Archbishop calls circumcision ban ‘misguided,’ affront to religious freedom
Catholic san Francisco
By Valerie Schmalz
Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
(CNS PHOTO/MICHAEL MCARDLE, NORTHWEST INDIANA CATHOLIC)
San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer called a proposed ban on circumcision that qualified for the Nov. 8 ballot in San Francisco “a misguided initiative” and “an unconscionable violation of the sanctuaries of faith and family” by the city. The archbishop made his comments in a letter to the editor of The San Francisco Chronicle sent May 23 in support of an opinion article by Rabbi Gil Leeds published in the newspaper May 20, three days after the San Francisco Department of Elections validated the 7,743 signatures needed to qualify the initiative for the ballot. The Jewish Community Relations Council, a Bay Area organization, is spearheading opposition and has formed The Committee for Parental Choice and Religious Freedom. An interfaith coalition that includes NAACP San Francisco President Rev. Amos Brown and University of San Francisco President Jesuit Father Stephen Privett also opposes the proposal as an infringement on religious liberty and parental rights. The initiative would ban circumcision for any male CIRCUMCISION, page 8
Memorial Day liturgies Archbishop George Niederauer will be principal celebrant of the annual Memorial Day Mass at Holy Cross Cemetery, 1500 Mission Road in Colma, on May 30 at 11 a.m. The liturgy takes place in Holy Cross Mausoleum where many of the late archbishops of the archdiocese are interred. A shuttle will travel from the main gate to the Mass site from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Masses will also be celebrated that day at 11 a.m. at Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park, Our Lady of the Pillar Cemetery in Half Moon Bay and Mount Olivet Cemetery in San Rafael. Visit www.holycrosscemeteries.com.
People take pictures of the Our Lady of the New Millennium statue outside St. John the Evangelist Church as storm clouds roll through St. John, Ind., May 22. The 33-foot-tall stainless steel statue of Mary found a permanent home at the church after being carted from parish to parish around the Chicago area for more than a decade.
Opportunism, poor formation, `60s culture fueled abuse, study says Confused sexuality and proximity to male minors were contributing factors, but priests’ sexual orientation, pathoWASHINGTON (CNS) — The clergy sex abuse crisis logical attraction to children and inability to manage the in the U.S. was largely a discipline of celibacy were 20-year historical event that not, acccording to the study spanned the mid-1960s to by John Jay College of the mid-1980s before sharpCriminal Justice of the City ly dropping off, and several University of New York. commonly held assumptions The study was released May about what caused it turn out 18 at the headquarters of the to be myths, according to a U.S. Conference of Catholic major study of the causes Bishops in Washington. and context of the problem. “No single psychoThe study also said logical, developmental or church leaders responded behavioral characteristic inconsistently to the harm Researcher Karen Terry in Washington May 18 with differentiated priests who done to victims and noted Spokane Bishop Blase J. Cupich and Diane Knight, abused minors from those that although some were who did not,” the report chairwoman of the National Review Board. innovators, the failure of othsaid. ers was a “significant ethical Most abusers were not lapse” and “egregious in some cases.” driven by deviant psychology, did not “specialize” in abuse
By David Gibson
of particular types of victims and also had sex with adults, the report said. Less than 5 percent of the priests with allegations of abuse exhibited behavior consistent with a diagnosis of pedophilia — a psychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent fantasies, urges and behaviors about prepubescent children. “Thus, it is inaccurate to refer to abusers as ‘pedophile priests,’” the report found. Most abusers were “generalists” who victimized multiple minors of different ages based on the opportunities available to them, Karen Terry, dean of research and strategic partnerships at John Jay, said at a press conference on the release of the report. Most abusers’ victims were young males, not because most priest-abusers were homosexuals but because their work gave them more access to males and more opportunities to abuse them, she said. “Because of the large number of sexual abuse victims who were male minors,” homosexuality’s role in the abuse “has been a notable question,” the report explained. It OPPORTUNIST, page 16
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION On the Street . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Young adult ministry . . . . . . 6 Grads’ job outlook . . . . . . . . 7 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Father Rolheiser . . . . . . . . 15
Rural Church’s motorcycle blessing ~ Page 3 ~ May 27, 2011
Tornado batters Catholic hospital ~ Page 5 ~
Wedding Guide ~ Pages 7-11 ~ ONE DOLLAR
Service directory . . . . . . . . 18 Classified ads . . . . . . . . . . . 19
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