Thursday, December 20, 2007

Abortion Facility Contractor Hired by Catholics

Dear Friends of Life, Before we can celebrate the Feast of the Birth of the King, please read and respond to this message from Bill Diss of Precioius Children of Portland. The fight to keep Planned Parenthood from having an abortion facility and kill the souls of Our Lord's creationshas fallen to Oregon Catholics. It seems that Walsh Construction Company, who is doing the proposed building of this site has done many, many construction projects for Oregon Catholics. Please read Bill's letter below. With the aging of the population, much money can be made in constuction projects and Walsh has made their share from the Catholic Sage-Fede Corporation. Father Michael Maslowsky is the Director of the Sage-Fede and needs to be aware of their plans. I'm sure that Father wouldn't want his projects associated with Walsh Construction and their mission. I've been told that Walsh says they are working for Beech Street Partners and building for them...however, morally they are responsible and so are we. Sage-Fede - Our Mission www.villagesage.com Services for All Generations Enterprises (SAGE) is a corporate provider of management and care services in a variety of settings. Working closely with Village Enterprises, a nonprofit developer of faith based communities, SAGE responds to the needs of the aging, disabled, students and the poor. Sage honors the innate human dignity of all people by providing compassionate and professional care daily. (innate human dignity and compassion for the unborn is needed too. VOCAL) SAGE currently operates St. Anthony Village and Villa St. Margaret in southeast Portland, Oregon; Assumption Village in north Portland, Oregon; and Trinity Court next to Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. SAGE also manages Sacred Heart Villa in Portland's Brooklyn Neighborhood. Father Mike Maslowsky's contact information is SAGE-FEDE 3911 SE Milwaukie Ave. #221, Portland, OR 97202 (503) 245-7899 michael.maslowsky@sage-fede.com Maybe he can help us. We must speak out and take action as the Lord leads us to stop this project. Prayer is the foundation, but a writing blitz and calling those involved would be great. FROM BILL DISS of PRECIOUS CHILDREN OF PORTLAND please read...important.! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Brothers and Sisters for Life, Please continue to pray and listen to our Lord to see how He wants you to protect lives and purity on this most important project. For all of the Christians reading this message, we wish you a Holy Christmas Season. Thanks to all people of all faiths who have endeavored for months with us on this effort. There is still no contract or permits so keep up the prayers and your acting on prayer! Christmas Card Writing Session & Gathering: (sorry that I didn't get this out in time...VOCAL) This Wednesday, December 19, 2007 at 7:30pm at Immaculate Heart Church on 2926 North Williams Avenue ( map) near Emmanuel Hospital we will be sending out Christmas cards with some simple messages to city officials and officials involved with building the proposed abortion center. There will be a lot of good food and music so bring the family, sign some cards and make a difference for life and purity this Christmas. Inform Contractors about Walsh, Beech St. Partners & Ankrom Moisan Architects: Please tell anyone you know who has anything to do with construction, plumbing, wiring, remodeling, etc. to not do any business with Walsh, Beech St. Partners or Ankrom Moisan. These people are all working on building one of the largest abortion centers in the country on MLK Jr. Blvd. The developers, Beech St. Partners consist of Tim Ray, James Adamson, Brett Anderson, and Bruce Heywood. So please spread the word and let anyone you know in the building business that the end user of this building will be Planned Parenthood the largest abortion company in our country and last year they killed 264,943 babies and wants to kill thousands up on MLK Jr. Blvd. and Beech St. No permits have been filed and no contract has been signed and hopefully there won't be any if all of you work as if everything depended on you and pray as if everything depended on God. Tell your priests, sisters and ministers about Walsh: Walsh Construction has done a lot of work in Portland for the Catholic Church. They have built care centers such as Assumption Village by Roosevelt High School, facilities for Providence Health and Services and they recently did some remodeling work for De La Salle North Catholic High School. Frankly we do not see how the Archdiocese of Portland can work with Walsh Construction if they decide to build the abortion