2010 articles
Archaeologist invites believers to Jordan
BETHANY BEYOND THE JORDAN, Jordan – The dignitaries drove through the underbrush in a caravan of 13 golf carts. In the third vehicle was Pope Benedict XVI. He was taking the path of countless pilgrims before him in coming [ more... ]San Francisco resolution is unconstitutional
A San Francisco Board of Supervisors resolution attacking the Catholic Church over adoption was illegal state interference in a religious matter, a Catholic advocacy group told a federal appeals court. The 2006 resolution was [ more... ]Women religious honored for ministry
Women Religious of San Mateo County’s Deanery 10 were honored at St. Matthew Parish in San Mateo Dec. 13, a date coinciding with the annual second collection for retired religious taken at most parishes across the nation. [ more... ]U.S. Franciscan detained on Cairo street
Franciscan Father Louis Vitale’s recent travel to the West Bank and Cairo was not a journey for the fainthearted. He was tear gassed outside a Palestinian olive grove and detained on the streets of Cairo, Egypt, by a [ more... ]Ministering to deaf Catholics
Father Paul Zirimenya is chaplain to the Deaf Community in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The community consists of more than 3,000 families. Father Zirimenya describes his ministry, and the needs and concerns of Deaf [ more... ]Walk for Life expects 35,000 people
Walk for Life West Coast organizers expect 35,000 people from the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in northern California and beyond to participate in the annual rally and walk set for Jan. 23. San Francisco Archbishop [ more... ]Born in tragedy
At the end of Mass on a Sunday last October in Haiti, something took place that I had never seen before on an altar. A few of the worshipers gathered for the 7 a.m. service at Notre Dame Cathedral in Cap-Hatien, Haiti’s [ more... ]Parents’ deportations divide parish family
Gilbert Mejia and his sister Helen thought the end of the world had arrived when they said goodbye to their parents and Dulce, their four-year-old sister, at San Francisco International Airport in November. The two [ more... ]New Sisters’ Council appointed
Archbishop George Niederauer recently approved appointments to the new Sisters’ Council headed by Presentation Sister Rosina Conrotto, director of the Archdiocesan Office for Women Religious. “The council will be a [ more... ]Walk for Life affirms dignity of life
Thousands of people gathered in San Francisco Jan. 23 for the 6th annual Walk for Life West Coast, a pro-life rally and walk that took place this year beneath grey clouds and intermittent rain. The cold and damp weather [ more... ]The Memory Project
Art students at Mercy High School, Burlingame, have joined the Memory Project, a nationwide initiative in which advanced high school art students create original portraits for children living in orphanages around the world. [ more... ]Inside the epic prep sports rivalry
When 4,500 screaming basketball fans instantly cut the cheers and the chatter as someone starts the traditional prayer of the Christian Brothers: “Let us remember we are in the holy presence of God,” it’s clear [ more... ]Testimony ends in same-sex marriage trial
The “rule of opposites” has been a virtually unwavering principle of marriage throughout human history, an expert witness defending California’s ban on same-sex marriage testified in federal court in San [ more... ]Volunteer shop with a big heart closes
The Primrose House of Values in Burlingame will be closing its doors Feb. 15, after a long run of 40 years. The facility has been a work of the Catholic Social Service Auxiliary of San Mateo County, now Catholic Charities [ more... ]Educators’ conference tackles teaching
An Archdiocesan Educators Conference, sponsored annually by the Department of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, was held at San Mateo’s Junipero Serra High School Feb. 5, with national speakers [ more... ]Baseball prospect trades in uniform
When top Oakland A’s baseball prospect Grant Desme capped off a stellar minor league season by announcing his January retirement to join the priesthood, head-scratching reporters across the country clamored to ask him why. [ more... ]Lent 2010
Following are guidelines for Lenten abstinence and fasting which began on Ash Wednesday. Everyone fourteen years of age and older is bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent including Good Friday. [ more... ]Is repression on the rise in Vietnam?
