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Dear OSM e-link Member,
E-link Membership reached 719 this afternoon. Welcome new
members! We hope e-link will become useful tool in your staying
current with social ministry issues and learning more about
activities that support a culture of life and dignity.
You may notice that October is jam-packed with events focused on
respect for human life. Isn't that great! Let's get out and
celebrate something that seems so foreign to our culture,
that human life is a gift from God, and that just one human life
better reflects God's nature than an infinite number of other
natural wonders.
As always, we remind current members and inform new members that
past e-link bulletins and this current bulletin can be viewed at
www.osmelink.org.
God Bless!
     
Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004 OSM e-link
Bulletin #26
Table of Contents
Remarks - an invitation to read Cy Kellett's recent article
from the Southern Cross
Key
Upcoming Culture-of-Life Gatherings/Projects (please join
us)
- Fr. Tad Pacholczyk, Director of Education for the
National Catholic Bioethics
Center, will explain the Catholic position on stem cells
and cloning on
Wednesday, October 6, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the
Diocesan Pastoral Center
- Life Resource Network's LifeWalk 2004 on Saturday,
October 23, 2004, starting
at 10:30 a.m. - two locations: Harry Griffen Park, La
Mesa, and Kit Carson Park,
in Escondido - Picnics to follow both walks at Noon
- Life Chain on Balboa Ave. Set for Sunday, October 3,
2004, 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
- Banquet, Feast for Life, to benefit Culture of Life
Family Services, Saturday,
September 25, 2004, 6:30 p.m., St. Peter Cathedral Social
Hall, El Cajon
- Fr. Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, to speak
at Diocesan Church
Ministers Conference on Saturday, September 25, 2004.
Register online
- Culture of Life Celebration and Mass in El Centro set for
Saturday, October 30,
2004, 9:00 to Noon, with Bishop Cordileone presiding
- The
movie, Therese, the Story of St. Therese of Lisieux,
Opens on Thursday,
September 30, 2004, at the Horton Plaza 14 Theatre,
order tickets today
Short Reports on Office for Social Ministry Related
Issues/Events
- Dr. Robert Buchanan, M.D. provided in-service on stem
cells and cloning to
Diocesan Culture of Life Coordinators on the evening of
August 26, 2004
Advocacy
Request
- Download the California Bishops' statement in opposition
to Prop. 71 and
share it with five other family members, friends,
neighbors, or parishioners.
Advocacy Reportback
- Carol Cope and Marge Thompson report Sudan calls
Web and
e-mail-based
Resources
- No on proposition 71 web site up, running, and very much
needed
Local and Regional
Events/Gatherings/Projects
- Marriage and Family Life Office to sponsor
mother/daughter tea and father/son
program in October
- Catholic Relief Services (CRS) speaker to address
progress in Afganistan at St. Brigid's
Parish on Thursday, September 16 (Tomorrow) at 6:30 p.m.
- Three special events marking the 10th anniversary of
Operation Gatekeeper
Article/Statement for September 15, 2004
- Essay by Cy Kellett entitled, A Few Radical
Catholics (a must read)!
Remarks from Kent Peters
Local Catholic Writer Challenges
Catholics to Get Real
Southern Cross (SOX) editor, Cy Kellett, hit the nail dead on
in his essay, "A Few Radical Catholics" first published in the
July 1st issue of the SOX. Since most e-link subscribers do not
receive the SOX, we have reprinted it in this e-link bulletin
(see the concluding article).
As you read Cy's article, I would ask that you ponder the
following question: How can we (the Catholic Community) best
persuade or influence both major political parties to embrace
respect for all human life, from conception to natural death,
and have this reflected both in their party platforms and in the
candidates they nominate? Your immediate reaction might be to
say that the Republican Party already reflects this ideal in its
platform and that the Democrat Party directly violates it. This
may be true, but beware, the Republican Party has several rising
stars jockeying for position to become the party's presidential
nominee in 2007, most who embrace abortion rights and are
comfortable with physician assisted suicide.
We Catholics need to come to terms with the fact that our
culture is slipping away, too quickly at that, and that gaining
political influence is something to be sought after if we are
serious about defending the unborn, the elderly, the seriously
ill, and those with disabilities.
