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Chapter 4 - Diocesan Development
The young diocese of Stockton had been taking shape with the increasing realization that all the baptized are the Church and have an active calling within it. Ever more effectively, the diocesan center and parish life reflected this awareness.
At the center
Diocesan offices and programs exist for two reasons. They serve as resources to the parishes and, when appropriate, to individuals. They also handle the administrative tasks necessary to any large organization. Meanwhile, on-going nourishment of faith and spirit usually takes place in the parish. At both levels, what began in the past continues to evolve, meeting new needs.
Priestly ministry
Priests provide most of the sacramental and pastoral service at the center of the Church’s life. Some are chaplains at health, educational, and penal institutions. Developing this body of ministers is a significant diocesan concern.
Operation Andrew asks the whole Catholic community to invite potential candidates for priesthood to consider this vocation. Sister Wanda Billion, MSC, Director of Vocations, draws on a Vocation Board of priests and lay persons to help with interviews and recommendations. If accepted to prepare for priesthood, students may begin at any of several seminaries appropriate to their previous education or age. They do their final theological studies at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park.
Most candidates are in their twenties, but some older men make this “second-career” choice. In this multi-cultural local Church, American-born priests need to be able to understand enough of another language (primarily Spanish) to converse with people, and foreign-born priests (e.g., Mexico, Colombia) need a command of English to serve in this country, Sr. Wanda believes. “Those aspiring to priesthood must be people-oriented; we enter into service to be for other people.” She also emphasizes, “We need people who are psychologically healthy, able to be faithful.”
The life of a priest is demanding. JesuCaritas is a priests’ group that affords mutual support. Very loose in organization, it may involve small monthly gatherings for dinner. The priests use the time to read and discuss scripture, to pray and to do a review of life, reflecting on topics such as “Where have I seen God in my life in the past month? They discuss current issues.
Confessors, spiritual advisors, confidantes such as seminary classmates: In different forms, priests have access to resources for personal and professional matters.
Several religious congregations send men to minister in the diocese. Franciscan friars of the Santa Barbara Province were responsible for pastoral ministry and education at St. Mary’s, for decades. Numerous Vincentians, Jesuits, Carmelites, Salesians and Oblates of Mary Immaculate have been pastors, and the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales now serve in St. Mary’s High School.
Diaconate = service
The permanent diaconate brought a new group of ministers into service in the young diocese. After the Church restored this plan of the Apostles (Acts 6), Stockton began to prepare candidates in 1978. By 1981, the first group was ready for ordination. Their special focus would be preaching and sacramental ministry (Baptism and Marriage). The word deacon comes from a Greek word meaning “servant,” and the diocese’s thirty-six deacons serve in many areas: chaplaincy, Rite for Christian Initiation of Adults, ecumenical dialogue, justice work, etc.
As unmarried men over 35, married men or widowers, often employed in secular jobs, deacons share experiences with lay Catholics, Yet they are members of the clergy. Parishioners frequently seek out deacons as spiritual bridges between lay life and religious ministry, says Sister Emilie Schenone, OP, director of formation for the permanent diaconate.
Many wives of deacons are involved in ministry either with their husbands or in their own areas of service.
School of Ministry
Training lay Catholics for parish ministries was Bishop Donald Montrose’s goal when he asked Sister Diane Smith, CSJ, to develop the School of Ministry in 1991. As director, Sr. Diane pursued accreditation by United States Catholic Conference Commission on Certification and Accreditation. “I knew it would be demanding,” she says. “But I wanted a professional program and a credible program. Now anyone who is a graduate of our School of Ministry can relocate to another parish and be fully credentialed to participate as a minister.”
The Basic Core Course is the first stage of catechist-training and a pre-requisite for the diaconate program. The Advanced Core Course offers two further years of programs and provides the beginning of diaconate formation.
Courses include Adult Catechesis, Catechetical Coordinator, Elementary and Junior High Catechesis, Detention Ministry, Liturgy, Marriage Preparation, Pre-Baptismal Preparation, Marriage Tribunal Aide, Ministry to the Grieving, Ministry to the Sick, Youth Ministry and Rite for Christian Initiation for Adults. Advanced courses include training as a Master Catechist or Spiritual Director and the Scripture Institute.
Courses are taught in both English and Spanish.
The School’s primary purpose is to develop a living, conscious and active faith. Its secondary goal is to provide training for specific ministries.
Youth ministry
Jesus’ call to be the young Church of today is the message that youth ministers try to help young people hear. The Youth Ministry Office provides special training for the adults who carry out this work in parishes. The Office also offers annual events for Catholic youth, giving special attention to leadership, human sexuality, and other topics.
