September 3, 1999 by Catholic San Francisco

Labor Day statement

Catholics catted to transfo rm world WASHINGTON (CNS)

American Catholics are being encouraged this Labor Day to take their faith into the world by helping transform business and politics, factories and offices, homes and schools. In an annual statement issued by the chairman of the U.S. bishops ' Domestic Policy Committee for Labor Day, Sept. 6, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said Catholics are called to examine economic relationships through the lens of Catholic social teaching. "The Church asks Catholics to think about public policy proposals not only from the perspective of their individual or family self-interest, but also from the perspective of average and low-wage workers and their families ," he said in the statement. (See related story on page 8.) Americans have much to be grateful for — economic freedom , low inflation and economic growth , Cardinal Mahony wrote . "But our prosperity is not being widely shared. Too many have been left behind and the gap in family income continues to widen. "The top 5 percent of the population takes a larger share of personal income today than similar people did 30 years ago — a 16 percent share in 1968, 24 percent in 1996," he said. Meanwhile, the share of income going to the middle 60 percent of the population has declined by nearly 10 percent over the same period. The decline was even sharper for people in the bottom 20 percent of the income scale, he said. "This trend is part of the reason why we need a strong, active, democratic labor movement," he said. Cardinal Mahony said the labor movement has given much to the United Slates over the last century. "Through their efforts the great American middle class was born ," the Cardinal said. "Yet American unions never capitulated to the concept of 'class' struggle that found such fertile ground in the rest of the industrial LABOR DAY page 7 world. Union leaders instead saw their

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Radio, print, television, faxes, newsletters and more — in English, Spanish and other languages — are part of the archdiocesan communications media mix. Below, well-known broadcast veteran Father Miles O'Brien Riley records a segment of "God Bless You - Stories of Faith , Family, Forgiveness and Fun " that airs on radio station K101 (101.3PM) Sunday mornings between 6 and 10 a.m. on the hour. Father Riley also hosts the award-winning 30-minute public affairs program "For Heaven's Sake" televised on KRON/Channel 4 every other Sunday at 5 a.m., and dedicates much time to the popular TV Mass that airs on 128 TV outlets. Above, pressman Ken Ward "color checks" the Aug. 13 Catholic San Francisco. Launched in February, the archdiocesan newspaper reaches more than 100,000 households .

Hate crimes, security topics at Cathedral interreligious meeting

10-11

Assisted suicide billautm interviewed: life-end issues debated

In this issue

Renew

Research says participants enliven parish

Dance

Famed troupe from Mexico headed here

Heaven

Pope shares his reflections on afterlife

Daily life 6

Focus on 'Jesus question' says exec

Immigrants

i pif Vietnamese 'Marian Days ' 1tl impact grows

Passings

Dom Helder Camara tUy | 1 dies at age 90

_ I CATHOLIC SANjgLANCISCO Official newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco Most Reverend William J. Levada , publisher Maurice E. Healy, associate publisher Editorial Staff: Dan Morris-Young, editor; Evelyn Zappia, feature editor; Tom Burke, "On the Street" and Datebook ; Sharon Abercrombie, Kamille Maher reporters. Advertising Department: Joseph Pena, director; Britta Tigan, consultant; Mary Podesta, account representative; Don Feigel, consultant. Production Department: Enrico Risano, manager; Julie Benbow, graphic consultant; Ernie Grafe , Jody Werner, consultants. Business Office: Marta Rebagliati , assistant business manager; Gus Pena, advertising and subscriber services; Karessa McCartney, executive assistant. Advisory Board: Noemi Castillo , Sr. Rosina Conrotto, PBVM , Fr. Thomas Daly, Joan Frawley Desmond, James Kelly, Fr. John Penebsky, Kevin Starr, Ph.D., Susan Winchell. Editorial offices are located at 441 Church St., San Francisco, CA 941 14 Telephone: (4 1 5) 565-3699 News fax: (415) 565-3631 Circulation: 1-800-563-0008. Advertising fax: (415) 565-3681 Catholic San Francisco (ISSN 15255298) is published weekly except the last Friday in December and bi-weekly during the months of lune, Jul y and August by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, 1595 Mission Rd., South San Francisco, CA 94080-1218. Annual subscription rales are $10 within the Archdiocese of San Francisco and $22.50 elsewhere in the United States. Periodical postage paid at Sou th San Francisco, California and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Catholic San Francisco, 1595 Mission Rd „ South San Francisco, CA 94080-1218 Corrections: If Uiere is an error in the mailing label uffixed lo (his newspaper, call Catholic San F/anuisco al I-8O0-563-0OO8. Ii is helpful to refer lo Ihe current mailing label. Also, please lei us know if die household is receiving dup licate copies. Thank you.

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Padres... .History made in Marin as Susan McKinley and Christopher Ross became the 4"1 generation of Chri s 's family to wed at St. Raphael Parish in San Rafael where Chris' folks, Judy and Sam Ross married in 1970; grand parents Alice and George Silveira tied the knot in 1942 and a pair of great grandparents took their vows in 1917. Judy Ross is a

by Tom Burke Grin 's OH ... Much ado at USF's Jesuit community. Father Ed Stackpoole, rector since 1993, completes his term and Father Jack Treacy, known to many for previous ministry at St. Agnes Parish and to the communications office for contributions here as a Jesuit scholastic a few years ago, becomes rector soon. Father Stackpoole said "change was ever on the horizon" of his six-year tenure as Father Stack poole , SJ "the" Jesuit in charge of the spiritual and temporal well-being" of the community. He has been present to at. Ignatius becoming a parish church; the Jesuits being entrusted with St. Agnes Parish; the closing of Xavier Hall infirmary and , most recently, the construction of the Jesuits' new residence on Lone Mountain. Father Treacy calls his new assignment a "homecoming " and says he 's "very excited" about what faces him in his "ministry of service" to his brother Jesuits.... A hammer and many-penny nail salute to Father Jack Treacy, SJ St. Ignatius Parish whose members will spend five days in October building a home for a low-income family with Habitat for Humanity .... Franciscan Sister Christine Marie Beach , daughter of Mary Ruth and George Beach of Our Lady of Angels, Burlingame, made her final vows with the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Chari ty ..of Wisconsin on Aug. 15. A flock of 27 family members including Sister Christine Beach her folks , eight brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews, an aunt and uncle and the parents of a sibling 's spouse were there for the rites. Sister Christine now heads the science department at one of her community's schools in Southern California. She is an alumna of St. Matthew Elementary, San Mateo; Notre Dame High School, Belmont and USF.... "Way to go" to winners of the Serra Club of San Mateo 's annual essay contest: Joel Amato, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Belmont; Stephanie Egan, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Redwood City; Danielle Sheridan and Makenna Fitzpatrick , Our Lady of Angels, Burlingame; Rachel Burrington, St. Bartholomew, San Mateo; Analisa Raccanello, St. Charles, San Carlos; Stefani Commerford and Ashley Erickson, St. Catherine of Siena, Burlingame; Sarah Zoucha, St. Gregory, San Mateo; Tara Meyer, St. Mark, Belmont; Tiffany Ho, St. Matthew, San Mateo; Katie Langley, St. Pius, Redwood City; Dominic Mitchell, St. Robert, San Bruno.... St. Thomas the Apostle grad and soon-to-be Lowell High School freshman Victoria Tang earned a perfect score in the A merican Junior High School Mathematics Examination.

Victoria Tang with (left) St. Thomas the Apostle principal, Thomas Lambre and San Jose State Math Professor Tatiana Shubin.

More than 220,000 students take the test around the world and Victoria was one of 77 to ace it. Maryjane Knoll, St. Thomas vice principal, said Victoria 's family and the school are bustin' with pride over her accomplishment,... Four alumni of San Bruno's St Robert Elementary, including a set of twin brothers, have been installed as Eagle Scouts. Mark and David White attend Burlingame High School. Patrick McMorrow and Patrick Huddleston are Serra

From left: Eagle Scouts Mark White, Patrick Huddleston, Patrick McMorrow, David White.

Coordinator of Religious Education at St. Anthony Parish in Novate... Gloria and Philip Fahy returned to St. Anselm Parish, Ross to celebrate their 50"' anniversary. The couple married there on June 25, 1949.... Thanks for the example to St. Charles Parish, San Carlos. Parishioners held a Renew the Earth campaign recentl y that included education about recycling and assisting parishioners in recycling unwantables such as car and household batteries. Parishioners also donated frequent flyer and other mileage to bring a woman in need of medical care to SF from New Zealand... . The youth group of St. Mark's, Belmont has started a "Pennies from Heaven" campaign to help pay for the new parish hall. Plastic water cooler bottles wait patientl y around the parish for spare change. When you drop by, drop some in.... St. Anne of the Sunset welcomes new parish secretary Tessie Velicaria. Mary Ellen Dearstyne, who has recentl y been named St. Anne 's "emeritus" secretary, helped Tessie get to know the place. Hats off to Mary Ellen for her many years of good work as she listened to the N-Judah go by.... Congrat 's to St. Pius seventh-grader David Cobarruviaz who was in Europe for most of Jul y as part of the People to People Student Ambassador Program. Stops included the Eiffel Tower, Vatican and living for several days with a family in Austria. David' s mom , Nikki , a St. Paul High School alum, said she is "very proud" of her young envoy....Father Craig "avid Cobarruviaz Forner, director of vocations for the Archdiocese, is back from what he says was an "outstanding" vocations seminar held near Chicago. Also attending was Mercy Sister Lenore Greene. .. John O'Connor, the young man adamant about reading to younger children and seen not too long ago on many local newscasts wearing a wizard's cap and a can-do smile, is a seventh-grader at St. Vincent de Paul Elementary....St. Tim's in San Mateo says special thanks to Janet Tang, Mark Gondek, Alice McNesby, Lily and Al Esch, Mary Ann Koski and Maria Bennett for their help with the Jul y rummage sale that raised more than $2,000.- A spatula salute to Elsa Atendido and Lorie Allen for heading a Sunday lunch that raised almost $1,500. More fun-raising this November with the parish's "An Evening in Paradise" auction... .All Souls in South San Francisco is gearing up for its "Space Odyssey '99" parish festival in October and StJoseph of Carondelet Sister Noelle O'Shea has been welcomed as new youth minister....The Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns announces its new website , www.sfjustlife.org. "It's up and running in English and we're working on Spanish," said staff member Tara Carr, who promises "lots of good links." The site can be used to key information about social justice and respect life issues ....Hol y Namer Mary Forese loves to square dance. An introductory class in the art starts Sept. 20 in SF. For info see Datebook., .. In addition to her facility with music , Margaret Anne Kerns, music director at Holy Angels Parish, Colma is also an accomplished square dancer.

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Religious leaders gather to discuss security, hate crime

St. Mary Cathedral windows vandalized

By Evelyn Zappia The day after announcing that the AntiDefamation League was sponsoring this Security Conference for Community and Within the last year, there have been 12 windows destroyed by vandals at St. Mary 's Cathedral, a problem that has become "a continuing saga ," said Msgr. John J. O'Connor , rector. Ironically, the most recent destruction took place just prior to a gathering of religious leaders there to discuss hate crime and security issues. (See story, this page.) Due to the extraordinary expense of replacement glass and challenges of installing them, Msgr. O'Connor said, hope of replacing them in the near future seems unlikely. Several options are being explored , he indicated. Unfortunately, he said , "If the Cathedral could raise the money to fix the windows there is no guarantee they would not be vanda lized again. " He also commented , "I' m told, every time the Cathedral makes a big announcement , it is attacked to embarrass us. If we can 't find an answe r to this problem , the open , free atmosphere of our Cathedral could be lost with boarded windows."

Msgr. O'Connor

Religious Institutions here at St. Mary's, one of our large Cathedral windows was shot out. I need help. I have fear," Msgr. John J. O'Connor, rector of St. Mary's Cathedral, told the over 100 attendees at the Aug. 24 gathering. The priest asked, "How do we prevent what is happening to us, all of us? How can we reach out to the perpetrators who are our brothers and sisters as well?" Jessica Ravitz , ADL associate director, organized the conference after her office

Jessica Ravitz

received a rash of telephone calls from religious communities asking, "What can we do to make our place of worship safe — without feeling imprisoned?" She said the calls were generated as a result of recent hate crimes against Jewish sites, including arson in Sacramento. "I thought it was important to address the subject to a larger community and hold conferences so people can be given some hands-on tools, feel secure — without feeling panicked ," she said. The cross section of Bay Area and regional religious communities attending the conference were addressed by the San Francisco Police Department Hate Crimes Unit, Federal Bure au of Investigation , Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms , and others, on the importance of security and potential measures to take against

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being targeted as hate crime victims. Jonathan Bernstein, ADL regional director, asked for a moment of silence for the Filipino mail carrier who was recently shot and killed in Los Angeles because of the color of his skin. Bernstein then said, "That should be your last silent protest against hate crimes." Bernstein continued, "In the Northern California area, there are 22 Web sites and 35 post office boxes connected with hate groups. There are over 300 documented hate groups on the Internet throughout the U.S. Also, there are many individuals starting them to give the impression they have whole

movements backing them, The Internet has made it much easier for hate to spread." Emotional moments came when Rabbi Brad Bloom described the aftermath of being the victim of a hate crime. Earlier this year, Rabbi Bloom , head rabbi of Congregation B' nai Israel of Sacramento, lost his temple, offices and library to the hands of arsonists. He spoke of the shattered world that followed for famil y, friends , and associates. "It 's like living in exile. My home is now a prison — protected by ultra sensitive systems of security. There is an air of ten-

sion everywhere. My staff feels threatened. It is incredibly difficult to hire new staff. And financial costs have soared with renting space for worship, insurance, and security," he said. Rabbi Bloom 's father died two days after the hate crime. Before he died , the decorated WWII hero told his son , "I fought the Nazis overseas and you will have to light them at home." Rabbi Bloom acknowledged he has been "powerfull y supported" by colleagues of various faiths. He received moral, spiritual LEADERS, page 9

National St. Vincent de Paul meeting set for Newport Beach

Approximately 1,200 St. Vincent de Paul Society members (of an estimated 62,000 national membership) are expected to participate in the charitable organization's 85th national meeting Sept. 8-11 in Newport Beach, Calif. Titled "Loving the Father Through the Poor," the gathering will be hosted by the St. Vincent Council of Orange County. Keynote speaker will be St. Joseph Sister Helen Prejean , author of the bestselling book, Dead Man Walking, which

earned her a Pulitzer Prize nomination and inspired the Oscar-winning film of the same name. The four-day meeting will include 34 workshops on a variety of topics from domestic violence and employment to welfare reform and spirituality. Some workshops will be offered in Spanish, and three are designed to target young Vincentians. For more information about the meeting, contact the St. Vincent de Paul Council of Orange County.

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Pop e: truths on marriage urgent

CASTEL GANDOLFO (CNS) — Recent social changes have made it all the more important to insist on Church teachings about marriage and famil y, Pope John Paul II said Aug. 27 to a gathering of academicians at his summer villa in Castel Gandolfo. The "secularist mentality " that has questioned "truths about the person , matrimony and the family," has become "in a certain sense more radical " since the early 1980s, he said , exp laining that individual mora l norms are not in themselves the issue anymore . Instead , he said , the basic "image of a man or woman itself" faces opposition from an "alternative anthropology. "

Rep ort on cohabitation

WASHINGTON (CNS) — A report sent to the U.S. bishops Aug. 20 says the wide practice of cohabitation poses major pastoral challenges for Church marriage preparation program s. It says marriages preceded by cohabitation are less likely to succeed than others , but pastoral ministers should approach a cohabiting coup le's decision to marry as "a teachable moment." "Here is a uni que opportunity to help coup les understand the Catholic vision of marriage. Here, too, is an opportunity for evangelization ," the report says. The 27-page report , "Marriage Preparation and Cohabiting Couples ," was prepared by the U.S. bishops ' Committee on Marriage and Family.

Cohabitation letter strikes chord

ALBUQUERQUE , N.M. (CNS) — Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe knew his pastoral letter on cohabitation this summer would cause a stir, but he was not prepare d for it to be the most-discussed statement in his six years as archbishop, The letter, read from all pul pits the last weekend in June , bluntly condemned cohabitation as sinful and a bad way to prepare for marri age. "I' m getting letters every day. It has not died down ," the archbishop said more than a month later. "It's really something, too , when a Catholic teaching makes the front page of the state 's largest secular newspaper."

Expe ct p arent notification veto

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) — Church and pro-life leaders decried an announcement by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber that he plans to veto a bill that would require parental notification of a minor seeking an abortion. The Aug. 16 announcement drew outrage from pro-life advocates, religious leaders and parents ' groups.

Bishop seeks clues on priest

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (CNS)—Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit toured the ruins of a U.S.built military base in eastern Honduras , looking for clues about what happened to Father James Carney, a U.S. priest who disappeared in Honduras in 1983. Bishop Gumbleton

More than 4,000 Catholics of Polish descent carry images and signs proclaiming devotion to Christ and Mary in a 30-mile procession from the Chicago area to northwest Indiana. The annual pilgrimage , which dates back to the 900s in Poland , took place Aug. 21-22 and ended with Mass at the Salvatorian Shrine in Merrillville, Ind.