The best answer I've seen to the above question will follow
in the upcoming October 7th e-link bulletin #27. It just
happens to be another article by Cy Kellett. Cy's article below
sets the stage for that answer and produces an urgency that I
find compelling. Please give it a good read.
We can apply pressure on both parties, especially at election
time.
Thank you and God bless! |
Key
Upcoming Culture-of-Life
Gatherings/Projects
Number 1:
Join the Office for Social Ministry
and Father Tad Pacholczyk, Ph.D. for his presentation,
Stem Cells and Cloning: Understanding the Scientific Issues and the
Moral Objections on Wednesday, October 6, 2004, from 6:30 to
8:30 p.m. at the Diocesan Pastoral Center, 3888 Paducah Drive, San
Diego.
Fr. Tad
(at left) addresses the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Science
and Technology at a hearing on human cloning. Photo
by Cory Silken, courtesy of The Pilot, newspaper of the Archdiocese
of Boston.
Along with principled scientists, the Bishops of California oppose
Proposition 71, the Stem Cells Research and Cures Act (see web
resources below for a complete description of the proposition). The
supporters of Prop. 71, however, have raised over 15 million dollars
for a massive advertising campaign in support of Prop. 71. Your
presence on October 6th will aid the Bishops in their campaign to
expose the fiscal irresponsibility of Prop. 71 and to inform the
public that most if not all of the grants from Prop. 71 will go to
research that willfully destroys human embryos and creates human
clones for experimentation and eventual death.
Tad Pacholczyk,
a Catholic priest and neurobiologist, is well suited to bring us up
to speed on both the biological and moral questions regarding
embryonic stem cell research and human cloning.
Stem Cells and Cloning:
Understanding the Scientific Issues and the Moral
Objections
$5.00 Registration Fee
Wednesday, October 6, 2004, 6:30 p.m.
Pastoral Center of the Diocese of San Diego
3888 Paducah Drive
San Diego, CA 92117
To request a registration brochure for this event call:
858-490-8323 or e-mail
Jo Brower at
jbrower@diocese-sdiego.org
Number 2:
Life Resource Network's Life Walk (pick the location closest to you
- La Mesa or Escondido) is set for Saturday October 23, 2004, with
check-ins at 10:30 a.m. and walks beginning at 11:00 a.m. Picnics
will follow both walks at Noon.
50 churches and organizations have committed to promoting this
year's Life Walk. Additionally, Journey Community Church and St.
Rose of Lima have agreed to host the Harry Griffen Park site in La
Mesa, and the Knights of Columbus at St. John the Evangelist and St.
Timothy’s are hosting the Kit Carson site in Escondido. If you are
interested in promoting LRN’s only fundraising event at your church
or organization please contact Linda Stewart at 760-929-1895 or
e-mail Linda at
liferesource@hotmail.com.
Grand Knight,
Jim McAllister, presents generous contributions from St. Timothy’s
Knights of Columbus to LRN Education Director Linda Stewart (right)
and Adoption Center Director Sarah Jensen (left)
Life Walk 2004
Saturday, October 23, 2004
10:30 to Noon (picnic starts at Noon)
Two locations:
Harry Griffen Park, La Mesa
Kit Carson Park, Escondido
For more information, contact Linda Stewart at 760-929-1895.
Number 3:
Life Chain 2004 is set for Sunday, October 3, 2004, from 2:30 p.m.
to 3:30 p.m. The sign pick up station will be at the corner of
Balboa Ave. and Genesee Ave. Please arrive a bit early to pick up
your sign and find a place in line.
Imagine
hundreds and hundreds of committed people of every faith on Balboa
Ave. starting at Genesee and stretching Eastward for blocks. Life
Chain is a prayerful, peaceful, legal event that has touched
thousands of lives for nearly 20 years. This is your (and your
church’s) opportunity to publicly stand up for those precious ones
in the womb and to call our nation to prayer.
Life Chain 2004
Sunday October 3, 2004
2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Call Biblical Family Advocates at
619-933-1839 for more information.
Number 4:
Culture of Life Family Services (COLFS) invites you to a Feast For
Life, a celebration to promote life-giving care in our community, on
Saturday, September 25, 2004, starting at 6:30 p.m..
