, and we’ve seen so many families exploited by subprime loans. We need to recognize that mistakes have been made, that an overwhelming amount of greed has driven this crisis, and modify these loans as quickly as possible. It’s not only a moral imperative, but an economic necessity.”

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(Ed. note: Joy Spence, mortgage counselor and parishioner at St. Matthew Parish in San Mateo, told Catholic San Francisco the parish is handling mortgage crisis calls from homeowners facing foreclosure. Spence, who attended the meeting in Antioch, said she encourages those caught up in the mortgage meltdown to work with lenders and exhaust all their options before accepting foreclosure. Spence can be reached at (650) 465-5577.)

Financial transparency forum slated Nov. 18 The Commonwealth Club of California will host a forum on financial transparency in religious institutions Nov. 18. The forum, held at the club’s headquarters at 595 Market St. in San Francisco, will feature a discussion of recent trends in financial disclosure and accountability within churches and other faith-based organizations.

Speakers for the event will be Pat Mitchell, executive director of the group Silicon Valley FACES and former director of the office of parish planning for the Diocese of San Jose; Kerry Robinson, executive director of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management; Dan Busby, acting president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, and moderator Kirk Hansen, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

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SCRIPTURE SEARCH Gospel for November 16, 2008 Matthew 25:14-30 Following is a word search based on the Gospel reading, Cycle A, about the parable of the talents and the servants. The words can be found in all directions in the puzzle.

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Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

U.N. General . . .

■ Continued from cover me what could be more democratic than the one nation one vote rule. My answer is: as nice as such a rule may be, it is useless if those votes don’t count in reality. For example, for the past 17 years the General Assembly has been voting every year on a resolution regarding the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

This year only three countries out of more than 190 nations voted to maintain that embargo: the U.S., Israel and Palau. In other words, almost the entire world rejects the embargo, but that does not make the embargo disappear. The will of the majority is neglected and the dictatorship of the most powerful persists. The same logic is at work in the financial world, which is in a deep crisis today. Rich nations are players who do as they wish without taking into account the expectations of the rest of humanity, even though that majority has to pay for the consequences when things go wrong. One of the pillars of this dictatorship of the minority is the way the Security Council functions.

CSF: Do you mean that the veto power of the permanent members within the Security Council is undemocratic in nature?

Father d’Escoto: You know, I could even live with the abuse of veto power by some countries. What’s really unacceptable is that this privileged position has gone to some members’ heads. They believe they can do whatever they want, whatever the consequences. How many people do you think have died as a direct consequence of the war against Iraq? The well-respected medical publication The Lancet calculates the number of such casualties at 1.2 million now. The Security Council has never approved the aggression on Iraq, but that has not stopped one of its permanent members to go ahead with the war and to continue the occupation. That shows that the Security Council cannot even control its own members.

And what is worse is that there is no guarantee that the same cannot happen again tomorrow – which even holds true after November 4th. Although it is not impossible that the imperial dream of planetary domination will be shelved now that Obama is elected president.

CSF: Would you say, then, that the Security Council is useless?

Father d’Escoto: No, certainly not. We need a Security Council. But the way in which democracy has been treated within the Security Council is responsible for the current state of affairs, in which the level of trust in and prestige of the SC is at its lowest ebb ever. One could say that the United States, which dropped in international standing in an unprecedented way, pulled the U.N. down with it. That could happen because of the sacred principle in diplomatic circles: “Thou shall never say anything that could make the powerful uncomfortable.” I believe, though, that all those who work within the U.N. are not here to comfort each other, but to realize the fundamental principles of the U.N. Charter, to serve the peoples mentioned in the opening sentence of the Charter.

CSF: Would the expansion of the Security Council with some of the emerging powers from the Global South make the institution more democratic?

Father d’Escoto: There is a working group within the General Assembly, working on proposals to reform the U.N. That group has been functioning for 17 years, and it has been a complete failure up to now. The crucial questions of democratization have not even been touched upon and even the more limited agenda of a more equitable representation of different regions of the world within the permanent membership of the U.N. has not gotten anywhere. And one could even question if that inclusion would make a real difference. If the U.S. can defy 189 member states in the General Assembly for their embargo against Cuba, then why would they be impressed even by 20 permanent members in the Security Council? The imperial ambitions and practices of the U.S. are in fundamental contradiction with the founding principles of the U.N. Some people tell me cynically that this is the way empires handle power. Well, the point is that the purpose of the United Nations from the very beginning has been precisely to prevent that kind of imperial behavior.

CSF: You not only criticize the Security Council, but also blame the Bretton Woods institutions for the lack of global democracy. What kind of reforms would you like to see in the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund?

Maryknoll Father Miguel d’Escoto, left, president of the United Nations General Assembly, in recent discussion in his office with Father Kenneth Weare, pastor of St. Rita Parish, Fairfax, and adjunct professor of social ethics at the University of San Francisco.

Father d’Escoto: Reforms? I think these institutions should disappear. John Maynard Keynes, the inspiration for the Bretton Woods conference where WB and IMF were born, would turn over in his grave if saw what “his” institutions are doing in reality. The founders of the U.N. were convinced that peace, international security and the development of democracy would be impossible as long as people continued to die from hunger. That is why they founded IMF and WB, to combat poverty. But in reality these institutions often contributed to a deepening poverty by imposing policies of privatization and deregulation. The very ones who formulate policies at IMF and WB would themselves never put such prescriptions into practice in their own countries, because they know they are lethal policies. One scholar who understands this exceptionally well is Professor Joseph Stiglitz, former vice president of the World Bank and later Nobel Prize winner for economy. He is now coordinating a team of specialists within the framework of the United Nations to come up with proposals for a new economic architecture for the world.

CSF: How does this Task Force relate to the G-20 initiative of presidents Sakozy and Bush?

Father d’Escoto: To be honest, I’m getting tired of all those Gs: G-8, G-14, G-20, G-what have you. There is no G-grouping that comes near to the G-192: the United Nations. On Oct. 30 we hosted a top-level panel discussion on the financial crisis.

Even countries that form that so-called G-20 confirmed that the United Nations is definitely the very best place to design such a new architecture. If the whole world has to pay for the insanity of financial capitalism, then that same whole world has to be part of formulating an alternative. This is far too important to be left to the 20 powerful nations to decide.

CSF: At the end of November, another high priority on your agenda will take place, the International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Doha, Bahrein.

What would you expect as an outcome of that conference?

Father d’Escoto: The previous meeting of this conference in Monterey, Mexico in 2003 saw the rich nations promise to spend 0.7 percent of their GNP on development aid. That is hardly more than crumbs falling from the table of abundance.

And even that minimum commitment has not been met these past years. I hope the rest of the world will find the courage to speak the truth in Doha and say that the minimum is not enough. We often talk about the destruction of life on Earth by ecological drama or nuclear weapons, but the worst nuclear bomb is poverty and hunger that kill millions. Together hunger and poverty also constitute the biggest sin on earth. And that is exactly why we should aim for more than the 0.7 percent, because it will not suffice to eradicate poverty. For me, the conference in Doha is not an end, but a start. We hope to receive the mandate from the General Assembly soon to organize a world summit on poverty in the spring next year.

CSF: Prior to the end of November you will have already organized a summit of world religions, following a request from Saudi Arabia. What do you hope to accomplish with that conference?

Father d’Escoto: I would hope that we all reconnect with the fundamental values of our different religions. Up to now, all religions have failed by accepting the neo-liberal dogma that states that human ethics and religious morals are not meant to be applied in the sphere of economy. “Let the business of business be business” was the slogan. Corporations, it was believed, were meant to make a profit, not to make justice happen on earth. Morality was the reserve of the Sunday service. For the rest of the week people were free to behave as economic or political animals that do not recognize and take into account the human dignity and human rights of other people. So it is no surprise that the current crisis has often been described as the consequence of greed. What we should do now is to replace the greed at the center of the system with the principles of brotherhood and sisterhood.

CSF: What would an economy driven by solidarity and love look like?

Father d’Escoto: It would be an economy that doesn’t strive for profit maximalization, but for social responsibility and the common good. We are not necessarily condemned to sink deeper in the quagmire of insane and suicidal selfishness.

That does not mean I am against profits, but it does mean that I am for a system where people share those profits. The world we live in today makes it possible that some individuals who play by the rules accumulate more wealth than the 26 least developed countries combined. That is not sustainable. This year we’ve seen different crises: climate, food, energy, credit...

Maybe those crises will awaken us from our ethical slumber.

Who knows? If we could just do what our Lord Jesus Christ gave us as his parting words: “Love one another as I have loved you.” We have not followed the example he set, and I don’t know how much more we have to suffer the consequences of our infidelity to our Lord before we will reform ourselves.

CSF: Are the Latin-American governments showing the way?

Father d’Escoto: Let me tell you, some of the greatest preachers and practitioners of justice today are among the Latin American leaders, including President Evo Morales of Bolivia. When he speaks, the wisdom and values of centuries of indigenous experience start to blossom. Latin America has been through the worst of times before, we have seen the darkest corners of human experience, but today we are living through the brightest times of our history. The dream of Bolivia, to see a united Latin America that would provide dignified lives for all its inhabitants, is no longer only a dream.

It is a task, a project that is being realized bit by bit.

CSF: You almost make it sound as if Latin American leaders are nearly saints.

Father d’Escoto: The optimism that we are living should never stop us from fighting the corruption of ideals. That is a struggle from which there is no vacation possible. We have to strive for purity of intention. We have to distance ourselves from an egocentric agenda. If we keep the larger goal before us, we can keep that purity of intention. But as soon as one permits the intrusion of a personal agenda, of personal advantage, then corruption of ideals sets in. It is a danger that will always be there when humans are involved.

Conclusion: As the hour-long interview concluded, Father d’Escoto pointed to portraits of the three heroes who watch over his shoulder when he writes speeches or drafts resolutions: Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and Dorothy Day from the Catholic Worker. “They help me see what Christ’s message means for us today,” he explained. Another framed portrait that hangs on his office wall is that of Leo Tolstoi. “It was Tolstoi that converted Gandhi to Jesus Christ and to non-violence. What makes Tolstoi so special, is that he was not trying to preach his own vision of society, he only wanted to understand more what Christ really wanted. He discovered that to understand that message, one has to turn to the Sermon on the Mount.”

“We are all brothers and sisters,” Father d’Escoto said at the closing of the general debate of the 63rd session of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 29. “And if we hope to climb out of this terrible mess we have created, we must treat each other with respect and love.”

