Office for Social
Ministry
e-link
The Diocese
of
San
Diego
858-490-8323 #19
03/16/04
Dear OSM e-link Member,
On March 19, 2003, the Office for Social Ministry (OSM) delivered its
very first e-link bulletin, Number 1. Today, March 16, 2004, marks a
milestone with the delivery of e-link Bulletin Number 19. E-link is one
year old, and our membership has grown from 8 to 639.
The staff of the OSM would like to thank you for being a member and for
sharing the culture-of-life message with so many others. Your presence has
made a difference! Let us continue, in prayer, to promote life and dignity
throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties.
Again, thank you and God Bless!
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
OSM e-link - Bulletin #19
Table of Contents:
Reflection on Wealth, Catholics, and the Cessation of the PNI by Kent Peters
Key Upcoming Gatherings/Projects (please join us if at all
possible)
- Join Bishop Cordileone and OSM staff for Catholic Lobby Day,
Tues., April 27, 2004
- Stations of the Cross in Downtown San Diego on Good Friday,
April 9, 8:30 a.m.
- Join Westfield Mall Janitors to celebrate their first union
contract, Fri. March 19, 2004
Updates from the Office for Social Ministry
- Update on the closing down of the PNI
- Report on Culture of Life meetings in the El Centro Deanery
- Photo and story on Juan Melendez, exonerated after 18 years on
Florida's Death Row
- Report on the Choose-Life specialty license plate lawsuit -
great news!
- Catherine Ewers, SD Birthline founder, died at Scripps Mercy
Hospital on March 10.
Advocacy Feedback
- Report from Kent: just a few words on
the success of this round of the PNI
Advocacy Request
- Call Senator Feinstein on the California
Growers and Farm Workers Pact
Web and e-mail-based Resources
- www.gravityteen.com
- perhaps the best site ever for struggling teens - a must see!
Local and Regional Events/Gatherings/Projects
- Bioethics lecture by William Hurlburt, MD, at
UCSD, Tuesday, March 23, 5:00 p.m.
- St. Rose of Lima Gospel of Life Committee to hold vigil on Sat.,
April 3, 6:30 a.m.
Article/Statement for January 21, 2004
- John
Paul II's Address to the Members of the Pontifical Academy for Life
Remarks from Kent Peters
A Reflection on Wealth, Catholics, and the Cessation of the PNI
Signature gathering for the PNI was halted for two simple
reasons. 1) In this day and age, initiatives can only make it on the ballot
with paid signature gathering, and in this PNI campaign, it was estimated
that nearly 600,000 signatures out of the 1 million needed would require
paid signature gathering. 2) Given the per-signature price (due to
competition amongst initiative campaigns) had gone from 75 cents per
signature to over $4.00 per signature, the generous major funders of paid
signature gathering could not more than quadruple their donations.
The Office for Social Ministry would like to thank all the volunteer
signature gatherers for their creative and passionate efforts. Their
enthusiasm to bring about a change in the political and cultural climate of
California was truly inspiring, not only to us but to many pastors as
well. We also want to thank the donors for their generosity. The failure
of the campaign, however, leads me to share a thought borne of frustration.
If we were to add up the excess wealth of just the Catholics in California
(personal assets that go beyond fulfilling the actual needs of those
Catholics) we would likely find a figure that would stagger the imagination,
beyond 100s of billions. I can only ask one question. How is it that with
the intent of the PNI, a modest proposal to require notification of one
parent of a minor's intent to have an abortion, a proposal that is so needed
and so basic, that Catholic leaders of means could not see a way to step
forward and make this happen?
We will again, in the not-to-distant future, take up the PNI cause, but you
have my word that we will not ask the volunteer Catholic community to
participate in the effort unless Catholics of means have guaranteed that
sufficient funds are in hand to purchase the paid portion of signatures. It
is the least we can do.
San Diego, Pray for us.
Our Lady of Refuge, Pray for us.
