News Briefs

 

Ruiz successor named
Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, 59, has replaced retired Bishop Samuel Ruiz in Chiapas, Mexico. He is known as a moderate. Ruiz expressed confidence that Arizmendi will continue his work among indigenous communities, and is committed to the peace process between government forces and the Zapatista rebels.

Santa Rosa scandal stirs lay involvement
The sex-and-finance scandal that led to the resignation of Santa Rosa, Calif., Bishop G. Patrick Ziemann, has activated lay Catholics to demand more voice in church governance. Ziemann admitted his sexual involvement with a priest, then a $30 million financial crisis was discovered, involving secret overseas bank accounts.

Many parishioners are diverting donations. At a parish in Eureka, Calif. which lost $750,000, the people have since raised $1.6 million for the school - but formed their own non-profit corporation to administer the funds. At St. Leo Parish in Boyes Hot Springs, a written survey at Mass showed that 90 percent believed lay people should take a strong role in running current diocesan programs, and 97 percent supported joining with other parishes to deal with the problems. So parish lay leaders proposed a new structure that could catch on nationally: "a diocesan congress of the laity, with representatives from all parishes, to join with the priests and bishops in the future administration of the diocese."


A voice in bishop selection
Archbishop Levada of San Francisco sent a letter to the people telling them to have faith, but not to ask for a voice in choosing the next bishop. Nevertheless, at parish meetings people noisily applauded the idea of a lay voice. They are in good company. Levada's predecessor, retired Archbishop John Quinn, has a whole chapter in his new book, "The Reform of the Papacy", advocating both clerical and lay participation in selecting bishops and church leaders.

Ecumenical bishop named to succeed Hume
The successor to England's Cardinal Hume is Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, an ecumenical leader with a commitment to collaborative ministry. The Tablet, London's progressive Catholic weekly, hailed the choice, predicted that he would continue Hume's open and humane style of leadership, and credited the Vatican nuncio for the wide consultation that preceded the appointment. The Tablet also hailed the appointment of Bishop Vincent Nichols to the important archdiocese of Birmingham, calling him a natural leader and a good listener who would work well with Murphy-O'Connor.

Schuth gives sobering facts about seminaries
Franciscan Sr. Katarina Schuth, who teaches at St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., has written an authoritative book, "Seminaries, Theologates and the Future of Church Ministry" (Liturgical Press). She and her team visited 38 of the 42 U.S. theologates and interviewed 550 faculty, administrators and students. The news is not good. Contrary to pious predictions, enrollments are down, not up: 2,976 seminarians in theology, 600 less than 10 years ago. About 10 percent are traditionalist seminarians who oppose Vatican II renewal, but they are so vocal that "the impact of their views far outweighs their numerically small presence." One academic dean said these students "often have the support of people outside the seminary who agree with their positions."

About half of all seminarians are either converts to Catholicism, or had not practiced the faith since childhood. Schuth says these students tend to be more resistant to the Vatican II call for greater engagement with the world.

For 25 percent of the seminarians, English is their second language. Many have trouble with the graduate level study of theology.

Bishop apologizes to sexual abuse victims
In a special liturgy March 24 that made page one of the San Francisco Chronicle, Bishop John Cummins of Oakland, Calif., and fellow clergy faced survivors of priestly sexual abuse and begged forgiveness, then listened respectfully to their tragic stories. The Oakland diocese said it apologized both for the original abuses and for church officials who then "stonewalled" the victims. Ray McGovern of CTA Northern Virginia attended the liturgy, and reported that all but one of the survivors were women. "It's not really about sex but about power," he wrote. "As long as the Catholic Church subordinates women, the abuse will continue."

Pius IX and John XXIII?
Pope John Paul II plans to beatify Pius IX and John XXIII on the same day, Sept. 3. The juxtaposition is mind-boggling. Pius IX (1846-1878) frantically resisted the modern world, its freedom, and its thought. John XXIII convened Vatican II to open the windows and let the modern world in, that the Church might adapt and change.

Worldwide prayer for women priests
The fourth annual Worldwide Day of Prayer for Women's Ordination March 25 saw highly visible prayer vigils in major U.S. cities, including Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, and Berkeley, Calif. Most were held in front of the local cathedral. Chicago participants knocked on the cathedral's Jubilee 2000 door, a sign that women are still excluded from ordination, then took their vigil to the door of the chancery office nearby.

Similar observances took place in dioceses around the world. In Ireland the crowd gathered at the headquarters of the Vatican nuncio wearing purple stoles to mourn the persecution of Lavinia Byrne and other proponents of women priests. They will return to that site on the last Saturday of every month of the year 2000, and invite allied groups in other countries to gather at their Vatican nunciatures as well. To get involved in the U.S, call Women's Ordination Conference (703 352-1006). On the Web: www.womensordination.org