and sex product center on MLK Jr. Blvd. Planned Parenthood's philosophy and acts go against thousands of years of Catholic Teachings. Planned Parenthood and the Church are very much opposed to each other on life in the womb and the purpose of human sexuality. So ask your priest or a sister or minister to call Bob Walsh at 503-222-4375 or his right hand man, Andrew Beyer at 503-849-7168. All of you can call or write or visit. (More contact information at bottom of letter). Thanks to Churches and Organizations: Thanks for the following on letting us pass out information and speak or our project this past week: Father Corpora and Holy Redeemer, Knights of Columbus Council in Tualitin, Pastor Dale McNeil and Beaverton Christian and Bishop Daniel and Daniels Memorial Church of God in Christ. (TRUE ECUMENISM - notice NO Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon Churches help...VOCAL) Prayer Requests: Please pray for Father Painter of The Madeline Church in northeast Portland. He is in the hospital and he and his parish have been very helpful on the cause for LIFE. Please continue to pray for our fellow brothers and sisters fighting Planned Parenthood in McMinnville, OR, Denver, Colorado and Aurora, Illinois. Special Thank You Request: I do want to ask all of you to thank the only PDC commissioner who voted against Planned Parenthood this spring. Her name is Bertha Ferran and her contact information is: (503) 464-9215, Email: bferran@windermere.com Bertha Ferran Windermere Mortgage Services Series LLC/AT Irving Branch 636 NW 21st Avenue Portland, OR 97209 Your Work May Save Whom? As you ponder on how much you should help by standing with on MLK, 15th & Fremont, Beaverton or McMinnville, as you wonder if you should write or call, ... your work does make a difference! We do not know if you people have heard but Tim Tebow the Heisman Trophy Winner this year was almost aborted. Read full story: http://www.baptistboard.com/showthread.php?t=45601 . So your work will always save some precious child. Read more on the numbers: http://www.hli.org/sl_2007-12-14.html . God Bless of All of You, Your Families and Your Work for Life and Purity, Bill Diss 503-334-6183 Christmas Card Writing: Please just ask the following people to not build the abortion center with Planned Parenthood on MLK Jr. Blvd. WALSH CONSTRUCTION CO. 1. BOB WALSH 2. ANDREW BEYER 2905 SW First Ave. Portland OR 97201 ---------------------------------------- Stewart H. Ankrom ANKROM MOISAN ARCHITECTS 6720 SW Macadam Ave., Ste. 100 Portland OR 97219 ---------------------------------------- CITY OF PORTLAND (5 cards) 1221 SW Fourth Ave. Portland OR 97204 MAYOR TOM POTTER | SAM ADAMS | RANDY LEONARD DAN SALTZMAN | ERIK STEN ---------------------------------------- BEECH STREET PARTNERS TIMOTHY RAY Beech Street Partners 2814 NE 40th Ave. Portland OR 97212 JAMES ADAMSON Beech Street Partners 2044 E Burnside, Ste. C Portland OR 97214 ---------------------------------------- PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION BRUCE WARNER, Exec. Dir. PDC 222 NW Fifth Portland OR 97209 PDC Commissioners (private sector jobs): MARK ROSENBAUM Rosenbaum Financial 1675 SW Marlow Avenue, Ste. 401 Portland OR 97225 SAL KADRI ValueCAD 1839 NE Couch St. Portland OR 97323 CHARLES A. WILHOITE Willamette Management 111 SW Fifth Avenue, Ste. 2150 Portland OR 97204 JOHN MOHLIS Columbia Pacific Bldg. Trades Council 3535 SE 86th Ave. Portland OR 97266 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ After Christ was born, the First Martyrs, the Holy Innocents, the children killed by Herod in his search to kill Christ, have their Feast Day, December 28th. May we find strength to know we did what we could to save any other children, Holy Innocents, from being killed. Then we can truly have a merrier, more joyful Christmas. God Bless you and yours, Carolyn www.vocalnews.org And of what should we be afraid? Our captain on this battlefield is Christ Jesus. We have discovered what we have to do. Christ has bound our enemies for us and weakened them that they cannot overcome us unless we so choose to let them. So we must fight courageously and mark ourselves with the sign of the most Holy Cross. -- St. Catherine of Sienna Member of Catholic Media Coalition "In line with the Church, on-line with the world"

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Lawsuit to Restore Marriage Between One Man & One Woman‏

Dear Friends,

As a chief petitioner for the two referenda: same-sex marriage aka domestic partnership and sexual behavior/activity as a protected minority, I personally experienced confusion while going through the petition sheets determining which signatures were valid or not.