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inspected a small building Aug. 26 reportedl y used as a torture center by the Honduran military and the U.S.-backed Nicaraguan counte rrevolutionaries , known as contras , during the 1980s. The structure is located on the El Aguacate base, 80 miles east of Tegucigalpa, the capital.

Tri p to Iraq not f inalized

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Responding to persistent reports that Pope John Paul II will travel to Iraq this fall , the Vatican said such a visit is still waiting final approval. "This trip to the Middle East , which — as is known — the Holy Father intensely desires to make, has not yet been defined," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Vails said Aug. 26. The pope has said he wants to visit the site of ancient Ur, birth p lace of Abraham , the ruins of which are in southern Iraq.

Decries Chiap as resp onse

MEXICO CITY (CNS) — "Superficial solutions " proposed by Mexican authorities to end the conflict in Chiapas have onl y increased the risk of further confrontation , said Coadjutor Bishop Raul Vera Lopez of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. Bishop Vera criticized federal and state governments for making "decisions that do not lead to peace " since talks with an indi genous-led guerrilla movement broke down in 1996.

Asks share of birth control budget

LIMA , Peru (CNS) — Archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani Thome of Lima asked Peru 's health minister to give the Catholic Churc h 30 percent of the budget the ministry earmarks for birth control. Speaking on a national radio program, the archbishop said the way the budget is used is "arbitrary and biased, since 99 percent of the money goes to promote artificial birth control." He added , "With only 30 percent of the budget, we can show that Peruvians are capable of using well the natural methods of famil y regulation, because they are not the uncontrollable animals the current program assumes they are."

Prays for East Timor p eace

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope John Paul II prayed for peace in Indonesia and East Timor, saying their situ ations were "always present in my heart." Turning first to East Timor, Pope John Paul prayed "that all its inhabitants and all others involved in the events of that territory " work sincerel y for reconciliation and help heal historical wounds "with mutual respect and love." Pope John Paul also expressed his "firm condemnation " of Christian-Muslim fighting in Indonesia.

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Pope asks clemency

WASHINGTON (CNS) —Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo , apostolic nuncio tc

the United States , appealed in the name of Pope John Paul II for clemency for Arkansas death-row inmates Mark Gardner and Alan Willett , whose executions were set for Sept. 8. The appeal was sent by letter to Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee. "

HIV rules for women in labor

ROCHESTER (CNS) — New York State has mandated HIV counseling for women in labor who do not know if they have the virus that causes AIDS. Catholic leaders in the Rochester Diocese expressed support for the guidelines but some questioned if labor was reall y the best time to conduct such counseling with pregnant women.

Alaska debates assisted suicide

ANCHORAG E, Alaska (CNS) — Two church leaders involved in the assisted suicide debate at the national level sent hopes and warnings to Alaska , where the subject is moving throug h state courts. "If Alaska creates a state constitutional right to assisted suicide, that will be a first in American law, and a very dangerous precedent for other states ," said Richard Doerflingei of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. "My prayers and my hopes are with the people of Alaska as you go through this debate," said Bob Castagna , executive director of the Oregon Catholic Conference. Castagna 's office partici pated in the unsuccessful attempt to defeat the 1994 ballot measure that legalized assisted suicide in Oregon.

N. Korea famine aid concern

SEOUL, South Korea (CNS) — While famine-struck North Korea still requires international assistance , Caritas organizations are concerned aid may be lessening drastically. In 1998, Caritas Internationalis provided more than $9 million worth of aid to North Korea. However, in the first half of 1999 only a third of Caritas Internationalis ' aid request for North Korea to Catholic churches worldwide was fulfilled , the report noted. It attributed this mainl y to the fact Catholic churches in Europe — the bi ggest Caritas donors to North Korea — have been preoccupied with aiding Kosovo refugees from Yugoslavia. Caritas Internationalis is the Vatican-based umbrella group for national Catholic relief agencies.

Pope notes Angola M>ar

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) — Pope John Paul II called Angola ' s civil war "one of the most serious crises of the African continent " and urged the international community to take a greater interest in ending the conflict. Yet the conflict is being "consumed in silence ," he added.

Women sp lit over roles

PERTH, Australia (CNS)—Australian Catholic women are split over their roles within the church , said an Australian bishops' report, the result of a three-year study. Nearl y half of women surveyed were dissatisfied with roles they fill in the church and want greater partici pation in decision-making processes. Those taking this stand said women face "patriarcha l attitudes and traditions" and "hierarchical and authoritarian" structures, according to the report. But the majority of Mass-goers surveyed "do not feel unwelcome in the parish and do not experience barriers preventing them from partici pating in the church in the way they wish," the report added.

Evangelization and renewal

S tudy shows Renew leads to livelier fai th communities reflection and making the world a better place." About 64 percent of the Renew partici pants were in the range of 40-69 years old. About 15 percent were under 40 and 21 percent were 70 or older. Nearly threefourths were women. Women as a group consistently rated all aspects of Renew more positivel y than men did. Younger partici pants and those with more education and higher income tended to rate communal aspects of

By Jerry Filteau WASHINGTON (CNS) — The parish-based sp iritual renewal program known as Renew leads to livelie r faith communities and new interest in the faith among young adults , according to a stu dy released last month. The Center for A pp lied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) said that among nearl y 10,000 survey respondents who partici pated in Renew, more than 90 percent said it had helped them grow spiritually, become more aware of God and integrate their faith into dail y life better. Renew is a parish-level evangelization and renewal program begun in 1978 in the Archdiocese of Newark , N.J. It has been used in 130 U.S. dioceses and in dioceses around the world. These include the Archdiocese of San Francisco which will launch on Oct. 3 the third "season" of the current Renew process underway in nearl y each of its parishes. This spring CARA, an independent Catholic research organization based at Georgetow n University, studied views of U.S. partici pants in Renew 2000, a current version of the program based on themes established b y Pope John Paul II to help Catholics prepare for the new millennium. The Renew program , which cultivates small Christian communities within a parish setting, is divided into five six-week segments, one each spring and fall over a twoand-a-half year period. Since its inception about 4 million U.S. Catholics have been involved in it. Nearl y half a million Americans were in the Renew 2000 program this spring, including those in the San Francisco Archdiocese. In its report , "Faith Communities for the 21st Century, " CARA said 98 percent of those surveyed said they would recommend Renew to others and 96 percent said they planned to partici pate again in the fall. CARA said of those figures, "Few findings can so strong ly confirm partici pant satisfaction. " It said both leaders and partici pants in Renew "g ive very high ratings to its communal aspects '— meeting peop le who share their faith , being part of a community, and faith sharing." Among the respondents , 95 percent said Renew encouraged them to think about their faith more ; 92 percent said it encouraged them to talk about the faith; 91 percent said it encouraged them to act upon their faith. Nearl y nine-tenths said they were encouraged to pray more regularl y and nearly four out of five said Renew made them want to be more active in their parish. "Sizable proportions also report that Renew 2000 significantly affected their partici pation at Mass," CARA reported. "More than ei ght in 10 say it has encouraged them to partici pate more attentivel y and three-fourths say it has encouraged them to attend more frequentl y." The survey found that those who partici pate in Renew

Sharing faith and forming community were the p rimary attractions to Renew across all age groups. the program more hi ghly than those who were older and those who had lower levels of education and income. The youngest and oldest age groups and partici pants with lower income and education levels tended to place higher value than others on the opportunities Renew offered for learning more about their faith . For a copy of the report , "Faith Communities for the 21st Century, " contact Renew International. Phone: (908) 769-5400 or fax (908) 769-5660.

tend to be among the more active members of parishes. Of the respondents , 89 percent said they attend Mass at least once a week, 9 percent said they attend several times a month , and onl y 2 percent said they attend several times a year or less. Yet two-thirds of the respondents said the program made them want to volunteer more time to the parish and nearly half said they wanted to join other parish groups. Twenty-two percent said Renew has encouraged them to consider working for the Church as a professional lay minister and 12 percent said it encouraged them to consider priesthood or reli gious life. Sharing faith and forming community were the primary attractions to Renew across all age groups. "Being part of a community, acquiring knowledge about faith and finding meaning in life are more important (reasons to participate) for young adults than for members of other age cohorts ," the report said. "Older respondents place somewhat greater emphasis on personal prayer and

CARA said 98 percent of those

surveyed said they would recommend Renew to others and 96 p ercent said they p lanned to participate again in the f all.

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Sharing daily faith workshops' theme User-friendly, no-cost workshops to help participants better understand evangelization and comfortable ways for faith sharing in daily life will be offered later this month in four locations in the Archdiocese by the international service team for RENEW 2000, according to die archdiocesan Office of Evangelization/RENEW. Presentation Sister Antonio Heaphy, local office director, said the workshops are being offered as a way for parishes and individuals to begin working with die U.S, bishops' p lan for evangelization — "Go and Make Disciples." Workshops will be conducted : Sept. 11 from 9 a.m. to noon in English at Mission Dolores, 3321 16th St., San Francisco; Sept 11 from 9 a.m. to noon in Spanish at the Pastoral Center, 445 Church St., San Francisco; Sept. 12, from 9 a.m. to noon in both English and Spanish at St. Stephen Church, 601 Eucalyptus Dr., San Francisco; Sept. 18 from 9 a,m. to noon in English and Spanish at St. Bartholomew Parish, 300 Alameda de las Pulgas, San Mateo; and on Sept. 19 from 2 to 5 p.m. in English and Spanish at St, Isabella, 1 Trinity Way, San Rafael. To register, persons can call local parishes, or the RENEW office at (415) 565- 3600, ext. 2000 or ext. 2012.

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By Sharon Abercrombie The vast majority of Americans believe in God — "the) just don 't know what to do with those beliefs ," asserts a prominent Catholic businessman from Los Angeles. But William Simon , Jr. has a recipe for hel ping peop le put their Christian beliefs into action. It 's the same one he himself used in 1996, after discovering that living his life in little compartmentalized "boxes " marked faithful church-goer, husband , hither, coach , and CEO made him feel "strangel y empty " and "rudderless." Through prayer, Simon worked down to one question: "What would Jesus do if he were walking in my shoes?" In his own case, Simon helped raise funds for a Christian businessman who wanted to start a violent-free broadcast network. Today PAX TV, named for Bud Paxton , its founder, reaches 80 percent of America 's television households. Simon shared the ingredients of his life-changing recipe with Dominican priests and brothers at their provincial chapter meeting in Oakland earlier this summer. Simon 's talk was a response to the Dominicans ' invitation to present his thoughts on ways to encourage lay people lo carry spirituali ty into the secular world. During his talk, Simon invited Catholics to move beyond a narrow rules-and-dogma view of relig ion, ask themselves the "Jesus question ," and then invite God to take over their lives. Proof of the pudding is putting one's beliefs into action by performing works of mercy such as befriending a fatherless child , visiting the sick, or doing faith sharing with prisoners , he said. Simon, the son of William Simon, U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1974-77 under former President Richard Nixon , is co-founder of William E. Simon and Sons (WES & Sons), a private investment firm based in Los Angeles. He is also vice chairman of Paxton Communications, one of the largest television station groups in the country, and chairman of GeoLogistics, parent of Bekins Moving Co. Simon recalled the December day in 1996, when he realized while praying that "God was asking me to go out and preach." His pastor advised he consider the permanent diaconate. But Simon ruled that out because he felt it could conflict with time important for his wife, Cindy, and their four children. Then a neighbor introduced Simon to a businessman

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who wanted to start a television network dedicated to wholesome entertainment. In August , 1998, they launched PAX-TV with reruns of shows like "Touched by an Angel ," and "Dr. Quinn , Medicine Woman." "The key is, I had to ask for God's guidance and I had to surrender to his will. But once I did , the doors began to open," said Simon. He added that as God "begins to change us, we also begin to change the world around us." The businessman recalled that statesmen such as James Madison insisted belief in a wise and good God was essential to moral order of the world and to happiness. On a visit to America, Alexander deTocqueville, the French historian , was struck by how loving and compassionate peop le were. Simon contrasted that experience with today 's high rates of violent crime, sing le-parent families and divorce. To bring those fi gures down, it 's necessary for people to share their spirituality in the market place, Simon believes. He cited Chuck Colson , whose prison fellowship program influences inmates to such a dramatic extent that 85 percent of them who leave prison don ' t come back. He provided more examp les. One cadre of urban churches in Boston began working with police, jud ges and prosecutors to combat youth violence. "In that case, the

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city went for two years without a single gun-related homicide among teen-agers," he said. Asked what the Dominicans can do to lure the Church' s estimated 30 million lapsed Catholics back , Simon said , "Imagine you have been standing before a group of 100 peop le. You have been given one opportunity to speak to them for two minutes. After that , you will never see them again. "If I had just one shot I don 't think I'd settle for a homion ly the prodi gal son or a soliloquy on the interesting historical derivation of a Greek term. 1 would ask them , 'Do you know God? Do you know and love Jesus Christ?' And I can 't imagine any more important words we could ever speak to another human being." William Simon Jr. and his father have provided renovation funds for the training institute at the Angelicum , a Catholic seminary in Rome founded by St. Thomas Aquinas in 1560. The younger Simon is chairman emeritus of Covenant House of California , a crisis shelter for at-risk youths; and also serves as vice chair of Catholic Charities of Southern California. He is a Knight of Malta.

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organization as part of the American experiment in democracy and urged their membership lo seek social justice for all instead of class strugg le." Many of the labor movement 's values reflect the Church' s values , Cardinal Mahony said, such as the drive for public policies "that protect and promote strong families , expand a stable middle class, create decent jobs and reduce the level of poverty and need in our society." Programs such as Social Security, the minimum wage law, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Family and Medical Leave Act accomp lish some of those goals , Cardinal Mahony said. "This Labor Day, we need to reflect as Christians on the values we seek to advance in' our economic and public life ," he wrote. "We need to assess how often the princi ples that we believe are vital to maintaining our national commitment ensuring a life of dignity for our parents , ourselves and our children are reflected in the national dialogue over the future of Social Security and national economic policy." As Congress considers changes to the

Social Security system, certain goals from Catholic social teaching ought to be considered, Cardinal Mahony wrote, listing: • Respect for human di gnity. • Recognition of the common good. • The scri ptural mandate to care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger "such as persons with disabilities , older Americans and immi grants." • Subsidiarity, or the concept of social insurance covering illness , disability, unemp loyment and old age that includes partici pation by government. Cardinal Mahony concluded by quoting from "Everyday Christianity : To Hunger and Thirst for Justice ," a statement on how to live out the Church' s justice teachings in every day life, which was adopted by the U.S. bishops last November. "Catholicism does not call us to abandon the world , but to help shape it ," the statement said. "This does not mean leaving worldl y tasks and responsibilities , but transforming them." (A copy of the Labor Day statement may be requested from Catholic San Francisco: 441 Church St., San Francisco, CA 99114; e-mail: dyoung @catholic-sf .org; fax: (415) 565-3631. The text may also be accessed via the Internet: www.nccbuscc.org)

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Addresses Cathedral meeting

Catholic Conf e rence di rector sees Catholic voting 'muscle

By Kamille Maher Catholic voters will have the chance to exercise their political muscles during the coming legislative session and elections , when a host of bills and initiatives will present themselves. In an off-season training session of sorts , California Catholic Conference Executive Director Ned Dolejsi emphasized Catholics ' right and responsibility to effect social change during an Aug. 25 meeting at St. Mary 's Cathedral. "The Church' s tradition of institutional , lived experience gives us a certain expertise" in solving day-to-day problems , Dolejsi told the 65 leaders from parishes, agencies and political caucuses attending . "It is absolutel y legal for us to engage in public discourse," he replied to a question posed about religious institutions maintaining their tax-free status. "We are absolutel y free to communicate directly regarding issues. We can do anything except fund individual candidates or political parties." Dolejsi has been head of the California bishops ' public policy organization in Sacramento for two years. He left a similar position in Washington State he had held for 10 years. He told the group he is excited but troubled by California politics. "We cannot find anyone to articulate the common good right now," he explained. "And so our discou rse has degenerated into a battle of special interests." The Archdiocese 's Off ice of Public

Policy and Social Concern sponsored Dolejsi's presentation. Its director, George Wesolek , noted there are nine million Catholics who live in California and that "Ned (Dolejsi) is working very hard to make that presence felt." Several issues were discussed during the session: AB 1592, Ph ysician-assisted suicide legislation proposed by Dion Aroner CDBerkeley) during last year 's Assembly session. It passed from committee in May and was held over as a "two-year bill" for consideration by the General Assembl y as early as January 2000. SB 41 and AB 39, bills concerning health insurance coverage of contraceptives do not include "appropriate conscience clause exemptions ," according to the state's

child ' s use of any service offered through the school and/or health center. AB 525, would require Catholic hospital s to provide , contract for, or arrange for abortions , in merger situations with other non profit or for-profit hospitals. This bill failed passage in the Assembly and is "a two-year bill" like AB 1 592. The Legislature will revisit the issue in January 2000. Abortion Notification Initiative , has garnered early support of the California Conference of Bishops , who will probabl y endorse collect ion of the 800,000 signatures necessary for the legislation to qualif y for November 2000 ballot. This initiative would require physicians to notify parents when their minor daughters plan to undergo an abortion. Girl s may petition for a waiver in special cases of sexual or physical abuse. Defense of Marriage Initiative , will be on the March 2000 presidential primary ballot if qualified. It states , "The State of California shall recognize marriage as between one man and one woman." The initiative is designed to prevent same-sex couples from getting "married" in other states and then forcing California to recognize such unions as legal marriages. "The California Catholic Conference says a special thanks to all the folks who took the time to pray for our success and to contact legislators on these matters," said Dolejsi. Keep state representatives accountable , he added. "Tell them , 'Hey, you 've got to do the right thing. Remember who you are and where you came from.'"

bishops , and should be opposed. Both bills passed their houses of ori g in and amendments containing "respectful " conscience clauses were to be offered during the course of the past week. At press time , their status was unknown. AB 1363, School Health Centers legislation establishes guidelines for providing comprehensive primary health care to children at the school site as part of the Federal Healthy Families program. By law, this health care must include the full range of reproductive services , which "will expand the availability of birth control and abortion on demand by allowing their inclusion at government school sites." The Haynes Amendment would explicitly require parental consent for thei r

Los Angeles priest, bishop resign from national gay ministry group The director of the Los Angeles Archdiocese's gay and lesbian ministries as well as Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala have resigned from the Oakland-based National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries, a spokesman for the Archdiocese has confirmed. According to Capuchin Franciscan Father Gregory Coiro, director of media relations, Father Peter Liuzzi resigned from the organization in an effort to maintain a "moderate and centrist" position on gay and lesbian ministry that clearly focuses "on the core of the Church's teaching".