Key Culture-of-Life Gatherings/Projects
The clock it ticking... as of
today, 22 parishioners have registered for the trip. That leaves 13 open
spots for our diocesan Catholic Lobby Day trip to Sacramento - Join
Bishop Cordileone, the OSM staff (Linda, Jim, Jo and Kent), and 35 other
parishioners at the 6th annual Catholic Lobby Day on Tuesday, April 27,
2004, at the Capitol in Sacramento.
Auxiliary Bishop Salvatore Cordileone will lead our Catholic Lobby Day 2004
delegation to the State Capitol. With nearly 1000 other Catholics in
Sacramento, we will learn more about issues, celebrate our faith with a
morning Mass, rally to show legislators our seriousness, and lobby our own
state legislators. To receive a registration form or to register by phone
or e-mail:
call 858-490-8323
or e-mail
jbrower@diocese-sdiego.org.
Cost for the day,
including airfare to Sacramento, transportation between the airport and the
Capitol, and lunch is only $99. Your parish may have
an interest in subsidizing your trip if you commit to representing the
parish in Sacramento. Please inquire.
Schedule for Catholic Lobby Day
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
6:40 a.m. Depart from the San Diego Airport - SW #1614
8:10 a.m. Arrive at the Sacramento Airport
8:25 a.m. Bus from Airport Leaves for the Capitol
8:50 a.m. Arrive at the Capitol, Register at the Crest Theater
9:30 a.m. Welcome and Eucharistic Liturgy
10:45 a.m. March to the Capitol
11:15 a.m. Rally at the Capitol (North Entrance)
11:45 a.m. Lunch on the Capitol Lawn
1:00 p.m. Lobby Visits to Member Assembly and Senate Offices (small
groups by districts)
4:00 p.m. Bus Leaves for the Airport (Debriefing Meeting on the Bus),
Dinner at Airport
6:15 p.m. Depart from Sacramento Airport - SW #163
7:40 p.m. Arrive back in San Diego
Past participant remarks on Catholic Lobby Day 2003.
Mary Jo Gretsinger of the Diocesan Tribunal wrote, "I found that religion
and politics do mix well. This trip is where values meet government, and it
was an awesome opportunity to reach out to my elected representatives in
faith."
Join us on Tuesday, April 27, 2004!
Number 2:
Downtown Stations of the Cross... The Ecumenical Council of San Diego will
sponsor the 13th annual Good Friday Walk with the Suffering/Stations of the
Cross on Friday, April 9, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the County Health
Building, 1700 Pacific Highway in Downtown San Diego
The
event features a procession through the downtown area with stops at various
public institutions to reflect and pray about those who are suffering
today--crime victims and those in prison, domestic violence victims, those
in need of affordable health care, housing, a living wage, immigrants,
victims of violence from war and terrorism, the hungry, the homeless,and
those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS or mental illness.
Students from University of San Diego High School will portray Jesus and the
women and soldiers who followed Him to Calvary on Good Friday. At each
stop, leaders from various Christian congregations and students from local
denominational high schools will present a brief reflection and prayer.
The students will act out the various stations at each site on the back of a
flatbed truck during the reflections and prayers. The procession lasts about
two and a half hours and covers two and half miles in the downtown area.
Among the sites to be visited are the County Adminstration Building, State
Office Building, Horton Plaza, the Federal Building, Metropolitan
Correctional Center, County Courthouse, and the pier at the end of Broadway.
Organizations invited include the Center for Urban Ministry, Interfaith
Coalition for Immigrant Rights, San Diego Organizing Project, Point Loma
Nazarene University, and Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice as well as
local private high schools. For more information, phone the council offices
at 619-238-0649.
Number 3:
Join
the janitors of the Westfield Malls and the congregations of Interfaith
Committee for Worker Justice to celebrate a victory. After a three year
struggle, the janitors have won union representation. Come experience the
joy of winning justice in the workplace. See below.
We have witnessed history in the Making.
Joseph
Mansolillo (photo to the left), commissioner with the Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service, completes the card count where it was determined that
Westfield Malls janitors had voted to join the Service Employees
International Union (SEIU) Local 1877. They did it!