The Oregon Revised Statues (ORS), laws and the Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) that were to be followed weren't followed, in my opinion. It was too late once we actually looked at the ORS's and OAR's. These will come out as the lawsuit progresses.

A glaring omission is that on back of each petition sheet are the "rules for circulators" and the "rules for signers". No where are there directions for "further" rules and regulations, although we are supposed to somehow know that more actually exist. And, when they are found, after much searching, the rules didn't correspond with reasons why the Secretary of State threw out voters signatures and whole petition sheets. This was very frustrating.

We all learned that there seems to be efforts to silence and NOT have Oregonians voices  heard. It was then a miracle of sorts that this grassroots campaign had HB 2007 (same sex marriage) down by only 96 signatures....and SB 2 (sexual activity/behavior/perception as a protected minority ) was down by less than 1,200.

There will be another petition drive for Oregon Voters to be able to vote on these issues. Catholics will need a grassroots effort since the Archdiocese doesn't seem to have the right person for the job to put forth Roman Catholic values. Case in point for the 2007 Session:

The Oregon Catholic Conference, led by Roger Martin our lobbyist who voted for legalizing abortion when he was a legislator, embarrassed thousands of Oregon Catholics by his lack of defense of marriage and family values. And his "complete" testimony cannot be found even though, at the hearing, he said it would be on the record.

Also, the law firm that the Archdiocese of Portland uses is listed in the Gay Yellow Pages of Portland: Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt. Now this might not mean anything, however, this law firm has apparently been paid by the Archdiocese for years during the homosexual scandal. Are there not other law firms that support our values?

Our Catholic Church teaches that Marriage is a sacrament and is between one man and one woman. Thank God we have our Protestant brothers and sisters helping the Body of Christ. NOT ONE Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon Church supports this issue. Seems like we need to detach ourselves.



Here's the article. Please pass it around and pray for it's success. Also for the Archdiocese of Portland and those who work at the Pastoral Center. Souls are at stake and Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead.


PORTLAND, Ore. - Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court against the Oregon Secretary of State and several county clerks after those offices wrongfully invalidated voters' signatures on a citizen referendum. If sustained, the referendum would place onto the November 2008 ballot an option for voters to repeal the state legislature's domestic partnership bill.

"Our country is founded on the basic principle of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It is un-American that Oregon citizens are being denied the right to have their vote count in an important referendum," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel, Austin R. Nimocks.

"The county clerks must fulfill their duty, which is to make sure that every citizen's legitimately submitted signature counts," Nimocks added. "The right to exercise one's voice in the democratic process is a crucial one, and state and county officials must not infringe upon that right."

ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of several Oregonians whose signatures were invalidated by clerks' offices in 12 different counties. Many of the citizens sought, in person, to have their signatures revalidated since no legitimate reason existed to reject their signatures, but the clerks refused.

Signatures were improperly invalidated for various reasons, including determinations that signatures did not match their corresponding voter registration cards, though they did. Other signatures were excluded for voters allegedly not being registered, though they were. Another signer's signature was excluded because the clerk considered the signature "illegible," though it could be read. None of the 254 signers who had their signatures excluded by clerks were ever contacted about the matter.

"In Oregon elections, where most citizens vote by mail, voters are routinely contacted about missing, old, or non-matching signatures, all in an effort to give the voter every chance to make sure that their vote counts," Nimocks explained. "Yet, when it came to Referendum 303, clerks were unconcerned about ensuring that every vote counted and contacted no one. The law allows them to contact the signers, but they refused."

