He was "ahead of his time" in defending the rights of indigenous peoples," they say.

Those who called for statues of him to be removed or torn down "failed the test" of history.

"The movement to confront racism within our society during these past weeks has been, at times, challenging," the California Catholic Conference of Bishops says.

"But it has provided bold new hope for every American that our nation can begin to transform key elements of our racist past and present."

The bishops said they "vigorously and wholeheartedly support" efforts to identify and repair historical instances of racism against members of the African-American and Native American communities.

At the same time, they point out if statues and other public images are to be removed, the history of the individuals must be considered.

"If this process is to be truly effective as a remedy for racism, it must discern carefully the entire contribution that the historical figure in question made to American life, especially in advancing the rights of marginalized peoples.

"What is happening to our society? A renewed national movement to heal memories and correct the injustices of racism and police brutality in our country has been hijacked by some into a movement of violence, looting and vandalism," Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement June 20.

Cordileone emphasized the importance of calls for racial justice and an end to police brutality, which began after the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.

"Everyone who works for justice and equality joins in the outrage of those who have been and continue to be oppressed," the archbishop said.

"It is especially true that followers of Jesus Christ - Christians - are called to work tirelessly for the dignity of all human beings," he added, noting that St. Francis of Assisi, for whom San Francisco was named, is "one of history's most iconic figures of peace and goodwill."

"For the past 800 years, the various Franciscan orders of brothers, sisters and priests that trace their inspiration back to him have been exemplary of not only serving, but identifying with, the poor and downtrodden and giving them their rightful dignity as children of God," Cordileone said.

"St. Junipero Serra is no exception."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: America Magazine

S.B. Bill 360 was withdrawn the day before a scheduled July 9 hearing in the California Assembly Public Safety Committee, effectively removing it from any further consideration this year.

"S.B. 360 was a dangerous piece of legislation," said Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, who had led the California bishops in opposing the bill. Read more

Erwin Mena, 59, is alleged to have sold fake tickets for a bogus pilgrimage to see Pope Francis when he visited the United States.

Mena allegedly pocketed more than US$15,000 for the con.

Despite acting as a priest in several places, he would move on before Church authorities could act, court papers indicated.

He convinced pastors at different parishes they did not need to check his official "faculties" before letting him perform services.

These included Masses, confessions and weddings.

He allegedly made money by borrowing from people, selling faith-based videos for US$25 and producing several eBooks, including one about his "irreverent confessions", where he discussed celibacy.

He also accepted a US$16,000 to make a video about Pope Francis (that turned out to be pirated) and one person loaned him US$6000.

All in all, he is alleged to have swindled more than US$50,000.

He is facing 30 charges, including perjury, grand theft and practicing medicine without a licence.

If convicted on all these charges, he could face 21 years behind bars.

His name has been on a list of dozens of unauthorised priests and deacons, which is kept by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Some victims have been reimbursed for the bogus Pope pilgrimage.

Those who received the sacraments from Mena can receive them again, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles archdiocese said.

The archdiocese stated: "We are grateful to the Los Angeles Police Department for working to ensure that Erwin Mena was brought to justice."

"Our prayers go out to all the victims of his scam," the archdiocese added.

Sources

• Daily Mail
• WTKR
• Image: Philly.com

The new law is modelled on Oregon's statute, passed in 1997, which saw 105 people die by assisted suicide in that state last year.

Governor Brown said he had carefully read material opposing the new law presented by "numbers of doctors, religious leaders and those who champion disability rights".

"I have considered the theological and religious perspectives that any deliberate shortening of one's life is sinful."

Governor Brown also said he had spoken with a Catholic bishop.

California's Catholic bishops had called on him to veto the bill.

He had also spoken to supporters of the End of Life Option Act including the family of Brittany Maynard and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"In the end, I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death," Governor Brown stated.

"I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain.

"I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill.

"And I wouldn't deny that right to others."

California's End of Life Option Act passed in the state's legislature in mid-September ahead of Pope Francis's trip to the US.

The California law will permit physicians to provide lethal prescriptions to mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and face the expectation that they will die within six months.

Supporters of the new law say it has sufficient safeguards.

Oregon's law has been criticised for having unintended consequences, for degrading the quality of medical care, and for having inadequate state supervision.

California joins four other US states — Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont — in allowing physician-assisted suicide.

Sources

• Washington Post
• Los Angeles Times
• Los Angeles Times
• KGW.com
• Los Angeles Times
• Image: Infostormer.com

A Spanish Franciscan, Blessed Serra introduced Christianity to much of California as he marched north with Spanish conquistadors in the 18th century.

Many Native Americans, though, say Blessed Serra and other missionaries helped wipe out native populations, enslaved converts and spread disease as they brutally imposed Christianity on them.

There have been protests in California and there is also a move to remove Blessed Serra's statue from the US Capitol.

