WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE:

 Why are so many dioceses committing spiritual suicide?

 Goodbye to St. Ann’s Chapel?

 . . . Come oooon down!

 Views

 Letters to the Editor

 Good Humor Department

 Litanies of Saint Joseph

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The alternative Catholic press

There is a growing tremor in the Church, and it is called the "samizdat" or underground Catholic press. Faint at first, the rumble is starting to be heard. Bishop Donald Troutman of Erie, Pa., recently issued a directive to reverse the backlash to conservative normalcy in the Church. Cardinal Roger Mahony in Los Angeles is formulating some frantic guidelines on how to continue the post-Vatican II "renewal." But people in the pew, starved for priestly direction and spiritual food, are continuing to turn off to trendy innovations. They are fighting back, and the alternative press is part of that fight.Samizdat (from the Russian word for "underground") publishers are hoping the tremor grows into a major quake that will topple the modernist edifice, leaving Catholic Tradition intact. There are three alternative Catholic publications in Santa Clara County: View from the Pew, The Hammer and the new kid on the block, The California Mission. In addition, The Faith has begun publication in San Francisco and intends Bay Area-wide distribution.

In the Oakland Diocese, the Roman Catholic Witness holds forth. And in the Monterey Diocese, the traditionalist publication Domus keeps orthodoxy alive. The "dean" of alternative Catholic publishing in Santa Clara County is Art Brew, who began View from the Pew in 1993 with a small committee of angry folks from St. Simon's Church in Los Altos. St. Simon's was going through some modernist "revisions" like relocating the tabernacle, getting rid of the altar rails, hanging banners, reconfiguring the pews and altar – the usual drill. Brew called a meeting of parishioners in opposition to the plans and was surprised when 50 people showed up. The result was a fund drive that fell short, leaving the church intact – but a sizable number of parishioners departed St. Simon's for more orthodox parishes like Our Lady of Peace in Santa Clara." As a result of this experience, about 10 of us decided to put out our own underground newsletter to better publicize our views on this and related matters. Jim Holman, a businessman from San Diego who supports several other, similar publications, including the new The Faith, started sending cash – a practice he has continued even though Brew has "retired" from publishing. "The biggest surprise," Brew said, "was the large number of enthusiastic letters from throughout the diocese and elsewhere and the number of clones started up in other parts of the country by groups inspired by the View, four or five that we know of."

Like the View, the other alternative publications are dedicated to affirming and defending Catholic doctrine, the Pope and the Magisterium. They want to stop the desecration of Catholic churches, both physically and spiritually. And they want to rebuild the Church in the United States, which has seen the number of seminarians drop 85 percent, the number of nuns drop 43 percent, the number of baptisms and converts drop 20 percent and the number who attend Mass drop 25 percent in the last 30 years.

VIEW FROM THE PEW

View from the Pew was the first alternative paper in the diocese. Now published bi-monthly by Marc Crotty, it is going into its fifth year. It now has its own Web site (http://www.hooked.net/users/racox/view.htm) where issues published over the last two years have been archived. The number of copies distributed varies according to the strategy adopted for particular issues, according to Crotty. For example, if a school problem is highlighted, additional copies will be printed for direct mailing to the parents affected. "The paid subscriber list is the mainstay of our distribution," Crotty said. "We depend on those $10 checks to meet our expenses. We also have several dozen supporters who distribute at selected parishes. And we provide free subscriptions to priests or religious who request them." The View’s principal "angel" is still Jim Holman of San Diego, but other angels do their good deeds, too. The printer and Web site operator charge only their costs, and everyone else – writers, handlers and distributors – operate without compensation."We want to influence the bishop and diocese through our reporting," Crotty said. For example, when the View finds that immoral reading material is being assigned to Catholic school students – as reported in the May/June 1997 issue – we expect to have the material removed and the teacher corrected."Sadly, the result has not been forthcoming. But Crotty and his workers hope to see that change."From the minutes of meetings of the ‘priests’ council,’ we know that the View has been seen and the bishop is taking a position of silence toward it. He and most pastors basically will not comment on any issue reported on in the View. Basically, they will not talk to us. Apparently they are not ready to ‘dialogue’ with conservative Catholics."Crotty foresees a grim future for the Church if "feminists and career lackeys" continue in their present apostolic roles. "We are here to help prevent that. Please pray that we – and others like us – will succeed."(To subscribe to the View, send $10 to View from the Pew, Box 700084, San Jose, CA, 95170-0084).

