August 14, 2019

Violence, Racism Raise Fears but
Bishops Call for Determination in Addressing the Issues

Horrific mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton merged with the national debate on racism last week, leaving many people exasperated but also forging renewed determination to combat the evils of violence and racism in our society.

“After El Paso,” wrote Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, it is clear “[w]e need to help our society to see our common humanity — that we are all children of God, meant to live together as brothers and sisters, no matter the color of our skin, the language we speak, or the place we were born.”

He went on to say how “[w]hite nationalism and domestic terrorism are nothing new, sadly,” mentioning the history of Japanese internment camps, the lynching of Mexicans in Texas, and the bombings of churches in the Jim Crow South.

Bishops from two California dioceses – Bishop Oscar Cantú, San Jose, and Bishop Daniel Garcia, Monterey – were especially swift in calling for action after the apparently racially motivated shooting in El Paso. 

Both their dioceses were impacted by the shooting in July at a food festival in Gilroy, a town that lies near the border of the two dioceses.  Both (along with Archbishop Gomez) also served in Texas dioceses before moving to California.

Bishop Cantú expanded the on need to watch out for each other:

“[W]e are reminded that each of us in the human family bears responsibility for each other: for brother, sister, neighbor,” wrote Bishop Cantú.  “Thus, it is important that we realize the impact that language and attitudes of racism, discrimination, and hatred can have on others.”

During his homily at a Mass to pray for the victims, Bishop Garcia of Monterey recalledhow he was once denied enrollment in a school because of his ethnicity. 

He asked the faithful of his diocese to tell our leaders that “enough is enough and we need to seek some kind of change in the way we are treating the present situation.”

In the last week, Bishops of several USCCB committees also stressed the need to change the public discourse:  “[H]ate-filled rhetoric and ideas can become the motivation for some to commit acts of violence. The anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, anti-Muslim, and anti-Semitic sentiments that have been publicly proclaimed in our society in recent years have incited hatred in our communities.

“We, therefore, renew our call to all to act swiftly to stop using hate-filled language that demeans and divides us and motivates some to such horrific violence. Instead, we ask our leaders and all Americans to work to unite us as a great, diverse, and welcoming people.”

Last year, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a pastoral letter dealing with the persistent history of racism in the United States. 

Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love defined racism as when “either consciously or unconsciously—a person holds that his or her own race or ethnicity is superior, and therefore judges persons of other races or ethnicities as inferior and unworthy of equal regard. When this conviction or attitude leads individuals or groups to exclude, ridicule, mistreat, or unjustly discriminate against persons on the basis of their race or ethnicity, it is sinful.”

The statement urges individuals to examine their own attitudes and work to correct any injustice exhibited by themselves or their parishes, schools or communities.

FBI statistics say that the majority of hate crimes are based on race, ethnicity, or ancestry closely followed by religion.  The shootings in El Paso targeting Hispanics or the synagogue violence in Poway, CA, and Pittsburg, PA, are just some of the latest examples.   The shooter in Gilroy also had a list of religious institutions authorities believe were potential targets.

Combatting ethnic and religious violence in this nation has its challenges, even in liberal California.

A recent attempt to forge a model diversity curriculum failed to include antisemitism in its program.  According to the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, “we find it alarming – to say the least – that at a time when Nazis are marching openly in Charlottesville chanting "Jews will not replace us," and Jews in our own state are being physically attacked in houses of worship, the [curriculum] would intentionally turn a blind eye to hatred and discrimination against our community.”  The error was soon corrected but it illustrates the point that recognizing racism - whereever it is encountered -- is critical.

In their letter, the U.S. Bishops are unequivocal on calling Christians to recognize and to fight racism:

“The injustice and harm racism causes are an attack on human life. The Church in the United States has spoken out consistently and forcefully against abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, the death penalty, and other forms of violence that threaten human life. It is not a secret that these attacks on human life have severely affected people of color, who are disproportionally affected by poverty, targeted for abortion, have less access to healthcare, have the greatest numbers on death row, and are most likely to feel pressure to end their lives when facing serious illness. As bishops, we unequivocally state that racism is a life issue.  Accordingly, we will not cease to speak forcefully against and work toward ending racism.”

Archbishop Gomez put it more simply and, perhaps, more eloquently:

“The way we honor the lives taken at El Paso is to live with true Christian love — and to live for the vision of America that their killer denied.”

