Benedict and Bush: meeting to highlight shared objectives
Catholic san Francisco Serving San Francisco, Marin and the Peninsula
By John Thavis
(PHOTO BY JOSE LUIS AGUIRRE)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. President George W. Bush is coming to the Vatican for his first formal audience with Pope Benedict XVI, a meeting seen on both sides as immensely important. Vatican officials said the June 9 encounter would give the pope and the president a chance to sit down for a survey of dramatic situations around the world, including Iraq, where thousands of Christians have been forced to flee. The Bush administration believes the audience will highlight the shared values and common objectives of the Vatican and the United States.
San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang (center) and Father Jon Pedigo of San Jose attempt to speak at a May 29 press event outside the San Francisco office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, but is interrupted by a security guard who vigorously attempted to make the group of clergy, other religious and laity move from the area. A contingent from Bay Area dioceses delivered petitions carrying more than 20,000 signatures calling for comprehensive immigration reform. A simultaneous presentation took place at the Senator’s Los Angeles office. Archbishop George Niederauer has encouraged pastors and parish leaders to support a June 9 procession in support of immigration reform starting at 3 p.m. at Mission Dolores and ending with Mass at 5:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
Vatican Letter In an interview June 1 with Catholic News Service, the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Rooney, said the meeting was “a hugely important reflection” of the president’s respect for the role of the pope and Vatican agencies around the world. “It opens up opportunities for doing good in the world ... by leveraging our mutual values and interests in promoting human dignity and religious liberty and for broadening all freedoms,” Rooney said. One specific area of common concern is global terrorism, Rooney said. “Certainly, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and the use of religion as an excuse for terror are areas the Holy Father has spoken clearly about,” he said. Vatican officials said one sure topic would be the fate of Iraqi Christians, who have faced increasing violence and discrimination since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003 and the overthrow of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. BENEDICT AND BUSH, page 16
Three ‘survivors’ to be ordained for Archdiocese on Saturday at Cathedral One escaped from Vietnam as a youngster and survived seven years in a refugee camp, one overcame a deeply cynical view of faith, and one surmounted the challenges of deafness. All three – Deacons Ngoan Van Phan, Michael Konopik and Paul Zirimenya — will be ordained priests of the Archdiocese of San Francisco by Archbishop George H. Niederauer in Paul Zirimenya a June 9 rite at St. Mary’s Cathedral beginning at 10 a.m. Ngoan Van Phan was born in the city of Hue, the imperial capital of French Indochina on Feb. 24, 1965 near the height of the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. Guerilla combat formed a backdrop to much of Phan’s early childhood. During those years, the Phan family owned and operated a small retail seafood business. As a child, Phan was taken along with his sister and eight brothers to daily Mass by his grandmother. In early1975, when he was 10, Hue City was occupied by North Vietnamese forces. Life became difficult, espe-
Ngoan Van Phan
cially for Catholics. The family struggled, became impoverished, and many times verged on starving. At age 25, Phan risked his life, leaving the country by boat, part of a group of 27. At times lost at sea, the small boat with Phan and his compatriots arrived 26 days later in Hong Kong as asylum seekers. Unfortunately, 1990 was too late for boat people to be welcomed as refugees. Like thousands of others, Phan was confined in refugee camps in Hong Kong for almost seven years. Enduring suffering in the camps, he says he saw God’s love through the dedicated service of priests and nuns who ministered to the refugees. In those difficult
years, Phan met a San Francisco priest, Father Anthony McGuire, whose dedication and loving care of the refugees pointed him toward a vocation to the priesthood. Father McGuire today is pastor of St. Matthew Parish, San Mateo. His dream of becoming a priest was also nourished by Sister Marinei Alves and Redemptorist Father Peter Vang C. Tran Michael Konopik who worked in the refugee camps. In 1997, Phan was released from the camp and arrived in San Francisco as a refugee. Sponsored by Father McGuire, he applied to study for the priesthood for the Archdiocese. He entered St. Francis Seminary in San Diego and attended college at the University of San Diego. Following college, he entered Saint Patrick’s Seminary and University, the seminary of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in Menlo Park. Phan was ordained a deacon along with Konopik and Zirimenya last Nov. 4. Michael Konopik was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in ORDAINED, page 10
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Legal Directory . . . . . . . . . 9 Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Travel Directory . . . . . . . 19 Symphony review . . . . . . 20
Lay convocation addresses smorgasbord of issues
CCCYO marks 100th year at May 20 Mass
Hispanic Charismatic Congress draws 2,500
Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
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