Tribal councilwoman for the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, Louise Miranda Ramirez, said her tribe has decided to oppose the canonisation.

"We are not speaking up against the religion, we talking about the man himself and his acts and that the Church needs to hold him responsible," she said.

Ramirez said she is a Catholic and in her eyes Blessed Serra is no saint.

Vatican officials defended Blessed Serra's record, saying it shows he worked in defence of Native Americans, often intervening to spare them from the more brutal colonial officials.

Franciscan Fr Vincenzo Criscuolo said it was important to look at Blessed Serra as "a man of his time" who, like many others at the time used corporal punishment as an educational tool.

"It is not to be excluded, but it wasn't 'genocide,' it wasn't a death penalty," he said.

Pope Francis is scheduled to attend a day honouring Blessed Serra at the Pontifical American College in Rome on May 2.

The Pope plans to canonise Blessed Serra on September 23 during a Mass on the lawn of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

This would give the US its first Hispanic saint.

Fr Paul Murphy, pastor at Carmel Mission Basilica in California, said it is important to remember in Blessed Serra's case that canonisation does not mean a person lived a life without fault.

Sources

• Associated Press
• KSBW News
• Catholic News Service
• Image: ESCOFM

I'd come to Santa Barbara six months ago from Wellington on a student exchange.

I was really excited to become immersed in the Californian lifestyle.

I wanted to go surfing, to drink Californian wine, and have fun at the "Number Two Party School" in the United States.

That night my flatmate and I were going to stay at home to drink wine and watch a movie. My other flatmate was going to go to a party. Everyone else had gone home for the weekend.

On our way to the liquor store my roommate and I reached the street where the shooting had started minutes before.

"Did you hear that?" Asked a man in his early 20s, visibly shaken.

We hadn't, but we saw the police lights. Curiosity took a hold and we walked towards them.

We stopped an older man standing in the road in a work uniform to ask what had happened.

"There's been a shooting," he said.

More gun shots followed his reply.

Yet, it was as if my conscious didn't want to accept that reality.

Not grasping the severity of the situation, we continued to walk down the street towards the liquor store. Walking the exact path he'd driven.

The idea of gun violence had been a foreign concept to me. It's something I'd only seen in the movies or on the television news. Continue reading.

Hannah Merritt is a Massey University communications student on an exchange at the University of California Santa Barbara. She lives near the scene of the mass shooting that claimed seven lives on Friday.

Source: The Wireless

Image: Facebook

Bishop Robert Vasa of Santa Rosa in California had intended to require all teachers and administrators — Catholic and non-Catholic — to "agree that it is my duty, to the best of my ability, to believe, teach/administer and live in accord with what the Catholic Church holds and professes".

This pledge — including the requirement to reject "modern errors" that "gravely offend human dignity," including contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia — had been written into new contracts for the 2013-14 school year.

The bishop said his policy was designed to ensure that teachers in Catholic schools provided models of Catholic living for their students.

After disquiet spread among parents, teachers, students and pastors, Bishop Vasa had a meeting with 10 school principals and announced he was postponing the policy.

In a letter to school staff and parents, he said he regretted not gathering input from pastors and administrators prior to issuing the requirement for teachers to sign the new contract.

Bishop Vasa acknowledged that his "most serious oversight ... was my failure to engage and consult the pastors of the diocese and especially those who are the local shepherds of our Catholic schools".

He said his "degree of vigilance" in assuring "the greatest hope of finding the truths of Jesus in our Catholic schools" for students could "look like a lack of trust".

The bishop also acknowledged "that I overlooked proper engagement of the principals" and "erroneously chose a path of informing rather than mutual discernment".

Bishop Vasa said he planned to implement the policy "in some form" in 2015.

Between then and now, he said, "in conjunction with other theological educators, I will work to prepare presentations on matters of faith and morals" with principals and teachers as the "primary audience", though "hopefully parents also will find a way to participate."

Sources:

Press Democrat

National Catholic Reporter

Image: Les Femmes

It is not all that surprising that the city lost. The case looked rather weak.

The Court did not even get to the constitutional questions since they were able to rule for the Archdiocese based on the statutes.

The study by U.S. 9th Circuit Judge Arthur L. Alarcon and Professor Paula M. Mitchell found that state and federal government have spent more than $4 billion on capital punishment in California since it was reinstated in 1978, or about $308 million for each of the 13 executions carried out since then, according to a comprehensive analysis of the death penalty's costs, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The report also forecast that the tab for maintaining the death penalty will climb to $9 billion by 2030, when San Quentin's death row will have swollen to well over 1,000.

In their research for "Executing the Will of the Voters: A Roadmap to Mend or End the California Legislature's Multi-Billion-Dollar Death Penalty Debacle," Alarcon and Mitchell obtained California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records that were unavailable to others who have sought to calculate a cost-benefit analysis of capital punishment.

Sources

• CathNewsUSA
• Image: LA Times