Gie Goris, a graduate in theology from the Catholic University of Louvain, is editor-in-chief of the Belgian monthly, Mondiaal Magazine.

Pope praises bishops for promoting harmony in Bolivia

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI praised the Catholic bishops of Bolivia for responding to their country’s political tensions by working to promote harmony and reconciliation.

“I am well aware of the difficult circumstances that have been affecting the faithful and citizens of your country for some time and that seem even more acute at this moment,” the pope told the bishops of Bolivia Nov. 10.

Since the January 2006 inauguration of President Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first presi-

dent with indigenous roots, the country has been split over his proposed constitutional reforms, including provisions that would increase presidential powers, promote the rights of the indigenous and poor, redistribute land and give the national government more control over natural resources.

Meeting the bishops during their “ad limina” visit to the Vatican, Pope Benedict praised them for speaking out “with the sole aim of maintaining hope, strengthening faith, promoting unity, urging reconciliation and safeguarding peace.” Heads of dioceses are required to make such visits every five years to report on the status of their dioceses.

Cardinal Julio Terrazas Sandoval of Santa Cruz told the pope that Bolivians have lived through “moments of anxiety and bewilderment” as opposition hardened to Morales’ efforts to change the country into “a land without poverty – a problem that still plagues the majority of Bolivians – a land where centuries-old injustices and discrimination and social exclusion are ended.”

While the dreams are valid, he said, “the political and legal mechanisms put in place so far do not seem sufficient and adequate” for ensuring fairness and involving all Bolivians in building a new country. He noted that several regions have voted to seek

greater autonomy from the national government, a move that set off violent clashes in September.

But, Cardinal Terrazas said, the bishops have spoken insistently about the need for dialogue, reconciliation and a common commitment to overcoming injustices of the past. “We have lived through moments of intense uncertainty that, happily, have been placated after a long and painful search for a consensus that would benefit the whole country,” he said.

Pope Benedict encouraged the bishops to continue speaking out on behalf of the poor and the marginalized.

November 14, 2008

Catholic San Francisco

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Knights of St. Francis formed to protect, support Porziuncola Angela Alioto, the driving force behind the new Chapel of the Porziuncola Shrine at the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, has spearheaded the founding of the Archconfraternity of the Knights of St. Francis of Assisi to protect the chapel.

Modeled after and in liaison with the Archconfraternity of St. Mary of the Angels, which guards the original Porziuncola in Assisi, Italy, the new group will be responsible for the spiritual and practical security of the chapel in San Francisco’s North Beach, according to its articles of establishment.

Archbishop George Niederauer joined with Father Robert Cipriano, rector of the National Shrine, Provincial Minister Massimo Reschiglian of the Porziuncola chapel in Assisi, Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi, and Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Archbishop Emeritus of San Francisco, in approving establishment of the archconfraternity.

The group’s responsibilities include crowd control at the Porziuncola, as the chapel cannot accommodate a large number of visitors at one time. Knights serving as guards also must enforce a dress code, prevent unauthorized photography and insist on silent prayer with few exceptions.

Michael O’Leary, director of the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Office of Development and a member of the archconfraternity, said the goal is to help visitors experience the chapel while maintaining its religious integrity.

“It’s not a museum,” O’Leary said. “It’s a sacred space. Our major role is to make sure the Porziuncola is available to the public in a safe and sacred way.”

On the heels of its founding in July, the group has swelled to more than 90 members.

Knights are required to devote at least four hours a month to volunteer work at the chapel, the nearby Francesco Rocks gift shop or at the National Shrine. Alioto told Catholic San Francisco that most knights actually volunteer four or more hours per week.

“Every day we get new members,” Alioto said, adding that the all-volunteer group patterns its actions after the saint she calls “Francesco”.

“We are not doing what Francesco calls ‘loveless toil,’” Alioto said. “Instead, we are doing what he says we must, work for the love of Jesus. That’s why I founded the knights.”

Alioto said because the group is meant to be in solidarity with the poor, knights will not wear special uniforms.

(PHOTO BY MICHAEL O’LEARY)

By Michael Vick

Members of the fledgling Archconfraternity of the Knights of St. Francis of Assisi gathered recently at the Chapel of the Porziuncola Shrine. The group now numbers more than 90 members.

In addition to their work at the Porziuncola, knights are encouraged to live out Franciscan spirituality by “caring for the sick and poor, caring for all creation and promoting peace in the world,” according to the membership brochure. This can be done

“An archconfraternity is a call to oneness around a specific mission or vision,” explained Deacon Sandoval. “In this case we are called to the imitation of the life of St. Francis of Assisi. This is first and foremost about prayer and coming together,

‘It’s not a museum. It’s a sacred space. Our major role is to make sure the Porziuncola is available to the public in a safe and sacred way.’

– Michael O’Leary by donating time to charitable organizations or by raising support for them.

Deacon Christoph Sandoval of St. Mary’s Cathedral, also a knight, said the group is dedicated to living like St. Francis.

about building a community at the Shrine and sharing our diversity in unity around St. Francis.”

“We are called to walk the words of St. Francis – in acts of social justice, in acts of

U.S. bishops . . .

On Nov. 10, the sizable victory of President-elect Barack Obama became the central subject of the meeting’s opening press conference.

“It’s 1932 revisited,” said Cardinal George, referring to Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt’s overwhelmingly defeat of Republican incumbent President Herbert Hoover following the 1929 stock market crash. “The American voters have turned to another party.”

Though Obama’s support for keeping abortion legal is contrary to Church teaching, Cardinal George acknowledged a majority of U.S. voters who identify themselves as Catholic voted for the incoming president.

He agreed that the economic crisis trumped just about every issue important to the bishops, including abortion, immigration reform and the war in Iraq.

The big surprise in the election, however, was that many people who supported Obama also voted in favor of same-sex marriage bans in California, Arizona and Florida, said Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco.

“They did not see this as a conservative/liberal issue,” Archbishop Niederauer

(CNS PHOTO/NANCY WIECHEC)

■ Continued from cover

said. “They saw it as a natural law issue.”

The infusion of new voters in this election warrants study by the bishops on how the electorate selected candidates and ballot questions, he said.

Jesuit Father Tom Reese, a senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington, asked whether the bishops would support an approach supported by some Catholic backers of Obama to focus on reducing abortions by providing better social services and addressing poverty. The bishops said that would be possible if the programs met certain criteria.

Some pro-life Catholics who supported Obama said they did so out of the belief that an abortion-fighting strategy based

Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco addresses a press conference Nov. 10 at the U.S. bishops’ general fall meeting in Baltimore.

primarily on overturning Roe v. Wade was not likely to succeed anytime soon.

Therefore, they said, they were supporting the idea of reducing abortions by improving services to poor women, and finding ways of working toward that goal with those who support keeping abortion legal.

Cardinal George said the bishops would support programs to improve social welfare in general. But, he said, “it’s still to be proven what the connection is between poverty and abortion.”

Archbishop Niederauer said “both/ and” would be his preferred approach, working to change a legal system to protect the most vulnerable in society, as well as aiding women facing an unwanted pregnancy.

mercy, and to invoke the life and times of St. Francis in today’s world,” he said.

Joyce Herbert, secretary at the Shrine of St. Francis and a new knight herself, said the members are learning together about their responsibilities.

“The focus is on Franciscan spirituality,” Herbert said. “We must protect the Porziuncola, and make sure it has its financial needs met. But we must also take care of the poor and needy, and the environment.”

Likewise, knight Stephen Baccari said the group is grounded in St. Francis’ spirituality, and committed to bringing it to bear on the modern world.

“We are starting an organization similar to what the Knights of Malta, the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, and the Knights of Columbus started hundreds of years ago,” Baccari said. “The philosophy of St. Francis of Assisi is an 800-year-old philosophy challenged every day in the 21st century. We have an opportunity to make an impact.”

Alicia Becerril, knight and regular worshiper at St. Francis Shrine, said the group should not only protect the shrine, but also reflect St. Francis’ faith in the city that bears his name.

“What he stands for is meaningful – peace, working for the poor and with the poor, making sure animals are taken care of as well as our earth,” Becerril said. “Many of the issues he worked for are highly relevant to people today.”

Michael Pappas, a knight and executive director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council, said his experience with the archconfraternity has been edifying on two levels.

“Some of the unexpected spiritual joys of being part of this archconfraternity are the occasions for personal meditation and prayer in this jewel of a chapel,” Pappas said. “I am also fulfilled in the knowledge that we have created and will sustain a pilgrimage destination for the spiritual nourishment of those who might never be afforded the blessing to sojourn to Assisi.”

Archbishop Niederauer will celebrate the first official Knights of St. Francis Mass Dec. 8 at the National Shrine. The group meets on the first Friday of every month at the Porziuncola.

The Porziuncola is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, closed Monday. For more information on volunteering or becoming a knight, contact Bernadette Castro at tiabitt@gmail.com or (714) 650-2564.

12

Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

Post-election thoughts The election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States is an historic moment in this nation’s history. All Americans – regardless of their political views – can have pride in the election of the first person of African-American ancestry to the highest post in the land.

Catholics around the world have congratulated President-Elect Obama, offering their prayers and goodwill. Pope Benedict XVI conveyed his blessing to the president-elect “so that God will support him and the American people, and that all people of goodwill can work to build a world of peace, solidarity and justice.”

Chicago Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a letter to the president-elect: “Our country is facing many difficulties. We pray that you will use the powers of your office to meet them with a special concern to defend the most vulnerable among us and heal the divisions in our country and our world. We stand ready to work with you in defense and support of the life and dignity of every human person.”

In noting this historic occasion, Catholics should not be blinded to some of the worrisome statements made by the president-elect during the political campaign. For example, he told a large Planned Parenthood gathering that his first act as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act – long pending federal legislation that would automatically overturn every state law related to abortion, including restrictions on late-term abortions, parental notification, conscience protection, counseling and partial-birth abortions.

The president-elect also has vowed to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, passed overwhelmingly in 1996 and signed into law by President Clinton. It requires that no state need treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as marriage, and the federal government may not treat same-sex relationships as marriage for any purpose.

It is our hope that President-Elect Obama will focus his administration’s attention on the pressing needs of the American people, rather than seeking to fulfill divisive promises made to interest groups during a long and difficult campaign.

The primaries and the campaign itself revealed deep-seated animosity toward women candidates, and the abhorrent treatment of Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Sarah Palin require longer-term study and analysis. The extraordinary hatred brought to bear against two very different women candidates, however, suggests that America has a profound woman problem.