 Honoring
Father Frank Pavone of "Priests for Life" with guest host Father
Mitch Pacwa of "EWTN LIVE," join with Emcee Mark Larson, Emmy-Award
winning host of KCBQ's 1170 am "Mark Larson Live" talk show
and special guest Catherine Hicks, actress and star of "7th
Heaven" TV series.
Evening festivities will include Mediterranean food, dancing and
musical entertainment.
Tickets are $100 per person.
Discounted youth tickets are
available for $25.
Call
Margi to make a reservation or receive an invitation
619-435-5014.
A Feast for Life
Saturday, September 25, 2004, 6:30 p.m.
St. Peter (Chaldean) Cathedral Social Hall
1627 Jamacha Way
El Cajon, CA 92019
Number 5:
Final Notice....
Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, to present at the
San Diego Diocesan 2004 Church Ministers
Conference on Saturday, September 25th.
Online registration and
payment is now available:
http://www.diocese-sdiego.org/annualconference/registration.asp
The
day will include a Eucharistic Liturgy with Bishop Brom, Keynotes in
Spanish and English, workshops in Spanish and English, and displays
from religious vendors and service organizations. The cost for the
day is only $15.00 (lunch on your own). Past Conferences have drawn
crowds of more than 2,000.
Fr. Pavone's (see photo at left) presentation, "We
proclaim the Kingdom, but can we vote for it?" will be a
hard-hitting reflection on human values, justice, and the
responsibility Christians must exercise in a democratic society.
Fr.
Frank will demonstrate how Christians have been given not only the
power to proclaim the Kingdom of God but the power to create a
society that reflects that Kingdom, with fundamental human values at
its core. Come prepared to be challenged.
***The
keynote speaker at this event will be Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto of
the Diocese of Orange.
Number 6:
Please join Bishop Salvatore Cordileone and Imperial Valley pastors
and associate pastors, staff from the Office for Social Ministry,
and guests, for a Mass to celebrate and build the Culture of Life,
followed by presentations on crucial life issues.
Presentations will include:
Stem cell research and cloning
Post abortion healing
Political Responsibility
Birthright of El Centro
Respect Life Mass and
Presentations
Saturday October 30, 2004
9:00 to Noon
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
153 East Brighton Avenue, El Centro
For more information call Jo Brower the Office for Social Ministry
at 858-490-8323
Number 7:
It's finally here. Luke Films presents, Therese, the
Story of St. Therese of Lisieux, at a theater near you.
The Horton Plaza 14, to be exact.
The film will run from Thursday,
September 30, through Sunday, October 3rd. That's only four days.
If it is a huge success that
weekend, the theater will extend the dates, if not, it will be gone.
To preorder tickets go to the
following web site:
http://www.fandango.com/theater.asp?theater_id=AABFX_LIVE&refreshdate=9/30/2004&distance=15&chain_id=REGL
To learn more about the movie,
go to the following web site:
http://www.theresemovie.com
We'll see you at the
movies!
Short
Reports on OSM Related Issues/Events
Number 1: At the August
Quarterly Culture-of-Life Parish Coordinators' meeting, Dr Robert J.
Buchanan of the Department of Neurosurgery of UCSD (see photo at
left) provided basic biological information on embryonic stem cells,
adult stem cells, and cloning.
In
the question and answer session following his formal
presentation, Dr. Buchanan shared reflections on being a practicing
Catholic serving in a high-powered scientific, medical and research
community. We commend him for the witness he brings to UCSD.
The Office for Social
Ministry thanks Dr. Buchanan for taking time out of his busy
surgery, teaching, and visitation schedule to share his expertise
with culture-of-life leaders in the Diocese of San Diego.
May the time spent with Dr. Buchanan be fruitful as we fight the
good fight in opposition to Proposition 71.
e-link Advocacy
REQUEST
Starting in late September, we will be flooded with television
commercials and direct mail in support of Proposition 71, the
Stem Cell Research. Funding. Bonds. Initiative
Constitutional Amendment and Statute.
Supporters have raised over 16 million dollars for their media
campaign, some of which came from those who will likely benefit from
the 3 billion dollars that will be placed in the hands of
researchers over ten years.