Father Coiro said the national association has moved into close relationshi p with other organizations highl y critical of Church teaching on homosexuality. He mentioned Dignity. The issue of Church ministry to gays and lesbians has made headlines in recent weeks since the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith permanentl y barred Notre Dame Sister Jeannine Gramick and Salvatorian Father Robert Nugent from any homosexual ministries because they had failed to communicate the Church's full leaching.

Labor Day _râ&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Cardinal calls on CHW and SEIU to move beyond obstacles

In a Labor Day message noting that "the celebratory nature of this holiday is muted this year by the ongoing conflict between Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) and the Service Employees International Union *(SEIU)," Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles called on both sides to "move beyond die obstacles that have prolonged this struggle." The Archbishop of Los Angeles said that CHW and SEIU should "set an example of how conflicts and tensions between management and employees can best be resolved through sound Catholic social teaching princi ples. Both CHW and SEIU, because of their rich traditions, should be able to identify common ground on which a more harmoniou s, creative and peaceful resolution can be found." He prescribed three ingredients necessary for a process of dialogue leading to a resolution of the conflict. First, both sides "must agree to a neutral third party that can facilitate discussion, mediate issues of conflict, and

keep talks focused and progressing forward until a resolution is reached." The second ingredient calls for direct involvement by the religious sponsors of CHW hospitals and the national leadership of SEIU to keep CHW management and SEIU local representatives at the table until a resolution is reached and to ensure agreements are honored. Cardinal Mahony said, "Only with the ongoing, active participation of the religious sponsors and the national SEIU leadership will this matter ultimately be settled." "Third," he recommended, "both parties must agree on an NLRB supervised election process that is conducted in a positive environment free from tactics and actions that have fueled conflict and mistrust , and th at have driven a wedge between both sides." Assuring both sides of the Catholic community 's prayers and support , the cardinal said , "I strong ly urge

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CHW and SEIU to seize this opportunity to provide for all of us a new and creative example of how to approach and deal with management and labor issues as we prepare to enter a new centuiy and millennium. " It appeared in early August that the union and CHW had reached near consensus on the question of union elections in several of the CHW facilities in the Los Angeles Archdiocese and the Sacramento Diocese. However, the agreement unraveled. There are five CHW medical facilities in the San Francisco Archdiocese. All have active agreements with the SEIU.

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they could be aware of whal the research The School of Pastoral Leadershi p and entails , they would the Office of Marriage and Famil y Life know what to do, I have joined forces to offer a parenting think a lot of peop le workshop Oct. 9 at St. Mary ' s Cathedral , ring their hands about 1111 Gough St., San Francisco. moral and ethical University of San Francisco moral fordevelopment. If parmation researcher Sister Mary Peter ents could look at what Traviss and expert on teen-agers Michael they can do in their Riera will be keynote speakers. own homes , we could Called "How to Raise Great Kids , do a lot." Becoming the Parent God Wants You to Sister Traviss, direcBe," the day-long conference will also feator of USF' s Institute ture several workshops on varied topics: for Catholic Education identit y formation of parents; building Leadershi p, will disstrong marriages; kids and families at risk; cuss conditions that Sister Traviss. OP Michael talking to children about faith; single parbest facilitate moral ents and grandparents as parents; and challenges associat- formation: communication , modeling moral behavior, fostered with raising teen-agers. ing healthy self-esteem , didactic instruction of morals, clear "One of the primary vocations of lay people is to be a consequences , cooperation , instilling confidence and parent ," said Office of Marriage and Family Life Director respect , and balancing dependence and independence. Chris Ly ford during an Aug. 17 interview with him and fel"We can establish a climate that fosters children 's natlow organizer Jesuit Father Michael Barber , SPL director. ural moral development ," Sister Traviss contends. "We have marriage preparation programs but very little Establishing mutual respect and successful communicaparenting education. " tion are also goals of speaker Michael Riera , Ph.D., who "SPL supports anything to do with the vocation of the wrote two books on the subject: Uncommon Sense for laity," Father Barber explained. Parents with Teen-agers and Suiy iving Hig h School. Father Barber approached Lyford with the idea for the During his studies in developmental psychology, Riera workshop when he saw "we had invested so much money was surprised by how little information was shared outside in schools , reli gious education , youth ministry, and the professional psychology community. His books and lecCatholic Youth Organization." However, he wondered , "What do we have for the parents? Where do they bring their problems?" Father Barber also sought ideas from Christian Brother Kevin Thomas , a full-time parent resource advocate at Archbishop Riordan High School , San Francisco. Keynote speaker Sister Traviss has researched moral formation in children for 30 years. She worked with Father Barber at England' s Oxford University. "Significant adults in the lives of children have a si gnificant role to play in moral development ," the Dominican sister said during an Aug. 18 telep hone interview , "if onl y By Kamille Maher

tures are designed to support parents , teen-agers or teachers to deal more effectivel y with the challenges of growing up. Director of counseling at Marin Academy in San Rafael , Riera said during an Aug. 19 telep hone interview he was raised Catholic but is no longer practicing. He frequently addresses religious groups of parents , and said he suggests parents stay true to their beliefs. "Tell your childre n where you stand on an issue, what you druther," he said , "and then in many ways you get in next to them." "Whatever the family does harkens back to their value system, whether that Riera , PhD is philosophy or religion ," Riera pointed out. "Do the things you believe in." He said it is important parents be clear about expectations and then provide "wiggle room" for children to "experiment with different things." At some point though , he said , "the family needs to stand up and say, 'We don't do that , and you can 't do that in this family."' He said, "Being 'adult' means . . . not living vicariously through your kids. It also means saying 'no,' and being parents first and friends second, or teachers first and friends second." The workshop is open to "all parents or aspiring parents," according to a promotional pamphlet. Cost is $10 per person or $15 per couple, which includes lunch. People wanting information may call SPL at (415) 242-9087.

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¦ Continued from page 3 and financial support and came to realize "all of us" are vulnerable , that interfaith relationshi ps are vitally important. "The reality is there is a sub-culture of hate in our country," Rabbi Bloom said. "It is politicall y inspired and financially supported. The sub-culture and its financial supporters need to be exposed. We must build a strong community to reinvent, restore, rebuild and renew the common good." Furlishous Wyatt , Security Specialist of San Francisco SAFE, Inc, presented ideas for securing p laces of worship, schools, and office buildings. The conference was also co-sponsored by the Board of Rabbis of Northern California , St. Mary's Cathedral, Jewish Community Relations Council , National Association for the Advancement of San People, Colored Francisco Interfaith Council , Office of the San Francisco District Attorney, Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church , Offices of Public Policy and Social Concerns and Communications of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

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AB 1592 still alive

Physicia n-assisted suicide bill 's sp onsor exp lains p osition

By Kamille Maher The primary author of proposed physician-assisted suicide legislation asserts that her goal is not pain relief but "choice" at the end of life , and likened the proposal to abortion rights. During a Jul y 9 interview in her Berkeley office , Assemblywoman Dion Louise Aroner (D-Berkeley) used the description "p hysician-assisted dying " for AB 1592. The bill remains viable for consideration by California 's General Assembly as earl y as January 2000. Noting that segments of the medical community do strongly oppose the bill , Aroner compared the issues involved to abortion , asserting both "procedures " are "issues of choice." "The medical community is opposed and has traditionally been opposed to choice," she asserted. "Part of that might be the Hippocratic Oath, and the fact that they are trained to provide care for the living. " Aroner is not usuall y at odds with the medical community. Her election campaign supporters have included the California Nurses Association Political Action Committee (PAC), the California Medical Association , the California Psychiatric PAC, the Union of American Physicians and Dentists , and several individual physicians.

Dion Aroner

"Their opposition has a real basis ," she added. "They feel physician-assisted dying will be used as a mechanism to eliminate them." Aroner acknowledged disability ri ghts defenders are accurate when they point out that the disabled are expensive and difficult to serve. She said she inserted additional safeguards in ABI592 to diminish those risks after listening to complaints of disabled activists. Physician-assisted suicide opponent and East Bay author Wesley J. Smith maintains th at disabled activists should remain concerned. In Forced Exit: The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suic ide to Legalized Murder, Smith cites practices in the Netherlands where, despite placement of safeguards, voluntary and involuntary killing has become commonplace 20 years after physician-assisted suicide became essentially decriminalized. (See related story below. ) According to Smith , Dutch physicians are not prosecuted for assisting in euthanasia if they follow certain guidelines. AB 1592 opponents fear the bill would result in a similar situation. When asked, Aroner said she did "not know enough" about the studies in the Netherlands and questioned the validity of reports that detail the killing of infants and others by physicians ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ for various reasons. Aroner argued her bill contains "significan t protections that will prevent (forced euthanasia) from happening." They range from creating a felony which prohibits managed care executives from discussing assisted suicide, to requiring four patient requests for the lethal prescription, to insisting that patients be able to selfadminister the fatal prescription. Smith expressed concern during a telephone interview about what he called Aroner 's lack of understanding of the legislation 's risks. Opponents of assisted suicide say risks include using the option in cases other than unrelievable

'We are told by the hosp ice community . . . they cannot relieve around 10 pe rcent of the pain and suffering of patients. If you get it down to two percent, are you saying am I then happy ? I don't think that 's the issue . . . the issue for me is . . . choice and control. '

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Dion Aroner When asked whether they supported Aroner s proposal , all but one issued statements against the legislation or took no publi c position. The California Nurses Association issued two letters of opposition. Among other things , the group refuted the safeguards against potential abuse that AB1592 supporters claim the bill contains. The alleged safeguards "do nothing to relieve the implicit pressure placed on vulnerable groups ," the nurses stated. The California Medical Association also stated opposition. CMA Associate Director Scott Syphax said, "Our physicians think physician-assisted suicide is unethical and contrary to standards of medical practice." Conni Barker , spokeswoman for the California Psychiatric PAC said, "We do not have a formal policy on it. It 's just so divisive ." Dr. Neal Kaufman, a Los Angeles physician and contributor to Aroner 's campaign , said he "respects Dion 's opinion" and personally favors the idea of assisted suicide, although he said he did not know enoug h about AB 1592 to endorse it. Aroner's relationshi p with disabili ty ri ghts activists has also been strong. The 54-year-old San Francisco native called her office the "seat of leadershi p for disabled rights." Californians for Disability Ri ghts, among others, contributed to her 1998 campaign. Aroner admits sponsorshi p of 1592 has strained the relationshi p. "In fact , that 's the most difficult for me, having opposition out of the disability community."

pain; coercing relatives or others into committing suicide; providing Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) with a tool to legall y eliminate expensive patients. While many proponents list unrelievable pain as a compassionate reason to support physician-assisted suicide, a study of 15 Oregon patients who committed suicide during 1998 showed none of them cited pain. One cited "fear of pain " for reason to use the life-ending prescription , and others quoted "choice and control" . Smith also questioned whether the California bill would actuall y create a felony prohibiting HMO executives from discussing ph ysician-assisted suicide , and wondered how such a law could be enforced. A related debate surrounds the question: would legal ph ysician-assisted suicide give HMOs and insurance companies a tool to eliminate costly patients? Careful research did not turn up evidence that major HMOs are financing campaigns behind assisted suicide proposals. Aroner supporter Dr. Kaufman said there is no conflict of interest for HMOs to provide lethal prescri ptions. "HMOs already make decisions about when to transfer patients to hosp ice care (which is less expensive than hospital care)," Dr. Kaufman said. "I don't get why going one step further (from hospice to lethal prescription) would make any one more of a conflict of interest than the other. Assisted suicide is just a little more 'goulish.' It 's just one of thousands of conflicts of interest " in the present system. Dr. Kaufman said health care facilities like Kaiser Permanente provide increased protections against abuses because there are built-in checks and balances ."Everyone knows if a patient is being under treated ," he said. But with single-physician care, there are no checks, until possibly after the fact, he said. Two of the largest donors to the physician-assisted suicide cause are the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation and the Columbia Foundation. Columbia Foundation is not known to be related to Columbia/HCA, a large national HMO with several facilities in the Bay Area. Author Smith criticized Aroner for not having studied the Netherlands situation or other concrete applications. He mentioned the March 10 death of Patrick Matheny, a man disabled by ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). The March 11 Oregonian reported that Matheny 's brother-in-law "helped" him to die. The brother-in-law did not reveal how he helped. Smith said the same problems with "self-administering " could occur with AB 1592. "She (Aroner) doesn 't seem to want to know the facts ," Smith claimed. Aroner said she had not read Forced Exit nor studied the situation in the Netherlands. "Everyone mentions the Netherlands ," she replied to a question regarding Dutch practices. Aroner said the notion of a "slippery slope" should be seen in li ght of state-limitations to abortion access since 1973' s Roe v. Wade, a Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion under privacy laws. "If that 's any indicator because it 's an issue of choice, then I would have to say if anybody 's worried about the slippery slope, it 's simp ly not there ," the legislator said. "What she's saying is that the pro-life people were SUICIDE, next page

Opponents of assisted suicide say risks include using the option in

cases other than unrelievable pain coercing relatives or others into committing suicide; p roviding . . . (HMOs) with a tool to legall y eliminate exp ensiv e patients.

Dutch considering euthanasia option for patients 12 and older

started in the early 1990s, which eased restrictions on euthanasia in the VATICAN CITY (CNS) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Catholic Netherlands. authorities in the Netherlands and in Rome "We have always made our statements," expressed clear and immediate disapproval he added , "but (legislators) do not want to of a proposed Dutch law allowing euthanasia listen to us. The world in which we live is and giving patients age 12 and up access to it. becoming evermore pagan." "The Church's reaction is very strong," The Dutch health and justice ministries Cardinal Adrianus Simonis of Utrecht , Aug. 10 published plans to legalize euthanaNetherlands , president of the Dutch bish- sia, which is against the law but is practiced op's conference , told Vatican Radio. "We by participating doctors nationwide under completely disagree with this proposal." uniform professional guidelines. The cardinal noted the bishops' conferDoctors' who do; not foll ow the guideence had struggled against the process, lines risk jail terms of up to 12 years; those By Lyiine Weil

who follow the guidelines normally are not prosecuted. In addition to decriminalizing euthanasia, the proposed new law lowers the age of consent for obtaining it from 16 to 12 years. It would allow a doctor to administer a lethal injection on request to anyone age 12 or older, regardless of parental objections. Parliament was expected to consider the proposal in its next leg islative session. If it passes, the Netherlands would become the first country to legalize euthanasia. Bishop Elio Sgreccia, vice president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told

Vatican Radio the legal change would constitute "a worsening of the norms brought by a law which is already wrong." "We know from research that, in most cases, even those adults who express the wish for an early death . . . simply wanted to be helped in the midst of (their) pain," he said. Whereas the current Dutch position on euthanasia fails to take this situation into account, Bishop Sgreccia said, the proposed new law ignores as well the special "psychological fragility" of children who are in pain. In addition, he said, it would "deprive parents of the duty and right to assist them."