The Westfield Mall janitors' first contract with The Millard Group,
Westfield's new and fair janitorial contractor, includes sick days, paid
holidays, and vacation, all for the very first time, and a pay increase of
75 cents per hour. To workers that had lived with minimum wages with no
benefits for so long, this is a great victory, and it's only the beginning.
Congratulations!
Celebrate "Happy
Hour at the Hall"
Friday, March 19, 2004, 5:30
p.m to 8:00 p.m.
SEIU Local 1877 - Union Hall
4265 Fairmont Ave. (just off of El Cajon Blvd.)
Drop in to have some fun and to congratulate the Westfield janitors!
Call the OSM, 858-490-8323 for
more information.
Short Reports on OSM Related Issues/Events
Parental Notification Initiative Stops Signature Gathering. Below is a link
to the PNI web site with a message on closure.
To view the message go to:
http://www.parentalnotification.org/PNIupdate.cfm. Or, click on the
photo below. See also the Report Back section below.
Thank you all for your hard work on
this campaign!
On two successive evenings, March 1 and 2, 2004, OSM staff, Kent, Linda and
Jo, visited with Imperial County parishioners interested in becoming parish
Culture of Life and Life Options coordinators. The new Culture of Life
Parish Coordinator Manual was unveiled, basic ministries were explained, and
scores of questions were answered. Below are photos taken at each of the
meetings.
At the Monday night meeting, Fr. Jaime Escobedo (third from the left), El Centro Dean and Pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in El Centro, takes time for a photo with participants from St. Mary's in El Centro, Our Lady of Guadalupe in El Centro, and St. Anthony of Padua in Imperial.
Fr. Ben Davison, Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Brawley, is seen with parishioners from St. Joseph in Holtville, Sacred Heart in Brawley, St. Richard in Borego Springs, and OSM staff.
Tentative plans are shaping up for a Culture
of Life Liturgy with Bishop Cordileone in El Centro set for Saturday, May 1,
2004. Look for more information on this event in e-link bulletin #20 around
April 7th.
The curious and the compassionate gathered to hear Juan Melendez at OMC Parish on February 26, 2004
Freed from death row on January 3, 2002, after being exonerated by a Florida
court, Juan Melendez (photo below) plans on spending the rest of his life
sharing his thoughts on the
uselessness
of the death penalty and the need to live lives with meaning. He shares
this message with anyone who will listen, but he especially impacts those at
the high school level who have been in trouble. They are lifted beyond
their youthful anger and dissatisfaction when they learn that Juan harbors
no bitterness after being wrongfully convicted, with prosecutorial
misconduct at the core, and brutally incarcerated for 18 years. To them it
seems like an overwhelming loss, but Juan believes that the experience was
planned well ahead of time. During those 18 years, God was molding him into
a man who could truly love and lead others closer to a life of love. It
might not seem fair, but that is now the past.
He is on a mission to chance hearts and minds and would not have become a "heavenly messenger" had those 18 years been spent as he lived before the conviction, "in aimless wandering and selfishness." His new life is sharply focused. His message is inspiring. His impact is phenomenal.
The OSM plans to invite Juan to speak to juvenile hall youth and parish youth when he is next in Southern California.
Michael Millen, the attorney handling the lawsuit against the state of California on behalf of the Choose Life specialty license plate proponents, announced on February 25, 2004, that, pursuant
to
the organization's request, the United States District Court has enjoined
the California Department of Motor Vehicles from issuing further specialty
license plates to non-profits on the grounds that the legislature's
process allows picking and choosing who may exercise free speech rights.This means the California "Choose Life" license plate may yet see the light of day! Also, in late January, the State Assembly Committee on Appropriations voted 16 to 0 to pass AB 477 out of committee to the California Senate. AB 477 moves the decision making from the legislature to the DMV where political correctness will not be a factor, thus satisfying the plaintifs in the lawsuit.
The message sent by the Federal Court to the legislators of California is clear. It is discriminatory to block viable specialty plate proponents because of their message. If we qualify, we should receive our license plates!
Click on the plate above to visit the web site on the plate. To view an article that provides more detail on this subject go to:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/auto/story/8333717p-9263866c.html.