A reconciling gesture
The diocesan tribunal is a church court operating on the basis of canon law. Stockton’s tribunal began to serve a new pastoral function when, in the winter of 1977-78, Pope Paul VI lifted the penalty of automatic excommunication for Roman Catholics who remarry after divorce. Father William Logar, a tribunal officer, called the Pope’s action “a reconciling gesture.”
Traditionally, the Church has annulled marriages on three grounds: intention of a partner to be unfaithful, to not have children, or to not continue the marriage for a lifetime. The Church also considered psychological grounds: the inability to have made a successful marriage due to a mental illness or immaturity.
“The Pope’s decision encourages remarried Catholics to seek investigation of the validity of their previous marriage, if it is in question,” said Father Harmon Skillin, diocesan canon lawyer. He emphasized that a valid marriage, once entered into, is a permanent, indissoluble bond.
“Any person” he said, “can petition the Tribunal for a review. The end result of the process may be a ruling that the initial marriage was not actually a real bond of love and life freely undertaken, legally contracted and maturely made,” he added. “In this event, the ‘new’ marriage can then be validated.”
The Tribunal considers cases relative to marriage, ordination, rights cases, property issues. “We take all cases,” says Father John Foster, Judicial Vicar, “regardless of ability to pay. Even those who do pay, only pay about 40 percent of what it costs to process an annulment case, for example.”
Convocation sets goals
Spiritual renewal was the number one goal expressed by the diocesan convocation that Bishop Roger Mahony convened in 1981. The event was the first of its kind in the diocese. It resulted in a mission statement and ten major goals.
Madonna of Peace Renewal Center
To nurture spiritual renewal, the diocese established the Madonna of Peace Renewal Center in the foothills of the Sierra, near the historic village of Copperopolis.
The isolated, peaceful setting is conducive to prayer, contemplation and reflection. While both young and old in the diocese use its facilities, it has never been fully developed.
RENEW
Spiritual renewal has continued to be important in diocesan programming. In 1991 RENEW was launched in response to the call of Pope John Paul II for a “spiritual renewal of the whole people of God.” This process of spiritual formation helps parishioners develop a closer relationship with Jesus and open their lives to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Dottie Burdue, then associate director for the program, listed its “three basic themes: teaching and witnessing to the word of God, developing vibrant faith communities and establishing connections between spirituality and justice in parishioners’ hearts and minds.”
Bishop Donald Montrose was enthusiastic about RENEW as “a means of promoting the unity of all parish groups through prayer and the study of scripture.”
TheCatholic Lantern
Another recommendation of the 1981 convocation dealt with communications. A Communications Commission, under Monsignor Richard Ryan’s leadership, proposed the publication of a monthly newspaper, the Catholic Lantern. Yvonne Goodman was its first editor, followed by Charles Goodman and then Patrick Joyce.
Before 1981, the San Francisco diocesan paper, the Monitor, was still serving Stockton. The Lantern provided fuller coverage of local matters. The Lantern’s final issue in its current format appeared in June 2001. It will be replaced by a magazine-style diocesan yearbook and diocesan website,
First woman chancellor
“A break-through for Roman Catholic women” was how Bishop Mahony described the appointment of Sister Lorraine Pagendarm, OP, as Chancellor of the diocese in 1985.
“My experiences in personnel, teaching, spiritual direction and counseling have all come to fruition…in this new position. It has been a very exciting time,” she told the Catholic Lantern in October 1985.
The chancellor’s major role is to assist the bishop with the day-to-day agenda. As chancellor Sr. Lorraine sat on the diocese’s administrative council and oversaw diocesan projects. She was the third woman religious in the United States to be named a chancellor, a post previously held only by priests. She continued to look forward: “The future is going to show us things that might be impossible in our thoughts now.”
Small Farm Viability Project
Not all diocesan programs are internal. One extended literally into the fields.
Soon after arriving in Stockton, Bishop Montrose sought to understand the diocese’s support of family-run farms. He toured an onion farm and spoke with the workers. He visited the Small Farm Viability Project in French Camp, which provided small-scale farmers with a marketing system and a demonstration farm to illustrate alternative farming techniques. Its purpose was to help small farmers remain competitive by switching to popular specialty and organic crops.
The bishop was very supportive and noted to reporters that the project was co-sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Stockton and Catholic Charities.
Social ministry
The Catholic community reaches out in so many ways to the community at large that Bishop Stephen Blaire organized the Office for Social Ministry in 2001. It opened under the leadership of G. Richard Fowler, who had long experience with the U.S. Catholic Conference in Washington, D.C. Several programs gathered under this umbrella or related to it will be treated in later chapters of this book, such as the Hispanic Apostolate, Migrant Ministry, Prison Ministry, Respect Life, Catholic Charities, and Special Education. Others are the time-honored Propagation of the Faith, Catholic Relief Services, and Campaign for Human Development.
The fragility of the human spirit
Just as grace builds up the Body of Christ, so human weakness and sinfulness wound it. Several recent situations have wounded the whole diocese and taught sad lessons.