Fear targeting vulnerable

Assisted- suicid e opp onen ts address Commonwealth Club

By Kamille Maher Opponents of physician-assisted suicide say their coalition is picking up speed. They also deny trying to "impose their will on anybod y, " stating they are "engaging in the democratic processes " b y bring ing their views forward. The comments were among those made at an Aug. 30 Commonwealth Club symposium in San Francisco during which three opponents of physician-assisted suicide spoke to about 50 partici pants. Last month , the Commonwealth Club featured proponents ' side when Assembl ywoman Dion Aroner , primary author of physician-assisted suicide legislation , presented arguments in favor of her bill , AB 1592. Monday 's speakers candidl y emphasized peop le are alread y free to commit suicide if they wish. Making it a matter of public policy for physicians to aid in killing would be disastrous , they contended. History professor and director of the Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University, Paul Longmore told the audience that in a different health care situation some disabled activists might support physician-assisted suicide. And , he stressed , many activists do not oppose the measure on religious grounds.

What does the Church teach on end of life?

In an ad limina address to U.S. bishops on Oct. 2, 1998, Pope John Paul II said the following in regard to medical treatment at the end of a person 's life: "The statement of the U.S. bishops ' pro-life committee, 'Nutrition and Hydration, ' rightly emphasized that the omission of nutrition and hydration intended to cause a patient 's death must be rejected." The Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following on the topic of euthanasia: 2277: Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable. Thus an act of omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God , his Creator, The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded. 2278: Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous" treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interest must always be respected , 2279: Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted . The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means , but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged."

Suicide . . .

ÂŚ Continued from previous page right ," said Smith. When abortion was being debated , pro-life activists argued that abortion would lead to euthanasia , he said. Aroner fashioned her bill after Oregon 's Measure 16, a 1994 law Oregon voters passed 51 percent to 49 percent. Lethal prescriptions have been available there since late 1997. aft er legal battles and a subsequent general vote failed to rescind the measure.

Paul Longmore

Penelope Montemayor

Wesley Smith

However, he explained , in the current health care atmosphere in the United States , "dependent " peop le would not be faced with an authentic "choice." He said results in Oregon, the only state with legal physician-assisted suicide, show people are killing themselves not because of pain , but because of "fear of disability." He quoted a stud y showing 14 of 15 Oregonians who committed physician-assisted suicide did so because they feared losing autonomy or control of bodil y functions. "Well if needing help is undignified and death is better than dependency," he maintained, "then there is no reason to deny assisted suicide to people who have to put up with it for six years, or 16 years, rather than Just six months." He also criticized the language of AB 1592. "It defines terminal illness as one that is incurable and irreversible and will within a reasonable medical jud gment produce death within six months." He continued , "Many people with disabilities have been told by doctors that they would die soon , within six months." Penelope Montemayor, who has helped poor people gain access to health care for more than 20 years, said legalizing physician-assisted suicide would lead to "legalizing murder, targeting the poor and the most vulnerable of our society." "Those last to receive medical care ," continued the patient advocate for the Coalition of Concerned Medical Professionals , "will be the first offered physician-assisted suicide." Even millions who actuall y do have medical coverage "still can 't get the necessary care prescribed by physicians , ranging from oxygen administration in the home, to physical therapy, to in-home care services for the disabled ," she added , alluding to cuts in Medicare and pri vate insurance coverages. "Why do we have a health care crisis in the United States instead of the best health care system in the

world?" she asked. Her answer: economics. She compared the $35 cost of a lethal prescri ption that might be used in a physician-assisted suicide with the $300,000 it ' could cost "to treat and save a cancer patient , or patient with multi ple sclerosis , Parkinson 's disease, or even chronic heart conditions or diabetes." Wesley J. Smith , author of Forced Exit: The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder, said, "We are changing the healing profession into a group of people authorized by law to kill people. That's a veiy serious and radical departure from 2000 years of Western history." "We are now saying that we have such little faith in the ability of medicine . . . to ameliorate suffering, to cure pain , that the answer to that difficulty should be killing," Smith continued. "Before we go down that road , we should contemplate very, very carefull y, because there will be consequences." He offered the contrast between how people discuss "our dysfunctional health care system," but when the notion of assisted suicide comes up, "every doctor is Marcus Welby" Another contrast , he said, can be found in the reality of elder abuse , child abuse , and dysfunctional families. Yet when assisted suicide is being discussed, "suddenly everybody is Ozzy and Harriet," he said. "We don ' t want to contemplate what this (assisted suicide) would mean in the real world , of people who are being abandoned in the medical system and abused within families ," he contended. The author-attorney concluded his comments by claiming "the tide is turning against assisted suicide." He said six states have outlawed the practice, among them , Michi gan , which had been the home-base of euthanasia practitioner Jack Kevorkian. Kevorkian is serving a 10-to-20 year prison sentence for his partici pation in euthanasia.

PHOENIX (CNS) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien ot Phoenix has expressed outrage over a recent decision b y a Maricopa County Superior Count judge ordering child welfare officials to take a 14-year-old girl across state lines for a late-term abortion. He also offered Church resources to help the girl. "I want to express my horror and outrage at the situation reported in the Arizona media in which Jud ge William Sargeant has ordered Child Protective Services to transport a 14-year-old girl out of the state to undergo an abortion , perhaps even a partial-birth abortion, of her nearly 7month-old unborn baby," Bishop O'Brien said in a statement released Aug. 25. He urged Arizona Gov. Jane Hull and other Arizona leaders to appeal Sargeant's ruling "and take a stand in support of the life and well-being of the young mother and hei unborn child."

Hull , however, maintains the girl chose the abortion and that it is in the girl's best interest. Published reports on Aug. 27 said the judge was reconsidering whether the girl was competent to decide for herself to have the abortion . The girl, who was reported to be 23 weeks pregnant, may be as far along as 27 weeks, according to Arizona Right to Life President John Jakubczyk . A source close to the girl , whom Jakubczy k said appears to be reliable but does not want to be named, claimed ultrasound photos of the baby show the girl was actu ally 27 weeks pregnant. Jakubczyk said the girl and her court-appointed advocate requested an abortion when she was 14 weeks along, but she ran away and was not found until a few weeks ago. The court is asking for the abortion under the context of "rape," which qualifies the girl for a federally funded abortion.

Late-term abortion prompts outrage

Aroner said she would not change her mind about physician-assisted suicide even if end-of-life care became nearly perfect. "We are told by the hospice community that right now they cannot relieve around 10 percent of the pain and suffering of patients. If you get it down to 2 percent , are you saying am I then happy? I don 't think that 's the issue. I think what the issue is for me is an issue of choice and control." Among reasons she said she is pushing AB 1592 is because her mother is 86 years old, and "doctors don 't follow directives

(about health care preferences) if they don't want to." Aroner said her mother, who is healthy, appointed Aroner her health care proxy, the person designated to make life-and-death decisions for an incapacitated patient, when Aroner's only other sibling said he could not abide by his mother's wish for less care at the end of her life. He said he would call for any and all interventions , said Aroner, adding that she could honor her mother 's wishes and so she became the proxy. She said she could imagine pressure

from family members for ill patients to commit suicide. "It can be conscious and unconscious, if you've been struggling with a family member for years," she said. "It can be an unconscious desire, absolutely. But that 's the human experience." As chair of the Assembly Human Service Committee, Aroner oversees public assistance, child care, foster care, adoption , and services for the elderly and disabled. Her reli gious tradition is Reform Judaism. She holds a bachelor 's degree from UC Berkeley.

Multiple media mix seeks to insp ire, inform,

>lic «Gra irks the Word

i !

he Catholic Communications Campaign (CCC) this year marks its 20th anniversary of helping the "Good News Get Around" with an ambitious plan for program development and media outreach. According to Bishop Robert N. Lynch of St. Petersburg, chair of the Communications Committee of the U.S. Catholic bishops, the CCC is putting flesh on the bishops ' Strategic Plan for

/ A ^ esponding directly to the call for increased communications voiced by participants < ™I,^.j :n the 1993-95 Pastoral Planning process, the Archdiocesan Communications Office lias added new programs and implemented several important changes in its mix of communications during the past two years. Significant has been creation of the weekly Archdiocesan newspaper, Catholic San Francisco. Starting from ground zero , an already widely respected Catholic newspaper with an average circulation of 100,000 households has come into being. The newspaper follows a " parish plan " model not unlike many employed in other dioceses throughout the nation in which the Archbishop resolves to send the newspaper to all registered parishioners. Funding for the newspaper comes from advertising revenue, parishioner contributions through the Archbishop 's Annual

Communications. The Catholic Communications Campaign seeks to reach millions of Catholics and others nationally with a variety of values-

Appeal, Catholic Communications Campaign, and central office support. Nearly a year ago, the Archdiocese j oined with the Diocese of Sacramento and the Diocese of Oakland in producing the Spanish-languai

based print and broadcast programming. The programming is designed to strengthen people 's faith by showing how the Gospel message can

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newspaper, El Heraldo Catolico. With a circulation of 35,000 in Northern California , El Heraldo is f?fgf| ¦ ^ distributed to parishes that have a Spanish- V ' *¦ language Mass as well as retail locations in V j Spanish-speaking neighborhoods. jM \ The first volume of a three-part series W on the History of the Archdiocese, written by \M

lived in a person 's everyday life, CCC officials explain. Examples include this' year 's English-language I b e Reconciliation public service announcement campaign and the award-winning Spanish-language campaign on family unity.

Archivist Jeffrey Burns, Ph.D., has recently come off \ the presses and is now available to individuals, schools and organizations. The first volume covers the period 1776-1884. Two remaining volumes will

Campaign funding also allows the creation of television network documentaries such as those on Pope John Paul II, the priesthood , death and dying, and on "peacemakers " who try to

In radio programming, the Archdiocese has assumed responsibility for funding the weeldy Spanish-language program produced through St. Anthony of Padua Parish. Bienvenidos a Casa is a 30-minute mix of dialogue , news and prayer. It airs at 8:30 am. on Sunday mornings on Radio Unica 1010 AM. These new archdiocesan communications initiatives take their places among established programs , some of which have seen changes designed to improve quality or effectiveness.

tt walls" TV Mass: "eta remains popular

scheduled to be completed by yearend.

more than 25 years, the TV After Mass — produced by the Archdiocese and aired on cable stations in Northern California —

Catholic Communications Campaign programs are funded by the annual national collection, which takes place this year on

Marta Rebagliati handles console duties during a production of Mosaic, a half-hour TV news magazine produced in cooperation between the Archdiocesan Communications Office and CBS. In addition to duties as Mosaic producer, Rebagliati is Catholic San Francisco assistant business manager, editor of the TV Mass newsletter, and a translator and contributor to ElHeraldo.

Sept. 12 in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Deacon Bill Mitchell , former director of communications for the Archdiocese voiced support for the campaign, noting, "One-half of the CCC collection funds national programs , and one-half is retained b y the Archdiocese for local programs diat are needed in this age of instant communications." Ramon Rodriguez , CCC development director, said, "The

Last year, production of the TV Mass program was moved from the San Francisco Chancery Chapel to a studio at Catholic Television Network (CTN) at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park. This resulted in a higher qualityproduction at the CTN facility, which has a dedicated staff and new equipment. The TV Mass, with well-known Father Miles O'Brien Riley as celebrant, reaches an electronic parish of more than

Strategic Plan will help CCC capitalize on donations by developing other sources of program underwriting, to expand both the quantity and quality of its media activities."

100,000 peop le each week.

These new archdiocesan communications initiatives take their placesamong established programs, some of which have seen changes designed to improve quality or effectiveness, "

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Pressmen Gary Moorehead (top left) and Ken Ward "color check" a recent issue of Catholic San Francisco as it comes off the presses at Paradise Post Printing in Paradise, California The newspaper reaches 100,000 households. ^

On K101 radio (101.3 FM), Father Miles provides spiri tual insights

in one- to five-minute segments in a series called God Bless You — Stories of Faith, For the first time, an Family, Forgiveness Making a last-minute check of Catholic San Francisco's abbreviated version of the and Fun. It airs every popular "On tlie Street Where You Live" column are its Archdiocesan Directory will be Sunday morning writer Tom Burke (standing) and newspaper production made broadly available to between 6 to 10 a.m. manager, Enrico Risano. parishioners at no charge on the hour. Airtime through parishes when prois donated by K101, which boasts a huge listening audience. duction is completed in the fall. Tom Burke of the Catholic Communications Office hosts Mosaic, a Based on input from many peo30-minute public affairs program produced by the Archdiocese with CBS. The program airs Sunday mornings at 6 am. on KPIX. The ple, the Archdiocesan Mosaic program is shared with other faiths. Segments with a Catholic Directory will follow the direcStaffers of the Spanish-language radio program Bienvenidos a Casa include , perspective air approximately 17 times each year. tory model of the Diocese of from left: Cuahutemoc Alvarado , Sonia Alvarado, Manuel Guzman , Rosario Guzman , Other ongoing programs of the Archdiocesan Office of Oakland. An expanded version Indiana Blandon , and Radio Unica technician William Bonilk. Communications include media relations; public information and of the Archdiocesan Directory public relations; multi-media production; and Daily News Briefs, distributed via the containing telephone listings will be available for purchase by parishes, agencies, offices , "ArchFax" network Unking parishes, schools, agencies and organizations with the departments and organizations Chancery-Pastoral Center.

be published in 2000 and 2001. Thanks largely to the efforts of archdiocesan x -*~"^ seminarian Steven Lopes , the Archdiocese launched a "Web site in the latter part of 1997. This Internet presence now is being upgraded , and a separate Web site for Catholic San Francisco is planned. Both sites are

alleviate problems like neighborhood violence. (See related story, page 22.) Another CCC-supported program is the Movie Review line, which helps families nationwide to choose morally appropriate movies for every member of the family by calling a free movie-rating number: (800)311-4CCC, the same as (800) 311-4222.

Archdiocese with KRON/Channel 4. For Heaven's Sake airs every other Sunday at 5 a.m.

Father Miles' communications ministry also includes hosting the award-winning 30minute public affairs program For ^\ Heaven's Sake, sponsored by the

remains one of the most popular and successful programs offered by the Catholic Coiruriunications Center. Father Miles O'Brien Riley, who currently dedicates a goodly portion of his time to the TV Mass ministry, recalls the initial efforts of the Archdiocese to televise a Mass. "In the beginning, we used a Mass produced by the Diocese of San Diego, but after a few years we found that having a local production was better."" In its early days, the locally produced TV Mass involved a number of different priests and the filming site

Father Miles O'Brien Riley presides during a production of the TV Mass, one of the most popular programs offered tough the Catholic Communications Center.

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was rotated between various churches with congregations and choirs. "But we realized over time that the point of the TV Mass was not to give viewers a picture of the Mass that they no longer could attend," said Father Riley. "Rather, it was to bring the Mass to the bedroom, or the living room or the hospital room of people who are homebound or ill."

This realization resulte d in many changes , the award-winning communicator noted. "We created a small and intimate chapel setting, putting us right on the edge of the bed of the sick person. This was a quantum leap forward. We went to close camera shots, rather than long shots of a large church. We did not have congregations or choirs. " The "church without walls" as Father Riley calls the TV Mass ministry now airs on 128 stations and reaches well over 100,000 people. Locally, the TV Mass airs on KTSF, Channel 26, at 6 a.m. on Sundays. ¦nwumwui——¦¦— wim—ii i

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

The law teaches If there has ever been a time in history to mourn the truth that "the law teaches," it mi ght be now. The last generation of Americans has been raised with legal access to abortion. Giddy defenders of the Supreme Court 's Jan. 22, 1973, Roe. vs. Wade ruling said the infamous vote was a victory for women 's rights. Serious academics maintained that few abortions would actuall y be earned out. It was mostly about the principle — a woman 's right over her body. People who warned that we had jumped with two feet onto a "slippery slope" heading toward infanticide and euthanasia were mocked. Today we know more than 4,000 pregnancies are ended daily in this country. We know that fetal tissue is being relished like a precious , raw commodity. There is more than enough evidence to leave little doubt viable babies are murdered in what are called "partial birth" abortions. But it is legal, so it must be ok. If it is ok, it must be moral. If it is moral , why shouldn 't we extend the logic? Why shouldn't we wait until a child is born , check "it" out , make sure he or she is what we "want," and if not — sell it, or kill it? What difference does 3060-90 days make? The legalization of abortion has numbed our culture to it , even the Catholic community. The law has taught us. And the law will lead us. The current debate over proposed physician-assisted suicide sounds in many aspects chillingly familiar to that which took place in the wake of Roe vs. Wade a quarter century ago. Proponents argue the issue is "choice". They ooze "compassion". But the deeper one delves into the question , the less clear it becomes whose choice. Compassion for whom? And what are the criteria for a "valid" life? And who is to be the arbiter of those values and choices? If it becomes legal for a ph ysician to help someone kill themselves, it would then be ok. If it is ok, it must be moral. If it 's moral, why shouldn 't we consider taking a little harder look at the people who are weighing down the health system, taking time out of our daily lives, making us uncomfortable. Let's evaluate their quality of life, and if it isn't something we want — let's.... If we doubt for a second that legalized physicianassisted suicide is a steep slippery slope, we need only look at the Netherlands. Today that nation is actually considering legislation that would allow a 12-year-old — without parental permission — to seek legal suicide. It's not too much of a stretch to conjecture that if citizens of that nation had seen that proposed a generation or so ago, they would have been aghast. But, not today. After all, if it's legal to kill yourself or someone for whom you are responsible, it must be ok. If it's ok.... Physician-assisted suicide is not just bad law, it's bad morals. The law should support and sustain and protect us. It will teach whether we like it or not. DMY

Hol y Land thank y ou

On behalf of the Custos in Jerusalem and the friars serving in the Hol y Land , 1 wish to thank you , the clergy and the laity of the Archdiocese of San Francisco for your continued hel p and support in their important apostolates. The Archdiocese 's contribution for 1999 in the amount of $64,718 is gratefully acknowled ged. Father Martial Luebke, OFM , commissary Commissariat of the Holy Land (Ed note: The special collection for the Holy Land was taken on Good Friday. "Custos " is a superior official within the Franciscan Order.)