Opponents (that's us) have raised less than a quarter of a million
dollars. We will be outspent by a ratio of at least 64 to 1.
There is good news, however. Polling is showing
that the general public has grown very uncomfortable with research
that requires the destruction of human embryos or allows the
creation of human embryos via cloning for eventual destruction, and
that's just the kind of research that this initiative will fund.
Here is what we would like you to do. It requires
only three simple steps.
1.
Download the California Catholic Bishops' letter opposed to
Prop. 71 from the California Catholic Conference web site. Just
below is the link to the letter in a Pdf format:
http://www.cacatholic.org/docs/BishopsStatement40907.pdf
2.
Print out five copies of the Bishops' letter on your printer.
3.
Share the five copies of the Bishops' letter with five family
members, friends, neighbors or parishioners and ask them to read the
letter.
And then, as always, please report back via e-mail
reportback@diocese-sdiego.org on how your advocacy went.
Thank you for joining in the struggle to protect prenatal human
life.
e-link Advocacy REPORTBACK
Last week I made a phone call as you recommended to John Danforth,
U.N. Ambassador. His staff--a very polite woman (whose name I
neglected to get)-- advised me that the Danfur-specific Resolution
had passed on Friday, July 30th and would be brought before the
global community. She implied something about 30 days so am not
sure if that's the length of time the nations have to comply. I
have not had time to follow-up so it might be interesting for more
info. to be in the next e-link.
Respectfully, Mrs. Carol Kope
I called Pres Bush & Amb Danforth re. Darfur. Got right through at
6:30 am our time and spoke with live persons.
Marge Thompson
Thanks Carol and Marge for reporting back on your calls!
Web and
e-mail-based Resources
Who makes up the No-On-Proposition-71 community?
They are Doctors, Patients, Taxpayers for Fiscal Responsibility, and
members of the faith community.
Please visit the noonprop71.com web site to learn more about this
important issue:
http://www.noonprop71.com
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 local efforts to re-build a culture of life.
1. Marriage and Family Life Office of the Diocese of San
Diego to hold Chastity Educational Programs for parents, daughters
and sons.
The San Diego Diocesan Office for Marriage and Family Life is
presenting a Mother/Daughter Tea for 7th-9th grade girls and their
mother on Sunday October 10th from 1-4:30 pm, and a Father/Son
Program for 11-14 year old boys and their fathers on Sunday October
17th from 1-4:30 p.m.
Both programs will be held at St. Timothy’s, 3900 Canyon Road,
Escondido. For reservations and information call Betty Vega 619 448
0467 (Mother/Daughter) and Carmela Cavero 858 694 0254 (Father/Son).
2. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Afghanistan Program Manager, Lynn
Robson, to speak on peace in Afghanistan at St. Brigid Parish on
Thursday, Sept. 16, from 6:30 p.m to 7:30 p.m.
Afghanistan Today: Prospects for Peace
Lynn Robson, Program Manager for Catholic Relief Services in
Afghanistan, will speak on the current economic, political and
social reality in Afghanistan, and the efforts by CRS and other
organizations to rebuild the country.
Thursday, September 16, 2004, 6:30-7:30 PM
St. Brigid's Parish Hall. 4735 Cass Street, Pacific Beach, San
Diego, 92109
CRS is the official overseas relief and development agency of the US
Catholic Community working in 94 countries around the world
3. Three events marking the 10th Anniversary of Operation
Gatekeeper.
This October marks the 10th Anniversary of Operation Gatekeeper.
Operation Gatekeeper, while attempting to seal off the California
border with Mexico by increasing Border Patrol officers and
construction of new fences, has shifted the migration flow to the
mountains and deserts. Close to 3,000 people have died while trying
to cross the border. Opponents of Operation Gatekeeper claim that
one death is too many, while supporters claim that it is an
effective response to the problem of illegal immigration. The
following are just some events that are occurring on the weekend of
the anniversary of Operation Gatekeeper.