In summing up the election results, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote that with Barack Obama, “we get a president with the political intelligence of a Bill Clinton harnessed to the steely self-discipline of a Vladimir Putin.” Noting the tsunami of financial and economic woes that doomed the McCain candidacy, Krauthammer added, “Before our old soldier fades away, it is worth acknowledging that McCain ran a valiant race against impossible odds. He will be – he should be – remembered as the most worthy presidential nominee ever to be denied the prize.”

One of the most disturbing post-election developments follows the approval

by California voters of Proposition 8, which restored the definition of marriage as that of a union between one man and one woman. By a vote of 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent, the electorate approved a constitutional amendment that overturned a 171 day-old decision by the state Supreme Court that same-sex couples had a right to marry. Proposition 8 won majorities in three-quarters of the state’s 58 counties, including the five most populous counties of California.

Yet loud and ugly protests by “No on 8” supporters have taken place since the election results were made final. This is not a civil rights issue as society has restrictions on all sorts of activities (polygamy is not allowed) because it places the common good above the claims of individual desires. However, protestors claim that a “fundamental right” has been denied them. In truth, this “right” came into existence only because of a one-judge majority decision (4-3) by the state Supreme Court in May. Sadly, protests at churches and temples have included hateful namecalling, with several protests targeting the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

One prominent gay blogger wrote that No on 8 supporters should “forget debating on the merits” and reverse the democratic results “by any means necessary” – noting that personally attacking people and making their lives miserable is acceptable collateral damage in the pursuit of their goals.

Sacramento Bishop William Weigand said, “Catholics stand in solidarity with our Mormon brothers and sisters in support of traditional marriage -- the union of one man and one woman -- that has been the major building block of Western Civilization for millennia.” He noted that support for Proposition 8 was an historic alliance of people from every faith and ethnicity, including Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Evangelicals and Orthodox, African-Americans and Latinos, Asians and Anglos. He said, “I call upon the supporters of samesex marriage to refrain from discrimination against religion and to exercise tolerance for those who differ from them. I call upon them to accept the will of the people of California in the passage of Proposition 8.”

Some supporters of same-sex marriage point to the 52.5 percent majority for Proposition 8 in 2008 versus the 61 percent majority for Proposition 22 in 2000. However, this argument ignores the fact that the Yes on 8 campaign had to overcome the court decision creating a “right” where none had existed before, and the altered wording of the proposition (eliminating a right) by the Attorney General as a result of advocacy group pressure. In reality, the strength of support, in California and nationally, for marriage defined as a union of one man and one woman remains strong.

MEH

A little deception In two years my wife and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. We have four children and five grandchildren. We are in many respects similar to the couple on TV who has a lesbian daughter who supposedly will be denied the right to be legally married by passage of Prop 8. Like them I have a lesbian in my family, a sister who some time ago died of breast cancer. She was loved and respected by everyone in my family. Never once did she or her partner express dismay over the fact they could not get married. When she died, she did not think she had been denied any rights in this respect.

It is amazing to me that millions of dollars were wasted on a campaign to obtain rights that already existed.

Proposition 8 does not take away any rights established by the California domestic partners’ law, which are the same as married couple’s rights. This is no secret.

I think what we have here is more than a little deception.

What gays and lesbians want is acceptance and respect by society at large of a lifestyle that is viewed by much of society as immoral and unacceptable. There does not exist an inalienable right which the laws of nature and nature’s God give them to be married. This supposed right does not exist just because four radical judges decided they are a legislature in addition to judges.

I believe that if Proposition 8 had failed and acceptance of gay marriage was mandatory, I would not have been able to write this letter. There are many lies about this issue. The California superintendent of education stating that public schools will not teach gay marriage as acceptable is one of them. Many schools already teach it.

Al Labourdette Novato

Listen to all sides

Letters welcome Catholic San Francisco welcomes letters from its readers. Please: ➣ Include your name, address and daytime phone number. ➣ Sign your letter. ➣ Limit submissions to 250 words. ➣ Note that the newspaper reserves the right to edit for clarity and length.

Catholic San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Fax: (415) 614-5641 E-mail: morrisyoungd@sfarchdiocese.org

Tax the Church

L E T T E R S

The School of Law at Forham University created quite a stir when it decided to invite Supreme Court Justice Souter to speak in spite of the objection of New York City Cardinal Egan because of Souter’s well-known pro-choice stance.

In spite of Ex Corde Ecclesia, American academic freedom is an esteemed value, even on Catholic campuses. With a new political Administration, there should be a resurgence of the academic discourse. The centrist view should be “listening to all sides,” and then decide, not just brain-washing censorship! However, the traditional Catholic stance as from the Catechism should also be made available.

It will then be a matter of “informed individual conscience” to decide. This stance, I believe from available evidenc-

Send your letters to:

es, was the crux of the late John Courtney Murray, SJ, of Fordham University in the Vatican II treatise Dignitatis Humanae Personae in 1965.

Our local political leaders, like Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom, both Jesuit educated, have taken stances differing from the Church’s based on either their own convictions and/or application to the current laws.

What did JFK do when he was asked during the Southern Baptist Ministerial Conference in Houston in 1960 about his “loyalty”? He clarified that he would be president of the American people and not be ruled by the papacy.

Ray Lew San Francisco Since the Catholic Church through its stand on Proposition 8 demonstrated it no longer believes in and abides by the separation of church and state, well and good.

It should now be willing, like all other well-healed political businesses, to pay its share of taxes.

That would be the Christian thing to do.

Thomas Notaro San Mateo

Left wondering

I wanted to commend Deacon John Norris and his staff at the Office of Children and Youth Protection, which oversees archdiocesan compliance with the U.S. bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, for their hard work. Ninety percent compliance is a great start.

In his recent guest commentary, he talked about training volunteers and employees in providing safe environments for the children in the Archdiocese.

Even the children in schools and religious education programs are being trained!

However, I am not assured by this report. I am left wondering about the clergy and the training they have received.

Why was this not included in the article?

Is this the remaining 10 percent that the Archdiocese is not yet in compliance? The perpetrators of the sex abuse scandal revealed in 2002 were mostly priests. I would like to know what kind of background check and training the priests go through. Also, what is being done about priests from other countries or other states?

Rowie Quimson Pacifica (Ed note: In John Norris’ Sept. 12 commentary, clergy were included in the “employees” category. The reportable percentages are 98.8 of all adults with contact with children have been trained, and 99.5 have had background checks; 100 percent of all clergy have been trained and background checked, including international priests, reports the Office of Children and Youth Protection.)

Subject court to jury I read George Weigel’s “The Supreme Court Factor” (Oct. 10). He is correct and I am still waiting for the candidates to comment. These are important considerations.

But with a new amendment to our Constitution, there would be significantly less risk for all of us. We could require a jury to decide what is right at the Supreme Court and every level of our court systems. Twelve of us would be more likely to make a good choice for the people compared to the politicallyminded judges we have had.

The attorneys would argue the points. The Supremes would tell us what the laws and Constitution have to LETTERS, page 15

November 14, 2008

Catholic San Francisco

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Twenty Something

Hospitality heals and inspires I can bring any mood to my grandma’s house, and it will be lifted in a few seconds as the door swings open and her arms spread wide.

I opt for hot cider and pumpkin bread. Grandma serves me the end piece, covered in frosting.

The crackling fireplace muffles the ticking clock that usually dictates my day. I can talk and talk; she will listen and listen, leaping alongside each remark and every emotion.

I leave with a lipstick smudge on my cheek and a sureness I am loved.

Lately I have been reflecting on hospitality, a virtue that doesn’t get nearly the air time as charity or forgiveness, patience or moderation. It seems especially foreign, even antiquated, to young adults who hop from one small apartment to another, interacting at bars, entertained by Wiis.

“Do not neglect hospitality,” Hebrews 13 tells us, “for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.”

This neglected virtue can invite holy exchanges. And we can practice it every hour of the day – no matter the size of our bank accounts or our knowledge of Martha Stewart tips.

Hospitality is not just a virtue you exercise when hosting a party; it’s something you carry wherever you go, whether you serve or are being served by a worried waitress or exhausted cashier. It’s not just about refilling empty glasses; it’s about refilling confidence and restoring hope.

“Anticipate one another,” St. Paul tells us. “Exercise hospitality. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

Hospitality takes many shapes and forms. It is a bobby pin quickly retrieved from a purse, a Band-Aid, a tissue. Fresh-baked muffins in a French-fry culture.

It is attentive listening, the kind that happens when you remove the iPod earbuds and embrace the moment.

We exercise hospitality when we confess shortcomings and crack dumb jokes to put others at ease.

Hospitality allows for honesty and whispered pleas for help. It lets us be our authentic selves and emboldens others to do the same.

It cultivates talent and calls people forward. My first mentor, Terry, facilitated editorial meetings for aspiring young writers.

Her bright blue eyes, rosy cheeks and generous laughter invited us to toss out story ideas without reservation. Under her guidance, we advanced along an unchartered path, from concept to first draft to publication.

And we kept writing.

Our priest, Father Mike, embodied Marty Haugen’s hymn “All Are Welcome.” He built us a new church and revived our spirit. New committees formed. New leaders emerged. Our parish grew by nearly 50 percent.

Dorothy practiced hospitality in my college cafeteria, scanning our cards and greeting us each by name. At least for a

moment, her warm smile helped us forget that we were sleepy and stressed.

She pointed disoriented freshmen to the stack of trays; she kept them moving forward.

Hospitality is a mark of affirmation, a signal Christina that someone is special, Capecchi like the ribbon bow on the baby shower invitation or the gold ink used to announce the retirement party. Little touches, big impact.

This brittle season begs for hospitality. The November chill keeps us inside, numbing us to entreaties for mittens and money, tempting to stay in our sweatpants and live online. Stocks are plummeting and heating costs are surging. It is easy to think only of our own burdens and bills.

But then our hearts would never grow and we could never entertain angels.

Christina Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights, Minn.

E-mail her at christina@readchristina.com.