Though the number of signatures for the referendum submitted to the office exceeded the required number by more than 6,000, the Secretary of State publicly announced on Oct. 8 that there were not enough signatures to sustain the referendum. On Oct. 26, when the final results were certified by the Secretary of State, Referendum 303 was only five signatures shy of gaining access to the ballot.


A copy of the lawsuit filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in the case Lemons v. Bradbury can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/LemonsComplaint.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.


Lemons v. Bradbury

The above lawsuit follows prodigious and tireless efforts by the Restore America/Concerned Oregonians Team in conjunction with ADF attorneys to confront the unlawful and unwarranted refusal by State and County officials to accurately verify signatures for Referendum 303 relating to the repeal of Oregon House Bill 2007.
You are encouraged to read the entire filing, and support our efforts financially. We are a faith based tax deductible non profit organization dependent upon the good will and support of our readers. Donations between December 1 and the end of December qualify for the $17,500.00 Matching Grant and therefore double in value.

We are greatly encouraged and believe HB 2007 creating marriage by another name, through this lawsuit, will be placed on the November 2008 General Election Ballot for Oregonian Voters to VOTE on. Please help us make that a reality.


"Impress upon your children the truth that the exercise of the elective franchise is a social duty of as solemn a nature as man can be called to perform; that a man may not innocently trifle with his vote; that every elector is a trustee as well for others as himself and that every measure he supports has an important bearing on the interests of others as well as on his own." Daniel Webster, October 5, 1840


Copyright © 2007, Restore America. All Rights Reserved.

This Advent, which is called the "little Lent", let us pray to Mary, the Undoer of Knots to straighten things out at the legislature, in our Church and in ourselves.

" Accusations that the Church is homophobic are "simply ideological and false," says Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco.

"We calmly say that this criticism is simply ideological and false, and contrary to the spirit and practice of total acceptance of all people."

Archbishop Bagnasco, responding to criticism directed at Benedict XVI, said: "I would like to express to the Pope the heartfelt closeness of the Italian bishops' conference for the superficial slanders made against him."

"It is Christ and his Gospel that urges us on, nothing else.

"We proclaim him as the measure of our humanity, not to reveal weaknesses or underline defeats, but to show obedience. That is essential, first and foremost, for us as bishops and promoters of true freedom for all."

"When we appeal to consciences," continued Archbishop Bagnasco, "it is not in order to be intrusive, but to call people back to those things without which each person would lose their bearings, especially for those less fortunate."

"Our words contain no hidden meanings," underlined the archbishop. "With the utmost transparency we are at the service of joy."

"We do not see a sad people, hollowed out by nihilism and tempted by decadence. We see a people who are alive, capable of renewing themselves through their own resources and discipline, able to lead their young people, able to speak credibly in an international assembly."


Remember "Justice in Pieces" CD donation of $5 is great, but it "could" be a Christmas present to you from me....:-) Learn about how the Am (American) Catholic Church is taking money from the Roman Catholic Church to undermine the TRUE Church Teaching.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Contolling Collection Plate Money - A Question of Competency