Parish council role

This is a comment on the Aug. 13 article about pastoral councils and the guidelines developed by Father David Pettingill. ,— The concept of such councils is a major advance for the Church. It is not surprising a final model is not yet obvious. A nationwide survey of diocesan guidelines done by Mark Fisher, director of the Oakland Diocesan Pastoral Council, demonstrates a diversity of models with various levels of partici pation for council members. (See www.west.net/~fischer/A46.htm) Mark Fisher 's survey of U.S. diocesan guidelines indicates that plan imp lementation , far from being restricted to staff, is commonly supported by paiish council sub-committees along lines approved by the pastor. In a well established system, the council becomes part of the team , and nobody is concerned about crossing the border from advisor to doer. Such a council establishes a healthy continuity in parish life. It is true that a pastor arriving at his new paiish has the power to dissolve the pastoral council but he would lose the continuity a council provides. The priest who can unload a large burden of temporal duties onto a trusted council will be far more effective in his spiritu al duties to the parish. Father Pettingill implies that councilors should have no vested interests. Perhaps this should be re-examined with the knowledge that people function best where their interests and experience are involved. Yet all councilors must have an open mind to best serve the whole parish, not only their own interest. The elected model implies balance of personalities , and perhaps a balance of responsibilities. When open council meetings are publicized with minutes and agenda, other parishioners with unrecognized talents and fresh ideas can be motivated to participate. An appointed council stands the risk of matching the personality of the pastor whereas what is needed is to supplement his skills, temperament and training. Clearly the role of councils is still evolving. Aside from the current guidelines which

Father Petting ill describes, it is certain there will be further evolution. Let us hope our guidelines will enable this evolution , rather than stifle it. Alex and Peggy Saunders San Carlos

SOA and money trai l

The Aug. 13 articl e by Nancy Hartnagel describing the opposition of some Catholic clergy to the effort led by Mary knoll Father Roy Bourgeois to close the School of the Americas (SOA) program at Fort Benn ing, Ga. deserves a response. The United States continues to be one of the largest arms exporters to Latin American countries which train officer candidates at the SOA. Some nine different sources governed b y the Foreign Assistance Act and Arms Export Control Act , are used to funnel military aid or training of one sort or another to Latin American countries. These include Foreign Military Sales, Direct Commercial Sales, Foreign Military Financing, International Military Education and Training, Excess Defense Articles , Leased Defense Articles, the International Criminal Investi gative Training Assistance Program and the International Narcotics Control. In 1999 alone 16 Latin American countries who send military personnel to the SOA requested well-over $478 million in military aid through the Foreign Military and Direct Commercial Sales programs alone. Further complicating this picture is lack of adequate congressional oversight. Congress ' ability to monitor expenditures made throug h these programs is problematic because of staff shortages, loopholes exploited by those requesting funding or aid, and an overall inability to track funding through the labyrinth of sources. While in the article Bishop Roques and Father Blickhan note 1 the peop le with whom they come into contact are "...profoundl y decent , committed lay men and women who would have nothing to do with a place that was doing something tawdry or wrong or immoral ," this does not mean their governments or those who operate under their auspices would not or are not. The SOA is simp ly another means of imposing U.S. economic and military hegemony over Latin America in keeping with the Monroe Doctrine formulated in 1823 and advanced in many different guises since then. While worthy programs like disaster relief, land mine clearance instruction , sanitation and preventive medicine and anti-narcotics efforts are laudable , it is questionabl e whether we have any responsibility for training military leadership and for providing military assistance to Latin American countries when the U.S. and U.S. weapons manufacturers have such large economic investments at stake. Economics and national self-interest drive the SOA, not some noble vision of a better tomorrow. Finally, if as Father Blickhan suggests, Latin Americans are "offended" b y the "paternalistic care or interest " on the part of SOA Watch, then perhaps they should consider training their own men at home. Tom Webb, chair Bay Area Pax Christi Oakland

E T T E E S

Letters welcome

Catholic San Francisco welcomes letters from its readers. Please: >- Include your name, address and daytime phone number. >¦ Sign your letter.

>¦ Limit submissions to 250 words, >• Note that the newspaper reserves the right to edit for clarity and length. Send your letters to: Catholic San Francisco 441 Church St San Francisco, CA 94U4 Fax: (415) 565-3633 E-mail: dyoung @ catholic-sf.org

SOA: more facts

The Aug. 13 story by Nancy Hartnagel of Catholic News Service, "School of the Americas: some clergy oppose closing it," leaves out important facts your readers should know. Auxiliary Bishop Francis X. Roque of LETTERS, page 16

On Being Catholic—

Reflections on straying shepherds and Jesus' final exam Father Milton T. Walsh J—/tiring the summer 1 came across an article regarding a controversial book in Italy, Gone with the Wind in the Vatican. In it the author claims some of the clergy working in Rome are guilty of serious moral transgressions, dishonest financial dealings and careerism. Events surrounding the resignation of Bishop Patrick Ziemann of Santa Rosa bring the reality of flawed leaders closer to home. It is no longer "those people" who have these failings, but "us." How to deal with the reality of shepherds who stray? When faced with such scandals, some attempt to recapture the purity and holiness of the first Christians. I see two problems with this: first , as long as human beings are involved , it will not work. In the yellow pages we find scores of Christian churches, many of which came into being in reaction to scandalous conduct. But with all of the best intentions, the new community of "the elect" cannot remain sinless, and a subsequent generation in turn leaves with the dream of a sinless church. Secondly, such a dream is in reality a fantasy. There never was a golden age in the Church. Occasionally, the Acts of Apostles paints a picture of the first Christians where all is sweetness and light , but this is like all formal family portraits — some of the smiles are a little forced. We need only consider the 12 men Jesus himself chose as the first leaders of the Church: zeal and goodness, yes, but also serious moral transgressions, dishonest financial dealings and careerism. Others maintain that the source of such failings is that the Church 's teaching is unrealistic. Someone once pointed out to me incidents of priests transgressing the moral

teaching of the Church , and concluded , It you people don 't practice it, don 't preach it." With due recognition to the accusation of hypocrisy, such a criterion strictl y enforced would mean either very few preachers or very short sermons. The Gospel of Christ is a challenge to the preacher as well as to the hearers. Those of us who lead in our communities are not "the perfect " seeking to enlighten initiates, but struggling disciples who must, if we are to be faithful , preach a message which jud ges us, too. The holiness of the Church is the gift of her Lord , not the sum total of her members' virtues. This is good news, since it lifts the burden of "perfectionism " which can weigh down a community, just as it can an individual. The awareness of sin in the Church allows me to face the sin in my own life, and know there is a home for me. Groucho Marx once quipped , "I would never join a club which would have someone like me as a member." You don 't have to be a saint to belong to the Catholic Church — you just have to want to be one. In his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul writes: "God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him." (Rom 8:28) St. Augustine 's pithy gloss on that verse is: etiam peccata, "even sins." Not that sin in itself is good, but the experience of sin can be the gateway to God' s mercy, inviting me to rely on God rather than on myself. Faced with sinfulness in our Church and in ourselves, we need to keep two basic truths together. The first is a truth we proclaim several times during the Mass: Jesus Christ takes away the sins of the world. He really does. He does not overlook them, or hide them, or excuse them — He forgives them. He forg ives them at the cost of his own life: his blood shed so that sins may be forgiven. Do we believe this? If so, why do we act as if sin is the last word, in my life or in the life of another?

The second truth is this: "my sin is always before me." (Ps 51:5) Wh y, if Christ "takes away " sin, is this so? Is this not an example of the "guilt tri p " of religion? No , it is the denial of sin which creates the pathology of guilt. The Church in fact takes away our guilt by allowing us to face our sin — but to always see that sin against the wider backdrop of God's mercy. It is because Christ takes away sin that I can keep my sin always before me, as the daily reminder of my own frailty and God's infinite love . Such remembrance opens the springs of repentance , which in turn water the gardens of compassion. It allow s me to understand one of the beatitudes by reversing it: "Blessed are those who have been shown mercy, for they shall be merciful." The day before my ordination as a priest , the Gospel at Mass included the incident where the risen Christ asks Peter, the shepherd who failed him , only one question : "Do you love me?" In my homily that morning I suggested that , after 12 years of priestly formation , this was my final ex.am. Twenty-one years later, the recollection of the times I have failed others as a priest , at times grievously, gives the scene of the repentant Peter greater meaning for me. This is the final exam Jesus gives to his shepherd s — and is not each of us a shepherd to someone? The weight of our sins, hidden and known, personal and communal, can never destroy us, so long as we can look into the eyes of our forg iving Savior and say, "You know all things. You know that I love you!"

Father Milton T. Walsh is dealt of students and an assistant professor of systematic theology at St. Patrick Seminary, Menlo Park.

CatholicPersp ective

An enduring apostolic friendship

George Weigel -L he death this past June 29 of Karekin I Sarkissian, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenian s, brought an untimely end to the terrestrial phase of one of the great ecumenical friendshi ps of our time - between the spiritual head of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Bishop of Rome, John Paul II. The two men first met in Rome in December 1996 when the pope and the Armenian Catholicos, dressed in his distinctive black robes and conical hood, signed a declaration that confessed their "common faith" in Jesus Christ: "Perfect God as to his divinity, perfect man as to his humanity, his divinity is united to his humanity in the person of the only-begotten Son of God, in a union which is real, perfect , without confusion , without alteration, without division, without any form of separation ." The declaration ended more than 1,500 years of Christological division between Rome and Armenia - an ancient Christian land where the faith was freely practiced years before Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire. The split had come after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 defined the relationship of divinity and humanity in

Christ as a matter of two natures, undivided and uncon- his discourse in the presence of the pope and his key ecufused , in "one divine person." menical officials. John Paul , no stranger to pain, was so The Armenians thoug ht the Chalcedonian definition moved that, on his way back to the papal apartment, he said compromised the unity of Christ s of Karekin to an aide, "He gives a betperson , and in 506 an Armenian ter speech than the pope.... " synod formal ly rejected the "one perIn May it became clear the cancer was incurable and that the Catholicos, son, two natures " Christological formula of Chalcedon (which no only 67 years old, would die very Armenian bishop had attended). At soon. Karekin badly wanted to see and the same time, the Armenians rejectpray with his friend, John Paul, one ed the heresy condemned at last time before he died. In an Chalcedon , known technically as unprecedente d gesture of fraternal "monophysitism," which taught that regard, the pope agreed to make a flyChrist 's divine nature had absorbed ing trip to Armenia at the end of his 5 Polish his humanity, which was, in effect , a pilgrimage in June - history's 6X o- first intercontinental papal sick call. shell. m _j In signing the joint declaration It was not to be. John Paul's brief E « z bout with the flu in Krakow made the of December 1996, Catholicos ;S Karekin I and Pope John Paul II were June meeting unadvisable and the Catholicos Karekin I meets with stating that their faith in Christ was Catholicos ' rap id decline made Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in the same, despite differences of theorescheduling the visit impossible. December of 1996. logical formulation. A 1,500-yearSpiritual friendship is one of the old breach had been closed, and the great blessings of the Christian life. road was now open to full communion between the The relationship between Karekin I Sarkissian and John Armenian Apostolic Church (which has some six million Paul II in the last years of the 20th century was a contemmembers in Armenia and the Armenian diaspora) and the porary reprise of the kind of apostolic friendshi p common Roman Catholic Church. between the Fathers of the Church in the first centuries of The Catholicos and the pope also became friends - Christianity: a friendship rooted in common faith, comapostolic friends, one might say, two men with a passion mon prayer, common responsibility, and a common interfor truth and unity, a passion not always appreciated by est in probing theologically the great mysteries of God some of their followers. This spiritual friendship intensi- revealed in Christ. fied over the next several years, as Catholicos Karekin I The example of that friendship will endure long after began to suffer intensely from the effects of a cancer of the these two holy men will have resumed their conversation larynx. After drastic surgery had cost him his tongue, and around die Throne of Grace. thus his ability to speak, the Catholicos came to Rome earlier this year to meet the pope and to press ahead on their common ecumenical agenda. , A brilliant man with a luminous spiritual life, Karekin George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and I Sarkissian could no longer speak for himself. An aide read Public Policy Cente r in Washington, D.C.

StrangerIs in Our Midst

'Marian Days' brings Vietnamese community together By Father A n t h o n y McGuire The name Carthage , Mo. struck a bell. Carthage is the name of one of the small Missouri towns Mark Twain wrote about. But Mark Twain would not believe what has become of Carthage. Each year in August , Carthage becomes a Vietnamese Catholic village. Rig ht in the middle of the Bible Belt Ozarks , Carthage hosts Marian Days, sponsored by a Vietnamese Catholic community, the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix. This year, around 50,000 Vietnamese Catholics set up tents throughout the town and partici pated in thre e days of prayer and devotion to the immaculate Heart of Mary. They went to confession around the clock , attended workshops on youth , famil y, and aging; sang with gusto during processions and liturgies , and thoroug hl y engulfed the 10,000 inhabitants of Carthage. When the first Marian Days started in 1977 with 1 ,700 faithful , the locals picketed and taunted the Vietnamese Catholics. But little by little , they were impressed by their devotion , their patience and longsuffering, so much so that now, Friday of Marian Days is declared a local holiday: Vietnamese Day. Some of the locals take over booths selling distinctl y American food: hot dogs, hamburgers , fries. Others rent their property for tent space and all look forward to the influx of patrons for their businesses. Over the years, Marian Days have proven to be an ecumenical and economical success. The sponsoring religious community, the Community of Mary Co-Redemptrix , has an interesting history. Canonically established in 1953, the order experienced rapid growth in Vietnam , principally because of the saintl y example of its founder , Dominic Mary Fran Linh Thu , known as Father Dominic of the Cross, who is still thriving in Vietnam at age 94. Known for deep prayer and simple lifestyle, Father Dominic 's cross included two years of imprisonment by the Vietnamese government. His reaction: "It is God's grace

Letters

m Continued from page 14

the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services claims the SOA teaches ethics and human rights and is "monitored very carefully." Sadly, that is not exactly the case. Most lesson plans and teaching materials at the U.S. Army trainin g institute have been reviewed onl y by SOA instructors themselves , often with the instructor reviewing his own course. To date there has been no independent , outside review. More importantl y, there continues to be a comp lete lack of monitoring of the SOA graduates once they return to their countries . As for teaching human rights , that part of the curriculum is still token. Most students continue to receive only the mandatory four hours of human rights training. An analysis of course attendance from 1990-96 shows that standard combat training programs still draw most of the students, who are more interested in learning how to shoot straight than why or if they should shoot at ail. While the bishop points to the small number of SOA graduates who have actually been tried and convicted of human rights abuses, he says nothing about the ongoing structural violence in which Latin American armies play a key role. In Guatemala, for instance, 80 percent of the people live in poverty, and the army is used to enforce this horrendous status quo. While individually soldiers may be killing fewer civilians, the economic and political structures they help maintain are killing people every day by denying them adequate housing, health care and education. Let's face it, the SOA is a Cold War dinosaur that deserves to suffer the same fate as the Berlin Wall. Instead of

