Catholic san Franci Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
By John Thavis NEW YORK (CNS) – On his first trip to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI achieved three objectives that could be considered critical to the pastoral future of the American Church. First, the pope brought a certain closure to the priestly sex abuse scandal that has shaken the Church for more than six years, expressing his personal shame at what happened and praying with the victims. Second, he set forth a moral challenge to the wider U.S. culture on issues ranging from economic justice to abortion, but without coming across as doctrinaire or bullying. Third, to a Church that often seems divided into conservative and liberal camps, he issued a firm appeal to “set aside all anger” and unite to effectively evangelize society.
ANALYSIS
(CNS PHOTO/NANCY WIECHEC)
In the process of his April 15-20 visit, the 81-year-old pope established his own identity in a country that did not know him well and in a sense came out of the shadow of the late Pope John Paul II. “I feel like I know him a lot better. I learned that he is trying all his best to reach out to the youth,” 18-year-old Gabriella Fiorentino of Yonkers, N.Y., said at a youth rally April 19. Did she understand what the pope, a scholarly theologian, was trying to get across? “Jesus’ message of hope – that is his message,” she said. The pope addressed clerical sex abuse on five different occasions, beginning with his encounter with reporters aboard his plane from Rome. He spoke from the heart about the shame, the damage to the Church and the suffering of the victims. He also spoke with familiarity about the Church’s efforts to make sure perpetrators are out of ministry and to implement better screening of would-be priests. At one point, he mentioned that when he read case histories of the victims, he found it hard to imagine how a priest could betray his mission to be an agent of God’s love. These were far more detailed and direct comments on the issue than were ever made by Pope John Paul II, and there was a reason: As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict headed the doctrinal congregation, which took over the handling of sex abuse cases in 2001. What Cardinal Ratzinger saw in those files led him to denounce, POPE IN U.S., page 9
Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowd as he departs Yankee Stadium after celebrating Mass in New York April 20.
Abortion notification initiative appears headed for ballot By Rick DelVecchio The Sarah’s Law initiative campaign for a state constitutional amendment requiring family notification before ending a minor’s pregnancy appears to have gathered enough names to qualify for the Nov. 4 ballot. The campaign submitted nearly 1.2 million signatures to county elections officials last week for verification. That number is expected to net a comfortable margin of valid names over the 696,000 needed to qualify.
The campaign involved extensive phone work, faxing and mailing to all 1,100 Catholic parishes throughout the state, campaign spokesman Jim Holman said in an e-mail. He said signatures came disproportionately from the southern four (arch)dioceses– San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino and Los Angeles – but isolated parishes in every see contributed. Evangelical churches – especially Calvary Chapel, First Assembly of God and First Baptist– provided two to three times as many signatures as they had in
the campaigns for parental-notification Propositions 73 and 85 in 2005 and 2006. Both propositions were defeated by small margins. “The other surprise was many more signatures from Hispanic, Vietnamese and Chinese voters than ever before,” Holman wrote, noting that multilingual materials on the www.FriendsofSarah.com website might have played a role. In a shift from Propositions 73 and 85, backers of the new initiative are focusing on the welfare of minors rather than on
parental rights. The measure would require that a doctor notify a minor’s family members, not just her parents, if parental abuse is reported. The change is designed to avoid the problem of abusive parents, as well as teens’ exploitation by older men who use secret abortions to cover their crimes of statutory rape, according to the campaign’s website. Parental notification laws are in force in 30 states and have contributed to fewer pregnancies and abortions among minors, according to the website.
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION
PAPAL
VISIT: ‘CHRIST
OUR HOPE’
Catholic Lobby Day . . . . . . . 3 School construction . . . 10-11 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Bishop-elect Justice praises papal address
~ Page 5 ~
April 25, 2008
Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Seminary rector: pope ‘masterful’ ~ Page 8 ~
Young adults attend Yankee Stadium Mass ~ Page 9 ~
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Classified ads . . . . . . . . 22-23
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 10
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No. 14