Welcome to the Old Mission San Buenaventura!...the Mission by the Sea! 

We are open 361 days of the year!

At Mission San Buenaventura we often sing the hymn "In This Place" composed by Trevor Thompson that reminds us of the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ among us. One verse goes like this:

We are gathered at table as one in the Lord.
We are gathered as people who are living the Word.
Our hearts and our spirits are nurtured by grace.
It is Jesus who fills us. He is here in this place.

You are cordially invited to join us for our liturgies. We celebrate Mass daily at 7:30 AM (9:00 AM on Monday during the school year). We have six Masses every weekend. Since the Lord's Day begins at sunset, we celebrate the Saturday Vigil at 5:30pm in English and 7:30pm in Spanish in the Old Mission Church. We celebrate three Sunday Masses in English at 7:30am, 9am and 12:15pm. We have a hugely attended Mass in Spanish at 10:30am in O'Brien Hall, the three story building behind the Mission church.  Join us, won't you?

Click here to take a tour of the Mission with Fr. Tom and Joe Estevez as seen on "All Things Catholic" NETNY.TV Brooklyn, New York Television

Amgen Cycle Tour 2019 in Beautiful Downtown Ventura!

The Thomas Fire, December 2017 is the largest in the state of California history. Mission San Buenaventura welcomed and hosted World Central Kitchen, founded by Chef Jose Andres.  Coordinated by L.A. Kitchen, Chef Jason Collis and Chef Tim Kilcoyne with hundreds of volunteers served 36,000 meals and prepared 90,000 dishes for Thomas Fire evacuees, First Responders and young children in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. 

To help sustain the legacy of our historic Mission: please remember Mission San Buenaventura in your Will or Trust planning.

"Siempre Adelante: United in the love of God as a Mission Family."  Shalom, Fr. Tom Elewaut, Pastor.

Archbishop Jose Gomez writes: I am grateful to the California Assembly Public Safety Committee members and staff for their thoughtful analysis and deliberation on Senate Bill 360, and I am thankful that the bill’s author, Senator Jerry Hill, has decided not to continue pursuing its passage this year.

This outcome is good for the Catholic people of California and for believers of all faiths, not only in this state but across the country.

SB 360 was a dangerous piece of legislation. It was a threat to the sacrament of confession that would have denied the right to confidential confessions to priests and tens of thousands of Catholics who work with priests in parishes and other Church agencies and ministries.

But SB 360 was more than that — it threatened the conscience of every American. If any legislature can force believers to reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings shared with God in confession, then truly there is no area of human life that is free or safe from government intrusion.

In these past few months, it has been inspiring to see so many awakening to this threat and coming together to speak out in defense of religious freedom.

Thanks to the faith and devotion of individual Catholics, parishes, and organizations, tens of thousands of letters, emails, and phone calls were made to lawmakers in Sacramento — including more than 140,000 letters and nearly 17,000 emails delivered from Catholics here in Los Angeles. This is a sign of the great faith and vitality of our Catholic community and the importance of confession to our religious identity and practice.

I would like to express my personal gratitude to the many faith leaders from across the country who came to our assistance in opposing SB 360. It is a beautiful thing to stand together with our brothers and sisters in the apostolic churches of the Catholic and Orthodox East, with Baptists and Pentecostals, Anglicans and Lutherans, Muslims and Jews, and the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Religious freedom is one of the foundations of American democracy. It can never be acceptable for government to interfere in how people pray or worship or live out their beliefs in society. And a threat to the freedom of one faith will always be a threat to the freedom of all of us.

These are matters that go beyond politics. And I pray that as believers we will all keep working together to defend our freedoms and promote our values in seeking to build a society of justice and compassion that serves the dignity of the human person.

From the beginning of this debate, we have argued that SB 360 would do nothing to protect children from the scourge of child abuse that is, unfortunately, found everywhere in our society.

In the Catholic Church, we have grappled with this scandal for many years. Across the state, dioceses have put in place policies and programs to keep children safe. We fingerprint and do background checks on Church personnel, we have staff who help victims, and we have strict protocols for dealing with allegations against priests and others who work for the Church.

As a result, new cases of child sexual abuse by priests are rare in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and other dioceses across California.

We know that every case is one too many. And the Church remains vigilant and totally committed to protecting children and to helping all victim-survivors to find healing.

