U.S. bishop: Vatican aims to regain trust of religious women
Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In the final stage of the apostolic visitation of U.S. women’s religious communities, the Vatican congregation overseeing the study not only is facing mountains of paper, but must try to rebuild a relationship of trust with the women, said the congregation’s secretary. U.S.-born Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin, secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, said, “I believe a visitation has to have a dialogical aspect, but the way this was structured at the beginning didn’t really favor that.” In an interview Aug. 10 with Catholic News Service, Archbishop Tobin said the congregation hoped its review of the visitation reports and its responses to the participating religious communities would be marked by dialogue and would be a step toward healing. “I’m an optimist, but also trying to be realistic: The trust that should characterize the daughters and sons of God and disciples of Jesus isn’t recovered overnight. I think women religious have a right to say, ‘Well, let’s see,’” he said. The former prefect of the congregation, Cardinal Franc Rode, initiated the visitation in January 2009, saying its aim would be to study the community, prayer and apostolic life of the orders to learn why the number of religious women in the United States had declined so sharply since the 1960s. Almost a year into the study, Cardinal Rode told Vatican Radio that the investigation was a response to concerns, including by “an important representative of the U.S. church” regarding “some irregularities or omissions in American religious life. Most of all, you could say, it involves a certain secular mentality that has spread in these religious families and, perhaps, also a certain ‘feminist’ spirit.” Archbishop Tobin said Mother Mary Clare Millea, superior general of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and RELIGIOUS WOMEN, page 24
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(PHOTO BY JOSE LUIS AGUIRE)
By Cindy Wooden
Members of the St. Francis of Assisi parish St. Vincent de Paul Society pray with the sister and mother of Hugo Chavez, shot to death July 19 in his driveway.
Local teen’s Madrid surprise: Murder spike He plays in orchestra for pope prompts direct anticipate when he escaped the foggy San action by parish By Valerie Schmalz Francisco summer to accompany his aunt, A 17-year-old San Franciscan who Anna Maria Mendieta, principal harpist traveled to Madrid to attend World Youth with the Sacramento Philharmonic, to Day suddenly found himself playing a Spain’s capital city. much bigger role: He wound up sitting Mendieta took Walter along with the in as a violist in idea that he would the orchestra that help out during played at all major orchestra rehearsreligious events and als. Mendieta in the opening and the past has played closing ceremoevents for digninies at the global taries including Catholic celebration Spanish King Juan Aug. 16-21. Carlos and Soviet Walter Gazave, Premier Mikhail who played a borGorbachev. The rowed viola, was aunt and her nephone of only two ew were the only Americans who Americans in the performed in the World Youth Day World Youth Day orchestra. orchestra for Pope San Franciscan Walter Gazave and his When the two Benedict XVI and San Franciscans aunt, Anna Maria Mendieta a live, Olympicsarrived at the home scale audience. of pianist Maria He phoned his mother, Gloria Gazave, Martinez-Alvira, the hostess asked about at 1:30 a.m. Aug. 18. “Wow, this is pretty Walter’s musical experience. He explained awesome!” he said. that he played the viola. In an email for Catholic San Francisco, “She excitedly got up to show him her Walter wrote: “It’s amazing to be in this mother’s viola — her mother had passed orchestra and to have the opportunity to away a few months ago,” Mendieta said. play for the most important person in the “She quickly got on the phone to ask the world and at such an important event. I’m director if Walter could join the orchestra. glad I got the chance!” The director said yes, and Walter attended The young musician, a member of San the first rehearsal with him, having to sightFrancisco’s St. Thomas More parish, spent read the music. a week practicing 8 hours a day to play for “It was as if the position was waiting LOCAL TEEN, page 23 the papal performance — a gig he didn’t
By Valerie Schmalz and Jose Luis Aguirre Hugo Chavez was shot standing in front of his house, falling to the ground in his gravel driveway, while his brother drank beer in the back garden on a jasmine-scented July night in East Palo Alto. “I was in my bedroom when I heard the shooting in front of my house. I ran outside and saw my son on the ground. We didn’t see who did it,” said Yolanda Chavez, who moved to the U.S. from Michoacan, Mexico, 17 years ago. She spoke to Catholic San Francisco as her 3-year-old granddaughter played in the grass in front of a canShrine at the spot dle- and-flowerwhere Jabari decked shrine Banford died to her uncle. “I don’t have words to express this feeling.” “He had a car seat for the baby in his car,” said Chavez’s sister Irma Patricia Chavez, 31. “He really loved her.” Hugo Chavez, 26, was buried from St. Francis of Assisi parish, and on Aug. 19, pastor Father Lawrence Goode and four parish members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society stood with Chavez’s mother, sister and two nieces to pray for him in the same driveMURDER SPIKE, page 24
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION News in Brief . . . . . . . . . . 4-5 Labor Guide . . . . . . . . . . 7-10 Local News . . . . . . . . . . 12-13 College fair . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Obama and church . . . . . . . 16
Fr. Greene: 30 years as SFFD chaplain ~ Page 7 ~ August 26, 2011
Donald Casper mourned ~ Page 11 ~
Book review: ‘Holy Ignorance’ ~ Page 24 ~ ONE DOLLAR
George Weigel. . . . . . . . . . . 17 Scripture reflection . . . . . . . 18
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 13
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No. 26