It won't be long before hundreds of thousands of drivers are supporting adoption agencies and pregnancy care centers with much need financing by sporting the best-ever specialty plate on the market. More on this one soon.
Catherine Ewers, founder of San Diego Birthright and San Diego Birthline, dies at age 75 at Mercy Hospital
Catheirne Ewers was perhaps the most dedicated pro-life advocate ever to
serve in San Deigo. She will be missed. To see an obituary on Catherine
Ewers from the San Diego Union-Tribune, click on the following web address
or cut and paste the address into your address window:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040314/news_1m14ewers.html
Jack Williams got it right! May God Bless Catherin Ewers.
E-link Advocacy Feedback
First of all, I must admit to grieving the fact that the PNI effort has
been halted. Everyone had worked so hard to make this a reality. More than
55 parishes were gathering signatures, with some coming close to the one
thousand mark. Part of me would like to say this was a complete failure,
but upon further reflection, that statement would be inaccurate.
Think about it. Thousands of parishioners, especially those who had not
been approached two years ago during out last effort, now know how corrupt
California law has become. They ask, "Why should it take a state
constitutional amendment just to inform parents that a minor child is
undergoing one of the most horrible procedures know to modern medicine?"
This alone, the informing of our fellow Catholics, makes the effort to date
worthwhile, and it gives me the motivation to again embrace the PNI again
when the time is right. Yes, I'm saddened, but I'm also ready to fight
another day.
Again, thanks for your efforts. Keep the Faith!
Kent Peters
Please don't forget to report back on your advocacy experience to the OSM at reportback@diocese-sdiego.org.
This is good news!
Historical Federal Farm Worker and Grower Pact Receives Wide Support in
California and in Washington DC We still need Senator Feinstien's support!
Please Take Action!
Historic legislation is now moving through both the US House and Senate. The
"Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act" known as AgJOBS
is in the Senate as S.1645 and in the House as HR 3142. This bipartisan
legislation was hammered out between growers and farmworkers and is endorsed
by both agribusiness and the United Farm Workers and other farmworkers
organizations.
The bill will give agricultural employers a stable and legal workforce. It
will permit farmworkers who have been employed here to be legal while they
apply for permanent residency and to have legal status thereafter. It will
revise the current agricultural guest worker program and make it easier for
employers to obtain legal workers. It will permit guest workers to be
present without tying them to specific employers that could result in
modern-day indentured servitude.
In addition to the co-sponsorship by agricultural owners and agricultural
labor, this bill has enormous support from a bipartisan coalition in both
the Senate and the House. There are 51 sponsors on both sides of the aisle,
ranging from Orrin Hatch to John Kerry. In the House there are 90
co-sponsors, including 22 Republicans and Democrats from California's main
agricultural areas: Baca, Becerra, Berman, Bono, Capps, Dooley, Dreier,
Farr, Harman, Herger, Honda, Lofgren, Matsui, George Miller, Nunes,
Radanovich, Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Solis, and
Thompson.
In the Senate, Senator Barbara Boxer has signed on to this bill. We need
your help in the next few days to urge Senator Dianne Feinstein to support
this legislation as well.
Please call Senator Feinstein and ask
her to support the agJobs bill, S. 1645. Her Washington office phone
number is (202) 224-3841.
Ask her to get behind the bi-partisan/grower-and-farmworker-supported bill
that works for everyone, especially here in California.
Don't forget to report back at:
reportback@diocese-sdiego.org.
Thank you all!
Web and
Resources and Opportunities
In this bulletin we are featuring perhaps one of the best sites I have ever seen for youth. Any adult with children or with friends with children should check this site out. It's called gravityteen.com. You won't believe the sophistication; you will be filled with joy that some adults can be such positive influences in the lives of our children. God bless gravityteen.com. To see the site go to:
or click on the logo below:
New Local/Regional Events and Gatherings
If you are planning an event that falls within the mission of social ministry, send the particulars four to five weeks in advance to the Office for Social Ministry via e-mail, osmelink@diocese-sdiego.org. The OSM reserves the right to publish or not to publish any proposed event information. We hope this will assist your efforts to re-build a culture of life.