So, as we thank God today for helping to keep confession sacred, we need to commit ourselves again — every one of us, in every faith and walk of life — to eliminate this scourge of abuse from our society and to see that every child is welcomed and loved, protected and safe.

I am grateful to the California Assembly Public Safety Committee members and staff for their thoughtful analysis and deliberation on Senate Bill 360, and I am thankful that the bill’s author, Senator Jerry Hill, has decided not to continue pursuing its passage this year.

This outcome is good for the Catholic people of California and for believers of all faiths, not only in this state but across the country.

SB 360 was a dangerous piece of legislation. It was a threat to the sacrament of confession that would have denied the right to confidential confessions to priests and tens of thousands of Catholics who work with priests in parishes and other Church agencies and ministries.

But SB 360 was more than that — it threatened the conscience of every American. If any legislature can force believers to reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings shared with God in confession, then truly there is no area of human life that is free or safe from government intrusion.

In these past few months, it has been inspiring to see so many awakening to this threat and coming together to speak out in defense of religious freedom.

Thanks to the faith and devotion of individual Catholics, parishes, and organizations, tens of thousands of letters, emails, and phone calls were made to lawmakers in Sacramento — including more than 140,000 letters and nearly 17,000 emails delivered from Catholics here in Los Angeles. This is a sign of the great faith and vitality of our Catholic community and the importance of confession to our religious identity and practice.

I would like to express my personal gratitude to the many faith leaders from across the country who came to our assistance in opposing SB 360. It is a beautiful thing to stand together with our brothers and sisters in the apostolic churches of the Catholic and Orthodox East, with Baptists and Pentecostals, Anglicans and Lutherans, Muslims and Jews, and the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Religious freedom is one of the foundations of American democracy. It can never be acceptable for government to interfere in how people pray or worship or live out their beliefs in society. And a threat to the freedom of one faith will always be a threat to the freedom of all of us.

These are matters that go beyond politics. And I pray that as believers we will all keep working together to defend our freedoms and promote our values in seeking to build a society of justice and compassion that serves the dignity of the human person.

From the beginning of this debate, we have argued that SB 360 would do nothing to protect children from the scourge of child abuse that is, unfortunately, found everywhere in our society.

In the Catholic Church, we have grappled with this scandal for many years. Across the state, dioceses have put in place policies and programs to keep children safe. We fingerprint and do background checks on Church personnel, we have staff who help victims, and we have strict protocols for dealing with allegations against priests and others who work for the Church.

As a result, new cases of child sexual abuse by priests are rare in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and other dioceses across California.

We know that every case is one too many. And the Church remains vigilant and totally committed to protecting children and to helping all victim-survivors to find healing.

So, as we thank God today for helping to keep confession sacred, we need to commit ourselves again — every one of us, in every faith and walk of life — to eliminate this scourge of abuse from our society and to see that every child is welcomed and loved, protected and safe.

For Catholics, the sanctity of the confessional is unquestionable. It is central to our faith and to our constitutional right to the free expression of religion. Once a precedent is established to legally break the seal of confession others in time may press to open the door to other considerations.

SB 360 Mandated reporters: clergy (Hill, D-San Mateo), as proposed, attempted to undermine the seal of confession for all the faithful. Now, even though amended, SB 360 still denies the sanctity of confession to priests and to thousands of Catholics who work with priests in parishes and other Church agencies and ministries.

Clergy and ministers are already mandated reporters of abuse when it comes to their administrative duties. That is right and important. It must continue unabated. But inserting the government into the confessional is not going to help children.

Abusers are notoriously meticulous, secretive and deceptive. They would not likely seek spiritual reconciliation or counseling but rather go to great lengths to conceal their hideous crimes.

In addition, Canon law is very clear that any priest who violates the seal of confession is automatically excommunicated. That will not change. In fact, several priests have been martyred rather than violate the seal.

The free exercise of religion has been recognized for centuries by nations around the world. SB 360 would undermine that, create confusion, deter counseling and discourage spiritual counseling without gaining any protection for children.

Please urge a NO vote on SB 360 unless it is amended. Any law that does not keep this unique form of religious communications private and available to every person, is wrong and violates Californians’ rights to practice their religion freely.

Click here to register your vote online.

Click here to download petition vote in English

Clck here to download petition carta en espanol

Click here to read Archbishop Gomez letter to the Faithful June 15-16, 2019 in English

Click here to read Archbishop Gomes carta en espanol 15-15 de Junio