http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/ latesten-us Mon, 01 Jan 1900 08:00:00 GMTMon, 08 Mar 2010 21:20:55 GMT http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/2010/Father-William-Worner-2074/A funeral Mass was celebrated March 4 for Father William H. Worner at St. Gregory Parish in San Mateo where he served as pastor from 1977 – 91. Father Worner died Feb. 28. Ordained to the priesthood June 16, 1945, he was 89 years of age. The future-Father Worner was born in San Francisco and attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory and St. Joseph’s College in Mountain View before entering St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park in 1940. His first assignment as a priest was as a parochial vicar, then known as an associate pastor, at St. Michael Parish in San Francisco. Service continued at assignments including St. Kevin Parish in Bernal Heights and St. John the Baptist Parish in El Cerrito – the Diocese of Oakland would be formed from the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1962 – as well as Corpus Christi Parish in Piedmont, St. Bartholomew Parish in San Mateo, and St. Teresa Parish in Potrero Hill. In 1964, Archbishop Joseph T. McGucken assigned Father Worner to establish the Church of the Ascension in Saratoga – the Diocese of San Jose would be formed from the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1981 – on thirteen acres of family property that had been offered to the Archdiocese by Joseph Pon. The buildings on the property were not structurally safe for large gatherings of parishioners, so a nearby drying shed was initially converted into the first Ascension Church. In November, 1966, the beams of the present church building were hoisted, and Father Worner, first pastor of the parish, began offering Mass on the new altar in June, 1967. In 1977, after 13 years at Ascension, Father Worner was assigned by Archbishop John R. Quinn as pastor of St. Gregory Church in San Mateo. Following 14 years of ministry at Saint Gregory, Father was appointed Director of the Office of Development, with residence at the newly established Serra Retirement Center (later renamed Serra Clergy House). Father Worner retired from active ministry on March 1, 1994, but accepted Archbishop Quinn’s request at that time that he serve as co-Director with the now-late Father Patrick Keane of the Archdiocesan program for Retired Priests. In 1995, he was appointed Director of Serra Clergy House, and Representative for Retired Priests in San Mateo County, a responsibility he undertook faithfully until January, 2004. “Father Bill Worner was a very positive person and very hospitable especially to priests,” said Msgr. James Keane, retired pastor Our Lady of Loretto Parish in Novato and a seminary classmate of Father Worner’s. “His rectory was always open to visitors. He was a very priestly priest who helped many people quietly and never looked for compliments. He was also a man of action. If something needed to be done, he would get it done.” Msgr. Keane and Father Worner often played golf together through the years. “He loved golf,” Msgr. Keane said. “However good or not good he was at it, he was always competitive. It was a great relaxation for him.” “Bill Worner was a doer,” said Father James O’Malley, retired pastor of St. Kevin Parish and ordained in 1946. “He did nothing but great things for the kids especially poor kids and kids in trouble. He did a great job at all the parishes he served and certainly has a star in heaven for that. The people loved him. I have nothing but the utmost love, respect and admiration for Bill.” “Bill Worner was one of the finest priests we ever had,” remembered Father Clement C. Davenport, retired pastor, Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park and ordained in 1948. “He was a terrific person who reached out to people and to priests who were having troubles. I have nothing but admiration for Father Bill Worner.” In recent years, Father Worner resided at Alma Via of San Francisco (2007), and Alma Via of Union City (2008). “I use the occasion of this memo to thank, in particular, Sister Annette, Suzanne, Farida and the staff at Alma Via of Union City for the competent and loving care they provided as Father’s health declined,” San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop William Justice said in a an announcement of Father Worner’s death March 1. Father Worner is survived by a nephew, Rich Worner; nieces, Sue Tierney, Judy Hurabiell and Nancy Fleck; and sister-in-law, Evelyn Worner. Remembrances may be made to the Priests Retirement Fund of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco 94109.   From March 5, 2010 issue of Catholic San Francisco.  Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:16:36 GMT2010 http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/2010/Listen,-see-and-respond-2071/The following homily was delivered by Archbishop George H. Niederauer at St. Agnes Church in San Francisco Feb. 28, 2010, marking the installation of Jesuit Father Ray Allender as Pastor. “You’re seeing things!” When we say that to people, we usually mean they’re seeing something imaginary, something that is not really there. But “You’re seeing things!” is not always an accusation; it could even be a compliment. A police detective, for example, is paid to see things – things ordinary people miss, but things that are really there. And the detective makes connections that most of the rest of us would miss. We know that two people can look at the same set of facts and come up with completely different versions or interpretations of reality. They’ll say to each other, “That’s not the way I see it.” This happens all the time in nature around us. For example an astronomy student looks at a sunset and interprets it in a way different from that of the ordinary person. You and I may say “What a beautiful sunset!” But the astronomer knows and remembers that the sun does not set – rather, the earth moves. This “seeing things” differently happens for us who believe in Jesus Christ and the teachings of his Church: e.g., our belief about the bread and wine on this altar at Mass. The readings for the Second Sunday in Lent tell us about people who “saw things” which God showed them in a special way, in a vision – Abraham, in the first reading (Genesis 15:5-12), and then the Apostles Peter and James and John in the gospel (Luke 9:28B-36). In the reading from Genesis, Abram, in the Old Testament, was elderly and childless, but God promised him numerous descendants who would live in a land of their own. At first Abram can’t “see” it, but God makes a covenant with him and seals it with the sacrifice Abram offers – and he makes Abram see a special vision of the brazier and the torch, as a sign of the promise he makes to Abram. The Apostles Peter, James and John see Jesus in a new way, in glory, as the Son of God – in the moment we call the “Transfiguration.” The three disciples see Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah, who represent the Law of the Old Testament and the Prophets who spoke to the people for God and prepared them for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. The story of this vision is always the gospel reading for the Second Sunday in Lent, but today in Luke’s version we are told that Jesus is speaking with Moses and Elijah about his suffering, death and resurrection in Jerusalem, which are fast approaching. Pope Leo the Great said this experience strengthened the faith of these three apostles in two ways: first, it prepared them to endure the sight of Jesus crucified and dying, sustained by their faith in his glory as Son of God. Second, it prepared them for the risen glory of Jesus on Easter morning. Of course, these three men were human, like us. They wanted the beautiful vision to go on forever. Peter wanted to build a shelter for that purpose. But the path to resurrection and eternal life still passed through Jerusalem and the Cross on Calvary. Jesus has been teaching the apostles that truth all along. On this occasion God the Father speaks to the three apostles, as he did to Abram – in order to confirm the vision they are seeing, and to identify Jesus, the Master who is leading them. God says to the three disciples: “This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him.” What does this story mean for us? How are you and I called to respond to Jesus as Lord in this gospel moment? You and I are called to “see things.” We are meant to be a people of vision, a people with a vision of Jesus Christ and how to follow him. The Father calls us to “listen to him” in our lives, as Peter, James and John did, and to let our listening to Jesus make differences: now and in our hope of eternal life and glory. If we listen to Jesus in the Gospel and try to see things differently in the light of his teaching and example, it will make a difference in the way we live our lives. This listening to Jesus and seeing the world in the light of his teaching makes all sorts of differences: in the goals we choose and the priorities we set, in the way we treat people and talk about them, in our response to people who need our attention and our help, in our meeting of the crosses and suffering of our own lives as united with those of our Savior. This season of Lent calls us back to this special way of listening and seeing and responding. St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians (3:17-4:1) contrasts disciples who listen to Jesus and see things his way with “the enemies of the cross of Christ” whose “god is their belly and whose glory is their shame.” Paul describes the worldly and the selfish this way because they are set on the things of this world as the ultimate values and goals in their lives. When we live that way we illustrate Oscar Wilde’s definition of a cynic, “a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” Disciples, Paul says, are called to be “citizens of heaven,” pilgrims in this world who are on a journey, eagerly waiting for the coming of Jesus our Savior, and seeing and using things as means for loving and serving God and one another. Is that merely abstract, symbolic language? Not at all! We Christians are dual citizens: we vote and pay taxes in a republic, but our ultimate allegiance is to a king – Christ the King. The laws of God are much more important than the laws of mankind. For instance, because a government legalizes abortion does not make it any the less wrong for believers in God as the Author of all life. Jesus has said that he is meant to be the Light of our world, and that we are to see – to interpret – our world in the light of his teaching and that of his Church. Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, who died and rose for us, and appointed shepherds for his church, his people – Peter and the Apostles. They in turn appointed others to succeed them, Pope and the bishops. Bishops appoint priests as pastors to the people in the various parishes; they are co-workers with me, and with you, your shepherd here in St. Agnes Parish (the word for shepherd in Latin is “pastor”). Today we celebrate the installation of Fr. Ray Allender as the fourteenth pastor of St. Agnes Church. Father Allender is your guide and companion as you live out your life in Christ as Catholic Christians here in this parish day by day. The priest is a servant-leader of the people. As pastor, Father Allendar shares in the vision of the kingdom that we hear about today, the call to see things differently as followers of Jesus Christ. That’s a complicated idea: servant-leader (cf. Mt. 20 and Mk. 10). After all, being a shepherd of people is not like being a shepherd of sheep! Father Allender is your leader, but he leads by serving, as Jesus did. The journey of faith you are on is his journey too; he gives you nothing in the Christian life that he doesn’t need as well. On any Saturday, for example, Father Allender can go from a funeral to a baptism to a wedding to the Saturday evening Mass. It may be his second or third funeral that week, perhaps the seventh or eighth of the month, but it is the only time that a wife will bury her husband and children will bury their father, so he has to be as profoundly present to them as possible. The wedding may be the twentieth of the year, but it is the only wedding for that bride and groom (we fervently hope so!). Prayer, and the sense that Jesus Christ is acting through him and living in him, gives Father Allender the vision and the strength and the presence to serve and minister to them. Father...Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:50:22 GMT2010 http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/2010/St.-Elizabeth-School-to-close-2067/Facing declining enrollment and growing debt, St. Elizabeth Catholic School, a parish school in San Francisco’s Portola District since 1949, will close at the end of this academic year. The closure was announced at a Feb. 24 parish meeting attended by St. Elizabeth pastor Father Charito Suan, Archdiocese of San Francisco Schools Superintendent Maureen Huntington, Principal Gene Dabdoub and about 100 members of the school and parish community. Also attending were Monsignor Robert McElroy, representing the archdiocesan Council of Priests, and Father William Brady, pastor of St. Emydius Parish in the nearby Ingleside District. A four-year effort to reverse the enrollment decline at St. Elizabeth fell short, Huntington said in a letter to the school community. Current enrollment at the K-8 school is 132 and was expected to fall to 120 next year, she wrote. That continued erosion and the resulting loss of revenue would have put St. Elizabeth more than 100 students below the 225 benchmark for a K-8 school’s long-term financial health. St. Elizabeth last came close to that level five years ago, when it enrolled 217. “The efforts of many over the past four years have not resulted in the changes hoped for or expected,” Huntington wrote. “We are at the point where the financial resources have been depleted.” St. Elizabeth will be the fourth K-8 parochial school to close in the archdiocese in the last 10 years. The previous closures were St. Paul of the Shipwreck and St. Emydius in San Francisco and Mater Dolorosa in Daly City. Huntington said there are no plans for additional closures. To assist families in continuing their Catholic school education, the archdiocese held a meeting at St. Elizabeth’s Cantwell Hall last Tuesday to offer parents the opportunity to register at other Catholic schools. Parents who were not able to attend may register their children at other schools after March 2. “All students wishing to remain in a Catholic school for next year will be given this opportunity,” Huntington wrote. “Schools will make accommodations when and where possible.” Huntington said that closing the school “is similar to the death of a loved one.” “The school and parish community will be in a state of mourning and grieving for many months,” she wrote. “It is heartbreaking and sad, hard to comprehend and understand. Yet 60 years of educating students in our Catholic faith need