The Catholic Difference

Adult interreligious dialogue Father Christian Troll, a German Jesuit, is one of the Catholic Church’s leading students of Islam and a key figure in the Catholic-Islamic dialogue launched by Pope Benedict XVI’s September 2006 Regensburg Lecture. Speaking recently at Cambridge University, Father Troll laid out a series of questions that must be faced in any serious conversation between Catholics and Muslims: 1. Liberation through conversion and repentance: Can Catholics and Muslims speak frankly about such “abiding realities” of the human condition as “forgetfulness of God and rebellion against him, or oppression in the sense of exceeding the appropriate limits of behavior in dealing with others, while violating their essential human rights?” Is instruction in the dual commandment of love of God and love of neighbor sufficient to overcome the human propensity for wickedness toward the “other”? Or is something more required – that is, do Christians and Muslims “share an awareness of our need to be liberated by God into the freedom of his gift of love?” Are we agreed that we must all repent of the times when coercion has been used to advance the cause of God? Is self-criticism part of the spiritual self-awareness of both Christians and Muslims?

2. Faith-and-reason: Is it possible for Catholics and Muslims to study their sacred texts with piety and “critical rigor”?

Is it possible to create a “critical Christian-Muslim scholarship marked by the will to understand out of love?” Does the application of modern scholarly methods to analysis of the origins and

character of ancient texts involve a betrayal of faith?

3. Human rights: Do we agree that God himself has inscribed human rights “into the nature of man”? Are we agreed that “human rights and divine rights cannot be played off one against the other”? If what we mean by “human rights” is the recognition and protection of the “minimal conditions” under which “the human dignity...due to the human person as creature of God” is protected, then can we agree that “to recognize and respect human rights is nothing but obedience to the will of God”? Is the protection of human rights thus a fulfillment of the dual commandment of love of God and love of neighbor? If “Islam” means “submission to the will of God,” and if respect for the dignity of the human person is of the will of God, then does Islam by its very nature require Muslims to recognize basic human rights? (And if that is not the case, why isn’t it?)

4. Religious freedom: Doesn’t love of neighbor require, as a religious obligation (and not merely a practical political accommodation), respect and legal protection for the religious convictions of others, so long as those convictions do not compromise the common good? Do Muslims agree that that principle holds even if Muslims regard what the “other” believes is false? Can we agree that the institutional separation of religious and political authority is good for the state (because it prevents the state from sacralizing itself) and for religion (because it prevents the misuse of religion for political purposes and creates social space for faith and the workings of con-

science)? Christians now recognize that the attempt to create “Christian states” was a failure that involved “great costs on all sides.”

Are Muslims prepared to recognize that the attempt to create “Islamic states” George Weigel will likely lead to the same bad results, for both justice and faith?

5. Violence and reciprocity: Can Islam understand its faith in such a way that Muslims reject violence in the name of God, not only in terms of a cleansing of conscience about the past but as a commitment to the future? Can this commitment extend to those who leave the House of Islam for other faiths?

The Koran teaches that no one may be forced to believe; can Muslims agree that that principle “only comes to fruition if it guarantees the freedom also to abandon the faith, to understand it differently, or even to despise it”? As Father Troll asks, “Am I right to think that it is only God’s affair to judge the weight of such matters?”

That is interreligious dialogue for adults.

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Spirituality for Life

Aloneness, community and the spiritual journey Nothing so much approximates the language of God as silence. So writes Meister Eckhard. Among other things, this tells us there is a certain inner work we can only do by ourselves, alone, in silence. There is a certain depth and interiority only had at a price, silence and solitude. Some things we can only learn alone.

That’s half of an equation. There is also the axiom: Communities are schools of charity. There is, too, a certain maturity, health, sanity and resiliency that can only be had interacting with others. Certain things can be learned only by being with others.

The Christian spiritual tradition has emphasized both, though rarely at the same time.

On the one hand, spiritual writers have always tended to put an important emphasis on the type of inner work that can only be done in private prayer and contemplation. That is why silence is judged to be so important while on a retreat: “How can you be serious about prayer and conversion unless you are willing to face, in silence, the chaos inside your own heart?”

To fear or shun silence generally brings with it the judgment you are superficial, shallow, fearful of depth, afraid to be alone with God and yourself. Sometimes this is true. We often do fear being silent and alone; we are afraid of what we might find there. As Thomas

Merton puts it, there is a hidden wholeness at the heart of things but, because we are afraid that we might find chaos there instead, we fear being alone and silent long enough to journey to the heart of things. It is far safer on the surface. The emphasis on interiority and silence in classical spiritual writings is trying to ease this fear in us, to challenge us to a silence and solitude within which we can face ourselves and journey to the heart of things.

On the other hand, Christian spirituality has also always emphasized the social aspect of our lives – family, church-going, and involvement within a community.

The social dimension of life has always been considered a non-negotiable element within a healthy spiritual life. Most of the same writings that emphasize silence and solitude also emphasize being within a family or a community and participating in church life. They warn that there is a real danger in being too private, in being too caught up inside ourselves, in avoiding community, in being on a private quest without enough concern for family and community.

Both emphases, taken alone, are one-sided. An emphasis on silence and solitude alone tends to penalize extroverts, just as an emphasis on community and church alone tends to penalize introverts. Too rarely have

we struck a healthy balance.

Both are necessary and both are necessary within the life of the same person. There is a certain inner work that can only be done alone, in silence, just as there is a certain Father growth and maturity Ron Rolheiser only reached through long faithful interaction within a family and community. There is a time to be alone, away from others, and there is a time to be with others, away from the private fantasies within our own minds. Being silent and being social do different things. If I am alone and silent too much, I can develop a certain depth, but I also stand the chance of living too inside my own fantasies.

Conversely, if I am a social-butterfly who shuns silence and aloneness, the danger is I will end up shallow and superficial, uninterested in anything beyond the gossip of the day, but I may well posses a balance, sanity and ROLHEISER, page 15

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Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5; Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30 A READING FROM THE BOOK OF PROVERBS PRV 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls. Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize.

She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. She obtains wool and flax and works with loving hands. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her fingers ply the spindle. She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy.

Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her a reward for her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Blessed are you who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways!

For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home; Your children like olive plants around your table.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.

The Lord bless you from Zion: may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

A READING FROM THE FIRST LETTER OF PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS 1 THES 5:1-6 Concerning times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night. When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober.

A READING FROM THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW MT 25:14-30 Jesus told his disciples this parable: “A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.

To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one — to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.

After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five.

He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents.

See, I have made five more.’

His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’

Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’

His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’

Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’

His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.

For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’”

Scripture reflection FATHER CHARLES PUTHOTA

Life is being, but, even more, it is becoming An old man is planting mango saplings.

His neighbor asks: “Do you expect to eat mangoes from those?” The man replies: “No, I won’t live long enough for that.”

The neighbor persists: “Then why do you bother? Why waste time?” The old man answers: “All my life I have enjoyed mangoes planted by others. This is my way of showing them gratitude.”

Like the old man, each of us is invested with numerous and varied gifts of God. God marvelously channels them through people, who become his gift bearers. Our most comprehensive gift – life – itself comes through our parents. God encounters us through people. He inspires, enlightens, comforts, strengthens, guides and heals us through one another. He reveals his love and care for us through others.

St. Francis of Assisi’s popular prayer, “Lord, make me a channel of your peace,” is insightful in recognizing how God uses us to bless others. Our way of thanking God for these gifts and blessings is to invest them in the service of others. It is the best way we can give glory and praise to God. As we journey through life, God continues the creation work in us, enabling us to develop and multiply our gifts. That is why life is a continuous process of learning and growing, of changing and transforming, of awakening and savoring. Philosophically speaking, life is being, but, even more, it is becoming. There is always more to do: explore, love, give, forgive, embrace, shed, and create – all with God’s help and grace.

How true Eleanor Powell’s words: “What we are is God’s gift to us; what we become is our gift to God.” Even in ripe old age, we have “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield,” as Ulysses in Tennyson’s poem addresses his fellow mariners, rallying them for more adventures.

The Gospel speaks about the process of becoming. In the parable, the three servants are challenged to grow and develop. The first two know that the gifts belong entirely to God and that they have to grow them by investing, multiplying, and returning

them to him. The third one buries God’s gift. Whereas God’s blessings are waiting to flourish, this man does absolutely nothing with them because he is afraid to take risks. This is tragic for the man as well as for those who wait to benefit from his ability to share.

An element of urgency is injected into the parable because of the unpredictable Second Coming of the Lord. Not knowing when the master would return, the servants must stay prepared. We do not have forever in this world. The month of November when we commemorate the faithful departed reminds us that we are time-bound in this world – and heaven-bound. We have to be earnest about sharing God’s blessings.

Like the old man planting mango saplings, we know time is fleeting. The best time to plant is now. We need to become part of the process of becoming God’s children by investing his plentiful blessings in ways that will bring glory and honor to God and service to others.

Paul in Thessalonians sounds this urgency by alerting us that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.” Our lives are in the hands of God. We do not know the day or the hour when the Lord will surprise us with his visitation. We have to “stay alert and sober,” and become fruitful and generous with the blessings.

A memorable example is the wife in Proverbs. A wise and gifted person at home, she reaches out to the poor and needy. She is representative of those who will be judged on love at the last judgment, the parable of which immediately follows that of the talents. God’s gifts are to be invested in the love and service of those most in need, with whom Jesus identifies completely. God impels us to grow these talents. When the evening of our life comes, what will matter is not how long we lived, but how well we loved.

Father Charles Puthota, Ph.D., is pastor of St. Veronica Parish, South San Francisco.

Advent series: intro Advent Wreath: a traditional tool to prepare for Christmas

By Bob Zyskowski Have you had a conversation like the following with yourself?

Okay, this is the Advent I’m really going to do it. I promise.

I’m really going to pray with the Advent Wreath, all four weeks.

No, really. I mean it.

I know the Advent Wreath should be more than a nice decoration to have around the house during the holidays, and I know that I will get more out of the Advent season and my preparation for Christmas if I put more into it.

Let’s do it this year. Let’s make the time to light the Advent wreath every Sunday starting Nov. 30 and let’s use this simple season ceremony that has been a part of Catholic life since the 16th century.

This is something each of us can do as individuals, as a family, or as a group with others you might invite to join you.

Clip the Advent Wreath ritual out of Catholic San Francisco each week. The first installment for the first Sunday of Advent – again, Nov. 30 – will be carried in the Nov. 21 edition because no issue will be published the week of Thanksgiving.

It doesn’t have to take long to make our prayer around the Advent Wreath a meaningful part of each week. With the right priorities, all of us can find 10 or 15 minutes.

Find a time convenient for yourself and anyone who might be joining you.

It’s a brief ritual that will be in this newspaper each week during Advent. Use the whole thing or parts that make sense for you and those praying with you.

Read the readings aloud or silently.

If you are with others, take turns leading and take turns with each of the various parts.

