RESPECT LIFE:
WOMEN’S DAY:
HOLY WEEK:
26th annual Respect Life Essay Contest winners celebrated
Low-income women get career makeovers at St. Anthony’s
Entering the mystery of Jesus’ suffering and death
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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
SERVING SAN FRANCISCO, MARIN & SAN MATEO COUNTIES
www.catholic-sf.org
MARCH 27, 2015
$1.00 | VOL. 17 NO. 9
Pope preaches hope to jobless, immigrants, prisoners CINDY WOODEN
150-plus children sing in sacred music festival at cathedral
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY – Hope is the first act of resistance to evil, Pope Francis told the people of Naples as he pleaded for respect for the dignity of immigrants, jobs for the unemployed and the conversion of the city’s notorious mafia families. “The Gospel teaches that the truly blessed are the poor in spirit, the nonviolent, the meek, those who work for peace and justice. This is the force that will change the world,” the pope said March 21 as he celebrated Mass in Naples’ iconic Piazza del Plebiscito. “Dear Neapolitans,” he said in his homily, “don’t let anyone steal your hope! Don’t give in to the lure of easy money or dishonest income. ... React firmly against organizations that exploit and corrupt the young, the poor and the weak with the cynical sale of drugs and other crimes. Don’t let anyone steal your hope!” Pope Francis’ 10-hour visit began with a brief stop for prayer at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii and included a visit to a notoriously rough “periphery” neighborhood, Mass in the center of town, lunch at a local prison, a meeting with priests and religious, a visit with the sick and a seaside gathering with young people and the elderly. As he was being driven along the waterfront at the SEE POPE, PAGE 13
VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
(CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING)
More than 150 children from as far as Los Angeles and Monterey joined with children from St. Mary’s Cathedral choirs for a daylong Pueri Cantores music festival March 14, continuing a Vatican music tradition begun in 1944. The day of intensive music training led by a professional choir director culminated in a 5:30 p.m. Mass celebrated by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone. Archbishop Cordileone praised the singers, choir directors, parents and festival organizers for “instilling right worship of God.” “They are looking to do their very best and to bring their gifts to God during the course of the Mass,” said Richard Robbins, the choral director who led the Pueri Cantores rehearsals and conducted the children singing during the Mass. “We have the kids for one day. We work really hard.” “I like singing,” said Sophie, 9, who came to the festival with the San Carlos Cathedral Children’s Choir of Monterey. “We get to sing different songs and we get to sing verses.” Pueri Cantores or children singers in English
People attend Pope Francis’ celebration of Mass in Piazza Plebiscito in Naples, Italy, March 21.
SEE SACRED MUSIC, PAGE 22
Not just pretty pictures: Church art is catechetical storybook of faith CAROL GLATZ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY– Having so much world-famous art housed in Rome’s churches and chapels has risked turning the city’s sacred spaces into sightseer circuses. A hushed prayerful atmosphere for the faithful is often broken by clicking cameras and tourists exchanging guidebook details. But one Rome attraction has managed to hold on to its spiritual side, according to the rector of the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs. Located across a busy street from the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the sanctuary remains “a place of prayer” even as thousands of people stream through its doors every day, Passionist Father Francesco Guerra told Catholic News Service. “It is felt to be a sacred place” not just by Catholics and Orthodox Christians, but even people of
(CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING)
A statue of Jesus with a tear in his eye is seen as restoration progresses at the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs in Rome March 10.
other faiths like Hindus and Buddhists as they are drawn to the sanctuary’s spiritual atmosphere, he said in early March. “Our job is to keep the Holy Stairs a holy place,” he whispered as he pointed to what he saw as a sign of success: two tourists quietly and respectfully walking through a chapel while a dozen faithful were seated or standing in prayer. The Gospel story of Jesus driving the moneychangers out of the temple is a kind of mandate about the importance of keeping these spaces focused on the sacred, he said. “Even if it’s a place of great art, a church is always a place of prayer,” Father Guerra said. The Holy Stairs, according to tradition, are the ones Jesus climbed when Pontius Pilate brought him before the crowd and handed him over to be crucified. The 28 marble steps, some spattered with SEE CHURCH ART, PAGE 16
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INDEX On the Street . . . . . . . . .4 National . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . .26