Angelus News | October 26, 2018 | Vol. 3 No. 36

ANGELUS 

FAMILY TIME 

THAT FREES 

25 years of LAMP in South LA 

October 26, 2018 Vol. 3 No. 36

C 

ON THE COVER 

Miriam Mejia poses with her 3-year-old daughter, Naomi, at the South Central Los Angeles 

Ministry Project (LAMP). Begun by a group of religious sisters in the wake of the 

1992 Los Angeles riots, the initiative has proven to be an example of how rebuilding 

a community starts with giving families a chance. On page 10, Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil 

speaks to LAMP staff and women who have benefitted from the head start that the 

25-year-old free program has provided for them and their children. 

JOHN MCCOY 

IMAGE: Central American migrants in Tapachula, Mexico, walk along 

the highway October 21 near the border with Guatemala as 

they continue their journey to the U.S. The migrants are part 

of a caravan of an estimated more than 7,000 people fleeing 

violence and poverty in their native countries. 

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/UESLEI MARCELINO, REUTERS

Contents 

Archbishop Gomez 3 

World, Nation and Local News 4-6 

LA Catholic Events 7 

Scott Hahn on Scripture 8 

Father Rolheiser 9 

Memories from LA’s ‘San Romero’ pilgrimage to Rome 16 

John Allen: The global south’s message to the Church 18 

Why is America’s most infamous abortionist still invisible? 20 

Kathryn Jean Lopez: Mary’s quiet marching orders 22 

Ruben Navarrette: Can the media even hear us? 24 

How a Catholic mom keeps even her comedy clean 26 

Heather King: The lavish loneliness of the Annenbergs 28

ANGELUS 

October 26, 2018 | Vol.3 • No. 36 

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POPE WATCH 

Love at a loss 

The following is an edited version of 

Pope Francis’ reflection on the day’s 

Gospel at the Angelus address delivered 

on Sunday, October 21, in St. Peter’s 

Square. 

While traveling toward Jerusalem … 

the two brothers [James and John] are 

emboldened to approach the Master 

and address their request to him: “Let 

one of us sit at your right and the 

other at your left in your glory” (Mark 

10:37). 

Jesus knows that James and John are 

inspired by great enthusiasm for him 

and for the cause of the kingdom, but 

he also knows that their expectations 

and their zeal are contaminated by 

the spirit of the world. Therefore he 

replies: “You don’t know what you are 

asking” (v. 38). James and John, again 

aiming for the hoped-for privilege, say 

impulsively: Yes, “We can!” 

But, even here, they do not fully 

realize what they are saying. Jesus announces 

that they will drink from his 

cup and receive his baptism, that is 

that they, too, like the other apostles, 

will participate in his cross, when their 

time comes. But, concludes Jesus, “to 

sit at my right or left is not for me to 

grant. These places belong to those 

for whom they have been prepared” 

(v. 40). 

It is as if to say: Now follow me and 

learn the way of love “at a loss,” and 

the heavenly Father will consider the 

reward. The way of love is always “at 

a loss,” because to love means to leave 

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aside selfishness, self-referentiality, to 

serve others. 

Jesus then realizes that the other 

10 apostles are angry with James and 

John, thus showing that they have the 

same worldly mentality. And this provides 

him with the starting point for a 

lesson that applies to Christians of all 

times, even for us: “Whoever wants 

to become great among you must be 

your servant, and whoever wants to be 

first must be slave of all” (v. 44). 

It is the rule of the Christian. The 

Master’s message is clear: while the 

great of the Earth build themselves 

“thrones” with their power, God 

chooses an uncomfortable throne, the 

cross, from which to reign by giving 

his life. 

The way of service is the most 

effective antidote against the pathology 

of the search for first places; it is 

a medicine for climbers, against this 

search for first places, which infects 

so many human contexts and spares 

neither Christians, the people of God, 

nor even the ecclesiastical hierarchy. 

Therefore, as disciples of Christ, 

we welcome this Gospel as a call to 

conversion, to witness with courage 

and generosity a Church that bows at 

the feet of the last, to serve them with 

love and simplicity. 

May the Virgin Mary, who fully and 

humbly followed the will of God, help 

us to joyfully follow Jesus on the path 

of service, the high road that leads to 

heaven. 

Papal Prayer Intentions for October: That consecrated religious men and women may bestir 

themselves, and be present among the poor, the marginalized, and those who have no voice. 

@Angelus 


www.la-archdiocese.org 

@Angelus 


2 • ANGELUS • October 26, 2018

NEW WORLD 

OF FAITH 

BY ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ 

Do not be afraid to be saints! 

I am writing to you again from 

Rome, and today we are celebrating 

the memorial of St. Pope John Paul II, 

on the 40th anniversary of his election 

as pope. 

And as we enter the final week of the 

Synod on Young People, the Faith, 

and Vocational Discernment, it is 

good to remember that he is the one 

who started World Youth Day and 

he raised up many young people as 

saints. 

In fact, at the Cathedral of Our Lady 

of the Angels, we have opened a new 

chapel to one young saint that he 

beatified, St. José Sánchez del Río, 

a 14-year-old martyred for his faith 

during the persecutions in Mexico in 

the 1920s. 

St. John Paul called young people to 

greatness, he challenged them to give 

their lives to Jesus Christ and to share 

in his mission. “Do not be afraid to be 

saints!” he would say. 

The synod is urging all of us in the 

Church to make a renewed commitment 

to walking with our young 

people. “Accompaniment” has been 

one of the watchwords of this synod. 

And as we walk together, we need to 

always keep in mind that our journey 

has a destination. We are on our way 

to God our Father, who is the source 

of love and the reason and meaning of 

our lives. 

Always, when we accompany young 

people in the Church, we are walking 

with Jesus Christ — following 

him with love, living according to his 

words, teachings, and example. In 

fact, we can only reach our destination 

by following the path that 

he shows us. If we are not walking 

together according to his way, we are 

only walking in circles. 

Accompanying young people means 

calling them to conversion as Jesus 

did, calling them to open their hearts 

and change their lives so they can 

know the love of God and his plan for 

their happiness. 

This is the beautiful truth that the 

Church is called to proclaim to the 

world — and to proclaim in a special 

way in this moment to our young 

people. 

I wonder sometimes if we have lost 

some of our confidence in this truth. 

The sorrows in the world, the scandals, 

the overwhelming materialism 

and consumerism in our technological 

society. All of this tends to close 

our eyes to God’s presence, to any 

sense that there is a transcendent 

dimension to reality. 

In many practical ways, we live in 

a world where God does not matter 

anymore. And it becomes harder to 

believe that there is more to reality 

than what we can see and experience 

with our senses. It becomes harder 

to believe that there are permanent 

truths, beyond what we can discover 

with our science and technology. 

I have been reflecting on this a lot 

during this synod. 

We have the truth and the world is 

waiting for our witness. But we cannot 

share what we are not living. 

In this moment in the Church, I 

really believe that all of us need to 

make a new act of love for Jesus. We 

need to pray for deeper faith, for new 

hope in the power of his cross and 

resurrection. 

We need to believe that Jesus alone 

holds the words of life — that in his 

teaching we will find the happiness 

that God wants for us in this world 

and a love that never ends in the 

world to come. This is what young 

people are looking for from the 

Church — leaders they can trust to 

tell them the truth about life. 

“Listening” has been another watchword 

of the synod. Throughout this 

synod, in the hall with the bishops 

every day, there have been young people 

— speaking to us about their lives, 

challenging us with their questions. 

These young people want to know 

the truth. The real truth. Not our 

personal ideas or preferences. They do 

not want to be told what we think they 

want to hear. Young people want to 

know what answer Jesus gives. 

This is what John Paul told them. He 

was not afraid to talk tough to young 

people. He called them to greatness, 

but he wanted them to be realists, too. 

The way of Jesus can lead us to the 

cross, but there is no other way to find 

truth and life, he said. 

He warned that along with the pollution 

of the natural world “there exists 

also a pollution of ideas and morals 

which can lead to the destruction of 

man. The pollution is sin, from which 

lies are born.” 

Strong words, but they are true. 

And they remind us why the truth is 

so essential in our mission to young 

people. 

Pray for me in this week and I will 

be praying for you here in the Eternal 

City. And keep praying for Pope 

Francis and my brother bishops and I 

here at the synod. And let us ask our 

Blessed Mother Mary to pray for the 

Church, that we might call all young 

people to have the courage to be 

saints. 

To read more columns by Archbishop José H. Gomez or to subscribe, visit www.angelusnews.com. 

October 26, 2018 • ANGELUS • 3

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/GREGORY A. SHEMITZ 

WORLD 

Viganò saga continues 

Archbishop Carlo Maria 

Viganò in 2016. 

In his third letter regarding the 

McCarrick scandal, former nuncio 

to the U.S. Archbishop Carlo 

Maria Viganò said that the Vatican’s 

top official for overseeing 

bishops had confirmed several 

of his accusations regarding the 

handling of sex abuse allegations 

against the ex-cardinal. 

The October 19 testimony was 

in part a direct response to Cardinal 

Marc Ouellet, prefect for 

the Congregation for Bishops, 

who had publicly criticized Viganò for being in “open 

and scandalous rebellion” against Pope Francis in a 

recent open letter to the former Vatican ambassador. 

Viganò pointed out that Ouellet’s explanation of his 

department’s post-retirement instructions to then-Cardinal 

Theodore McCarrick actually confirmed that the 

Vatican had tried to discipline the archbishop emeritus 

of Washington, D.C. 

“They were not technically ‘sanctions’ but provisions, 

‘conditions and restrictions,’ ” Viganò wrote. “To 

quibble whether they were sanctions or provisions or 

something else is pure legalism.” 

Viganò stressed that he does not want anyone to 

“topple the papacy” and says that he prays for Francis 

“more than I have ever done for the other popes.” 

Bishops: Legal marijuana will 

‘multiply problems’ in Canada 

As Canada began its first day as the largest country in 

the world with legalized marijuana, Canadian bishops 

reiterated their opposition to use of the drug, even if it 

is legal. 

“It is lamentable that the federal government has decided 

to facilitate the provision and use of an addictive 

substance that will have disastrous effects for so many 

people,” said the Canadian Conference of Catholic 

Bishops in an October 17 statement. 

In their critique, the bishops cited multiple Canadian 

doctors’ groups and even Pope Francis — all of whom 

have expressed health and societal concerns connected 

with marijuana use. 

“The massive increase in cannabis use that will accompany 

its legalization will not produce a more just 

and humane society,” wrote the bishops in their statement, 

“but will only exacerbate or multiply problems 

already widespread in society.” 

A pro-life name change 

in ‘fair Verona’ 

The “city of love” has undergone a name change 

— it is now “a city in favor of life,” thanks to local 

lawmakers. 

In a 21-6 vote, the town council of Verona, Italy, 

approved a motion to earmark money for pro-life 

groups, establish a project to encourage women with 

unplanned pregnancies to pursue adoption rather than 

abortion, and offer monthly payments to women who 

carry their children to term. 

The motion was put forward by councilor Alberto 

Zelger in connection with the 40th anniversary of 

Italy’s legalization of abortion. 

In defense of the motion, Zelger said, “Sometimes 

just a little economic aid or the prospect of a job is 

enough to give a woman in difficulty the peace of 

mind needed to look after her child.” 

COSTLY PAPERWORK — Barcelona’s famous Sagrada Família 

basilica settled a suit with the city government, which claimed that 

construction of the still-unfinished basilica has been done illegally 

because its original building permit was issued by a different city 

in 1882. Church trustees will pay 36 million euros over the next 

decade, which the city plans to use to improve public transport. 

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/GARY ULLAH 


NATION 

Feds launch Church 

abuse probes 

At least eight U.S. dioceses have 

been subpoenaed as part of a 

federal investigation into clergy 

sexual abuse in the Catholic 

Church. 

Seven Pennsylvania dioceses 

(Greensburg, Philadelphia, 

Allentown, Erie, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, 

and Scranton) received 

Department of Justice subpoenas 

as part of a federal investigation 

into allegations of clerical sex 

abuse and cover-up by Church 

officials. The Diocese of Buffalo, 

New York, received a separate 

subpoena in late May. 

Each of the dioceses have expressed 

their cooperation with the 

federal investigation, which has 

been sought by advocacy groups 

like Survivors Network of those 

Abused by Priests (SNAP) since 

2003. 

“Survivors, parishioners, and 

the public want to see proof that 

every diocese has taken sweeping, 

decisive and impactful action 

to make children safer,” Jerome 

Zufelt, spokesman for the Diocese 

of Greensburg, told CNN. 

“We see this as another opportunity 

for the Diocese of Greensburg 

to be transparent.” 

DINNER DELIVERY — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley delivers the 

keynote address during the 73rd annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New 

York City on October 18. Catholic comedian Jim Gaffigan (left) was master of ceremonies for 

the event, which was hosted by New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan (right). 

Iraqi prelate: Where is U.S. aid? 

The Chaldean Catholic Church’s ranking prelate has criticized the United 

States for not following through on promised aid for religious minorities 

in Iraq. 

Speaking at a Vatican briefing, Patriarch of Babylon Cardinal Louis Raphael 

I Sako criticized both a lack of aid and what he called wrong policies of 

the United States. 