Dear Friends, You be the judge of the competency of the leadership in the Office of Justice and Peace. After all this office controls a large budget and determines the distribution of funds from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Here are notes of what's going on behind closed doors. Remember that the Pro-life Office has no budget and Cat Willett is controlling a budget of $90,000 from the Archbishop's annual appeal (3% of the 3.3 million) besides her own salary and benefits and retirement and health insurance and perks. Notice that David Carrier's name is offered as a speaker. A question: "Is he still being paid by Catholic money?" It seems that David has carved out a new occupation in debt relief etc. The Office of Justice and Peace opens doors into the land of job opportunities, even if it seems that the Office of Justice and Peace was left in a mess. There seems to be no oversight and the only way this could continue is by OUR CATHOLIC COLLECTION PLATE MONEY that keeps ROLLING IN. Are we truly just useful idiots? Are the by laws of the Office of Justice and Peace being followed? We aren't privvy to who's on the Board, who's on the Board that determines CCHD monies to see if there aren't any CONFLICTS OF INTEREST that could undermine Catholic Teaching. We SHOULD be allowed to see this, but are turned away by Mary Jo Tully. It's our money and we are responsible to be good stewards. Father Elwin Schwab, who is mentioned below as a possible consultant, is down in Roseburg with Father Juniper Schneider a member of the Justice and Peace Board. Prudent judgements might come into question with Father Schwab on board.... Portland, Oregon, October 28, 2002 (THE OREGONIAN, Excerpted - Archbishop John Vlazny has reassigned a Catholic priest who resigned as pastor of his Forest Grove parish after blessing the relationship between a married couple and a single woman who were later convicted of sex crimes. The three adults whose relationship the Rev. Elwin Schwab blessed in January 2001 -- Kimberly Ann Tasa-Ralph, Howell William Marsh and Bonny Marie Marsh -- pleaded guilty in July to sex crimes involving two teenage girls and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to 20 years. The Rev. Elwin Schwab will be assistant pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Roseburg, said Bud Bunce, a spokesman for Vlazny and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland. Bunce said the move was not a demotion, simply a change of assignment. BELOW - FYI - The Justice and Peace Commission Notes, Plus Homework! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From cwillett@archdpdx.org Here are the notes from the September and October bylaws. As you can see, we're a little dormant as we're working on a long-term strategic planning process. Part of that, which we are going to review in November, is individual members answers to these questions...I would LOVE your thoughts on these questions. If you could get them in by the 12th or so, that'd be great! Here are the homework questions: 1 - Why does the Justice and Peace Commission exists? 2 - What do we hope to accomplish? 3 - What are the values that guide us while we do that? Thanks!!! Cat Thank you for your support of Catholic social justice in Oregon! Cat Willett Office of Justice and Peace Campaign for Human Development Archdiocese of Portland 2838 E. Burnside St. Portland, OR 97214 503-233-8361 justiceandpeace@archdpdx.org www.archdpdx.org/justice_and_peace Subject: Justice and Peace Commission: October 8th Meeting Notes Dear Justice and Peace Commission, Here are the notes (pretty much) for the October 8th Justice and Peace Commission. As always, please let me know if I have missed anything. October 8 Meeting Notes: Present: Fr. Juniper, Fr. Pat, Anne, Cat, Claire, Eileen, Jim, Judy Absent: Art, Brooke, Cyreena, Jean, Sr. Lucinda, Sr. Pat (and other potential J&P members from the newest list) Next Meeting: Nov. 12 or Nov. 19 (please let Cat know if you are able to meet on Nov. 12th, Veteran's Day. If not, we will meet on the 19th.) J&P Commission Membership Issues We actually started this conversation at the last meeting. Cat spoke with Mary Jo and all those people who sent in application forms and have been attending meetings are now approved members of the board. The board talked about the need to clarify board list and also expectations of board members. However, with all Cat's confusion with the J&P contact lists, we still have members (and potential members) who have not submitted paperwork. We will continue to talk about how to approve these members and handle the paperwork issue. Also, Cat mentioned that David pointed her to the most recent J&P Commission list, which has even more new people on it. The board agreed that these members need to be contacted and asked what role they would like to have in the J&P commission. We also talked about whether or not we need to require that board members be affiliated with a particular faith community, especially if we decide to focus mainly on parish outreach and education (for which there seemed to be unanimous interest). At one point, Fr. Juniper wondered if Cat (or whoever is in the office) should start completely over with a new board. No further discussion was added to this topic, and it appeared to warrant further discussion when all active commission members were present. There was also some concern about the missing board member job description in the old Justice and Peace Commission bylaws. This was noted by Eileen. Both Cat and Jim tried to track down this information before the meeting, but were unsuccessful. This conversation led to a general discussion of the importance and binding nature of the bylaws. Eileen felt that the bylaws were necessary, even in an edited state. Fr. Juniper felt that the bylaws were less important for the group, and that the main focus should be clarifying mission and purpose issues, which the strategic planning process will address. Action Item: - Cat will email board members on the new list from David, and ascertain their interest level in the board and the board's strategic planning process. (Done 10/12/07) -The board will continue to think of how to handle new members (or rejoining members with no paperwork), and what, if anything, should be the requirements for new board members. Strategic Plan Update Cat did not have time to meet