to be celebrated. I encourage you to do just that over the next few months.” “I sincerely wish that things had been different, that we would have been able to turn the school around, but that has not happened,” she wrote. St. Elizabeth formed a task force in 2008 to turn around the trend. Pushing for a 180 enrollment goal in Sept. 2009 and 270 by 2015, and hoping to recruit widely among Catholic families in the southern end of San Francisco, the task force worked with Archbishop George H. Neiderauer, the Alliance Consultative Board, Father Suan and Principal Dabdoub. Despite the efforts of the task force, operating costs continued to exceed income from tuition, fees, fund-raising, parish contributions, archdiocesan subsidies, tuition assistance and funds raised through the Alliance of Mission District Schools. Expenses outpaced income during each of the past four years, resulting in a growing debt. In May 2006, the school secured a $92,875 zero-interest loan from the archdiocese to cover teachers’ pensions, medical insurance, property insurance and other costs for the 2006 fiscal year. The school’s debt includes not only the full loan amount but also $190,000 in subsidies in the last three years. “The resources of the parish and the archdiocese to subsidize St. Elizabeth School have been exhausted,” Huntington wrote. In a Feb. 10 note to the school community, the St. Elizabeth administration noted the enrollment challenge. “Last year we worked extremely hard to increase our enrollment,” the note said. “I thank each family who stayed with us and those new families who joined our school community. All of us know that our school is a special place with a lot of heart. “As we look forward to the 2010-2011 school year, enrollment continues to be our challenge. We need everyone on board to spread the ‘good news’ about St. Elizabeth School, the school with ‘heart.’” Huntington said St. Elizabeth faced a combination of changing demographics and the economy. “They just weren’t able to get families to come into the school in sufficient numbers,” she said. “I don’t think there was anything that wasn’t tried. They made a concerted effort to boost the enrollment.” According to a history of the school on the St. Elizabeth website, Father Arthur J. Cantwell became pastor of St. Elizabeth in 1942. Under his leadership, the parish transformed the dream of a school into a reality. Parishioners helped with a bazaar, social events and fund drives. On Dec. 11, 1949, St. Elizabeth School and Convent, at a cost of a half-million dollars, was dedicated in a ceremony conducted by Archbishop John J. Mitty. The school was visualized as an ideal combination of school, auditorium, parish hall and cafeteria. Today, its extensive plant includes nine classrooms, three resource rooms, a computer lab, a library, administrative offices, a faculty room, an auditorium and stage, a special education room, an extended care area, parish and school kitchens and a gym. In the archdiocese, and nationally, St. Elizabeth is far from alone in facing daunting financial and enrollment challenges. A decline in the number of U.S. Catholic schools reflects a demographic shift of where Catholics live more than a decline in the demand for Catholic education, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate in Washington, D.C., concluded in a 2006 survey. CARA researchers linked the closure of 339 Catholic schools in the five years before the survey to the dynamic that “Catholic people move, schools don’t.” The closure of two Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul, announced last month, illustrated the trend. School officials cited low enrollment and rising debt. One school faced a dramatic change in neighborhood demographics, with a resulting drop in enrollment and donations and a rise in financial need. In the Archdiocese of San Francisco, a 2009 consultant’s draft report for the Department of Catholic Schools put it this way: “A great concern for all schools is the declining presence of the middle class, heretofore the ‘backbone’ of the Catholic School.” K-12 enrollment in in the archdiocesan schools was 25,186 in September, down 1,836 from five years earlier. K-8 enrollment in Catholic elementary schools within the Archdiocese of San Francisco fell by 361 students from September 2008 to September 2009, a drop of more than 2 percent in the midst of a severe recession. Nonetheless, this percentage drop in the number of students was less than that seen in other northern California dioceses. A number of other archdiocesan K-8 schools have enrollment below 200, but many have resources that St. Elizabeth lacks. “Because a school is under 200 doesn’t mean it’s vulnerable to close,” Huntington said. “There are a whole bunch of other factors that contributed to St. Elizabeth that aren’t factors at other schools. “Why would you close a school that was able to manage on its own?” By Rick DelVecchio From March 5, 2010 issue of Catholic San Francisco.Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:03:34 GMT2010