THE HAMMER

The Hammer is a hard-hitting, one-man operation run by Anthony Gonzales, a former seminarian with multiple theology degrees, out of Los Gatos. He has been publishing since January 1995 about every five weeks and pays for his efforts with $18-a-year subscriptions and donations. The newsletter is dedicated to "explaining why the Church teaches what it teaches and to show the difference between Roman Catholic teachings and modernist lies."Gonzales intends to stay with this mission even though he believes "we need Divine Intervention to restore the Church to its intended purpose. We need people to stand up and refuse to allow modernist priests and feminist nuns to continue molding the Church into their own image. We need people to stop giving money or support to those who are "pseudo-Catholics." (For a subscription to The Hammer, send $18 to Roman Catholic Replies, 15732 Los Gatos Blvd., #303, Los Gatos, CA, 95032).

THE CALIFORNIA MISSION

The California Mission is a new magazine-format publication begun in June 1997. The goal of the magazine is to foster the "new evangelization" that will precede the "great springtime for Christianity" proclaimed by Pope John Paul II. Published by the Mission San Jose Community, Inc. and edited by Craig Anderson, the magazine promises "to write on themes the Pope has arranged over a three-year period to renew the Church’s faith for the celebration of the great Jubilee in the year 2000." The magazine contains prayers, testimonials and learned articles on saints and theological topics. Anderson writes: "Although some of the material is not light, easy reading, it covers issues that are enormously important for Catholics." In the August issue, for example, the magazine takes up the issue of the authority of the Bible in Catholic tradition and its necessary connection with the Magisterium of the Pope and bishops.(For a subscription to The California Mission, send $16 – or $30 for two years – to The California Mission, P.O. Box 24589, San Jose, CA 95154).

DOMUS

Domus is published quarterly – with supplements if required by "loyal Catholics actively pursuing their rights to a regular Tridentine Mass in the Diocese of Monterey" as directed by the Pope in Ecclesia Dei. Domus also has a Web site (http://webs.tcsn.net/ihs/domus/domus.htm) and the hard copy is available by subscription and through handout at parishes and groups. Costs are met through subscriptions and contributions.Editors Joseph and Dena Suarez said the "original purpose was to act as a networking mechanism for all Catholics in the Diocese of Montereywhohad signed our Procurator’s Mandate petition to Rome for an Indult Tridentine Mass. Since that time, however, we’ve grown in purpose to expose clerical and liturgical abuse within the diocese, to inform Catholics within the diocese of actions on a national or international scale . . . and to give them solid, orthodox Catholic facts and information that can strengthen their faith and knowledge," Dena Suarez said.Like other publications of its type, Domus has not seen any changes in the diocese. "Our bishop will have no dealings with us and dismisses us as a "fringe" group. . . However, we have received notification on a couple of occasions that we are having an effect on clergy. Some priests have secretly begun subscribing, and their hearts appear to be opening slowly."Domus intends to continue the good fight to preserve the traditional Church. "Catholics everywhere are being continually challenged by those who would ‘re-imagine’ the Church. If we want to have a Church left in this country, we will have to fight back now. We can’t afford to wait any longer," Suarez warned.(To subscribe to Domus, send $15 for one year to IHS, P.O. Box 4002, Paso Robles, CA 93447-4002).

ROMAN CATHOLIC WITNESS

The Roman Catholic Witness circulates in the Diocese of Oakland and is edited in Fremont by Paul Stephens, a pseudonym. The publication appears bi-monthly and is supported by donations from readers. Its purpose is to "communicate problems and concerns of the Catholic ‘laity’ in the Diocese of Oakland, especially liturgical abuses."Witness hasn’t noticed any changes in the diocese, but Stephens said: "We’ll find out (if we are effective) in the next life. We must try!"An article on the homosexual agenda produced the biggest reaction from readers, and the Witness intends to continue exposing abuses and educating Catholics."We are confident that a genuine reform will be underway by the millennium," Stephens said of the future. "The modernist AmChurch has no appeal!"Stephens suggested that the underground press could affect the future more if editors formed a national association. "With one voice – and unified – we’ll have more influence with the institutional Church."(For a subscription to Roman Catholic Witness, send a donation to Roman Catholic Witness, P.O. Box 14026, Fremont, CA 94539-9992.)

THE FAITH

The Faith is published by Jim Holman and edited by George Neumayr in San Francisco. It has been publishing since May and appears once a month, except in August. The paper distributes through U.S. Mail and intends to reach a circulation of 20,000 throughout the Bay Area. It takes a newsy approach and makes its point with the selection of articles, rather than its tone.But its purpose is still "to promote the orthodox teachings of the Catholic church," according to Neumayr. "I think we will see orthodoxy spread and zany, failed liberalism diminish," he added.Neumayr said it was too early to tell if the paper is having an impact, but that will be its goal.(To subscribe to The Faith, send inquiries to The Faith, P.O. Box 26209, S.F., CA 94126-6209, or leave message on voicemail at (415) 995-9501.)

