Recession hits home:
Catholic san Francisco
One man’s ordeal and call to faith
Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
A successful professional, a moneymaker for his firm, laid off through no fault of his own. On a Friday afternoon. And axed by phone no less. It happened to Ken Outzen last fall and he has been bobbing to keep his head above water ever since. Juggling a mortgage, he and his wife Kristi have two children in college and a third in high school. The couple had planned to start a small business after the kids were on the their own but have set aside those plans as Outzen looks for work outside his old industry – banking. Outzen, 53, a parishioner at St. Bartholomew in San Mateo, has decided not to deal with his crisis in silence. Instead, he is playing a part in a public effort to share information about the recession in his community and point the way to help. He was one of three people who testified at a March 8 forum on affordable RECESSION HITS HOME, page 3
(ARNE FOLKEDAL/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
By Rick DelVecchio
Delegates from Ireland’s 32 counties and four provinces carry their respective flags in the United Irish Societies of San Francisco’s 158th St. Patrick’s Day Parade. See Page 7 for more coverage.
In Africa, pope says Gospel is answer to continent’s problems YAOUNDE, Cameroon (CNS) – Arriving in Africa, Pope Benedict XVI said the church’s message of hope and reconciliation was sorely needed by a continent suffering disproportionately from poverty, conflict and disease. At a welcoming ceremony March 17 in Yaounde, the pope said he was making his first visit to Africa to respond to the many men and woman who “long to hear a word of hope and comfort.” In Africans’ fight against injustice, he said, the church is their natural ally. “In the face of suffering or violence, poverty or hunger, corruption or abuse of power, a Christian can never remain silent,” the pope said. The 81-year-old pontiff stood on a platform at Yaounde’s airport next to Cameroonian President Paul Biya, who welcomed the pope on a hot, humid afternoon. Groups of schoolchildren sang and cheered, waving paper flags with the Vatican’s colors. The pope said he came to Africa as a pastor, not a politician, to a continent where the saving message of the Gospel needs to be “proclaimed loud and clear.” The encounter with Christianity, he said, can transform situations of hardship or injustice. He cited the regional conflicts in Africa that have left thousands homeless, destitute and orphaned, as well as human
(CNS PHOTO/FINBARR O’REILLY, REUTERS)
By John Thavis
Pope Benedict XVI greets a welcoming Cameroonian nun upon his arrival March 17 at the airport in Yaounde, Cameroon. trafficking that has become a new form of slavery, especially for women and children. “At a time of global crisis in food shortages, financial turmoil and disturbing patterns of climate change, Africa suffers disproportionately: More and more of her people are falling prey to hunger, poverty and disease. They cry out for reconciliation, justice and peace,
and that is what the church offers them,” he said. “Not forms of economic or political oppression, but the glorious freedom of the children of God. Not the imposition of cultural models that ignore the rights of the unborn, but the pure healing water of the Gospel of life,” he said. In place of bitter ethnic or interreligious rivalry, the church offers the righ-
teousness and peace of the “civilization of love,” he said. The pope described Cameroon as a “land of hope,” noting that the country has accepted refugees from neighboring countries and tried to settle border disputes with patient diplomacy. Cameroon is also a “land of life, with a government that speaks out in defense of the rights of the unborn,” the pope said. In his remarks on the unborn, the pope may have been referring to a recent exchange between the Cameroonian government and a U.N. committee that monitors compliance with a convention on eliminating forms of discrimination against women. In response to a request to liberalize its abortion law, the government responded that abortion was murder and should not be elevated to a right. It was Pope Benedict’s first papal visit to Africa. As a cardinal, he visited the continent only once, attending a theological conference in 1987 in what is now Congo. Aboard the plane taking him to Africa, the pope told reporters that he considered corruption one of the continent’s biggest problems. According to the U.S. Department of State, Cameroon’s corruption level is among the highest in the world. President Biya and his Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement have retained power for 27 years, giving the POPE IN AFRICA, page 8
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION PICTURES e\ =E:
News in brief. . . . . . . . . . . 4-5 Philanthropy honored. . . . . . 6 Death penalty update . . . . . 11 Columns & letters . . . . 14-15
7 9^_bZÊi =k_Z[ je KdZ[hijWdZ_d] ?Yedi by John Kosmas Skinas
Sacrament of confession going strong ~ Pages 12-13 ~ March 20, 2009
Papal letter ‘from the heart’ ~ Page 17 ~
Children’s book on Christian icons ~ Pages 20 ~
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Scripture & reflection. . . . . 16 Datebook of events . . . . . . . 21 Find it here . . . . . . . . . . 22-23
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 11
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No. 11