And, don’t rush through the prayers of petition at the end.

Take your time and reflect on what you’re praying.

The Season of Advent opens the new Church calendar, and what better way to start the new Church year than joining with others across the globe in preparing our hearts for the miracle of Christmas.

Bob Zyskowski is associate publisher of The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

Letters . . .

■ Continued from page 12 say. We would then decide the case on the merits.

Tom Miller San Carlos

Unabashed harangue My heart goes out to George Weigel.

He just doesn’t get it.

There is a project he never mentions: the Project for the New American Century, the right-wing think-tank Weigel belongs to, which led our nation into war and now near bankruptcy. If there is one thing that gravely affects American Catholicism today, it is the perverse idea that the “values” of American political conservatives are equivalent to “the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

In Weigel’s articles, readers are treated to an unabashed harangue disguised as an analysis of the Catholic Church, with the author trying to show how nicely “the teachings of the Catholic Church” fit alongside the Republican Party platform.

These include a denunciation of the judicial branch of government, an obsession with “those secular Europeans,” a lot of hand-wringing over Islam, an obsession with the evils of science, a reactionary denunciation of academia and an attack on multicultural institutions.

Rolheiser . . .

■ Continued from page 13 resiliency less evident in the person more given to silence and solitude.

We need both, silence and socializing. However, pitting one against the other is a false dichotomy. They aren’t in opposition, but are both vital components of the same journey.

There is a great paradox within the mystery of intimacy and communion.

Sometimes it is when we are most alone and silent that we are really most in communion with each other, just as sometimes it is in the midst of a social gathering we are most alone. Sometimes it is when

Europeans have overwhelmingly opposed George Bush’s immoral Iraq War, so deemed by John Paul II. Europe has its challenges, yet it bears witness to greater respect for the culture of life than anywhere else, including, I would argue, allegedly more “Christian” America.

There is no question that the most important and difficult issue facing humankind today is the suffering of God’s people over the entire planet – suffering caused by hunger, disease and poverty. These items are seldom, if ever, discussed by Weigel.

It is unfortunate and a scandal that these conditions are known to our nation’s leaders and the leaders of all religions, who largely continue to be preoccupied with matters that really do not matter at all.

Horrific war and killing is no doubt the other major religious and moral issue, but we cannot solve war and killing without addressing poverty and the human condition around the globe. The solution to both is intertwined.

It would be ironic, given the content of the Gospels and the Catholic social teaching, if the children of the world were helped out of poverty, suffering and injustice more by the efforts of Warren Buffet than by our government and churches, supposedly committed to doing just that.

Thomas P Huvane San Mateo

Rome journey . . .

pet that blows two sounds with the same breath. To Benedict the sounds are not contradictory but contrasting, Cardinal Stafford said.

Benedict’s belief in the reasonableness of truth as unity amid contrast is expressed in his sense that the Bible is a continuous work rather than a collection of books and his restoration of older liturgical forms, Cardinal Stafford said. Benedict sees the pre- and post-Vatican II liturgies as continuous, just as he sees no break between the pre- and post-conciliar Church, he said.

■ Continued from page 3 related, genetically related, to the Hitlerian experience,” Cardinal Stafford said.

Benedict’s theology was formed by young Joseph Ratzinger’s experience of the intrusion of Hitler’s evil into the beautiful, changeless Bavaria of his youth, Cardinal Stafford believes. In meditating on the experience in later decades he understood Augustine’s paradox of the divine trum-

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This is the great paradox. Being alone is meant to lead us into deeper communion with each other and socializing with each other is meant to lead us into a deeper individual union with God. Introverts and extroverts equally struggle and are equally privileged.

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Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

Music TV

Books RADIO Film stage

‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ emotionally gripping NEW YORK (CNS) – The heart-rending paradox central to the Holocaust-themed fable “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” (Miramax) is symbolized by its opening montage.

After pulling away from a fluttering Nazi banner, the camera follows a carefree group of German children, their arms outstretched to imitate planes, as they run through the streets of Berlin and eventually pass, without pause, an apartment building whose Jewish residents are being deported.

At the head of this heedless parade is 8-year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield), who arrives home to find his mother (Vera Farmiga) preparing for a party. Bruno’s SS officer father (David Thewlis) has been promoted and the family, Bruno is crestfallen to learn, is moving to Dad’s new command.

Isolated and bored, Bruno is also confused by the sight, glimpsed from his bedroom window, of what he takes to be a nearby farm populated by people who wear their pajamas all day. It is, of course, a concentration camp and, though forbidden to do so, Bruno goes exploring. Eventually, he comes upon Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a sickly looking boy whom he befriends despite the electric fence that separates them.

Though Shmuel tries to describe life in the camp, Bruno cannot associate his seemingly gentle father with such inhu-

(CNS PHOTO/MIRAMAX)

By John Mulderig

Asa Butterfield and Vera Farmiga star in a scene from the movie “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”.

manity. He’s further perplexed when his father sits calmly by while their timid servant, Pavel (David Hayman) – whose “pajamas” can be seen under his street clothes – is hauled off to a nearby room and beaten (off camera) by his father’s frightening aide, Lt. Kotler (Rupert Friend).

The juxtaposition of everyday life with the most debased attack on human dignity is further emphasized when Bruno’s

sister, Gretel (Amber Beattie), prays at bedtime for the sick and the poor and when his mother – in a moment Farmiga enacts with beautiful subtlety – reluctantly thanks Pavel, a former doctor, for helping Bruno after a fall.

Bruno’s wide, unintentionally accusing eyes take in everything, as his interaction with both Pavel and Shmuel belies the vicious anti-Semitism of his tutor, Herr Liszt (Jim Norton).

In his luminous adaptation of Irish writer John Boyne’s 2006 novel, writer-director Mark Herman contrasts his protagonist’s innocence with the brutal irrationality of the events he uncomprehendingly witnesses.

The emotionally gripping climactic scene, though unsettling and more than a little improbable, is discreetly handled and therefore palatable, and brings this humane parable of universal equality to an appropriate, if harrowing, end.

The film contains mature thematic material, including a disturbing but nongraphic mass extermination scene. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned.

Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.

Stories of Europe’s ‘secret Sisters’ shared in documentary PITTSBURGH (CNS) – Theirs is a great untold story of modern Europe – the “secret Sisters,” who for more than 40 years under communism took their vows, lived out their calling and kept the faith alive, all in isolation and in constant fear of discovery.

The depth of their commitment as part of the underground Church will come to life on television screens next year through a documentary in production by NewGroup Media in South Bend, Ind. Titled “Interrupted Lives: Catholic Sisters Under European Communism,” the program is funded in part by the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Communication Campaign.

“What strikes me is that we all know about the Holocaust, which lasted for six years, but what about these 43 years of suffering?” said Sister Margaret Nacke. “No one knows this story.”

She and Sister Mary Savoie, both St. Joseph Sisters of Concordia, Kan., have collected some 3,000 oral histories from Sisters in eight countries over the last 15 years. The oral histories formed the basis for the documentary and for “Faces of Faith,” a traveling exhibit they take to religious communities. The exhibit can be viewed online at www. csjkansas.org, under “News.”

“The Sisters show what it was to be faithful to the Church and God and to continue their ministry wherever they were,” Sister Mary said. The documentary “really tells the story of the Catholic Church under communism and tells how these people are an example for us.”

Their stories are stark, dramatic and very moving, telling of Sisters imprisoned in concentration camps, sent to hard labor in Siberia, beaten for teaching and practicing the faith.

Earlier this year, 21 Sisters from Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and Poland gathered at the Villa Maria Community Center in Villa Maria, Pa., with some 30 U.S.

(CNS PHOTO/COURTESY NEWGROUP MEDIA)

By Patricia Bartos

Videographer Douglas Thomas of NewGroup Media films an actress portraying Sister Anne Lehner, a Sister of Social Service, who escaped from Communist-controlled Hungary into Austria in 1952.

members of the International Forum for Sisters, formed in the 1990s to respond to the needs of religious communities emerging from the underground.

Sisters in the U.S. have the support of their community, said Sister Dia Stasiuk of the Basilian order in Lviv, Ukraine, while those living under communism “didn’t know who they could trust.”

In the early ‘90s, she said, for the first time since the fall of communism, “the Sisters in Ukraine came together, 90 of them, and began recognizing each other. It was ‘Oh, you’re a Sister too?’ We knew each other only in small groups, and only by first names, for safety.”

The Sisters could not

To air documentary on St. Gianna Eternal Word Television Network will air “Love Is A Choice,” a documentary about St. Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian physician who in 1962 sacrificed her own life for the life of her unborn child. The hour-long program features interviews with persons who knew the saint and letters she exchanged with her husband. It will be broadcast Nov. 22 at 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. and Nov. 27 at 10 a.m.

EWTN’s regular programming includes “The Journey Home,” a series that examines why so many people, including fallen away Catholics and individuals from other denominations, are being drawn home to the Catholic Church. It airs on Mondays at 5 p.m. and encores Mondays at 10 p.m., Tuesdays at 7 a.m., Wednesdays at 10 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Featured guests will be Julian Chadwick, a former

Anglican, on Nov. 17, and Father Douglas Lorig, a former Episcopal minister, on Nov. 24.

“EWTN Faith Factory” is the general title for a variety of children’s programs that air Mondays through Fridays from 1 - 2:30 p.m. The programs “help children to explore the riches of the Catholic faith,” according to an EWTN spokesperson.

Programs include “Good Morning, Jesus,” “Hermie and Friends” and “Hi Lucy.”

All times are Pacific Time. EWTN is carried 24 hours a day on Comcast Channel 229, Astound Channel 80, San Bruno Cable Channel 143, DISH Satellite Channel 261, and Direct TV Channel 370.

Comcast airs EWTN on Channel 70 in Half Moon Bay and on Channel 74 in southern San Mateo County. Visit www.ewtn.com for more programming information.

even tell their own families of their vocations, for fear of endangering them.

Sister Terez Muranyi took her first vows in secret in 1977 in Romania, as an Eastern Catholic member of the Sisters of Social Service.

“My family did not know anything till 1993,” she said.

When the news reached her mother, “she was very happy,” Sister Terez said. “She wanted to become a nun when she was young and was happy that I continued her vocation. I was so happy to invite my parents to my 25th.”

Sister Paula Cicos of the Mother of God Sisters in Romania had been a Sister for six years, living at home and working in a biological research lab. Approaching her final vows, she told her parents.