with Sarah before this month's meeting, so the update was brief. Cat presented the idea of doing a join strategic planning discussion with the CCHD folks. However, it would present some logistical issues. Jim asked what the potential benefits would be. Cat explained that it might streamline communication and help CCHD address burn-out issues by creating allies. However, a social holiday event might do the same thing. Cat will look into that and present more info. Cat and Sarah put together homework questions to be emailed to the board. These questions center around missions and values, and will be compiled for review before the next meeting. Action Items: -Cat will email Strategic Planning homework to board (done Oct. 12) -Cat will look into planning a joint CCHD/J&P holiday party Executive Director's Report Cat gave an update on what the office has been working on. In October, she visited several parish justice and peace groups to offer resources. The day after the meeting she was headed to Grants Pass to do an educational presentation. She's also been working on soliciting grant applications and some basic office organizing. Cat also echoed the request she made via email for volunteers to help with events and advocacy efforts that the office is involved in. Eileen agreed to participate via email, and Claire agreed to help during the meeting. Other people expressed willingness as their schedules permitted. Action Items: -Cat will continue to update commission on the needs and opportunities of the Justice and Peace Office, as well as continue to do a monthly Executive Director's Report. Short-term Goals Cat explained that she and Jim hoped to find ways for Commission members to stay involved during the lengthier strategic planning process by working on short-term, achievable projects during this time. Jim asked if people felt that helping out the office was enough or should we focus on other things. The two biggest themes of this discussion were various aspects of parish education/support for justice-and-peace parishoners and immigration. Judy asked if writing up the discernment process Downtown Chapel is doing around New Sanctuary might be helpful. Claire mentioned doing a feasability study of how to get a justice and peace focus in religious education. Fr. Juniper mentioned that Fr. Elwin Schwab does a great history of the Oregon Catholic Church, especially the social justice aspects. We talked about trying to approach the Archbishop to do a video on immigration as NOT a political issue, but a moral issue. Cat talked about the various people who have approached the office interested in immigration and how we might partner with them for either an event or an advocacy action. It seems like we are well on our way to identifying short-term goals. Action Items: -Commission Members will brainstorm activities around immigration and parish education, and be willing to discuss short-term goals further next meeting. Upcoming Events from Office and Individual Members Cat continues to yammer on about the upcoming Tobin Lecture (November 10th-be there or be square!) - Claire and Judy have seen Siovhan speak and told the group how great she was. -Judy mentioned that Downtown Chapel will be doing a piece at the EMO Collins Lecture morning workshop piece on October 18 -Eileen mentioned the work she was doing with Oregon CURE to plan their annual meeting, including getting Rachel Hardesty to speak on October 14 These are the notes - please correct or add anything I may have missed! Peace, Cat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Justice and Peace Commission September 17th Notes (Requested Bylaws Attached) Dear Justice and Peace Commission, Attached please find the original bylaws for the Justice and Peace Commission. Several commission members expressed an interest at looking at these bylaws, during our conversation about the strategic planning process. Let me know if you would have problems opening the document. Now, without further adieu, here are the notes (if anyone present at the meeting would like to add or amend certain sections, please reply-all with corrections): September 17th, 2007 Justice and Peace Commission Meeting Notes: Present: Jean Eilers, Fr. Juniper Schneider, Sarah Gregory, Sr. Lucinda Peightal, Brooke Anderson, Judy Kittel, Eileen Kennedy, Jim Scherzinger, Ann Stephenson, Claire Burt, Fr. Pat Donoghue Next Meeting: October 9th, 2007 (please see Strategic Planning action items for more information on attendance at October's meeting) Introduction/Welcome -Everyone introduces themselves and told the group what their main social ministry was Updates on last year's plans and actions -Several commission members mentioned the success and importance of continuing outreach to parishes around the state, to ensure that the diocese is informed about the commission's work and has a personal connection with us. The phone tree is an important tool, but questions came up around whether it is the best way to communicate with parishes. Regardless, the commitment to working with parishes enjoyed a majority of support as a project that should be continued into the next year. -Sr. Lucinda was pleased with the Global Solidarity Day held at the UP campus, although there were some problems, according to other members, with communication and publicity for the event. There was also some initial confusion over whether we were speaking of the Peace Together retreat or Global Solidarity Day, but positive things were said about both events. Cat mentioned that there is no specific funding to continue the Peace Together retreat in the office's budget, but money can be taken from the general retreat budget if there is particular enthusiasm for this event. Action Item: *Cat will do more information sharing with the group about planning for upcoming events -Jim Scherzinger brought up the commitment of the commission to five of the issues identified as faith issues by the USCCB. He and other members of the commission reported positively about the need to do parish outreach and evangelization, and that these 5 issues offered a really directed energy for parish relations. -Claire Burt really liked the public work the Office of Justice and Peace did with EMO, Roundtable of People of Faith for Peace, and other interfaith programs. Some people agreed that it was unclear how much of that was David's personal interest in