MISSION:
LABOR GUIDE:
SPIRITUALITY:
Hawaii pilgrimage transforms Marin youths
A section on Catholics in the workplace and the dignity of work
Faith formation for Chinese-speaking Catholics
PAGES 14-21
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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
www.catholic-sf.org
AUGUST 23, 2013
SERVING SAN FRANCISCO, MARIN & SAN MATEO COUNTIES
$1.00 | VOL. 15 NO. 23
Turnout for marriage celebration ‘great sign of hope,’ archbishop says VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
Nearly 1,000 married couples and their families attended the first-ever archdiocesan Marriage & Family Celebration at St. Mary’s Cathedral Aug. 17. “Your presence is a great sign of hope and vitality in our archdiocese,” Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone told the families who nearly filled the cathedral for a 9:30 a.m. Mass and attended brief talks in Spanish, Vietnamese and English for about an hour afterward. The event was part of the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s celebration of the Year of Faith and a renewed emphasis on building up marriage and family life in the archdiocese. “It is true that no family is perfect. All families experience tensions and conflicts to some degree,” Archbishop Cordileone said in his homily. “But if a family seeks to the serve the Lord, then the Lord will care for them as his children.”
God’s endorsement of marriage and family can be seen in the fact that Jesus, the son of God, placed himself under the authority of human parents, his creations, the archbishop said. “This is the wonder of God’s lovewhen God’s love is shared in a family, even where there are hurts, where there are bumps in the road, nonetheless, the family remains the greatest gift that God has given us after the very gift of his son Jesus Christ,” the archbishop said. He preached the homily in both English and Spanish. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Belmont, parishioner Cheryl Amalu attended along with much of her family: her husband, younger children, married daughter and son-in-law and grandchild. “Our pastor asked us to come and check out what might be useful to our parish family ministry,” Amalu said. Parishes were asked to send parishioners who could return and share ways to nourish family life in the
(CNS PHOTO/AMR ABDALLAH DALSH, REUTERS)
Egypt’s crisis deepens Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi shout slogans against the military and interior ministry during a protest in front of Al Istkama mosque in Giza Square, south of Cairo, Aug. 18. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in violence between Egypt’s security forces and Morsi supporters. Egypt’s Catholic Church published a list of 58 destroyed or damaged Christian churches, as well as a commentary by the country’s leading Jesuit criticizing the West’s characterization of “poor persecuted Muslims.” More coverage on Page 12.
SEE MARRIAGE, PAGE 25
Civil rights: 50 years post-march, where is nation’s and church’s voice? PATRICIA ZAPOR CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON – The news clipping files from early August 1963 are full of articles about Catholic and interfaith organizations encouraging their members to take part in the Aug. 28 civil rights March on Washington. The National Catholic Liturgical Conference, the Archdiocese of New York and the Minnesota Committee on Religion and Race, for instance, urged their members to participate in the massive gathering at which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech about racial harmony. One of the 10 chairmen for the event was the direc-
tor of the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice. Some of the prominent photos from that day featured Rev. King sharing the stage with clergy of various faiths. The 50th anniversary of the march this summer comes at a time when unease about race is again in the news, and more for the work that needs to be done than for the progress made over five decades. Since a Florida jury July 13 acquitted white/Hispanic George Zimmerman of murder and manslaughter charges in the death of African-American Trayvon Martin, organized protests around the country have sought to shine a light on the pervasive sense of distrust that African-American
men, in particular, face on a regular basis. In highly personal remarks after the verdict, President Barack Obama, Catholic theologian Father Bryan Massingale, a professor of theology at Marquette University, and Attorney General Eric Holder spoke or wrote about their own experiences of racebased bias. In a July 30 column for HNP Today, newsletter of the Holy Name Province of the Franciscans, Father Paul Williams wrote of recently being carjacked at gunpoint outside a Delaware church by an African-American young man. Though Father Williams is himself African-American, he wrote that he struggled with fear
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when approached soon after the crime by another black young man. “Racial profiling of minorities dehumanizes people who are basically good and law abiding, and instead are seen as criminals or potential criminals,” wrote Father Williams. “It makes a mockery of our belief in blind justice. As an African-American male, I don’t have the luxury of seeing all young black males in such a negative light. I know better.”
‘I don’t hear anything’
What’s been harder to find amid the Trayvon-related reaction is strong public responses from the Catholic Church, SEE CIVIL RIGHTS, PAGE 25
INDEX Archdiocese. . . . . . . . . .2 National . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . 30