NATIONAL CATHOLIC PRESS

There are many national publications dedicated to traditional Catholic teaching: Crisis Magazine, First Things, the Oxford Review, the Wanderer, The Remnant, Fidelity, Sursum Corda, Lay Witness, Catholic Family News, Adoremus Bulletin, and others.Two California publications of particular interest are the Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission and San Diego News Notes. For subscription information about any of these publications, contact View from the Pew at (408) 923-4367.Alternative publications and the more successful conservative magazines subscribe to the central idea that Christ Himself established the Church. They generally follow the notion that churches built in the shape of a cross are spiritually accurate: Christ died on a cross – not a wheel – for our sakes. They support kneeling at the consecration: If it was good enough for Christ at Gethsemane, it’s good enough for us. They insist on a posture of respect and spirituality in Church, including kneelers, altar rails, and statuary representing Church heroes, the saints. And they adamantly support the Pope as the Vicar of Christ."A national organization of samizdat publishers (to push this agenda) is a great idea," the View’s Art Brew said. "I think we should keep at it until there is no longer a de facto schism in the American Church. It may take years to effect any real changes in the Church, but we shouldn’t give up. It is critical that we try to educate the people in the pews."Please support your local editor!

Small newspapers do what The Valley Catholic has failed to do

One of the reasons alternative Catholic publications spring up is that alternative Catholic editors think diocesan publications aren’t doing their job. What about The Valley Catholic, the San Jose Diocese’s newspaper?

There are five alternative publications in the Bay Area: View from the Pew in San Jose/Santa Clara, The Hammer in Los Gatos, Roman Catholic Witness in Fremont, The Faith circulating in the whole Bay Area and Domus in Monterey. This tells us something. The Valley Catholic reads like propaganda for the New Age church. It offers little that is spiritual. Indeed, it offers little that is Catholic. Only one columnist, Fr. Gerald D. Coleman, president of St. Patrick’s seminary, gives bona fide Catholic information that shoots from the hip, that is from the Magisterium. The other columnists, for example, Sr. Patricia Marie Mulpeters and Ann Grycz, write about "this and that" and how "We Are Church." The ‘family talk’ column by Dr. James and Mary Kenny out of St. Joseph College in Renssalear, Ind., is just a sop to secular thinking – high-toned potty training. There are other places to read about that dubious stuff.

There are some trendy articles and causes – like AIDS, the homeless, Common Ground, RENEW, but virtually nothing that relates to the moral and spiritual conduct of an individual’s life in the Church. Of course, talking about morals or novenas would be pushing it. The Valley Catholic is about how nice we are, how good we’re doing, how modern and forward-thinking, how community-oriented. It’s not about what it takes to be good or get to Heaven.The Valley Catholic tries to be a smily-faced, house organ, filled with pats on the back for individuals and groups who serve their parishes. Some of this is appropriate; people do like to get those thank-you’s in print. But it is important to feed their faith, too. Where are the articles that support how to be chaste, how to follow Church teachings on contraception, why following your conscience is WRONG if conscience acts in opposition to Truth, why women can’t be priests, why gays can’t partake of the Sacrament of Marriage?At this point, the Valley Catholic people will throw their hands up and accuse us of not being able to read. Didn’t Fr. Coleman just do a series of four articles on why gays can’t marry? Yes. We already said that Coleman is the oasis in the desert. The rest of the paper supports all the doo-dah stuff that negates these beliefs in practice. And this is a place where actions speak louder than words.The Valley Catholic can’t teach or be the spokesman for Catholic doctrine if it praises parish "styles" and organizations that oppose or undermine the unvarnished teachings of the Church.

Why are so many dioceses committing spiritual suicide?

By Bill Basile - Special to View from the Pew

Most parents will smile a bit when they watch children happily toppling a toy-block house or sand castle on the beach.But when these children grow to adolescence and begin to take unusual joy in destroying their own projects, there is a cause for concern. And when they take pleasure in burning down office buildings, it is time for the police and psychiatric community to step in. Could not the same be said about an organization that has deliberately chosen to pursue its own demise? In an article in the July 1 Rochester Democrat & Chronicle ("Catholics Seek Stronger Mass") we learn that the Diocese of Rochester is "planning . . . ways to cope with fewer priests." One might then wonder why Catholics must "cope" with fewer priests and not simply try to get more of them, but clearly, this is not what is desired. A brief statement mentioned the expectations on the decreased number of priests:

"Diocesan projections forecast the number (of clergy) will dwindle from about 180 currently to about 64 by the year 2025."