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Sisters. About 115 of them for a priest to be imprisoned. gathered at Carthage to reflect Imprisonment is a long and on their ministry in this new blessed retreat for a priest." land: on loneliness in the misIn 1975 , at the fall of Sai gon , sion and how to overcome it , on more than half the community , integration with American cler185 members , priests , brothers gy and laity and how to achieve and candidates , piled into boats it; on youth and how to commuand with great faith , sailed into nicate culture and faith to them. the ocean. The were picked up by At the meeting Archbishop an American cargo shi p and , after Pham Minh Man of Ho Chi some time , ended up in Fort Minh City shared news of the Chafee , Ark., where a Catholic way the Church in Vietnam was chap lain connected them with progressing in numbers and in Bernard Law ol Bishop deeper formation of priests , Spring field-Cape Girardeau u reli gious and laity desp ite govDiocese , who at that moment was uu X ernment interference. looking for a use for a seminary It was an insp iration to me to closed by a college of the Oblates U see such a thriving reli gious of Mary Immaculate. The bishop movement. It is no wonder that z gave it to them for $ I. >~ cc with so much fervent prayer and After an initial shakedown of devotion so many Vietnamese the community (some went to XB, enter our seminaries and novilocal dioceses, some left reli gious Z le have tiates. No wonder peop life altogether), the community y responded so generously so thai , has bounced back to 228 priests Vietnamese-American Catholics pray below the congregation has been able brothers , novices , postulants and an image of Our Lady of La Vang on the steps to construct a new home foi candidates. A great attrac tion is of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the aged Vietnamese priests and that it is an Asian community, Immaculate Conception in Washington Aug. brothers and a new $5 million combining the devotion , music , 21. Thousands gathered for a two-day celemeeting hall. The prayers and extended famil y spirit , sense of bration marking the 200th anniversary of the witness are at the heart of it. respect for the elderl y and authorMarian apparition in Vietnam. Meanwhile ity, self-reliance , and simplicity May that prayer and witness 50,000 Vietnamese Catholics staged Marian of life. Each priest and brothe r endure for many generations. Days in Carthage , Mo., reports Father has a cell with a bed , desk and Anthony McGuire. chair, no more. The mysti que of the founder looms large as an ongoing inspiration. A priest of ike San Francisco Archdiocese , Father The congregation hosted the meeting of the Community Anthony McGuire has served as director of Pastoral Care of Vietnamese Clergy and Reli gious in the USA. There are of Migrants and Refugees at the United States Catholic over 500 Vietnamese priests and over 400 Vietnamese Conference since Oct. 1, 1998.

c/]

tinue his ministry beyond age 75 if his health and general wellbeing permit him to exercise a full ministry. 3) The educational requirements for admission to a diaconate formation program vary from diocese to diocese. Candidacy follows a period of formation and discernment usually lasting at least two years. Most diaconate formation programs are at least four years long from admission to ordination. 4) The Archdiocese does require and provide for a continuing education program for deacons and their wives. This includes at least two day-long workshops pet year and an annual retreat. Most deacons and their wives choose 1 have a few quick questions about the permanent dia- , to be involved in far more ongoing education than these required events. 5) The Archdiocese does accept candidates for diaconal conate in the San Francisco.Archdiocese. Are there parishes administered, either part- or full- formation who have children 12 years of age and under. However, the diaconate formation admission committee looks time, by a deacon? Is there formal retirement programs for deacons? What very carefully at the family life of a prospective candidate if are the educational requirements , both for candidacy and con- younger children are involved. It must be clear the demands of tinuing education? Does the Archdiocese provide continuing the diaconate fonnation program will not negatively impact the education? Does the Archdiocese regularl y accept candidates family life of a candidate with younger children. If there is conwith children 12 years of age and under? Do you offer pro- cern that this could happen , a prospective candidate might be grams for children of candidates? encouraged to apply for admission at a later date. The diaconate Andrew Casad formation program is primarily addressed to the candidate and University of California at San Diego his wife , if he is married. Althoug h there are events which include (Ed. note: Leon Kortenkamp of the Pennanent Diaconate Office the children of candidate coup les, these arefew, and it is primaroffers these replies: 1) In some parishes in the Archdiocese dea- ily the responsibility of the candidate couple to share fon nation cons assist the pastors in paiish administration. Some deacons experiences with their children in the home setting as a regular with professional financial backgrounds also serve on the part of their family spiritual life.) Archdiocesan Finance Council. In other dioceses throughout the country deacons have been assigned as full-ti me parish administrators. 2) The Archdiocese has a policy statement regarding the retirement of deacons: The normal retirement age for a deacon is CONSTRUCTION Project Managomont '" c ¦ Construction Management 75. A deacon can request earlier retirement, if health or other General Conduction factors make that advisable. A deacon can also request to con184 Harbor Way bolstering Latin American armies that turn their guns on civilians, the United States should use our tax dollars to promote grassroots movements for democracy and the defense of human rights. Stephen T. De Mott , M.M. Director of Social Communications Maryknoll Mission Society Maryknoll, New York

Questions about diaconate

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Family Lif e

Teaching by watching water. After two weeks, he could dog paddle with the best of them. "Back up, and I'll swim to you ," he called as we practiced at a nearb y pool. I backed up until I was standing about 30 feet from the side. Lucas adjusted his gogg les. He pushed off from the ed ge of the pool , kicking his feet and flailing his arms. It wasn ' t Ol ymp ic form , but it worked. I stretched out my arms as he got closer. "Come on , you can do it!" He splashed some more. Just as he was about to sink, I grabbed his arms and pulled him in. "Good job! " He beamed. "Swimming is more fun now that I know how." 1 thought ol the blond toddler who used to run unsteadily between his father and me. "Run to Mama!" Steve would say, pointing him in my direction. I'd turn him around and send him back. "Run to Daddy !" We'd play this game for hours. Sometimes I'd lengthen the distance between us by backing up a step or two as he came toward me. Other times, I'd move forward quickl y to catch him before he hit the ground. Seeing children master new skills is one of the joys of being a parent. Talking, walking, swimming, riding a bike, hitting a baseball , drawing a picture , telling a joke, learning a new game, memorizing math facts , cutting

snowflakes out of construction paper—eac h is an accomplishment worth celebrating and sharing. "Look what I built with my Legos!" "Want to see the game we made up ?" "Look at us , Mom! We 're up in the tree!" I spend a lot of time watching my kids. And that is good . Children learn best when someone who loves them is watching. "Children need witnesses as much as they need teachers ," one parent educator told me. It 's not only our knowhow, but our presence and encouragement that hel p them grow. Similarl y, it ' s God' s loving, watchfu l presence that gives us the strength to learn and grow through the challenges of our dail y lives. No matter how scary and new something may feel or how tentative our steps , Jesus is always there to encourage us , and ready to catch us if we fall . TRY THIS AT HOME: Think of a challenge you ' re facing—a difficult decision , a troubled relationshi p, a new skill. Now picture Jesus watching you as you move forward.

Children learn best when someone

who loves them is watching.

Christine Dubois

Watch this , Mom!" Lucas held his nose and dunked his face into the swimming pool. "See? I can go underwater!" "Hey, that 's great! You 're learning a lot!" One of our goals for the boys this summer was swimming lessons. Five-year-old Gabe made it throug h about four classes—stubbornl y refusing to put his face in the water or do anything else the teacher suggested—before we decided that swimming would be a good goal for next summer. But 9-year-old Lucas took to it like , well , a fish to the

Biblical significance of the number 666? \^. Could you comment on the significance of the number 666 as it rela tes to the teachings of theChurch ? I am associated with a company that has used a pref ix with these numbers on some records. Occasionally clients express concern. I understand the numbers are from the Bible. After searching the Internet , the ,» ''"'>&. only stories I ' ve come up with are pre tty much fire and brimstone. What can you tell me? (Ohio)

were designated by appropriate letters: A for one, B for two and so on. Try ing to find hidden meanings behind names in this way was not uncommon. The Greek name for Nero Caesar is Neron Kaisar. Transliterating that into Hebrew, and then adding up the number equivalents of the letters , gives a total of 666. Even though Nero had been dead for some decades before the Book of Revelation was written , he remained a notorious symbol of tyranny, so maybe there ' s something to it. But we don 't know. Interestingl y, several ancient Scri pture manuscripts and writings have the number 616 instead of 666. If the final "n " in the name of Nero is removed , which is possible, the total for the letter-numbers is 616. In any case, the controversy and attention given to this particular verse in Revelation is far beyond its importance in this remarkable book. Some of the spirituall y unbalanced fascination with this number may lie behind the rest of your concerns. I have written several times over the years about a company, also based in Ohio , which was accused in the grossest false and libelous manner of collusion with the devil , based on some elements in its corporate logo. The fact that some of the bizarre "evidence " offered to support the charges were proven to be totally unfounded did not stop the talk and the rumors. It 's another proof that if peop le wan t badl y enoug h to believe something, truth and the sinfulness of spreading falsehoods about someone else will not stop them. Perhaps something like this is happening in the situation you describe. (Questions for this column may be sent to Fath er John Dietzen, Box 325, Peoria , 111. 61651.)

QUESTION ' CORNER

A. As you may know, the Book of Revelation in the New Testament »» con tains numerous fantastic visions and apparitions apparentl y experienced by the ascribed author, John , the apostle. Briefl y, the visions and predictions describe in veiled language the persecutors of the early Christians , particularl y the Roman government , and proclaim the final victory of good over evil, of Jesus and his disciples over their enemies. In the 13th chapter of this book , the author speaks of an evil beast who will cause extensive destruction and suffering, whose name, or the number that stood for its name , was 666. Much controversy and speculation has taken p lace over the centuries about the meaning of this number. The most common interpretation refers it to the Roman emperor Nero , certainly one of the crudest among the persecutors of Christians. Unlike most modern languages , neither Greek nor Hebrew had separate symbols for numbers. Numerals

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LITURGY & SCRIPTURE Holy days of obligation should be treated like Sunday Throughout the summer Sister Sharon McMillan and 1 devoted these articles to a series of reflections upon Pope John Paul' s apostolic letter Dies Domini , a guide to keep ing Sunday hol y. As that series comes to an end , it seems fitting to consider holy days of obligation which have so much in common with Sunday and also to announce the calendar of these holy days f or (he year 2000. Hol y days of obli gation Quite simply put , holy days of obligation are feasts to be celebrated in the same manner as Sunday. While the title "hol y day of obligation " seems to focus only upon the duty to attend Mass , the full spirit of ihe pope 's guide to keep ing Sunday holy should be app lied to these feasts as well. Canon 1246 in the 1983 Code of Canon Law underscores this point when it actually defines Sunday itself as a holy day of obligation , stating that "Sunday...is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obli gation in the universal Church. " The actual list of such feasts has varied from country to country and from century lo century. In 1983, the bishops of United States reconfirmed a calendar of six holy days of obli gation which had been the custom here since 1884: the feasts of Mary, the Mother of God (Jan. 1), the Assumption of Mary (Aug. 15), All Saints ( Nov. I), the Immaculate Conception of Mary (Dec. 8), Christmas (Dec. 25) and the Ascension. Calendar for Year 2000 The precept to attend Mass on a holy day ot obligation depends on a variety of factors . Two of the feasts have hi gher priority than the other four. Christmas is always a holy day ot

Father John Talesfore obli gation no matter what day of the week. Because Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception , is (he patroness of the United States , Dec. 8 is always a holy day of obli gation , except in years when it falls on the Sunday of Advent which takes precedence. In that case, the feast is observed on Dec. 9. Three of the holy days , Mary, the Mother of God (Jan. 1), the Assumption (Aug. 15), and All Saints (Nov. 1) are not days of obli gation when they fall on Saturday or Monday.

(Thus in the year 2000 the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God will not be a day of obli gation because it will fall on a Saturday.) This dispensation is granted primarily out of pastoral concern for the great number of rural Catholics who have to travel many miles to get to church. By lifting the obli gation they are spared two such tri ps immediatel y back to back , either on Saturday and Sunday or on Sunday and Monday. Finall y, there is the Ascension. Out of the same pastoral concern, the dioceses of the western United States have had permission since 1994 to experiment with transfer of the feast to the following Sunday. (We alre ady do the same with the Feast of Ep i p hany and the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.) As a result of that successfu l experiment , the Hol y See has given the bishops of each metropolitan province in the U.S. the option to make this transfer permanent for their own area. (More on this in an upcoming column.) Taking into account all these factors (along with a very deep breath), the following solemnities will be observed as days of obligation in the year 2000: Aug. 1, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Tuesday) Nov. I , All Saints (Wednesday) Dec. 8, the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Friday) Dec. 25, Christmas (Monday)

Father John Talesfore directs the Office of Worship

Cut chain of unforgiveness and soar high and free

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Bozena Cloutier It was the last nig ht of our parish mission , and the visiting priest was talking about forgiveness. He offered an image: that we were like bird s, made to fly, but if we had unforg iveness in our hearts we were chained to a perch. Yes, we could stretch our wings , even fl y a couple of feet into the air , but the chain kept us bound to that perch. "Forgive," the priest urged us . "Cut the chain of unforgiveness, and you will soar hi gh and free. " He then invited all of us to file to the front of the church where a priest would be waiting and to say to him: "1 forg ive ...". I knelt in the pew searching my heart . There seemed to be no one in my life toward whom I harbored unforgiveness. Things ware good in my marriage. I was at peace with my family, my friends and co-workers. As 1 continued to kneel there 3 suddenly was overwhelmed by powerful emotions and memories. I broke out in a sweat , and tears choked me as I remembered my World War II childhood: the day news came that my favorite uncle had been executed in a concentration camp for listening to the BBC; the letter from Poland that told of my godfather ' s death and of how disfigured he was by brutal beatings so that even his own brother did not recognize him. Painful , bitter memories crowded in upon me. I stood up and joined the procession moving to the front of

Parish Prof ile

Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalm 95:1-2 , 6-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20

the church. Then it was my turn to stand before the priest. He held out his hands , and I grasped them. "I forgive the Germans ," I said. Then I moved away and returned to my pew — spent , but calm. Many of us know that forgiving anothe r is a gift that — by God's grace — we give ours elves. Harboring unforgiveness keeps us from flying fre e and corrodes our spirit. But Jesus says more. Much more.

ST . R APHAEL CHURCH AND M ISSION SAN R AFAEL 1104 F IFTH A VE ., SAN R AFAEL

History and community abound at this historical site of one of Marin County 's first churches. Mission San Rafael Archangel was built on Dec. 14, 1817, when missionaries decided that ill residents of Mission Dolores could better recuperate in the warmer .temperatures of Marin. The new mission was then named for God's healing messenger, St. Raphael. Father Luis Gil, one of the first Native American priests to serve at a Spanish Mission, said the first Mass here. The last of the original mission, which had fallen into serious disrepair, was demolished in 1861. A replica was built in 1949. A 16th century Mexican Colonial statue of Mary is housed here. The Mission Style St. Raphael Church was built in 1861 and the first pastor was Father Hugh Lagan. The church has undergone six renovations since then with portions of the 1919 structure still remaining a part of the current church building. The parish is home to many images of its patron including an altar-hanging from the late 18th century. It also has

many statues and figures from the California Mission period. Other examples of artisan work from the period can be viewed in the Mission Gift Shop. Parishioners , 3,000 households strong, come from heritages including Hispanic , Vietnamese, Haitian and European. The parish elementary school has 260 students. Many parish groups provide special ministry to the local community and the community at large including consolation ministry, liturgical ministry, parish council, Legion of Mary, youth ministry and ministry to the incarcerated. Pastor: Father Paul Rossi Masses: Saturdays: 5 p.m.; Sundays: 7:30, 9 (Vietnamese), 10:30 a.m.; noon (Spanish), 5 p.m. (Spanish) Founding dates: 1817 as mission ; 1884 as parish Seating capacity : Mission 100; Church 1 400 Phone: (415) 454-8141

"Amen , I say to you , whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven , and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. " Do we really believe that? To whom would it matter that a middle-aged woman in Texas forgave "the Germans "? To the commandan t of Sachsenhausen concentration camp ? Is he still alive , and does he even remember my uncle 's execution? What would my forgiveness matter to the guards who so savagel y beat Uncle Bruno? The very questions seem preposterous. And yet, and yet.... Jesus takes a radicall y different stance . It matters greatly. Jesus says you and I have the power to bind and loose in eternity, and God honors how we exercise that power. It would seem that God respects our choices and dignity much more than we do ourselves. That is tru ly an awesome thought. (Father David Pettingill is on vacation. His column that appears regularly on this page will return next week. Bozena Cloutier is a columnist f o r the North Texas Catholic of Fort Worth, Texas.) Copyright © 1999 b y Catholic News Service

Sister Kelly makes first profession; Sherry Dolan enters Mercies One woman has been received into the Sisters of Mercy and another has made first profession of vows in separate ceremonies this summer at the Motherhouse Chapel in Burlingame. A University of San Francisco graduate , Sister Maureen Kell y made her first profession Aug. 8. She entered the Order in 1995 after 26 years of work in the banking field. She has studied at both the Jesuit School of Theology and Franciscan Sister Kelly School of Theology in Berkeley, holding a master 's degree from FSTB. Before entering the Mercies , Sister Kelly had worked extensivel y with the aging community, at one ti me heading the Oakland Diocese 's Department of Aging. The past year she has worked at Maria B. Freitas , a senior residence in San Rafael built by Mercy Charities Housing. On June 5 San Rafael native Sherry Dolan was received into the Burlingame community in Motherhouse ceremonies during which Mercy President Sister Jud y Carle signed Dolan 's eyes,.ears, lips and hands praying that each sense would be attuned to God in , the works oi mercy. Last year Dolan left her work as director of human resources at Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield to spend the final year of Sherry Dolan her candidacy as a Graduate Theological Union student in Berkeley. . In August she moved to the Institute Collaborative novitiate in St. Louis for her canonical year of formation.