Last May, parishioners at rural Dong Chiem Parish in Vietnam raised a tall, concrete cross on a nearby hilltop long revered as a cemetery. The local civil authorities weren’t pleased. On Jan. 6, at three in the [ more... ]Spirituality for Life
The philosopher, David Hume, once made a distinction between something he called as genuine virtues and something he termed monkish virtues. Genuine virtues, he said, were those qualities inside us that are useful to others and [ more... ]Parishes adopt Operation Rice Bowl
Spurred by Lent and daily cries of hunger from the poor in countries around the world, more than two dozen parishes, schools and religious education programs in the Archdiocese of San Francisco have signed on to participate in [ more... ]Construction begins for school and center
Construction of the new St. Mary Chinese School in San Francisco began to take solid form in February with the arrival of a large steel shipment and the raising of columns and beams. St. Mary’s Chinese School and Center [ more... ]The Catholic way of sports
From the beginning, athletics and sports have been intertwined with Catholic culture and thought. Think of St. Paul’s letters, or former Polish high school soccer goalie Karol Wojtyla’s – Pope John Paul [ more... ]Anglicans entering Church should blend well
KINGSTON, Ontario (CNS) – Groups of Anglicans entering into communion with the Catholic Church will not absorbed the way “a teaspoon of sugar would be lost in a gallon of coffee,” said Cardinal William Levada, [ more... ]Young Men’s Institute hopes for resurgence
The clean, crisp ads have been showing up in Catholic San Francisco and Catholic diocesan papers across the state. “The YMI … Join the Brotherhood,” the ad proclaims, reminding readers of the 127 years [ more... ]Vatican defends efforts to curb abuse
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Amid new disclosures of priestly sex abuse cases in Europe, including one in the German archdiocese formerly headed by Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican strongly defended the Church’s response to [ more... ]Mercy Sister reflects on her 30 years in spiritual direction
A man came to see Sister Mary Ann Scofield in her office at Mercy Center in Burlingame one recent afternoon with a puzzled expression. A frequent visitor, he sat down on the chair opposite her and said, “Something odd [ more... ]Archdiocese joins other faiths in efforts to end global poverty
Giving just $10 to buy a mosquito bed net and rudimentary health care education for a family of four in Mali is one of four easy ways that youth and young adults can help reduce poverty and disease in developing countries, say [ more... ]April high school musicals
The April high school musical line-up features both classic and freshly written music and choreography centered around universal themes: love and death, revenge, the lust for power, dissolution and despair. All three of [ more... ]Pope's Urbi et Orbi Message
For Spanish please click here Dear Brothers and Sisters, I bring you the Easter proclamation in these words of the Liturgy, which echo the ancient hymn of praise sung by the Israelites after crossing the Red Sea. It is [ more... ]San Mateo parishes form jobs net
When a group of Peninsula parishes started a job support network for their unemployed neighbors, they didn’t think they’d be working with their neighbors’ children, too. The volunteer network opened for [ more... ]Ways to encourage children to pray
The little ones at Ecole Notre Dame des Victoires ask for a “chapel pass” to visit the downtown San Francisco elementary school’s chapel during lunch and recess. The chapel, converted in 2008 from the old [ more... ]Holy Names Sister leaves legacy of service
God opened the door to service as an educator and Holy Names Sister Marianne Viani is happy to admit she walked right through it. “God called me to this and I listened and responded,” said Sister Marianne, a [ more... ]Women religious, archbishop and bishop meet for prayer
San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer and Auxiliary Bishop William Justice met with 131 women religious representing 27 congregations for an afternoon of prayer and conversation March 30 at St. Paul Parish in San Francisco. [ more... ]A parish first Communion class, 500-strong
Saturday morning first Communion instruction at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in East Palo Alto is too big by far to fit into one room. It takes up the sanctuary, the parish hall, a room off the entrance, the choir loft and a [ more... ]A conversation with Bishop González
José Leopoldo González, is the auxiliary bishop of Guadalajara and the current secretary general of the Latin American Council of Bishops (CELAM). The 55-year-old prelate visited the Bay Area this past April 18 to [ more... ]The California Cannabis Initiative