The guidelines by the diocese also assert that Catholics will need to go to neighboring parishes if Mass is not available on Sunday in their own parish. (With just 64 priests, the "neighboring parish" might be 50 miles a way.) This report raised more questions than answers: With only 64 priests serving over a half-million Catholics in the next 25 years, the diocese will be reduced to a situation worse than that of the late 1800s, where Rochester (and most of the United States) was "mission territory" with only a small number of clergy. During such times in the past, it was common for ethnic groups to band together, build neighborhood churches and invite their own clergy into the diocese. All they had to do was show that they could provide for the clergy in residence. With only 64 priests in Rochester, will the laity be permitted to invite clergy into the diocese to care for their own (read: Tridentine) parish life? Will orders like Opus Dei or the Fraternity of St. Peter continue to be forbidden from serving the Rochester Diocese merely because they are "too conservative?" If so, it would appear that the Diocese of Rochester believes that it would be better for the faithful to have no Mass at all, than have the Tridentine Mass celebrated by a priest of the Fraternity of St. Peter, for example. Other questions that remain unasked are why certain dioceses (like Peoria, Ill., and Lincoln, Neb.,) do not not project a two-thirds reduction in clergy but a continued increase? And why will priests from these dioceses not be welcome in Rochester? (Hint: They are conservative).

Why did Archbishop Elden Curtis (Omaha) state that the vocations shortage was "artificial and contrived?"Why do some of the women parish administrators in Rochester state that they view their positions (as pastors) as permanent?With most of the parishes in the diocese virtually without Mass or the sacraments, will anyone in the Rochester hierarchy finally admit that the so-called "renewal" begun with the New Mass has been a disaster? Yes, any number of questions can be raised by all of this. But perhaps these questions can wait. First, one must make sure the child who is running about with a box of matches is put safely under lock and key so he will no longer be a danger to himself or anyone else – before the doctors probe the reasons for his behavior.

(Editor’s Note: An interesting fact about the Diocese of Rochester is that Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was once assigned to this diocese after his popular television show went off the air. At that time, the diocese was filled with reverent Polish and Italian Catholics. The parish church was the center of life; many of the old folks couldn’t even give directions to other parts of the city: They were born, bred and married in the shadow of their parish church. In 35 years, the devotional life of these Catholics, once nurtured by Bishop Sheen himself, has eroded. Only a wasteland remains.)

Goodbye to St. Ann’s Chapel?

Palo Alto Catholics are in an uproar over the proposed selling of St. Ann’s Chapel and the adjoining Kathleen Norris house.The chapel hosts a sung Mass every Sunday at 11 a.m., frequent vespers and spiritually scrumptious musical presentations by William Mahrt, music historian at Stanford University and director of the St. Ann’s Chapel Choir, which performs Gregorian chant, motets and occasionally a polyphonic Mass. The chapel was built by Claire Booth Luce as a memorial to her daughter, a Stanford student who was killed in an automobile accident. Intercede for us, St. Ann!

. . . Come oooon down!

Priests at St. Lucy’s in San Jose and Sacred Heart in Saratoga have taken the ridiculous to a new goofy level with their invitation to young and old to "come on down" to the altar for the Our Father. The practice is bad enough when confined to small children. We have witnessed a priest at St. Maria Goretti carry this exhibition of "community" to extremes by holding a child while consecrating the Body and Blood. Asking everyone to participate in this hoedown is ludicrous. The Body of Christ should be handled and treated with the utmost respect and formality. One and all should be able to see and sense the overwhelming presence of Christ in the humble attitude of the priest as he offers the Sacrifice. It should be no surprise that St. Lucy’s and Sacred Heart are hotbeds of dissent over kneeling at the consecration, too. Parishioners have been told that standing is the "proper" attitude but to be "tolerant" of others. As a matter of fact, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops ruled in Paragraph 21 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal in 1969 that Catholics in the United States are to kneel during the Eucharistic prayer. No pastor or bishop has the right to do his own thing.

 

Good Humor Department

Judas qualifies as team leader

Subject: Modern management theory & Jesus’ 12 disciples

MEMORANDUM TO: Jesus, Son of Joseph, Woodcrafters Shop, Nazareth

FROM: Jordan Management Consultants, Jerusalem

SUBJECT: Staff Aptitude Evaluation

Thank you for submitting the resumes of the 12 men you have picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have taken our battery of tests, and our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant have analyzed the findings.It is our staff’s opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They lack team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability. Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel that is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus have radical leanings and registered high on the manic-depressive scale.One candidate, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, is trustworthy, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious and innovative.We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man.

Litanies of Saint Joseph

Number One

(For public or private use.)