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Last Chinese Mass celebrated at San Francisco parish
Parish preps for 2022 centennial with history project
Remembering superstar as ‘good and faithful’ Catholic
CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
www.catholic-sf.org
SERVING SAN FRANCISCO, MARIN & SAN MATEO COUNTIES
JANUARY 30, 2020
$1.00 | VOL. 22 NO. 2
Pope, bishops talk about divisions in society, church CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY – Catholics need to be on guard against allowing the angry rhetoric that comes from a polarized society, especially in an election year, to seep into discussions about the life of the church, Pope Francis told a group of U.S. bishops. Thirty-three bishops, auxiliary bishops and retired bishops from California, Nevada and Hawaii met Pope Francis for more than twoand-a-half hours Jan. 27. Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco said the topics included: youth and young adult ministry, Marian devotion, the clerical sexual abuse crisis, marriage and family life, migration, how to be a good bishop, SEE POPE, PAGE 11
(PHOTO BY DENNIS CALLAHAN/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
Walk for Life marks pro-life progress, promise
Thousands of pro-life activists from throughout the state and beyond flooded the streets of San Francisco Jan. 25 for the annual Walk for Life West Coast, buoyed with fresh hope that next year’s event will be a celebration of the end of legalized abortion instead of a protest. “Wouldn’t it be great if next year we didn’t have to be here?” Walk for Life co-founder Eva Muntean asked from the event’s main stage in Civic Center Plaza. Story on Page 6.
New Olema pastor fights to keep rural parish open LORENA ROJAS SAN FRANCISCO CATÓLICO
Since his appointment as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Olema last July, Father Erick Arauz has been working to motivate the community with faith and optimism to stand up and join him to put the parish back on its feet. Some 18 parishioners, including children, attended the 7 p.m. vigil Mass on Jan. 4 and a similar number of parishioners were seen the next day at the other Spanish Mass, while some 30 parishioners usually go the English Mass each Sunday. Despite low Mass attendance and without the necessary funding for the upkeep of the rural Marin County parish, Father Arauz is not giving up and is knocking on doors around the neighborhood. “I’m visiting families to invite them to church, to make them feel like church and to let them know that I’m here, that I’m present,” he said. When he first arrived he found some discouragement among the faithful and parish staff, “as if waiting for the closure.”
‘I’m visiting families to invite them to church, to make them feel like church and to let them know that I’m here, that I’m present.’ FATHER ERICK ARAUZ
Pastor, Sacred Heart Parish, Olema He remains positive, however, and has a plan in mind and plenty of energy and enthusiasm to bring it to fruition with the help of the community. Some people who serve at the parish are still waiting for a response from the archdiocese. “I am the answer,” said Father Arauz, who is a well-known priest in the Hispanic community in the archdiocese and celebrates his 35th anniversary as a priest Sept. 13. Father Arauz is “very good with his parishioners,”
said Father Andrew Spyrow, associate vicar for clergy for the archdiocese. “He’s outgoing and he has a great sense of humor.” Father Arauz faced his first challenge when payments were due and the coffers were empty. He managed to come up with a raffle to get started. The second hurdle was that nobody really knew exactly how many people belong to Sacred Heart Parish. He has begun distributing enrollment forms for a census to get a sense of the parish tally. Father Arauz also wants to reorganize the pastoral council, which “used to meet sporadically” but is now meeting more regularly, he said. Father Arauz also hopes to build a Hispanic committee with representation on the parish council that will work together with both the English- and Spanish-speaking communities. As for pastoral work, Father Arauz has opened the church doors in the evenings on the first Friday of the month for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament between 6 and 7, in addition to the regular celebration
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SEE OLEMA, PAGE 20
INDEX On the Street . . . . . . . . 4 National . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . 22