Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
St. Patrick Seminary honors Auxiliary Bishop William Justice with ‘Four Pillars’ award By Laura Bertone St Patrick’s Seminary and University honors one of its own graduates, San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop William Justice, with the “Four Pillars” award at a gala tonight, Sept. 18, at St Mary’s Cathedral Event Center. The Four Pillars award recognizes individuals who have contributed to the excellence of seminary formation by embodying and promoting the four pillars of formation. The mission of St. Patrick’s Seminary and University is to prepare priests according to the mind of Christ and the needs of the Church in our present day using the four pillars as a guide. The four pillars originate from the teachings of Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis (I Will Give You Shepherds, 1992) and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Program of Priestly Formation (5th ed., 2005). The four pillars of formation are: Human, Spiritual, Pastoral, and Academic. Human formation seeks to help men become healthy and mature adults in the faith who can serve as bridges to others seeking Christ. Spiritual formation directs our hearts to God by fostering a deep, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, faithful priestly discipleship, and clarity in one’s vocation. Intellectual formation looks to
San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop William Justice stands in front of the altar at historic Mission Dolores.
open young minds and hearts to the wisdom found in the bringing together of faith and reason. Pastoral formation unifies and gives direction to the whole formation process. Pastoral formation directs young men to see Christ in those to whom he ministers and come to see Christ at work in himself. Following his graduation from Serra High School and St. Joseph’s College in Mountain View, Bishop Justice entered St Patrick Seminary in 1962 with 25 other men to prepare for priesthood under the Tridentine liturgical rite and a strict hierarchy of clergy. Seminary formation was fairly austere and static: seminarians wore cassocks and birettas to class, were taught and took exams in Latin, observed the Grand Silence daily, and could be expelled for leaving the Menlo Park grounds without permission. But with Vatican II underway in Rome, the young priest-to-be William Justice was able to experience the changes at the seminary and in the Church at large while still learning. Bishop Justice has said that he felt fortunate to be in the seminary while everything was developing: “The changes that were happening were easier to understand – we saw how it was rooted in the liturgy and scripture.” Although he says their scripture JUSTICE AWARD, page 11
Catholics, others give perspectives on new health insurance data By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) – New statistics on health insurance, poverty and income released this month by the U.S. Census Bureau “affirmed the economic and moral arguments President Obama made about our nation’s need for good, meaningful health reform,” according to the president of the Catholic Health Association. “As 46.3 million people went without any health insurance last year, median household income dropped 3.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, creating greater challenges for hardworking families. This explains clearly why the president and many in Congress have been highlighting how middle-class families so urgently need reform,” said Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is the CHA’s president and CEO, in a statement released one day after President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress. “As we know too well by now, losing health insurance – especially during a recession – comes with an enormous financial and human cost for families, communities and our nation as a whole,” she added. According to the census report, “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008,” the 46.3 million without health insurance represented an increase from 45.7 million the year before. Americans who had health insurance at any point during the year were counted as having health insurance.
INCOME, POVERTY AND HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE in the U.S. have all worsened from 2007 to 2008. While the number of uninsured has increased by 600,000 people, the percentage of those who are uninsured remains unchanged 15.4 percent. median household income $52,163
number living in poverty
-3.6%
number without health insurance
+0.7%
0% 39.8 million
$50,303
2007
2008
45.7 million
37.3 million
2007
2008
46.3 million
2007
2008
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
©2009 CNS
The number of Americans with health insurance also increased. Part of that was due to the U.S. population increasing, according to David Johnson, chief of the Census Bureau’s Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, who led a Sept. 10 briefing on the figures, compiled from information collected in early spring for the bureau’s 2009 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement. Also, “the number of people with private insurance fell while the number with government insurance rose,” he said,
including an estimated 3 million children who got health insurance through Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The number of uninsured children declined from 8.1 million (11 percent) in 2007 to 7.3 million (9.9 percent) in 2008, according to the Census Bureau, the lowest figure since data on children started being collected in 1987. Children were the only age group where the rate of the uninsured went down, although Johnson said HEALTH INSURANCE, page 11
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Vincentians’ outreach . . . . . . 3 Youth Mass Sept. 26 . . . . . . . 5 Single parent challenges . . . 10 Wedding guide . . . . . . . 12-16 New missal translation . . . . 17
Retired priests keep working ~ Page 6 ~ September 18, 2009
Cathedral draws international designers ~ Page 8 ~
Scripture readings and reflection ~ Page 20 ~
ONE DOLLAR
Archbishop’s Journal. . . . . . 18 Datebook of events . . . . . . . 24
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 11
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No. 28