Associates conference in Burlingame

A day-long meeting of men and women affiliated with religious communities as "associates" will take place Sept. 25 at Mercy Center in Burlingame . The third annual West Coast Chapter of the North American Conference of Associates and Relig ious (NACAR) will draw participants from as far away as Hawaii and Mexico, planners said. Keynote speaker will be Pamela A. Bjorklund, Ph.D., clinical psycholog ist and adjunct lecturer in Santa Clara University 's Pastoral Ministries Program. According to NACAR officials, "Association is a movement within the Church which began as a result of Vatican II. Men and women are called to a deeper relationship with God, and find that being connected to a particular religious community is a way to live out this vocation while in the married or single state. Associates are invited to community meetings, celebrations and retreats, to name a few. Associates do not pronounce vows but do make a commitment to the community." For information on the conference , persons may contact Kathy Herrington at (408) 227-4228.

Jubilarians feted at Mercy A total of 340 years of service in education , health care , foreign missions , and spiritual ministries were celebrated at the jubilee for six Sisters of Mercy on Aug. 7 in the Motherhouse Chapel in Burlingame. Seated , Sister Mary Assumpta Murray (left) and Mary Sophia Newcomb celebrated 70-year jubilees. Celebrating 50-year jubilees were , from left: Sisters Rosaleen O'Sullivan , Barbara Cavanaugh , Frances Webster , and Mary Ann Scofield. Although Sister Sophia , â&#x20AC;˘ 92, is retired , Assumpta at 90 and the 50-year jubilarians are still working in ministries.

Notre Dame Sisters note jubilees

Sixteen Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur celebrated hundreds of years of service in California , Alaska , Hawaii, Washington and Oregon in a dubilee Mass Aug. 14 at Sacred Heart Church in Saratoga , Calif. Celebrating their golden (50 years) jubilees were , in photo from left: Sisters Aileen Marie Bermingham , Lois Hagerty, Teresa Ann Leahy, Cecilia Wallace , Frances Weinberger , Celeste Pagliarulo and Avelina Garcia. Three women marked diamond (60 years) jubilees: Sisters Rosemarie dulie Gavin , Julie Carmel Mingoia and Marie Wagner. Six platinum (70 years) jubilarians were honored: Sisters Joan Marie Donohoe , Ann Maureen King, Claire Marie Murphy, Virginia Marie Straight, Gabrielle Sullivan and Winifred Marie Wall. The Order came to California in 1851. Today more than 150 members of the California Province serve in diverse ministries. The Province is currently in the process of relocating from Saratoga to Belmont next to its sponsored schools: the College of Notre Dame , Notre Dame High School , and Notre Dame Elementa ry.

Marianists mark 150th anniversary This year is the 150th anniversary of the Marianist community's a rriva l in the United States from France in 1849. Pictured are Marianist brothers and priests who serve at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco which celebrates its 50th anniversary under Marianist guidance in 1999. Father Timothy Kenney is principal. Front, from left: Brother Kevin Thomas; Brother Michael Vollmer; Father Michael French; Father Kenney; center, from left: Brother Patrick McMahon; Father Michael Nartker; Brother Timothy Kim; Brother dames Leahy; back , from left: Brother Patrick Deasy; Brother Paul Fennell; Brother Thomas Redmond; Father doseph Lackner; Father dohn McEnhill; Brother Richard Olsen.

School of Pastoral Leadership The School of Pastoral Leadership will offer its fifth year of classes beginning Sept. 21. In addition to the opportunities named betow, titles include "Christianity: An Introduction to the Catholic Faith," and a course in Bible study. For more information, fees and registration materials call Joni Gallagher at (415) 242-9087. Sept. 21-Oct. 26 (Tuesdays): "Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home," with Jesuit Father Bernie Bush at St. Gregory Parish, 2715 Hacienda St., San Mateo from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Sept. 22-Dec. 15 (Wednesdays): "To Comfort Those Who Mourn," a consolation ministry course promoting an awareness of grief and the needs of grieving people as well as lessons in visiting the sick with Barbara Elordi, M.A., M.F.C.C. at Archbishop Riordan High School, 175 Phelan St., SF from 7:30 -9:30 p.m. Sept. 22-Oct. 27 (Wednesdays): "Early Christian Spirituality," with Sister Mary Ann Donovan and Franciscan Father Joseph Chinnici at Archbishop Riordan High School, 175 Phelan St., SF from 7:309:30 p.m. Sept. 23-Oct. 28 (Thursdays): "The History and Spirituality of Church Music," with Gerald Holbrook at St. Hilary Parish, 761 Hilary Dr., Tiburon from 7:309:30 p.m. Oct. 9: "How to Raise Good Children," a day-long parenting conference at St. Mary Cathedral, Gough and Geary St., SF with Michael Riera, Ph.D. and Dominican Sister Mary Peter Traviss. Nov. 27: "Praying with Scripture - Lectio Divina," an afternoon of dialogue with Benedictine Father Luke Dysinger at St. Vincent Chapel, San Rafael. Includes Ceremony of Lessons and Carols for Advent" by choir nf St. Francis of Assisi Shrine.

Retreats/Days of Recollection VALL0MBR0SA CENTER 250 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park. For fees and times call (650) 325-5614. Sept. 24 - 26: "Reflections Within the Womb of God," a weekend retreat for women led by Holy Cross Father Ken Silva and a retreat team including Sister Toni Longo, Oct. 23-24: "Finding Christ Within and Without," an overnight retreat focusing on growth in Christ among the challenges of living the faith in contemporary times. Led by Father Tom Timmins. MARIANIST CENTER 22622 Marianist Way, Cupertino. For fees and times, call (408)253-6279. Sept. 14: "Meaning and Wo rk" a look at the importance of meaning in our work and how spirtuality contributes to it with Mercy Sister Pat Galli. Sept 23: "Goals in Ministry: What are We trying to Achieve?" and "Facilitating Growth." Oct 12: "God at Work" looks at our call to cooperate in the ongoing mystery of creation. October 14: "Anger: Sin or Salvation?" and "Meeting the Dark Side in Prayer." MERCY CENTER 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame. For fees and times call (650) 340-7474. Sept. 11: "Dreams: Uncovering Our True Nature" with Mercy Sister Marguerite Buchanan Sept. 24-26: "Encountering Mary: Opening to the Healing Power of the Divine": Kathy Denison helps retreatants experience Mary as a haven of compassion rather than an unapproachable model of perfection. Sept. 27: "Autumn Day of Prayer"— As the crispness of Autumn is felt, Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan helps retreatants step back and reflect upon their own harvesting.

Taize Prayer Around the Cross 2nd Fri. at 8 p.m. at Presentation Sisters' Motherhouse Chapel , Turk and Masonic, SF. Call Sister Monica Miller, PBVM at (415) 751-0406 and at 7:30 p.m. at St. Luke Parish, 1111 Beach Park Blvd., Foster City. Call (650) 345-6660. 3rd Tues. at 8:30 p.m., St. Dominic Church, 2390 Bush St., SF. Call Delia Molloy at (415) 563-4280. 1st Fri. at 8 p.m. at Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame. Call Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan at (650) 340-7452. Ist Thurs. at 5:30 p.m. at Old St. Mary's Cathedral, 660 California St. at Grant, SF. Call (415) 288-3809.

Ecumenical & Interreiigious Dec. 1-4: "A Call to Oneness, A Conference on Compassion and HIV Disease" sponsored by the Multicultural AIDS Resource Center of California. Call (415) 777-3229. 72 Hours is an interfaith peace-building project set to take place on Dec. 31, 1999 and Jan.1-2, 2000. People of faith are invited to mobilize around five specific actions including a Peace Vigil and Call to Political Leaders. For information, call (415) 561-2300.

Reunions

ISM

Sept. 11: St. Robert Elementary School celebrates its 50th anniversary with Mass at 4:30 p.m. followed by buffet dinner and open house in Hennessey Hall. Alumni, former students and their families are encouraged to attend. Call the school at (650) 583-5065 or the Parish Office at (650) 589-2800. Sept. 18: Marin Catholic High School's 50th Anniversary Celebration and Gala. $19.49 ticket includes appetizers, open bar and entertainment, 6 p.m.-midnight. Call (415) 461-9434. Sept. 18: St. James School, SF celebrates the 75th anniversary of its current school building. All who attended St. James are asked to contact Marie Driscoll at (415) 642-6130 or by fax at (415) 642-9727.

Datebook Sept. 25-26: 100th anniversary of UC Berkeley's Newman Hall. Events include barbecue, prayer and brunch. Call (510) 848-7812. San Francisco's Archbishop Riordan High School celebrates 50 years in 1999-2000. School is in search of alumni and Riordan memorabilia for display as well as volunteers for upcoming activities. Call (415) 586-9190. Nov. 6: St. Paul Elementary, Class of '54. Call Dennis Creedon at (650) 692-9979. The Class of 1950 from St. Peter's Academy and St. Peter's Boys School is planning a 50th reunion. II you were a member ol that group, call Louise Johnson at (650) 358-0303 or Betty Robertson at (415) 7316328. St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School celebrates 75 years in October. Graduates, former students, teachers are asked to call (415) 563-5949.

Social Justice/ Respect Life Oct. 23: A conference on the Catholic community's response to violence will take place at St. Mary's Cathedral, Gough and Geary St., SF, from 1-5 p.m. Mass with Archbishop William J. Levada presiding will follow. Sponsored by archdiocesan offices of Public Policy and Social Concern, Marriage and Family Life, and Ethnic Affairs as well as the Respect Life Commission and Catholic Charities. Adults $5; youth $2. Call (415) 565-3672.

Consolation Ministry Drop-in bereavement sessions at St. Mary Cathedral, Gough and Geary St., SF on 2nd and 4th Wed., 2:30-4 p.m. Sponsored by Catholic Charities and Mid-Peninsula Hospice. Call Sister Esther at (415) 567-2020, ext. 218. Ongoing sessions: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish at the Parish Center, Fulton and James St., Redwood City, Thurs., 6-7:30 p.m. Call (650) 3663802. Our Lady of Angels Parish, 1721 Hillside Dr., Burlingame; 1st Mon. 7-9 p.m. Call (650) 347-7768. St. Gabriel Parish, 40th Ave. and Ulloa, SF; 1st & 3rd Tues., 7-9 p.m. Call Barbara Elordi at (415) 564-7882. St. Hilary Parish, 761 Hilary Dr., Tiburon; 1st & 3rd Wed., 3-4:30 p.m. Call Sister Colette at (415) 4357659. Structured 8-week session: Our Lady of Loretto, 1806 Novate Blvd., Novato, evenings or afternoons available. Call Sister Jeanette at (415) 897-2171. St. Isabella Parish , One Trinity Way, San Rafael, evenings. Call Pat Sack at (415) 479-1560. For Parents Who Have Lost a Child: Our Lady of Angels Parish, 1721 Hillside Dr., Burlingame, 2nd Mon. Call Ina Potter at (650) 347-6971 or Barbara Arena at (650) 344-3579. Children/Teen Groups: Call Barbara Elordi at (415) 564-7882. "Compassionate Friends," a non-profit organization offering friendship and support to families who have experienced the death of a child, meet on 2nd Wed. at 7:30 p.m. St. Anne of the Sunset Parish, 850 Judah St. at Funston, SF. Call Marianne Lino at (415) 892-7969.

About Y2K Sept. 2 through Dec. 2: USF presents free, public one-hour computer classes, with focus on possible Y2K problems, every Thursday, except Thanksgiving Day, in Harney Science Center, Room 232, at 11 a.m. Call (415) 422-6235 or e-mail wells@usfca.edu Sept. 18: "Endings and Beginnings," an end of the century celebration for women sponsored by Catholic Women's Network, 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. $35 or $15 for low income includes lunch and prayer shawl. Must register by Sept. 20. Call (408) 245-8663 or e-mail cwn@catholicwomensnet.org

About Health Sept. 18: "Health Fair" at St. Rita Parish, Fairfax, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., includes blood pressure check , guest speakers, screenings. Call Madeline Testa at (415) 459-7118. Sept. 20: Introductory square dance class begins , 7:30-8:45 p.m. at St. Paul Presbyterian Church, 43rd Ave. and Judah, SF. Call (415) 566-6911; (415) 2420729 or e-mail newdancer99@yahoo.com mi'.- '-

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Food & Fun ''

Sept. 17: "Celebrating the Events of the 20th Century," a silent auction and dinner benefiting scholarship fund of Presentation Academy alumnae at Presentation Convent, 2340 Turk Blvd., SF beginning at 5:30 p.m. $35 per person. Call (415) 751-1245. Sept. 20-21: Overnight "Reno Fun Trip" arranged by St. Thomas More Church community. $50 before rebates from casino coupons. Must reserve by Sept. 6. Call Mel Penna at (650) 755-8713 or Nancy Manion at (415) 333-2798. Sept. 25: "Feast by the Light of the Autumn Moon ," an evening celebrating the culinary arts of China and benefiting St. Mary's Chinese Schools and Art Center campaign. Call (415) 929-4695. Sept. 25-26: 15th Annual Sonoma Waves to Wine Tour benefiting Multiple Sclerosis Society. Two-day trek begins and ends at Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa. Fee $35. Call (510) 268-0572 for details. Oct. 16: Annual "Lake Walk" fundraiser sponsored by Catholic Charities' Little Children's Aid Junior Auxiliary. For information, e-mail Connie ©synergistech.com Knights of Columbus of the Archdiocese meet

NCADA (National Council on Alcholism and other Drug Addictions) needs in-office and 24 hour nelp line volunteers to perform challenging and rewarding tasks. Training and ongoing supervision provided. Call Deacon Chuck McNeil (415) 296-9900

Prayer/Devotions

regularly and invite new membership. For information about Council 615 , call Tony Blaiotta at (415) 6610726; Dante Council, call Vito Corcia at (415) 5644449; Mission Council, call Paul Jobe at (415) 3336197; Golden Gate Council, call Mike Stilman at (415) 752-3641. Second Sat.: Handicapables gather for Mass and lunch at St. Mary Cathedral, Gough and Geary St., SF, at noon. Volunteer drivers always needed. Call (415) 584-5823. Oct. 22: Archbishop William J. Levada is guest speaker at Irish Cultural Center. Call Leo Walsh at (650) 365-6184.

Young Adults Sept. 14: "Reconciliation and the Days of Atonement; Forgiveness in Jewish and Catholic Life," a Catholic and Jewisti Young Adult H»aHMm Dialogue , 7-9 p.m., SF Jewish : EPHB Community Center, California and ' 1n Presidio. Call MaryJansen at (415) [ jansenmar @aol.com Oct. 23 — Fall Fest '99: third annual day-long celebration for young adulls staged at University of San Francisco. Speakers, workshops , Mass, dinner, dancing (415) 675- 5900 for information. Web site is www.fall-fest.org

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Performance Join the Dominican College Chorus. Rehearsals are Tues. 7:30-9:30 p.m., Fall Concert, Nov. 19; Christmas Concert, Dec. 3. Call (415) 485-3275 Sept. 7: 1st rehearsal of Laudate Men's Chorus for 1999-2000 season at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, 180 Harrison Ave., Sausalito, 7:30-9:30 p.m. and continuing on Tuesday nights at the same time. A volunteer chorus open to men of all ages singing sacred music spanning the centuries. Call Gerald Holbrook at (415) 332-1765. Oct. 3: James Welsh , organist of Santa Clara University, will perform on the Schoenstein organ at St. Elizabeth Church, Somerset and Wayland, SF at 3 p.m. The artist recently recorded a CD at the church titled "Around the World in Under 80 Minutes." Admission is free. Call (415) 468-0820 Nov. 18: St. Luke Productions returns to St. Anne Home, 300 Lake St., SF with "John of the Cross" starring Leonardo Defilippis who has been performing lives of the saints since 1980. Call (415) 751-6510. Sundays in September except Labor Day Weekend: Concerts at St. Mary Cathedral featuring various artists at 3:30 p.m. Gough and Geary Blvd., SF.Call (415) 567-2020 ext. 213. Sundays in September: Concerts at St. Francis of Assisi Shrine by various artists at 4 p.m. following sung vespers at 3 p.m. Sept. 21: Vocal and instrumental Baroque ensemble; Oct. 15: "St Francis of Assisi - A story of Encounters" with music, images, text, Columbus and Vallejo, SF Call (415) 983-0405.