The California Cannabis Initiative (CCI), also known as Tax Cannabis 2010, has qualified for the November ballot in California. If passed, CCI would decriminalize certain marijuana offenses which currently generate a fine, [ more... ]Abortion in U.S. a $1 billion industry
Abortion in the United States has become a $1 billion-a-year industry quietly fostered over 40 years by a climate that is allowing related, morally suspect commercial offshoots to develop in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and life [ more... ]Anger prevails despite changes
WASHINGTON (CNS) – There is a distinctly different level of anger from the public directed toward the Catholic Church over the sexual abuse of minors than toward other organizations whose leaders commit similar crimes, [ more... ]Unity doesn't mean artificial harmony
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (CNS) – Unlike efforts at national unity in the United States, Church unity does not depend on “bringing people’s diversity into something of an artificial harmony that seeks to minimize the [ more... ]Sisters live their faith through sign language
Fridays are the happiest days for Jazmín and Nancy López, two sisters from Mexico ages 12 and 9 respectively, who live in Menlo Park. Not only because it’s the beginning of the weekend but because they [ more... ]Seminarian gave up success to answer call
The call, when it came, was unmistakable. Transitional Deacon Wade Bjerke had to leave Hollywood to follow Christ. Today, about a decade later, Bjerke, at age 54, is about to become one of the newest priests of the [ more... ]Intellectual tradition topic of seminar
What does the Catholic faith have to do with teaching physics or English? The Vatican’s astronomer will be one of those speaking to the question at the Substantially Catholic seminar June 8-10 at Marin Catholic High [ more... ]A call inspired and nourished by faith
David Schunk was a sophomore at the University of Northern Colorado when the example of a parish priest first led him to consider the priesthood. “Just seeing Father Greg Ames’ influence in the lives of the [ more... ]What is faithful Catholic media?
On June 3 at the Catholic Media Association convention in New Orleans, Bishop Gabino Zavala, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles and chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Communications Committee, gave the following talk on what it means to [ more... ]Catholic SF garners honors once again
For the 11th consecutive year, Catholic San Francisco won honors in the annual Catholic Press Association awards competition announced June 4 at the annual Catholic Media Convocation, held this year in New Orleans. The 2010 [ more... ]Faithful invited to priesthood ordination
Archbishop George H. Niederauer will ordain transitional Deacons Wade Bjerke and David Shunk to the priesthood June 26 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough St. at Geary Blvd. in San Francisco at 10 a.m. Archbishop Niederauer has [ more... ]Msgr. Harry Schlitt retires
On June 30, Msgr. Harry Schlitt completes a 12-year term as Vicar for Administration and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of San Francisco as he turns over the assignment to his successor, Father James Tarantino, [ more... ]Decision pending on future of marriage
The message delivered to Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker by Prop 8 proponents during the closing arguments at the trial to redefine marriage in San Francisco was clear. The voters have overwhelming authority and rational [ more... ]Saying Yes to the Lord’s Call
San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer delivered the following homily at the Mass of Ordination to the Priesthood at St. Mary’s Cathedral June 26, 2010. In the Gospel reading that Wade and David have chosen for [ more... ]ICA reports progress
Catholic families who had ruled out a Catholic high school education for their daughters are coming back to Immaculate Conception Academy this year – drawn by the new Cristo Rey jobs-based financial model, school officials [ more... ]2010 Respect Life essay contest
The Archdiocese of San Francisco’s annual Respect Life Essay Contest has gone green! With ecology and all things “green” constantly in the news, we felt it was time to ask our students to look at the [ more... ]Schools must meet new standards
Catholic elementary and secondary schools will be required to meet new and more detailed standards showing they are educating students in the Catholic faith and tradition, as well as nurturing the faith of the total school [ more... ]Pro-lifers fear censorship