“They cried a lot,” she said. “It was not easy. They came with me in secret to a house as I took my vows. They gave me a blessing, crying.”

The U.S. Sisters at the Villa Maria meeting were among more than 200 who helped their Eastern and Central European counterparts by establishing pastoral centers, updating libraries, teaching English and hosting leadership workshops.

They saw the chance for real collaboration and didn’t want to lose the relationships they had begun with the European Sisters, said Sister Veronica Ternovacz of the Humility of Mary order at Villa Maria, one of those early volunteers and current head of the International Forum for Sisters.

Vincentian Sister Valentyna Ryabushko of Ukraine, at age 26 the youngest Sister attending the Villa Maria dialogue, listened eagerly to the stories of the older Sisters.

“On my visit here I saw Sisters who opened their hearts, who lived under communism through these times,” she said.

“Our vocations were bought by the price of their faith.”

The Dominican University Winifred Baker Chorale and Orchestra Celebrating its 50th Anniversary Craig Singleton, Conductor

Fall Concert

A Choral Celebration featuring various works Friday, November 21, 8:00 p.m.

The Church of Saint Raphael 1104 Fifth Avenue (at ‘A’ Street) San Rafael, California

Saturday, November 22, 8:00 p.m.

Saint Paul Catholic Church Church and Valley Streets San Francisco, California 50 Acacia Avenue, San Rafael, California 94901

Admission: $10 ($5 for seniors and students, free for children under 12) For more information: call 415-482-3579 or visit www.duwbc.com

November 14, 2008

St. Mary’s Cathedral Gough and Geary St. in San Francisco – (415) 567-2020. Ample free parking is available in the Cathedral lot for most events.

Nov. 15: Pueri Cantores, the official international children’s choir organization of the Catholic Church, will hold a regional festival at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

Five choirs from throughout the region, including our own Cathedral Choir of Boys and Girls, will gather for an afternoon of rehearsals under the direction of John Romeri from St. Louis. At 4:30 p.m., the festival concert will begin with each choir singing individual selections, followed by a selection of the Cathedral’s children’s string ensemble and an organ selection by high school student, Duane Soubirous. The 5:30 p.m. Mass, which will conclude the festival, will be celebrated by Bishop William Justice. All are invited to attend. For more information, call the Cathedral music office at 415-567-2020, ext 213.

Nov. 16, 2 p.m.: Friends of the Archives will host a slide show of vintage photos illustrating the rich history of the Church in San Francisco by authors of the recent book “Catholics of San Francisco,” Bernadette Hooper and Rayna Garibaldi. The event will also honor Deacon Jeffrey Burns, Ph.D., on the silver jubilee of his work as archdiocesan archivist.

Datebook

Food & Fun Nov. 15, 8 p.m. – midnight: “Oldies but Goodies Jazz and Blues Dance” at St. Paul of the Shipwreck school gymnasium, 1122 Jamestown at 3rd St. in San Francisco. No host bar and food. Tickets on sale after weekend Masses or call (415) 468-3434.

Tickets are $20 in advance/$25 at door.

Nov. 18, 19, 20: Holiday boutique with silent and live auctions sponsored by St. Mary’s Medical Center Auxiliary in main lobby of hospital on Stanyan St. in San Francisco. Tuesday is preview from 4 – 7 p.m. $10 admission includes refreshments and parking.

Wednesday and Thursday hours are 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. with free admission. Proceeds benefit hospital’s cancer services. Call Mary Perata at (415) 239-5936 for more information.

Nov. 21, 22, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Sisters of Mercy at Marian Convent Holiday Boutique features numerous holiday items for sale including homemade jams and jellies, gift baskets, crocheted items, all-occasion handmade cards, baked goods, candies, fudge and plants. Marian Convent, 2300 Adeline Dr., Bldg. D, Burlingame. Follow Lower Road on Mercy Campus to Marian Convent. For information, call Debbie Halleran at (650) 340-7426.

Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m.: A concert by South San Francisco’s St. Augustine Church’s Music Ministry in the parish church. Proceeds benefit parish projects including the recent repair of the parish hall. The performance features St. Augustine cantors and choirs. Tickets are $15. Call (650) 873-2282 for more information.

Nov. 22: “Under the Big Top,” St. Timothy School Auction, 1515 Dolan Ave. in San Mateo. Tickets of $55 include a silent and live auction, appetizers, cash bar, buffet dinner, live entertainment and dancing to the sounds of Stefano Borolin. To purchase tickets, call St. Timothy School, (650) 342-6567. If you can’t attend, you can bid on-line at www.sttimsbigtop. cmarket.com Nov. 22, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Mercy High School, San Francisco Booster Club’s Annual Holiday Boutique.

Enjoy artisan vendors, raffles, silent auction. Contact Teresa Lucchese at (415) 334-0525, ext. 242 or tlucchese@mercyhs.org Nov. 22, 8 - 10 a.m.: Santa Claus visits Mercy High School, San Francisco, Barrett Hall, 3250 19th Ave. for pancakes and pictures. Breakfast for adults is $8/$5 children and students. Pictures with the jolly old elf are $5. Contact Teresa Lucchese at (415) 3340525, ext. 242 or tlucchese@mercyhs.org Nov. 22, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Nov. 23, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.: Immaculate Heart of Mary School, 1000 Alameda de las Pulgas at Ralston, Belmont is hosting its annual Holiday Boutique. The boutique will showcase gifts, handcrafted items, jewelry, Thanksgiving and

17

Coast begins at San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza lawn at the Embarcadero. To organize groups or get further information e-mail info@walkforlifewc.com or call (415) 586-1576.

Taize/Chanted Prayer 1st Friday at 8 p.m.: Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame with Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan.

Call (650) 340-7452; young adults are invited each first Friday of the month to attend a social at 6 p.m. prior to Taize prayer at 8 p.m. The social provides light refreshments and networking with other young adults. Convenient parking is available. For information contact mercyyoungadults@ sbcglobal.net.

Tuesdays at 6 p.m.: Notre Dame Des Victoires Church, 566 Bush at Stockton, San Francisco with Rob Grant. Call (415) 397-0113.

Vocations Third Fridays, 8 p.m.: Refresh your soul with a moment of peace and quiet away from the busyness of life. Listen to beautiful music and join others in prayer and song around the cross at Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose, Motherhouse Chapel, 43326 Mission Blvd., Fremont. For further information, contact Maria Shao, (408) 839-2068, or maria49830@aol.com or Sister Beth Quire, OP (510) 449-7554 or beth@msjdominicans.

Special Liturgies Nov. 16, 3:30 p.m.: Immaculate Conception Academy will commemorate its 125th year with a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

Archbishop George H. Niederauer will preside.

A reception follows in the Cathedral’s Patron’s Hall. All alumnae, friends and former students are invited. Call (415) 8242052, ext. 31 or visit www.icacademy.org.

Nov. 18, 7 p.m.: In observance of the jubilee year honoring the 2000th anniversary of the birth of St. Paul the Apostle, Archbishop George Niederauer will visit Sts. Peter and Paul Church in North Beach to celebrate Evening Prayer commemorating the dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome. All are invited. The jubilee year opened June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, with the ordination of permanent deacons at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The annual Faith Formation Conference to take place at the Santa Clara Convention Center this upcoming Nov. 21-22 will feature many presentations on Pauline themes. For more information or to register for the Conference, visit: http://sforeym. googlepages.com/. In observance of the Jubilee Year, Sts. Peter and Paul Parish has been celebrating the “Ambassadors for Christ” project.

Nov. 29, 5:30 p.m.: Thanksgiving Mass for the divorced and separated of the Archdiocese of San Francisco at St. John of God Church, 5th Avenue at Irving St. in San Francisco. A potluck reception will follow with hors d’oeuvres and desserts. For information, contact Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf at (415) 422-6698, Susan Fox at (415) 752-1308, or Gail Castro at (650) 591-8452.

Catholic San Francisco

Mercy High School, San Francisco’s Class of 1958 held a 50th reunion Sept. 21 and 22 at Presidio Golf Club and the school. Activities included a Mercy Day liturgy and meeting with current students and faculty. “Mercy students enjoyed visiting with the Class of ’58 and hearing how Mercy’s third graduating class is making a difference in the world,” said Teresa Lucchese, communications associate.

The Sisters of Mercy founded the school in 1952.

Christmas crafts, a bake shop, photos with Santa, a Nativity raffle and a Christmas tree raffle. Attendance is free. Proceeds benefit IHM School. For more information, call (650) 593-2197, ext 21, e-mail: alejandra_elam@hotmail.com or visit www.ihmschoolbelmont.com/home/fashion2008.php.

Nov. 21, 22: Two holiday-spirited events unfold at Immaculate Heart of Mary School, 1000 Alameda de las Pulgas at Ralston in Belmont. A Holiday Boutique preview with champagne takes place Friday from 5 – 9 p.m. Tickets are $15. A fashion show and luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. Saturday with tickets at $85. Advanced reservations required. For more information, call (650) 593-2197, ext 21 or e-mail: alejandra_elam@hotmail.com.

Nov. 22, 23, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Dominican Sisters’ Holiday Boutique at the Dominican Motherhouse, 43326 Mission Blvd. in Fremont; enter at Mission Tierra alongside Ohlone College. Items include the Sisters’ famous olive oil, homemade fruitcakes, ceramics, oil paintings, hand-made afghans and more. Lunch available for purchase. Proceeds benefit work of Dominican Sisters of San Jose. Contact Sister Barbara Larner, OP at (510) 657-2468, ext.

6310 or blarner@msjdominicans.org.

Nov. 22, 6 p.m.: Crab Bash Family Dinner benefiting Holy Name of Jesus Parish and School in Ryan Hall, 40th Ave. and Lawton in San Francisco. Menu includes marinated cracked Dungeness crab, pasta, cheesecake, wine, beer or punch. Tickets are $35 with tables of eight for $260. Tickets for children ages 6 – 12 are $10. Call (415) 664-8590.

Nov. 22, 11 a.m.: “Sunset Style” is the theme of the St. Stephen Women’s Guild fashion show at the Olympic Club. Tickets are $75 and include a catered lunch. Raffles for prizes including a pink sapphire ring.

For more information, contact Annette Rocca at (415) 239-8926 or sswg_sunset_style@yahoo.com.

Nov. 22, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Nov. 23, 9 a.m. – noon: “Noel Notions,” the Mt. Carmel Shop, 17 Buena Vista at Blithedale in Mill Valley, annual Christmas Bazaar. Many vendors will be on hand. Call (415) 388-4332. Proceeds benefit Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish programs.