Volunteer Opportunities The Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns offers volunteer opportunities in social justice , respect life, advocacy and other areas. Call (415) 565-3673. Help special needs children with The Learning Tree Center, a non-profit organization that will train, supervise and provide ongoing feedback to you in a unique home-based program. Learn how to share energy, enthusiasm and acceptance. Call Arlene (415) 4572006. Most Holy Redeemer AIDS Support Group is looking for volunteers to provide practical and emotional support to people living with AIDS. For information, call Milton Headings at (415) 863-1581. St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Mary Cathedral invites you to join them in service to the poor: (415) 563-0863. Women in Community Service, seeks people to assist women making the transition from public assistance to the workforce. Call Gwen at (415) 397-3592. Bernal Heights Neighborhood Elders Support Team helps seniors remain at home with rides, food delivery and companionship. Interested volunteers should call Lisa Lopez Coffey at (415) 206-9177, Project Linus, a group supplying special blankets for seriously ill and traumatized children, needs blanketeers to knit, crochet and quilt. Call (650) 589-6767. California Pacific Medical Center is always in need of volunteers. Call (415) 750-6038. Catholic Charities' St. Joseph Village needs volunteer facilitators for its newTGIF program. Call Andrea Brady at (415) 575-4920, ext. 255. Volunteers are also needed for the computer lab. All levels of computer experience welcome. Call Kristen Rauda at (415) 5754920, ext. 223. San Francisco's St. Anthony Foundation needs volunteers for its many outreach programs to the poor: (415) 241.2600. Birthright needs people to work with women faced with unplanned pregnancies. For more information, call Mary Alba at (415) 664-9909. San Mateo County's Volunteer Center: call (650) 342-0801. For San Francisco Volunteer Center, call (415) 982-8999. Laguna Honda Hospital, SF is in need of volunteers to serve as eucharistic ministers, lectors and chapel escorts at Tues. and Sun. morning Masses, Call Sister Miriam at (415) 664-1580, ext. 4-2422.

For information about events sponsored by the Office of Charismatic Renewal of the Archdiocese , call (415) 564-7729. Sept. 25: "Introduction to Centering Prayer," 10 a.m.-3 p.m., St. Jerome's Comvent, 310 San Carlos St., El Cerrito. Call Coralis Salvador at (415) 5438338. Weekdays: Radio Rosary, 7 p.m., 1400 AM KVTO, includes prayer, meditation, news, homilies. Call (415) 282-0861. 2nd Sun.: Pray for Priests, 3:30 p.m. at Star of the Sea Parish, 4420 Geary Blvd. at 8th Ave., SF. Call (415) 751-0450. Centering Prayer: Mon. 7 p.m. - 8:15 p.m., Most Holy Redeemer Church, 100 Diamond St., SF. Call Sr. Cathy Cahur at (415) 553-8776; Tues. 7:30 p.m. 8:30 p.m., Star of the Sea Church, 4420 Geary Blvd., SF. Call Chuck Cannon at (415) 752-8439; Sat. 10 a.m. -12 noon, St. Cecilia Church, 2555 17th Ave., SF. Call Coralis Salvador at (415) 753-1920. Mass in American Sign Language is celebrated each Sun. at 10:30 a.m. at St. Benedict Parish, 1801 Octavia (between Pine and California) in SF. A sign language Mass is celebrated at St. Anthony Parish, 3500 Middlefield Rd„ Menlo Park on the third Sat. of the month at 10:30 a.m. and later that day at 4 p.m. in the chapel of Marin Catholic High School, 675 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. (at Bon Air Rd.), Kentfield. For information, call St. Benedict at (415) 567-9855 (voice) or (415) 567-0438 (TDD).

Family Life Introductory sessions of Seton Medical Center's Natural Family Planning program will be held through this fall.The office also offers educational programs for youth on topics including the changes that occur during puberty and the responsibility of relationships. Health educators are also available to speak about NFR infertility, adolescent sexuality, preparing for pregnancy, perinatal loss and drug abuse in pregnancy. Call (650) 301-8896. Retrouvaille, a program for troubled marriages, has upcoming weekends. Call Lolette or Anthony Campos at (415) 893-1005.

Single, Divorced, Separated For information about ministry available to divorced and separated persons in the Archdiocese, call (415) 273-5521 . Catholic Adult Singles Association of Marin meets for support and activities. For information, call Don at (415) 883-5031; Peter at (415) 897-4634. For information about "Beginning Experience," a group assisting those experiencing loss to move on to the future with hope, call (415) 616-6547. Call (415) 673-2200.

Lectures/ Classes/Exhibits Through Nov. 14: 'The Treasury of St. Francis Assisi," includes 70 rare works of art, many from the time of the great saint, at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 34th and Clement St., SF. Tues.Sun., 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Adults $8/Seniors $6/Youth $5/under 12 free. Call (415) 863-3330. Through Sept. 9: Architect Andrea Ponsi's "Copper House" at Museo ItaloAmericano, Fort Mason Center, Bldg. C, SF. Sept. 16: Book signing by Dan Wakefield author of "How Do We Know When It's God?" 7:30 p.m. at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera and on Sept. 17 at St. Gregory Episcopal Church, 500 DeHaro at Mariposa, SF at 7:30 p.m. Call (305) 532-8141. Sept. 21: Former San Francisco Archbishop John R. Quinn speaks on "Reform of the Papacy: The True Cost of Christian Unity," at St. Raphael Parish, 1104 Fifth Ave., San Rafael, 7:30 p.m. Call (415) 454-5579. Sept. 21: Jesuit Father John Schlegel, USF president, will speak on "Catholic Education in the Catholic University" at monthly luncheon of St. Thomas More Society at Banker's Club, top of Bank of America Building, 555 California St. $25. For reservations, call Carroll J. Collins at (415) 781-4365. Sept. 22: Unique opportunity to view 'The Treasury of St. Francis of Assisi," 6-8-p.m., California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 34th and Clement, SF.Hosted by Archbishop William J. Levada. $35 donation benefits Catholic Charities. Call (415) 844-4798. Oct. 1-3: "Empowered By the Spirit Conference" at St. Mary Cathedral, Gough and Geary St., SF, sponsored by Office of Charismatic Renewal, Father Joseph Landi, Liaison to the Archbishop. Speakers include Father Landi, Father David Pettingill, and Father Jim Tarantino. For registration information call (415) 564-7729. Parish festival committees: Please get information about your upcoming festivals to Datebook as soon as possible so Catholic San Francisco can help you publicize it.

Datebook is a free listing fo rparishes , schools and non-profit groups. Please include event name, time, date, p lace, address and an information phone number. Listing must reach Catholic San Francisco at least two weeks before the Friday publication date desired. Mail your notice to: Datebook, Catholic San Francisco, 441 Church St., S.F. 94114, or f a x it to (415) 565-3633.

Dom Helder Camara

Renowned human rights champion di es at 90

OLINDA , Brazil (CNS) — Retired Archbishop Helder Pessoa Camara of Olinda and Recife , a defender of the poor and world-renowned human ri ghts champ ion , died of cardiac arrest in Olinda. He was 90 years old. Branded the "red bishop " by the Brazilian military dictatorshi p he opposed , Archbishop Camara was known universall y to his people by the simp le, familiar title , "Dom Helder. " He died Aug. 27 and was buried at his cathedral Aug. 28 following a wake attended by thousands of mourners. Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on Aug. 29 declared three days of national mourning. At the Vatican , Pope John Paul II expressed sadness and called Archbishop Camara an "energetic pastor. " The pope praised the archbishop for his role in creating the Latin American bishops ' council and the Brazilian bishops ' conference. Cardinal Angelo Sodano , Vatican secretary of state , sent a telegram Aug. 30 offering condolences on the pope 's behalf

Dom Helder Camara to the archdiocese and the archbishop ' s family. Archbishop Camara was nominated four times for, but never won, the Nobel Peace

Testimony could crack bishop's murder SAN SALVADOR (CNS) — New testimony from a former member of the Guatemalan army about military involvement in the murder of Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera of Guatemala City has provided important evidence in the case, said investigators and Church officials. The new information came in testimony given in late August by Jorge Manuel Aguilar Martinez, former deputy head of services in the army-commanded presidential guard. Aguilar, described as a "trustworthy witness " by Church observers, is said to have

confirmed possible partici pation in the crime by officers belonging to the presidential guard , and provided an "important version of what could have happened " the night Bishop Gerardi was murdered. "This is going to be a great hel p in clearing the crime up. It will help us piece together the whole ji gsaw puzzle ," said the director of the archdiocesean human ri ghts office, Nery Rodenas. "I am more optimistic now we have this evidence," he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview from Guatemala City.

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Prize. He received scores of other honors and awards, however , including more than 30 honorary doctorates. At least 27 countries have made him an honorary citizen. At home it was a different story. His advocacy of land reform and human rights in the impoverished northeastern Brazil archdiocese he led from 1964 to 1985 earned him death threats and the lasting enmity of the military government then in power. "When 1 feed the poor," he once said, "I' m called a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food , I' m called a communist." As archbishop he lived the humble life he preached. For the past 35 years his home had been a single back room of the Church of the Frontiers in Olinda. The room was sparsel y furnished: a sink, a little stove, a table and a hammock hung from the ceiling. More than any other Latin American Churc h fi gure of his time, Archbishop Camara symbolized the fight for human ri ghts and the effort to involve the Church in the political and social struggles of the poor. He advocated nonviolent social change as the onl y permanent way to improve the

lot of the poor, who he said must be allowed to partici pate in economic , political and economic decisions. Born in the Brazilian port city of Fortaleza Feb. 7 , 1909, Helder Pessoa Camara entered the seminary in 1923 and was ord ained a priest in 1931, at the age of 22. He often received death threats and once, when he was out of the country, his home was riddled with machine-gun bullets. Ironicall y, in the 1970s his name was possibly better know n in Europe and North America than inside Brazil , because the government pressured news media not to mention him. It 'was in that context Pope John Paul , on a marathon 12-day visit to Brazil in 1980, visited Recife and embraced Archbishop Camara before a nationwide television audience. In a speech to a special disarmament session of the U.N. General Assembly in 1982 , the archbishop said , "The North continues to hold onto its riches, always increasing its wealth, oppressing the South by injustices perpetrated through the poli tics of international trade."

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Holy Names Sister Rita Donohue , a religious for 59 years, died on Aug. 4 at her community 's Convent of the Hol y Names in Los Gatos. The Oakland native was 79 years old. Sister Rita dedicated much of her life to the education apostolate teaching at several schools in the Archdiocese including St.

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Film explores brutal murders, path to peace in El Salvador

The hour-long documentary, "Enemies of War," also tells of the U.S. congressional investi gation prompted by the brutal murders and the path that eventuall y led the peop le of El Salvador to peace. The film was funded in large part by grants from the U.S. bishops ' Catholic Communication Campai gn — which is scheduled in the San Francisco Archdiocese for Sept. 12. Independent producers Esther Cassidy and Rob Kuhns said the documentary is designed to "pay tribute to the Jesuits who were murdered and to all the people who

WASHINGTON (CNS)—A new documentary produced for public television tells the story of the 1989 murders in EI Salvador of six Jesuit priests , their housekeeper and her daughter.

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worked and are working to make democracy in El Salvador possible. " Narrated by Martin Sheen , with voiceovers provided b y Rosie Perez and Edward James Olmos, "Enemies of War " is being offered to public television stations by South Carolina Educational Television. Check local listings for broadcast dates and times. Among those featured in the documentary are Reps. Joe Moakley, who headed the U.S. investi gation , and Jim McGovern, a key aide to Moakley. Both are Democrats from Massachusetts.

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Also interviewed are two former U.S. ambassadors to El Salvador; Jesuit Father Dean Brackley, who replaced one of the murdered Jesuits at the University of Central America; and Jesuit Fathers Jon Sobrino and Jon di Cortina , two other teachers at the university. The film also includes interviews with William Ford , whose sister was murdered in EI Salvador along with three other U.S. church women in 1980; Elliot Abrams, former assistant U.S. secretary of state; and Salvadoran opposition political candidate Ruben Zamora.

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Literary reading series features multicultural line-up and character

Ballet Folklorico

The University of San Francisco Master of Arts in Writing Program will be presenting free public literary readings and discussions titled "Readings at Lone Mountain " from Sept. 21 to Nov. 29 at Lone Mountain campus , 2800 Turk Blvd. between Parker and Masonic near Golden Gate Park. The multicultural reading series includes representatives from the Vietnamese, Latino/Hispanic and Jewish communities. The schedule is: Sept. 21, 8 p.m., Lone Mountain 140, Thaisa Frank. Her two collections of stories are Sleeping in Velvet and A Brief History of Camouflage. She 's co-author of Finding Your Writer 's Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction. The New York Times has described her work as possessing a "tantalizing sense of indirection. " Oct. 19. 8 p.m., Lone Mountain 141 , Truong Tran. He is the author of The Book of Perceptions (with photograp her Chung Hoang Chuong), a series of poetic meditations on Vietnam and cultural crossings by Vietnamese-American writers. Part one of this exploration in fragments will be published this fall as Placing the Accents. Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m., Lone Mountai n 148, Daisy Zamora. Nicaraguan poet Zamora is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Central American poetry. Her books include three collections of poetry in Spanish and two available in U.S. translations: Riverbed of Memory and Clean Slate. She was a featured artist in Bill Moyers ' PBS series "The Language of Life."

Featuring dances from preHispanic rituals to humorous and dramatic depictions of Mexico 's diverse cultures and folklore , the internationally acclaimed dance troupe Ballet Folklorico de Mexico has scheduled four performances at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts , Sept. 9-12, and in Berkeley on Sept. 14. For information call (415) 433-9500 or (408) 288-2800.

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and tense plotting. His award-winning novels include The Burning Plain, The Death of Friends, The Hidden Law, and How Town. The reading series was funded in part by Poets & Writers , throug h a grant it received from the James Irvine Foundation. USF's Master of Arts in Writing is a twoyear graduate pro gram for poets , fiction writers and nonfiction writers. For information on the reading series or the writing program call (415) 422-6243.

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Vatican Letter Imag ining afterlif e : p op e emp hasizes states of being By John Thavis

F J. or centuries , Christians have imagined heaven as a

blissful site somewhere "up there," God presiding , and hell as an overheated nether world full of very nasty demons. In a brief series of audience talks this summer, Pope John Paul II has sketched out a different and unusuall y modern picture of life after death. Heaven and hell exist, he said , but not as places of celestial merriment or eternal fire . They are states of being and not physical localions , said the pope, and the best way to imagine them is to reflect on significant spiritual moments in this life — the pain brought by sin, and the happiness experienced when doing good. The three talks on heaven , hell and purgatory in late July and early August set aside the traditional geography of the afterlife , which has been depicted in countless paintings and in such literary masterpieces as Dante's "Divine Comedy." The pope said physical descriptions of these ultimate realities always fall short; it 's better, for example, to probe the nature of communion with God than conjecture a material scenario for paradise. And it 's not quite accurate to see heaven as the dwelling place of God — God simply cannot be confined by such a concept , he said. Heaven "is neither an abstraction nor a place in the clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Trinity," he said. Hell , on the other hand , is the state of everlasting frustration experienced by people who have definitively cut themselves off from God, he said. The concept of hellfire , the fiery furnace and the "unquenchable fire" of Gehenna are all from the New Testament, and need to be interpreted as symbolic language , the pope said. Hell is not the punishment of an angry God, but a self-imposed exile by people who have used their freedom to say "no" to God.

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a Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch gave this interpretation of heaven titled, "Ascent into Heavenl y Paradise. " In his depiction human bodies are carried by angels from the darkness into the light.

Like the Renaissance painter Michelangelo, whose "Last Judgment " fresco adorns the Sistine Chapel , artists through the ages have populated heaven and hell with real peop le. But the pope was more cautious.

It could be that hell is empty of human souls. Or as the pope put it, we don 't know for sure whether any person has been "involved" in eternal damnation. Father Severino Dianich , a prominent Italian theologian , said the pope's remarks stru ck a balance between the "pedagogy of terror" used in the past and the modern tendency to pass over in silence any discussion of heaven and hell. The key to the pope's description is that, ultimatel y, human choice is the root of eternal separation from God or eternal happ iness with God. Such a choice occurs only in an individual conscience, Father Dianich noted. "So no one can say what may have happened when Stalin , Hitler or Judas had their final meeting with God," the priest said. The pope said the biblical images of hell should not be misused to create "anxiety or despair" among Christians. On the other hand, he wants people to prepare themselves for the final reckoning . As a "health y reminder " of the eternal consequences of human freedom , he advised that individuals pay more attention to their sense of happiness or distress in this life. They can be clues to the next , he said. For example, he said, the suffering caused by sin is often said to "make life 'hell' ." On the other hand, people living in grace can better enjoy "the good things that the Lord showers upon us every day," and thus get a taste of the joy and peace to come, he said. Another Italian theologian, Msgr. Inos Biffi , said the pope was hinting that "the person who lives in grace already lives in paradise." He said the pope 's point was that for today 's Christians, "trying to participate in these ultimate realities is more important than describing them." ¦m \ .a 111

John Thavis is chief of Catholic News Service 's Rome bureau.

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