1. ¡Ni Una Muerte Más! No More Deaths! Saturday, 2 October, 8
a.m. – 1 p.m. USD University Center – Forum B
This conference co-sponsored by Border Angels, Office for Social
Ministry, Institute for Mexicans Abroad–Border Commission, USD
Center for Christian Spirituality, Interfaith Coalition for
Immigrant Rights, will feature a discussion on Operation
Gatekeeper, seek ideas and solutions, and highlight some of the
stories of those who have died while crossing the border. For
more information call 619 269-7865 or 619 696-1210
2. Sunday, 3 October, 11:30 a.m.
Bi-National Mass / Misa at the Border Fence
Border Field State Park – San Ysidro
Concelebrants: Padre Luis of Casa del Migrante, Tijuana
Father Henry Rodriguez of Saint Jude’s, San Diego
For more information call Office for Social Minsitry, 858 490-8323
3. Sunday, 3 October, 3-5 p.m.
“Rolling Thunder” A Campaign for fairness. Public meeting with
officials on Immigration reform, Affordable Housing, Education and
Healthcare
Town and Country Convention Center, Mission Valley
For more information contact 619 474-8916
Watch for OSM e-link bulletin
#27 around Thursday, October 7, 2004
Article/Statement for September 15,
2004
A Few Radical Catholics
By Cyril Jones-Kellett
Recently I came across a headline to one of the many articles on the
fractious topic of communion and abortion. This one quoted a
Midwestern bishop: “Denying Communion on Abortion Is Last Resort,
Bishop Says.” I have to admit that my first thought on reading the
headline was, “Fine, but what’s the first resort?”
Most Catholics want something to be done, even if they don’t think
communion is the place to wage the battle. How are we going to make
clear to our brothers and sisters in public life that support for
the destruction of innocent human life is unacceptable?
One sympathizes with bishops who don’t want to turn Eucharist into
political street theater, especially on the eve of what promises to
be a bitter election. But the problem remains: how can it be made
clearer that public support for abortion by prominent Catholics is
scandalous? It is contributing to the deaths of children and it is
diluting the witness of the Church.
You can’t remain a Catholic in good standing and have an abortion.
You can’t remain a Catholic in good standing and perform an
abortion. You can’t remain a Catholic in good standing and pay for
an abortion or help a woman procure an abortion. All of this is
settled Church law. Each of these actions results in automatic
excommunication.
But you can vote in legislatures again and again and again for even
the most extreme forms of abortion and claim to be a Catholic in
good standing. Not only can you claim this, you can reasonably
believe it because the Church is unlikely in any serious way to
challenge you.
I had lunch with an evangelical minister not long ago and I would
say he had the usual evangelical suspicions about Catholics. But he
said to me, “I will say one thing for you Catholics, you have really
led the way in the pro-life movement and I’m grateful to you for
that.”
Who is he grateful to? The Catholics who have led the way in the
pro-life movement have been, for the most part, a fringe group,
poorly funded and weakly supported by most of the rest of us. These
people have kept this issue alive for more than a generation, often
in the face of tremendous discouragement, including the derision of
many of their fellow Catholics.
They have worked with Protestants, with Jews, with Muslims, with
atheists, with anybody who would help. They have been the very
model of how Catholic engagement in the political sphere is supposed
to work.
Over the last three decades, nothing the Church has done has been
more courageous or more important.
And, sure, there are plenty of issues to go around. There will
always be plenty of issues to go around.
But abortion is not just one “issue” among many—it is the moral
challenge of our age. One age faced slavery, another the Holocaust,
others faced other watershed moral challenges.
The challenge of our age is abortion.
Because our culture has so adamantly failed to face it, it is now
corroding other areas of our public life as we head toward
innovations such as creating humans for experimentation, cloning
humans and allowing our elders to kill themselves when we get tired
of them.
The widespread resort to the killing of innocents is the monster
that we must face, just as others faced slavery or holocaust or
tyranny.
William Wells Brown, writing during the age of slavery, said the
only friends of the slaves were “a few radical Quakers.”
Those radical Quakers looked foolish to their contemporaries; now we
can see that they were heroes.
A few radical Catholics make a similar impression today, and will
shine as heroes for the generations to come.
More of us should be among them. It’s not, at root, about who goes
to communion; it is about who lives and who dies.
It is about where Christ’s people come down on the whole issue of
slaughtering the innocents.
We should all be asking ourselves how we can clarify the Church’s
public witness in favor of the innocent. And thanking God that
others have carried the banner while we make up our minds. |