1. Presentation by William B. Hurlbut, MD, Member, President's Council on Bioethics, entitled, Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology, Aging, and the Pursuit of Happiness, on Tuesday, March 23, 2004, 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at the UCSD School of Medicine, Garren Auditorium
The ethical, legal, and social implications of biotechnology research present major challenges to sustaining regional innovation in biomedical technology. To enhance our understanding of these challenges and effective governance strategies to meet them, we are pleased to invite you to join the San Diego Science and Technology Council for a presentation on Tuesday, March 23, 2004 by William B. Hurlbut, M.D., Consulting Professor, Program in Human Biology, at Stanford University.
A member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, Dr. Hurlbut has been
engaged in the Council’s discussions about biotechnology focused on the
desires and goals of human beings. Dr. Hurlbut’s presentation on “Beyond
Therapy: Biotechnology, Aging, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, offers the
opportunity for you to join the national discussion of biotechnology and
society. The presentation is scheduled from 5:00-6:30 p.m. in Garren
Auditorium. (Garren Auditorium is on the first floor of the Basic Sciences
Building in the UCSD School of Medicine Complex - On Gilman Drive, just
north of La Jolla Village Drive, take a right on Sir William Osler Lane.
Parking can be found at that location and signs will direct participants to
Garren Auditorium)
2. St. Rose of Lima Gospel-of-Life Committee (293 H Street, Chula Vista) to sponsor Respect-Life Vigil on Saturday, April 3, 2004, at 6:30 a.m. All are welcome.
Please join St. Rose of Lima parishioners on Saturday, April 3rd for this important event. Participants will publicly pray the Rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet for respect for life. Pro-life (Life Chain) signs will be provided, although participants may bring images of Jesus and Mary or signs in Spanish, which are especially needed. There will be two groups: the first will meet at St. Rose in the parking lot at 6:30 a.m. and then carpool to the clinic, arriving at about 6:45 a.m. Those who cannot meet at the church should look for the group on the corner of Broadway and Anita Streets in Chula Vista. A second group will meet at St. Rose, inside the church, following the 7:30 a.m. Mass (listen for an announcement right after Mass). This group will then carpool to the clinic and meet the existing group at the same corner. Chairs will be provided for those who need to sit. If it is raining, the prayer vigil will be held inside the church. This will be a peaceful and legal activity. Those who cannot attend are asked to support this effort by informing others, praying, fasting or offering up sufferings in reparation for sins against life.
This event is sponsored by the St. Rose of Lima Gospel of
Life Committee.
All are welcome to attend. For more information, call
Evangely Aliangan at 619-427-0230.
Watch for OSM e-link bulletin #20 around Wednesday, April 7, 2004
Article or Statement for Bulletin #19
Following is an excerpt from John Paul II's Address to the Members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, which gives moral counsel and direction to those performing scientific research and development. Why is this so important today? Consider this. Scientists in California are moving to provide permanent financial support to manipulative and destructive scientific methods. Signature gathering is taking place right now for an initiative that would provide over 4 billion dollars over four years for those performing embryonic stem-cell research.
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PONTIFICAL
ACADEMY FOR LIFE
To view the entire address go to: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/2003/february/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20030224_pont-acad-life_en.html. or click the logo below.
4. I therefore renew my heartfelt appeal so that scientific and biomedical research, resist every temptation to human manipulation, dedicate itself firmly to exploring ways and means to sustain human life, to treat disease and to solve the new problems that arise in the biomedical domain. The Church respects and supports scientific research when it has a genuinely humanist orientation, avoiding any form of instrumentalization or destruction of the human being and keeping itself free from the slavery of political and economic interests. In presenting the moral orientations dictated by natural reason, the Church is convinced that she offers a precious service to scientific research, doing her utmost for the true good of the human person. In this perspective, she recalls that, not only the aims, but also the methods and means of research must always respect the dignity of every human being, at every stage of his development and in every phase of experimentation.