One of the most high profile pro-abortion groups in California is taking aim at California’s pro-life crisis pregnancy centers, issuing a report that accuses them of “deceptive practices.” The group, [ more... ]Catholic preschools on the rise
Lauri Hill is bringing a theology degree from the Franciscans to her latest undertaking – opening a new Catholic Montessori-inspired preschool at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish and school in Belmont. “We teach [ more... ]Abortion provider closes Peninsula office
Planned Parenthood Golden Gate closed its Redwood City clinic in July, leaving just one remaining clinic in San Mateo County. The closure came a month before an announcement by Planned Parenthood Federation of America Aug. 6 [ more... ]Msgr. O'Malley to celebrate 91st birthday
Msgr. James O’Malley might never have heard the vocation call but for a suggestion from a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at San Francisco’s St. Paul Elementary School when he was in eighth grade. Msgr. [ more... ]Family struggles to put roots down in SF
Muhammad Abed once had a good life in his native Baghdad. He operated a mobile crane and won awards for his skill. He had a nice house and two cars. His family was growing as his wife, Arabiya Salah, gave birth to a daughter, [ more... ]Interview with Bishop-elect McElroy
Bishop-elect Robert McElroy, newly named 17th auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, believes lay Catholics in the Archdiocese have an important role to play to revitalize not only the inner life of the Church but [ more... ]Bishops offer guidelines for parents
The California Catholic bishops’ conference is alerting parents and guardians of public school children that they have the right to ‘opt out’ of many influences and classes that contradict their family’s [ more... ]Thousands celebrate episcopal ordination
Bishop-elect Robert W. McElroy, a San Francisco native son, priest for 30 years and pastor of St. Gregory Parish in San Mateo since 1996, was ordained the 17th auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and Titular [ more... ]Parents deported to Guatemala adjust
The Jan. 22, 2010, issue of Catholic San Francisco featured the story of Elida Mejía Perez and Salvador Mejía, members of St. Raphael Parish who had been deported to their native Guatemala the previous November [ more... ]Church teaching guides interfaith couples
More than 40 percent of couples married in the Catholic Church are of “mixed” religions. Until recent decades, the idea of a Catholic marrying outside the faith was practically unheard of, if not taboo. Such [ more... ]Three deacons in training to begin outreach
Three men training to be deacons for the Archdiocese of San Francisco this month begin ministries working with youth in juvenile jails – befriending at-risk adolescents already in the throes of punishment but who are, [ more... ]The Lord Reigns, He is Clothed in Beauty
Not quite six months after his arrival in San Francisco, its fifth Archbishop, Joseph T. McGucken, faced the destruction by fire of St. Mary’s Cathedral on Van Ness Avenue. With courage and vision he stood in the ashes and [ more... ]Called to humble service
Archbishop George Niederauer delivered this homily at the episcopal ordination of Bishop Robert McElroy, the 17th auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, at St. Mary’s Cathedral on Sept. 7. On June [ more... ]California bishops: halt executions now
The Catholic bishops of California, just two days prior to a scheduled execution at San Quentin State Prison, this week called for a moratorium on use of the death penalty in the state in order to evaluate whether its use [ more... ]CCCYO expanding mental health outreach
The rule of thumb is that it takes about 18 months for people to begin to get through a trauma, from the initial shock to the long recovery. It is early in the recovery period for people affected by the Sept. 9 San Bruno [ more... ]Today's deacons define ancient orders role
An active parishioner and energetic volunteer outside the church, Ven Garcia was discussing plans for a spiritual retreat with an assistant pastor at the Church of Epiphany in San Francisco several years ago when suddenly, [ more... ]Archdiocesan plan for struggling schools
Two to four Catholic elementary schools in the Archdiocese of San Francisco are likely to be closed at the end of this school year, but a new strategic plan is being implemented to help another dozen schools that are struggling, [ more... ]A journey to China
Traveling through China’s poorer provinces one often sees blue coal trucks, mule-driven carts brimming with freshly harvested vegetables, squatting peasants smoking long-stemmed pipes, or dilapidated roadside hovels with [ more... ]Many learn IVF is wrong only too late