Nov. 23, 1 – 4 p.m.: “Home for the Holidays” benefits the preservation and restoration of Ralston Hall Mansion, a registered national landmark, on the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont. Afternoon at the historic site includes buffet lunch, desserts, spirits of the season, entertainment and a boutique marketplace featuring designer holiday decorations. Adult tickets are $35 before Nov. 7 and $40 after that date. Young adult tickets – 11-17 – are $20. Call (650) 508-3645.

Dec, 2, 3 12:30 p.m.; Dec. 4, 6:15 p.m.: 25th Christmas at Ralston benefiting Notre Dame Elementary School. Holiday Teas will be served Tuesday and Wednesday with a gala including silent and live auctions on Thursday. Contact Jodie Penner at (650) 591-2209 or jpenner@nde.org for ticket and additional information.

Dec. 3, 5 – 9 p.m.: Christmas at Kohl Mansion, 2750 Adeline Dr. in Burlingame, sponsored by Mercy High School, Burlingame’s alumnae association. More than 60 vendors will be offering jewelry, clothing and holiday decorations for sale. Docent tours of the holiday-decorated and lighted home take place at 6:30 and 8 p.m. The evening includes musical entertainment and holiday food and drinks will be available for purchase. Admission fee is $7. Call (650) 762-1190.

Park in on-campus lots as well as at nearby Our Lady of Angels Church parking lot where shuttles will run from 5:30 p.m. The last shuttle will leave the Mercy campus at 9:15 p.m.

Tridentine Mass The traditional Latin Mass according to texts and rubrics from before Vatican II is celebrated at locations and times below.

Sundays at 12:15 p.m.: Holy Rosary Chapel at St. Vincent School for Boys. For more information, call St. Isabella Parish at (415) 479-1560.

First Friday: Latin High Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 1425 Bay Road at Glen Way, East Palo Alto. Mass is followed by the Litany of the Sacred Heart and Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament until midnight.

Confessions are heard before Mass. Low Mass in Latin is also offered every Friday evening at 6 p.m.

For further information, call (650) 322-2152.

TV/Radio Sunday, 6 a.m., WB Channel 20/Cable 13 and KTSF Channel 26/Cable 8: TV Mass with Msgr.

Harry Schlitt presiding.

Saturday, 4 p.m.: Religious programming in Cantonese over KVTO 1400 AM, co-sponsored by the Chinese Ministry and Chinese Young Adults of the Archdiocese.

1st Sunday, 5 a.m., CBS Channel 5: “Mosaic,” featuring conversations on current Catholic issues.

3rd Sunday, 5:30 a.m., KRON Channel 4: “For Heaven’s Sake,” featuring conversations about Catholic spirituality.

KSFB Catholic Radio 1260 AM offers daily Mass, rosary and talk on the faith – visit www. ihradio.org EWTN Catholic Television: Comcast Channel 229; Astound Channel 80; San Bruno Cable Channel 143; DISH Satellite Channel 261; Direct TV Channel 370. For programming details, visit www.ewtn.com.

Catholic Charismatic Renewal Nov. 22, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.: Healing Ministry Seminar at St. Veronica Church, 435 Alida Way in South San Francisco. Father Peter Sanders will facilitate. Lunch provided. Bring a Bible. Call John at (415) 564-7729.

Trainings/Lectures/Respect Life First Saturdays: San Mateo Pro-Life prays the rosary at Planned Parenthood, 2211 Palm Ave. in San Mateo at 9 a.m. and invites others to join them at the site. The group is also open to new membership. Meetings are held the second Thursday of the month at St. Gregory Parish’s Worner Center, 138 28th Ave. in San Mateo at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call Jessica at (650) 572-1468.

Nov. 20, 11:30 a.m.: Lunch with actor, Martin Sheen at Notre Dame de Namur University, 1500 Ralston Ave. in Belmont. Proceeds benefit The Dorothy Stang Center for Social Justice and Community Engagement, named for slain Notre Dame Sister Dorothy Stang who was killed in Brazil in 2005 for her advocacy efforts on behalf of the country’s poor. Tickets are $100. Sheen, known for the television series “West Wing” as well as films and TV roles, served as narrator on the documentary film “They Killed Sister Dorothy” and attended a Notre Dame Sisters school in Dayton, Ohio as a boy. Call (650) 508-4120 or e-mail dsc@ ndnu.edu.

Nov. 21, 22, 23: Centering Prayer Retreat focusing in 11th step of recovery’s 12 Steps at Mercy Center, 2350 Adeline Dr. in Burlingame. “Centering Prayer practice can be a key support system in the process of recovery and transformation” for people in 12-Step programs, most notably Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-anon, and Narcotics Anonymous, information promoting the event said. Fee for the weekend is $265. For more information, call (650) 340-7454. The 11th step, in summary, is to seek God through prayer and meditation.

Jan. 24, 11 a.m.: Fifth Annual Walk for Life West

Reunions Nov. 21: St. Ignatius College Preparatory Class of ’45. Contact Jack Campbell at (650) 583-1882.

Class of ’59 from San Francisco’s Star of the Sea Academy is planning its 50th reunion. Contact Maria Elena Keizer at (415) 924-9756 or Keizerm@ sutterhealth.org.

San Francisco’s Holy Name of Jesus Elementary School is ramping up to an allschool reunion in 2011. Alumni, former students, friends should visit www.holyname-sf.org or www. holynamesf.com. Holy Name’s class of ’83 will hold a reunion in December. Classmates should contact Julie at Julie_popovic@yahoo.com or Anne at annecarew@yahoo.com. The class of ’72 is also planning an event. Contact Donna at smardypants@comcast.net.

Consolation Ministry Grief support groups meet at the following parishes.

San Mateo County: St. Catherine of Sienna, Burlingame; call Debbie Simmons at (650) 5581015. St. Dunstan, Millbrae; call Barbara Cappel at (650) 692-7543. Good Shepherd, Pacifica; call Sister Carol Fleitz at (650) 355-2593. Our Lady of Mercy, Daly City; call Barbara Cantwell at (650) 755-0478.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Redwood City; call parish at (650) 366-3802. St. Robert, San Bruno; call Sister Patricia at (650) 589-2800.

Marin County: St. Anselm, San Anselmo; call Brenda MacLean at (415) 454-7650. St. Isabella, San Rafael; call Pat Sack at (415) 472-5732. Our Lady of Loretto, Novato; call Sister Jeanette at (415) 897-2171.

San Francisco: St. Dominic; call Deacon Chuck McNeil at (415) 567-7824; St. Finn Barr (bilingual); call Carmen Solis at (415) 584-0823. St. Gabriel; call Monica Williams at (415) 350-9464.

Young Widow/Widower Group: St. Gregory, San Mateo; call Barbara Elordi at (415) 614-5506.

Ministry to Parents: Our Lady of Angels, Burlingame; call Ina Potter at (650) 347-6971 or Barbara Arena at (650) 344-3579.

Children’s Grief Group: St. Catherine, Burlingame; call Debbie Simmons at (650) 558-1015.

Information regarding grief ministry in general: call Barbara Elordi at (415) 614-5506.

Single, Divorced, Separated Information about Bay Area single, divorced and separated programs is available from Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf at grosskopf@usfca.edu (415) 422-6698.

Nov. 29, 5:30 p.m.: Thanksgiving Mass for the Divorced and Separated of the Archdiocese of San Francisco at St. John of God Church, 5th Avenue at Irving St. in San Francisco. A potluck reception will follow with hors d’oeuvres and desserts. For information, contact Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf at (415) 422-6698, Susan Fox at (415) 752-1308, or Gail Castro at (650) 591-8452.

Ongoing support groups for the separated and divorced take place at St. Bartholomew Parish, 300 Columbia Dr. at Alameda de las Pulgas, in San Mateo, first and third Tuesdays of the month at 7 p.m. in the Spiritual Center and first and third Wednesdays of the month at St. Stephen parish hall, Eucalyptus and 23rd Ave. in San Francisco next to Stonestown Mall at 7:30 p.m. Call Gail at (650) 591-8452 or Joanne at (650) 347-0701.

Catholic Adult Singles Association of Marin meets for support and activities. Call Bob at (415) 897-0639 for information.

Datebook is a free listing for parishes, schools and non-profit groups. Please include event name, time, date, place, address and an information phone number. Listing must reach Catholic San Francisco at least two weeks before the Friday publication date desired. Mail your notice to: Datebook, Catholic San Francisco, One Peter Yorke Way, S.F. 94109, or fax it to (415) 614-5633, or e-mail burket@sfarchdiocese.org.

18

Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

challenges . . .

Event to honor Baldocchi Legal ■ Continued from page 7 The St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco will honor Vincentian Lois Baldocchi and commemorates its 149 years of service to the poor Nov. 20 at the annual Brennan Award Dinner at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough and Geary St. in San Francisco.

Baldocchi is a longtime member of the society whose “personal commitment not only sets a shining example Lois Baldocchi but serves as a symbol of women’s leadership role in service to the poor and homeless,” information promoting the banquet said.

Dinner tickets are $150 and are available by calling Jen Shelnutt at (415) 977-1270, ext. 3004. The evening’s namesake, Frank Brennan now deceased, was a recovering alcoholic instrumental in establishing programs that continue today to serve those troubled by addiction.

“This is the second time that California voters have acted to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

It is time that the opponents of traditional marriage respect the voters’ decision,” Pugno said. “The coalition that has worked so hard for the past year to enact Proposition 8 will vigorously defend the people’s decision against this unfortunate challenge by groups who, having lost in the court of public opinion, now turn to courts of law to pursue their agenda.”

Pugno, in an interview with Catholic San Francisco, strongly countered same-sex marriage advocates’ claim that Prop 8 is legally questionable because it revises the state Constitution. Prop 8 is an amendment rather than a revision, and the courts have upheld such amendments in the past regardless of how sweeping the policy change, he said.

“It is unbelievable to claim that restoring the definition of marriage equates with restructuring California government,” Pugno said, predicting years of litigation in the lower courts if the Supreme Court changes its mind on the marriage ban.

Ron Prenctice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com, said the election is over and urged conciliation on both sides.

eliminating a fundamental right from just one group – lesbian and gay Californians,” the claim by the two groups argues.

In a statement from New York, Lambda Legal Executive Director Ron Cathcart commented on the electoral losses for his group’s cause in California, Arizona and Florida. Reacting to the California court’s 5-to-4 decision, voters in all three states moved to block further judicial action on the definition of marriage by affirming that no marriage can be recognized in those states unless it is between a man and a woman.