“There are promises, but the reality is that there’s been nothing up to 

now,” said Sako, who is based in Baghdad, Iraq. “Today, we need to help 

and encourage Christians to remain in place, help them to find work, 

repair their homes, give them hope. Emptying these places is a mortal sin.” 

Mark Green, USAID administrator, met with Sako soon after his remarks 

and later announced that the U.S. State Department had allocated an additional 

$178 million for relief for religious minorities in Iraq. 

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/GREGORY A. SHEMITZ 

TWITTER.COM 

Moms send 

#PostcardsForMacron 

A Catholic University of America 

professor started a social media 

campaign to rebuke French President 

Emmanuel Macron for his 

comments criticizing women with 

large families. 

“I always say, ‘Present me the 

woman who decided, being 

perfectly educated, to have seven, 

eight or nine children,” said 

Macron. 

The ill-advised quote inspired 

Catholic mother of eight and 

Harvard graduate Dr. Catherine 

R. Pakaluk to start the #Postcards- 

ForMacron hashtag, tweeting a 

photo of herself in doctoral regalia 

accompanied by her children. 

The October 15 post has inspired 

other women on social media to 

share photos of their own large 

families accompanied by stories 

of their educational and career 

success. 


LOCAL 

Stanford 

professor gets 

papal nod 

A California physics professor 

and Nobel Prize winner 

is the newest member 

of the pope’s science club. 

The Vatican announced 

October 20 that Pope Francis 

had appointed Stanford 

University professor Dr. 

Steven Chu to the Pontifical 

Academy of Sciences. 

The 70-year-old scientist 

was the co-winner of 

the 1997 Nobel Prize in 

physics for studies on the 

development of methods 

to cool and trap atoms with 

laser light. He served as 

Secretary of Energy under 

President Obama from 

2009 to 2013 and received 

numerous honorary degrees 

during his career. 

LORD OF MIRACLES — Faithful participate in an October 22 procession outside the Cathedral of 

Our Lady of the Angels with an image of El Señor de los Milagros, a painting of Jesus Christ that 

is venerated as miraculous in Peru. Its feast is widely celebrated every October in Peru, where it is 

said to be one of the largest processions in the world. 

VICTOR ALEMÁN 

Teenage martyr’s chapel opens 

A new chapel dedicated to a 14-year-old 

Mexican martyr and saint will be open at 

the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels 

through November 10. 

The chapel features a painting of St. José 

Sánchez del Río, who was killed in 1928 

for refusing to renounce his Catholic faith 

before anti-Catholic government authorities. 

Also on display are a relic (a piece of his 

clavicle) and a letter he wrote to his mother 

while imprisoned. 

Cathedral pastor Father David Gallardo believes 

the teenage martyr represents a “true 

example” of what it means to follow Jesus. 

“I pray that all who visit this chapel will be 

blessed with the same Spirit that enabled 

St. José Sánchez del Río 

him to remain faithful to the Lord,” said 

Gallardo. “Like San Joselito, may we never grow weary of proclaiming ‘Viva 

Cristo Rey!’ ” 

In his intervention at the Synod for Young People, the Faith, and Vocational 

Discernment at the Vatican earlier this month, Archbishop José H. 

Gomez cited Sánchez as a model of holiness for youth to follow. 

Where families are 

too costly for the rich 

A new study claims that San 

Francisco’s sky-high cost of living 

is discouraging even its wealthiest 

residents from having children. 

Nearly 60 percent of people 

working in the city’s tech industry 

agreed that “the rising cost 

of living has forced me to delay 

starting a family,” according to 

a recent survey conducted by 

Blind. 

That despite the fact that — 

according to a report by website 

Hired — the average tech 

salary in the Bay Area is nearly 

$140,000 per year. 

According to the California Association 

of Realtors, the median 

price of a home in the Bay Area 

is around $900,000 — four times 

the national average. 


LA Catholic Events 

Items for the Calendar of events are due two weeks prior to the date of the event. They may be mailed to Angelus News (Attn: Calendar), 3424 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010-2241; 

emailed to calendar@angelusnews.com; or faxed to (213) 637-6360. All calendar items must include the name, date, time and address of the event, plus a phone number for additional information. 

Fri., Oct. 26 

St. Finbar Church and School 2018 Gala. 1250 E. 

Harvard Rd., Burbank, 6-11 p.m. For more information, 

visit stfinbarburbank.org. 