One involved Father William Ryan, then pastor of the Cathedral of the Annunciation. The parish finance council suspected that Fr. Ryan was mismanaging cathedral funds. In May 1997, he pled “no contest” to two felony counts of grand theft and tax evasion. The court sentenced Fr. Ryan to five years’ probation and 2000 hours of community service. He was ordered to pay restitution of $80,438. Bishop Montrose suspended him from priestly duties.
The community’s healing has been a long process.
In May 1998, the diocese was dealt another blow when a Stanislaus County jury held church leaders responsible for slanderous statements directed at Father Patrick Flood. He was awarded punitive damages. After his dismissal from the diocese, Fr. Flood founded his own church in Turlock.
In June 1998, Father Oliver O’Grady appeared in a crowded Stockton courtroom. He was serving a fourteen-year sentence for child molestation. His victims were now suing the diocese.
In July 1998 James and John Howard won a $29.25 million judgment against the diocese, later reduced to $11.25 million. The diocese eventually reached a settlement agreement for $7.2 million. Fr. O’Grady, who had sought lay status at his own request, was released from prison in 2000 and returned to his native Ireland, where he is to receive ongoing professional attention.
But the wounds remain, in those who were directly victimized and in the community. Father Bill Kraft succeeded O’Grady as pastor of St. Andrews in San Andreas. He recounted,
The truth will set us free. That was our theme. The parish had been through a cycle of betrayal, dishonesty, and deception. Our responsibility was to pray for truth and justice. We prayed together each week. We were open and honest with one another. I always gave truthful answers.... We used scripture. For example, “What is in the dark is going to come into the light.” We would talk for hours; listen to music, pray. Over time, they didn’t need this anymore.
I refused to blame the diocese. They did what they could with what they knew. The church was absolutely packed right after the news broke. I did not let the cameras in. That Sunday the gospel said something about a storm. I said “Now we are in the middle of a storm. We need to ride it out.” The people said OK. It was a period of grace for me.
Grace has been at work in the diocesan community too, which has shared so much suffering. Hurt, saddened and angered by the same realities, “We’ve come out more compassionate to Church leaders,” says Sister Emilie Schenone, OP.
“The diocese’s troubles,” says Father Robert Silva, former cathedral pastor, “show the fragility of the human spirit, and that no one is free from error. On the other hand, it has strengthened us to come together.”
The community’s strength was tested again in February 2002, with the announcement that Father Oskar Pelaez and a former youth worker, Mr. Jose Luis Perez, had been involved in the past in sexual behavior with minors. Bishop Blaire immediately removed the priest from his assignment, met with the victims and their families, assisted them in obtaining professional support, and cooperated with law-enforcement authorities. These actions and open communication with the Catholic community and with the media put into practice the American bishops’ emphasis on pastoral concern for victims, along with the protection of “our most precious youth” (letter to the Catholic people in the Diocese of Stockton, February 24, 2002).
In the parishes
Parishes are continually responding to cultural and social changes. One visible development has been increased lay involvement in parish ministry, staff, and leadership. Demographic growth has meant larger and larger parishes and the need for administrative services provided by lay professionals. Spiritual movements nourishing faith and leadership have enriched parish life.
Rite for Christian Initiation of Adults
Convert instruction had typically been given individually or in small groups before the Rite for Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) developed in the liturgical renewal following the Second Vatican Council. RCIA gave the process a communal context. Catechumens (seeking Baptism) and converts (already baptized) progress through stages of instruction and incorporation involving sponsors and the whole parish. The journey culminates with Baptism or reception into the Church at the Easter Vigil liturgy.
The new method was accepted gradually, testifies Father Patrick Walker. “I had to go slowly.” He adds that “RCIA can change the way we live as church.” Both candidates and sponsors will be better prepared for today’s Church.
Cursillo
Cursillo came from Spain by way of Texas, introduced in California by Deacon Julian Sepulveda. Father Ralph Duggan of St. Gertrude Parish brought this “short course” in the faith to Stockton in February 1961, shortly before the diocese came into being. Father Alan McCoy of St. Mary of the Assumption put it into practice.
Cultural and religious changes were affecting spiritual life in the Sixties. The time was ripe for deeper understanding and renewed commitment. Hispanic Catholics were the first to embrace Cursillo. About 1000 had participated by 1962. Stockton was the first Cursillo center in California.
Clergy and laity alike began taking this three-day program, which captured the imagination of scores of Catholics. All they wanted was “a reminder of, a refresher course in, their faith,” wrote Stockton Record columnist Jack McFarland.
Fr. McCoy directed the first-ever English-speaking Cursillo in March 1962. Thirty-five women, including eleven Dominican and Maryknoll sisters, six women from San Francisco and three from Sacramento, participated.