“We are disappointed by the losses, but we are not discouraged,” Cathcart said. “We don’t think they predict the future — in fact, they are the last gasps of the past.”

ProtectMarriage.com attorney Pugno said the new complaints are identical to claims the same groups made in an attempt to disqualify Prop 8 from the November ballot. The Supreme Court summarily dismissed the claims July 16.

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CALL 415-614-5642 FAX 415-614-5641 EMAIL penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

CALL 415-614-5640 FAX 415-614-5641 EMAIL penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

Room Wanted ROOM WANTED Catholic woman employed part time and studying for a career and very responsible elementary school daughter needs room with kitchen privileges in San Francisco Can pay $600.00 per month. References.

Please call Zhanna at 415-310-4080

place a Help Wanted Ad in Catholic San Francisco

Caregiver Available Irish lady available, experienced, honest and reliable. Could provide light cooking, housekeeping.

PLEASE CALL JOSIE (415) 386-2642.

Room for Rent 1-bedroom available in a 2 BR/1 Bath Apt. in Larkspur. $850/mo+ UT. Seeking non-smoker female roommate in her 20’s. Please email: seekingroommate08@yahoo.com

PUBLISH A NOVENA Pre-payment required Mastercard or Visa accepted

Cost $26

If you wish to publish a Novena in the Catholic San Francisco You may use the form below or call 415-614-5640 Your prayer will be published in our newspaper

Name Adress Phone MC/VISA # Exp. Select One Prayer: ❑ St. Jude Novena to SH ❑ Prayer to St. Jude

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Please return form with check or money order for $26 Payable to: Catholic San Francisco Advertising Dept., Catholic San Francisco 1 Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin never known to fail.

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin never known to fail.

Most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel Blessed Mother of the Son of God, assistme in my need. Help me and show me you are my mother.

Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth. I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to help me in this need.

Oh Mary, conceived without sin. Pray for us (3X).

Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands (3X).

Say prayers 3 days. M.P.L.

Most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel Blessed Mother of the Son of God, assistme in my need. Help me and show me you are my mother.

Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth. I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to help me in this need.

Oh Mary, conceived without sin. Pray for us (3X).

Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands (3X).

Say prayers 3 days. S.M.

Help Wanted We are looking for full or part time

RNs, LVNs, CNAs, Caregivers

LAKE TAHOE RENTAL

In-home care in San Francisco, Marin County, peninsula Nursing care for children in San Francisco schools If you are generous, honest, compassionate, respectful, and want to make a difference, send us your resume: Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN Fax: 415-435-0421 Email: info@sncsllc.com Voice: 415-435-1262

Sleeps 8, near Heavenly Valley and Casinos.

Serra for Priestly Vocations Please call Archdiocese of San Francisco Fr. Tom Daly (415) 614-5683

MERCY HIGH SCHOOL Burlingame, CA 94010 (650) 343-3631

Call 925-933-1095 See it at RentMyCondo.com#657

Travel Agents Needed • F/T position available at a busy travel consolidator.

• Min. 2 yrs exp. required.

• Familiarity with Sabre/ Amadeus System • Strong organizational skills/high-level customer service required.

• Exc. compensation plus flexible schedule.

Fax resume to (415) 362-6240, Ida.

ADVERTISING SALES For The Largest Publisher of Catholic Church Bulletins

This is a Career Opportunity!

• Generous Commissions • Minimal Travel • Excellent Benefit Package • Stong Office Support • Work in Your Community. E.O.E.

Call 1-800-675-5051, Fax resume: 925-926-0799

GIFT SHOP MANAGER JOB OPENING ❑ Prayer to the Blessed Virgin ❑ Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Approximately 2,000 to 3,500 square feet of space (additional space available if needed) at One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco (between Gough & Franklin), is being offered for lease — preferably to a non-profit entity. Space available includes four enclosed offices, open work area with seven cubicles, large work room, and storage rooms on the bottom level of the Archdiocese of San Francisco Chancery/Pastoral Center. We also have mail and copy services available, as well as meeting rooms (based on availability). Space has access to kitchen area and restroom facilities. Parking spaces negotiable. Ready for immediate occupancy with competitive terms.

For more information, contact Katie Haley (415) 614-5556; email to haleyk@sfarchdiocese.org.

PIANO LESSONS BY

CAROL FERRANDO. Conservatory training, masters degree, all levels of students.

CALL (415) 921-8337.

Help Wanted heaven can’t wait

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OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE

Vacation Rental Condo in South Lake Tahoe.

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS PAPER!

Catholic San Francisco

The Gift Shop Manager position is available at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption to begin ASAP. The Gift Shop Manager works 4-5 days per week and requires weekend work (both Saturday and Sundays).

This is a full-time position with excellent health, pension & vacation benefits. Job duties include scheduling, inventory, restocking shop and running cash register. The qualified candidate will have ability to work independently, know Office Outlook and use the internet for ordering.

Experience must include knowledge of Catholic faith and devotions, with prior retail, excellent customer service and managerial experience. Good English skills are essential and other languages, especially Spanish are a plus.

Please send resume with the subject line “Gift Shop Manager” to accounts@stmarycathedralsf.org, or drop your resume off at the receptionist desk.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Mercy High School, an all-girls Catholic college preparatory secondary school has an opening for the position of Assistant Principal for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Under the direction of the Principal, the Assistant Principal has overall responsibility for the daily operations of the school. The Assistant Principal shares responsibility for the integration of spirituality, faith and learning within the school through successful academic and student-life programs. Additionally, this position is responsible for the planning, coordination and execution of the school’s educational policy. The Assistant Principal will ensure a vibrant program and culture of professional and leadership development for the faculty and staff.

Minimum requirements: ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

California Teaching Credential Administrative Services Credential and/or Masters Degree preferred Minimum three years experience in elementary or secondary teaching and/or administration ❖ Practicing Catholic

Additional requirements:

❖ Ability to demonstrate inspirational leadership particularly to students, faculty, staff and parents ❖ Strong skills in participatory decision making, educational innovation plus curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation ❖ Exceptional interpersonal skills including direct and open communication and effective public speaking Position is year-round with some evening/weekend meetings and events required during the academic school year.

Salary commensurate with experience and education of applicant.

All resume materials must be received by Jan. 9, 2009.

SEND RESUME AND COVER LETTER TO: Kay Carter, Director of Human Resources, Mercy High School, 2750 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010; email: kcarter@mercyhsb.com or fax 650-343-2316.

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Catholic San Francisco

November 14, 2008

WOMEN IN BUSINESS Meagan Levitan, REALTOR® Born and raised in San Francisco, Meagan is a graduate of Stanford University, an elected member of the San Francisco Democratic County Committee and a San Francisco Recreation and Parks Commissioner.

But what she truly loves doing is selling real estate in her city. Meagan is proud to have been named a Top Producer at Hill and Company Real Estate for the past three years where she has earned respect and praise from clients in every city neighborhood looking to buy and sell everything from one bedroom condos to multimillion dollar homes. Meagan lives in her childhood home in the Richmond District with her husband and daughter and is a proud parishioner at

JEANNIE McCULLOUGH STILES RN, PHN Special Needs Nursing Special Needs Care at Home Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN, PHN, is a 4th generation San Franciscan and a graduate of USF Nursing School. Jeannie and her family live in Tiburon. She owns and operates Special Needs.

As a registered nurse, Jeannie’s career spans 25 years working in intensive care, hospice/home care and other specialty units. She opened Special Needs to support seniors and others in need of skilled nursing and assisted living in their homes and schools. Her services range from simple companionship and care giving to skilled nursing/advocacy.

Special Needs celebrates life . . . no matter what the circumstances

St. Dominic’s.

(415) 321-4293 mlevitan@hill-co.com www.levitanhomes.com

To learn more about her dedicated staff and excellence in services, call 415.435.1262 and visit her website: www.sncsllc.com.

GINNY KAVANAUGH International President’s Premier Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage With 23 years real estate experience and awards for being a top producing agent for Coldwell Banker since 1994, my business has always been based on putting my clients needs first. I take pride in earning your trust by delivering exceptional service before, during and after the real estate transaction.

I welcome your questions regarding any and all real estate related issues. Please contact me when you, your family or friends are considering a move or just want to stay apprised of the market.

COLDWELL BANKER 650-529-8570

www.theKavanaughs.com gkavanaugh@camoves.com

Margaret Passanisi, LCSW Psychotherapist Margaret Passanisi, born and raised in San Francisco, practices psychotherapy in the historic landmark, Flood building at Market and Powell Streets. Her practice focuses on Listening for the Whole Person: Body, Mind, Spirit and Emotions. She believes that healing takes place when the person integrates learning on all levels and she uses her skills to promote health and well-being through body, mind, spirit and emotions. Specialties include grief and loss, relationship counseling and posttraumatic stress disorder which often shows up in the form of anxiety and depression. Margaret was instrumental in the beginning a bereavement ministry in her former parish, Saint Dominic’s in San Francisco.

LISTENING

FOR THE W HOLE P ERSON 415.931.5241 mpassanisi@earthlink.net

To advertise on the WOMEN IN BUSINESS page please call 415-614-5642 or email penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

MARY ZELL SPELLMAN, AGENT State Farm Insurance Mary Zell Spellman is a member of St. Cecilia’s Parish. Mary received her MBA from Keller graduate School in 2006 and her BA from Eastern Illinois University in 2002. Her personalized service, office, and experience make her office your #1 choice.

Her office team members speak Spanish and are involved in the community.

• • • • • •

A.M. Best’s A++, Moody’s Aa1 Life and Annuity Specialist Know what’s covered and what’s not Friendly, fair service; professional, caring manner Award winning claims service #1 in the country; protects 1 of 5 in California

STATE FARM 415-401-7000

www.maryzellspellman.com mary.spellman.p8hf@statefarm.com

HEIDI BARNES Loan Consultant Baxter Financial

(510) 741-1442 Heidi began her successful career in the mortgage industry in 1998. She offers her clients professional, personalized service and a wide variety of home loan options, including FHA, conventional, VA and reverse mortgages.

Heidi is a lifelong Bay Area resident who received a BA degree in English from UC Berkeley and an MBA in Marketing from Golden Gate University. She can be reached at (510) 741-1442 or at heidibarnes@sbcglobal.net.

Real Estate Broker, CA Dept. of Real Estate License #01183933