PARISH PASTORAL COUNCILS --- St. Joseph of Carondolet Sister Carol Quinlivan facilitates a workshop on how parish pastoral councils can create and foster an effective team spirit at the San Fernando Pastoral Region Formation Day for Parish Pastoral Councils. More than 250 people from 68 parishes attended the Sept. 29 event at Providence High School in Burbank. Auxiliary Bishop Gerald Wilkerson gave the keynote and workshops were offered in English and Spanish on such topics as the role and function of parish pastoral councils, developing a parish mission statement, discernment of gifts, and how to run an effective meeting. The day was organized by the archdiocesan Office of Synod Implementation.
Archdiocese offers trauma recovery program Nov. 3 and 10
LOS ANGELES --- The archdiocesan Office of Victims Assistance Ministry is offering a program for adult survivors of childhood abuse or neglect in November: "A Faith-Based Response to Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse and Neglect."
This trauma recovery program uses a psycho-educational model. The model is "educational" in that it teaches how the trauma of childhood abuse and neglect typically impacts individuals. It is "psycho-educational" in that it provides tools for participants to safely examine and regulate their feelings, thought patterns and behavior. The entire program is presented in the context of prayer for God's healing and is not a psychotherapy group.
"The program is not just for people who suffered from childhood sexual abuse," said Suzanne Healy, a licensed marriage family therapist and director of Victims Assistance Ministry. "It's for any kind of traumatic child abuse like physical abuse or neglect."
The program will be offered on two consecutive Saturdays, Nov. 3 and 10, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Westwood. A voluntary donation of $25 will help to defray costs.
There will be a short telephone interview to assess participation in the group. For more information or to register, please contact either Suzanne Healy or Holy Child Jesus Sister Sheila McNiff, consultant, at (213) 637-7650.
Miller responds to criticism about poster; Christians among critics
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) --- Miller Brewing Co. said it is reviewing its promotions policy after Christian groups expressed outrage over a poster for a San Francisco street fair that mimicked Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" with a sadomasochistic theme. The company, whose logo was on the poster, said in a statement posted on its Web site Oct. 1: "We are conducting an immediate audit of our procedures for approving local marketing and sales sponsorships to ensure that this does not happen again." The company repeated an earlier statement saying that although it has supported the Folsom Street Fair for several years it objects to this year's poster and admits some people may find the image offensive. "We regret that our failure to adhere to our own policy led to an inappropriate use of our trademark and apologize to anyone who was offended as a result, particularly members of the Christian community who have contacted us to express their concern," the Milwaukee-based brewing giant said. The Folsom Street Fair is one of four annual "fetish events" in San Francisco produced by Folsom Street Events to support local charities serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. Miller noted that the fair's marketing does not target the general public and is aimed at the "adult alternative lifestyle community."
Orange Diocese to pay $7 million to women abused by lay employees
ORANGE (CNS) --- Bishop Tod D. Brown of Orange has agreed to settle four sexual abuse cases involving lay employees of the church and female high-school students for nearly $7 million. The settlement, announced Oct. 2, was in addition to a $100 million settlement in 2005 involving 90 claimants alleging sexual abuse by clergy of the Orange Diocese. "The settlement of these civil cases represents the moral obligation of the church for such behavior by adults in positions of responsibility," Bishop Brown said in a statement. "By settling these cases I sincerely hope that it will enable the women who brought these actions to begin the process of healing and reconciliation." One of the cases, Jane C.R. Doe v. Andrade, Mater Dei High School and the Diocese of Orange, had been scheduled to go to trial the week of Oct. 8. It involved allegations against former Mater Dei assistant basketball coach Jeff Andrade by a former student who said she was molested for more than a year in the 1990s, beginning when she was 15. The other cases involved another Mater Dei faculty member, a teacher at Santa Margarita Catholic High School and a choir director at two parishes in the Orange Diocese. All of the abuse was alleged to have occurred between 1990 and 1999.
Bishop joins effort to erect Gandhi monument in Nevada capital
RENO (CNS) --- Bishop Randolph R. Calvo of Reno has joined with an interfaith group of clergy in calling for a monument to Hindu leader Mahatma Gandhi to be erected in the Nevada capital of Carson City. The Gandhi Monument Council of Nevada said it would also ask for life-size statues of Gandhi to be erected in Las Vegas and Reno. Bishop Calvo signed a petition calling for the statues following an interfaith clergy luncheon in Reno in late September, according to council coordinators Rajan Zed, who is Hindu, and the Rev. Gene Savoy Jr., a minister of the International Community of Christ. The aim of the council, according to a news release, is "to commemorate Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence, his commitment to world peace and his work" to uplift the downtrodden. The release said Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1948, "continues to be widely revered as one of the greatest moral, political and peace leaders of the 20th century."
World Jewish leaders meet with pope, discuss anti-Semitism
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI welcomed the new leaders of the World Jewish Congress to the Vatican. Ronald S. Lauder, elected president of the congress in June, said his talks at the Vatican Oct. 8 focused on interreligious dialogue and on anti-Semitism in a number of European countries. While the congress issued a press release after the meeting, the Vatican simply announced that the pope had met the officers of the congress, which represents Jewish communities in more than 80 countries. The congress' statement said Lauder, a former U.S. ambassador to Austria, told the pope that "the anti-Semitic statements" attributed to Redemptorist Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, founder and director of Poland's Radio Maryja, "should not be tolerated anymore." Lauder "called on the pontiff to take action against those in the church who wanted to do damage to the close and positive relationship between Christians and Jews," the statement said. Father Rydzyk, whose radio station ranks fifth in Poland's national ratings, repeatedly has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks. |