the issue, and whether those relationships would continue. -Brooke mentioned the work that Jubilee Oregon is doing as a prime example of interfaith work, and then passed out a letter from the US Bishops supporting Jubilee legislation. David is currently doing workshops for churches on debt relief and global poverty issues, and is available to do these talks at other issues. -Brooke, Sr. Lucinda and Jim both brought up whether we ought to look at changing the five issues we focus on, or recommitting to them. This segued into our conversation on strategic planning. Strategic Planning -Sarah and Cat began by giving a small talk on the definition of strategic plan, and the decision to do the strategic planning in small sections during the monthly Justice and Peace commission meetings, and continuing with a weekend retreat, probably in January. Action Item: *Cat and Sarah will meet to decide the areas of emphasis for the October, November, and December meetings, and Cat will send this information to the group. -Fr. Juniper brought up the idea that, for this process to succeed, the membership of the Justice and Peace commission needs to stabilize. A majority of people agreed that membership needs to be more structured. Cat mentioned that, at least until we get a chance to talk about it at the retreat, Justice and Peace meetings will be monthly, and people who attend will have to be interested in doing the specified parts of the strategic planning process. Action Item: *Current Justice and Peace Commission members are asked to look at their interest and available time, and spend some time discerning whether they will be able and willing to meet monthly and work to define the mission, goals, and vision of the Justice and Peace Commission. Anyone who is not able to take part in this process can email Cat for alternate ways to remain involved in the work of the Office of Justice and Peace. *Cat will send a copy of bylaws (attached), so commissioners have some idea of the original purpose of the commission. -Sarah mentioned the importance of doing this work in smaller steps, and also the importance not skipping steps along the way. Action Item: *Sarah and Cat will make available the PowerPoint Sarah presented at the April J&P commission meeting, and can also answer specific questions people have about the strategic planning process. -Jim filled us in on the history of the commission. It used to be purely advisory, but has become more action-oriented, but also more undefined. Sarah agreed, based on what she saw at the April meeting, and stressed the importance of the Strategic Plan in collaboratively building definition and mission for the commission. -Both Jim and Fr. Juniper expressed their desire to not be advisory to the Archbishop, which would eliminate some of the problems of approving board members. However, they both added that a process for formally appointing and approving new members would need to replace the current system, in order to have a stable membership base. -Fr. Juniper further suggested that the work of the commission might be better if it was split into three committees: one to do parish education, one to do issue-based work, and one to do advisory work. Sarah and Cat agreed that this should be discussed during the October strategic planning session of the meeting. -Eileen mentioned that, if the commission does continue to advise the Archbishop, everyone should have a chance to meet him. Cat mentioned that Mondays don't work with his schedule, and it was proposed that we could make a special meeting date that might better accommodate him. -Brooke also added a desire to meet Mary Jo and clarify her role in the commission. Cat and Sarah mentioned that this coincided with the need to have someone come in to talk about organizational mandates (the specific work that the commission must accomplish as an Archdiocesan committee). Action item: *Cat will find out when the Archbishop can meet with the commission. *Cat will talk with Mary Jo and find time for her to present her role and the necessary roles of the commission Statewide Visits/Involvement -Cat briefed the board on her whirlwind tour of Southern Oregon and the similarities/differences around Catholic social ministry in the two southern vicariates. Upcoming Events / Announcements -Cat reminded the commission that the Tobin Lecture will be held on November 10th from 10:00am-12:00pm. Fr. Juniper asked if the November meeting could be held either Friday night or after the meeting on Saturday, so he does not need to come up to Portland twice or stay late. Action Item: *Board will decide at next meeting whether to change our November meeting from Monday, Nov. 12 to Friday, Nov. 9 -Cat also mentioned that any commission member who is interested in event planning should contact the office to be part of future planning. Action Item: *If you are interested in participating in the planning of events in the office, please email Cat. -Sarah mentioned that the Collins Lecture is coming up on October 18th. She will be co-presenting a session with Fr. Ron from Downtown Chapel. (for more information on the lecture, go here: http://www.emoregon.org/pdfs/2007CollinsLectureBrochure-letter.pdf ) That's all I have for notes - I am hopeful that people will correct me if I have missed something. Thanks to those who could make it! It was a real help to me in filling in gaps in knowledge and understanding - thank you! Peace, Cat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have tried for a month to get clarification from Cat on these and other issues, to no avail. Go to www.vocalnews.org if you want to make a comment for all to see. By the Grace of God we will protect the ideal of the Church regarding TRUE Justice and Peace. Remember to order "Justice in Pieces" virtual workshop CD. Just contact me. God Bless you and yours, Carolyn What the Church should be doing "In 1984 and 1986 the Church issued major documents on the theme of Liberation. They echoed John Paul's view that the Church should work for the liberation of the poor, but do so in an appropriate way for a church, inspired not by a political vision of a perfect world, but by helping each human being to find their freedom by redemption from sin - the church's job was to bring people into personal contact with God." VOCAL Voice of Catholics Avocating Life PO Box 458 Sublimity, OR 97385 503-769-4767