Many Catholics don’t learn until it is too late that in-vitro fertilization as a remedy for infertility is gravely contrary to Catholic moral teaching, a leading Catholic bioethicist said Oct. 9. That is unfortunate [ more... ]Artisan's legacy of Christian beauty
Parts of some of the most beautiful Catholic and Anglican church interiors in the Archdiocese of San Francisco were carved by a Romanian Jew who immigrated shortly before the 1906 earthquake, escaping the pogroms and economic [ more... ]Supreme Court should hear SF case
The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to clarify what a lawyer for two San Francisco Catholics says are conflicting opinions on government neutrality toward religion. The case originated when Richard Sonnenshein and [ more... ]Bishops amend social funding rules
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is revamping how it awards anti-poverty aid to make sure it does not go to organizations that oppose Church doctrine on such issues as abortion and same sex [ more... ]High schools address bioethics
Bioethical issues are real for this generation of high school students. Some of them were conceived using in-vitro fertilization technology and others have had abortions before they leave high school, said Marin Catholic [ more... ]The Angelus
The Angelus is a prayer practice rich in doctrine and devotion. This prayer honors the Annunciation of the Lord and commemorates the mystery of the Incarnation, the Son of God becoming the Son of Mary for our salvation, the [ more... ]Memories of Mexico's anti-Catholic war
While Mexico is not a country that many would associate with religious persecution, there was a time when it was not only against the law, but dangerous for Catholics to practice their faith there. It was a time when [ more... ]God alone suffices
Following is an excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI’s homily at Santiago de Compostela: From this place, as a messenger of the Gospel sealed by the blood of Peter and James, I raise my eyes to the Europe that came in [ more... ]Marianists lauded
The Marianist spirit of faith, family and equality will continue in San Francisco – but with a lighter, more distant touch. That was the promise of the Marianist priests and brothers who gathered at Archbishop [ more... ]Pope's step-by-step guide
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In his post-synodal document on the Word of God, Pope Benedict XVI urged all Christians to get to know the sacred Scriptures better. He gave a few suggestions that included having a Bible in [ more... ]Pope's remarks in book open new chapter
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In a new book, Pope Benedict XVI said the use of condoms may be a sign of moral responsibility in some specific situations when the intention is to reduce the risk of AIDS. The pope addressed the [ more... ]Pope addresses “new intolerance”
ROME (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI’s book-length interview is certain to spark global attention, and not only for his comments suggesting that condom use might be acceptable in some circumstances. In the 219-page [ more... ]East - West pilgrimage
Together with my good friend and brother in faith, His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, I was privileged to join 28 Orthodox and Catholics on an ecumenical pilgrimage to Rome, [ more... ]Awaiting the Messiah
Archbishop George Niederauer delivered this homily Dec. 5 at a special Mass to rededicate St. Charles Church in San Carlos. Advent is a beautiful season in which to re-dedicate St. Charles Parish Church. Advent is a season [ more... ]Let peace, light and joy fill all hearts
A Christmas message for the faithful of the Archdiocese of San Francisco from Archbishop George Niederauer: Over 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ the Savior was born, yet so much seems unchanged. Powerful rulers like Caesar [ more... ]Green Bay bishop approves apparitions
CHAMPION, Wis. (CNS) – Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay has approved the Marian apparitions seen by Adele Brise in 1859, making the apparitions of Mary that occurred some 18 miles northeast of Green Bay the first in the [ more... ]Pope's calendar holds full slate of events
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- For Pope Benedict XVI, the 2011 calendar already holds a full slate of meetings, liturgies and foreign trips. What's not on the calendar -- at least so far -- is a special "year of" or a [ more... ]New translation is opportunity to grow in faith, stress Catholic leaders
A panel of liturgical experts recently noted that the early weeks of using the new English translation of the Roman Missal should be an occasion for Catholics to grow deeper in their understanding of the Mass. [ more... ]
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