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

VIVA PAPA!!! A reason for our Hope!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007 3:28 PM Subject: VIVA PAPA!!! A reason for our Hope! Dear Friends, Here is the reason for our hope when things seem hard to take! God Bless, enjoy, I sure did!!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Catholic "United Way" - CCHD Campaign

The CCHD campaign is being promoted. Now you have to give them credit, the Archdpdx does give out what the thousands are being used for ....to pro-abortion, pro-homosexual accepting groups like Sisters of the Road which has been given tens of thousands of dollars for cameras for the homeless to take pictures and now $5,000 to print handouts for the homeless to know their "rights" on the streets....(I could have printed them myself for about $20) But if they can get $5,000 from the Catholic collection plate and we are useful idiots, so be it.... Also we have $5,000 so fifteen Hispanic women would have "community" by cooking for each other go to www.archdpdx.org and see Campaign for Human Development...I have the other years in an archive which will show we have money for grass for Dignity Village and money to ACORN another nightmare. This is just the tip of the iceberg as the Saul Alinskyian techniques are used in this Archdiocese. All we need is a list of things the Archdioces thinks would be nice to give to and we wouldn't need to pay Cat Willett her salary and benefits and could put that money into saving the unborn and elderly....But Saint Andrews parish, who marches in gay pride parades, is listed on gay websites and has a pastor who used to preach on Saul Alinsky years ago, I'm told, is the template for the Archdiocese of Portland. The JUSTICE IN PIECES virtual workshop is available on CD with a handout by just asking me for it....as before if you'd like to help me with a small donation of maybe $5 to cover costs/mailng/producing....that would be great, BUT I would LOVE to get this to you as a gift..... We have to be good stewards of our collection plate money....the Archdiocese has funds and this is NOT a mandated campaign...just a way to build up/ and make new non-profits and change the face of the Church and government with "moral clothes". Let's stop this travesty and save the unborn and the truly helpless.