St. Andrew Parish Feast of Saint Jude Celebration. 

311 North Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Procession, 

6:30 p.m.; bilingual Mass, 7 p.m. 

Sat., Oct. 27 

Italian Catholic Club Halloween Masquerade Dinner 

Dance. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church hall, 

23233 Lyons Ave., Newhall, 6 p.m. Enjoy a costume 

contest, traditional Italian cuisine, and live music by 

Dui Domino. Cost: $35/adults, $15/children 7-16. 

Children under 7 free. Call Anna Riggs at 661-645- 

7877 to RSVP. 

Religious Life Discernment Day for Women. St. 

Catherine Academy, 215 N. Harbor Blvd., Anaheim, 

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Dominican Sisters of Mission San 

Jose invite all single Catholic women, 18-40 years 

old. Freewill offerings will be gratefully received. For 

more information, call Sister Mary Yun, OP, at 213- 

760-3085 or email mary@msjdominicans.org. Register 

online at www.msidominicans.org. 

“The Lord Our God is Mighty.” Our Lady of Guadalupe 

Church parish hall, 227 N. Nopal St., Santa 

Barbara, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Led by Father John Farao, 

OFM Conv. Topics include “Overcoming vulnerabilities 

to evil influences” and “Protection from Heaven.” 

Cost: $20/person. Bring sack lunch, or eat at nearby 

restaurants. Call SCRC at 818-771-1361 or email 

spirit@scrc.org. Register online at www.scrc.org. 

Eucharistic Ministry Training of Holy Communion 

Training. St. James the Less Church, 4625 Dunsmore 

Ave., La Crescenta, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Cost: $15/person 

half day or $25/person full day. Bring your own 

lunch. Register online at http://store.la-archdiocese. 

org/emtraining-10-27-18. Call OFW at 213-637- 

7262. 

Dia de los Muertos Celebration. Santa Clara Cemetery, 

2370 N. H St., 12 p.m. Mass celebrated by Auxiliary 

Bishop Alexander Salazar, featuring the pilgrim 

image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Traditional altars in 

honor of the departed, activities for children, and musical 

program, which includes folkloric dancers, mariachi 

concert, and a special performance by America’s 

Got Talent semifinalist Angelito Garcia. Free and 

open to the public. If you are interested in honoring a 

deceased loved one by building an altar, please call 

Santa Clara Cemetery at 805-988-7251. 

“Relentless” Regional Youth Rally. St. Catherine of 

Siena, 18115 Sherman Way, Reseda, 1-9 p.m. Worship, 

talks, games, workshops, Mass, and adoration. 

Celebrant: Bishop Joseph V. Brennan. For more information, 

email Nestor Aclan at nes6511@gmail.com. 

Rosary for Peace in the Prayer Garden. Pauline 

Books & Media, 3908 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, 

3 p.m. Bilingual prayer to Our Lady for peace in the 

world, our country, our neighborhoods, families, and 

all our hearts. For more information, call 310-397- 

8676 or email culvercity@paulinemedia.com. 

Marian Procession and Rosary in honor of Our 

Lady of Good Health-Velankanni. The Church of the 

Transfiguration, 2515 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 

Los Angeles, 4 p.m. Procession will be followed by 

5:15 p.m. Mass and healing adoration. Call Elizabeth 

Quinn at 310-251-1051. 

Holy Family Annual Parish Country Fair. 209 E. Lomita 

Ave., Glendale. Sat., Oct. 27 and Sun., Oct 28. 

Parish fair will be a weekend filled with delicious 

food, live entertainment, rides, mazes, games, a 

haunted house, and chances to win in Bingo and the 

grand raffle. For more information, visit www.hfglendale.org 

or call 818-247-2222. 

Sun., Oct. 28 

St. Francis Xavier Chapel-Japanese Catholic Center 

Pilgrimage to Japan. Father Doan Hoang, SJ, will be 

the spiritual director on a 10-day pilgrimage to Japan, 

Oct. 28-Nov. 8, visiting Akita, Kyoto, Hiroshima, 

Nagasaki, and more. Cost: $4,300/person. Call Lynn 

Nakamura at 213-626-2279 or email lynn@sfxcjcc. 

org for more information. 

The Heart of the Church: The Centrality of Women 

in the Family of God ENDOW Women’s Conference. 

507 N. Granada Ave., Alhambra, 9 a.m.-5 

p.m. Registration at 8:15 a.m. Join the Carmelite 

Sisters and the ENDOW Los Angeles Chapter for 

a prayerful and inspirational day. Call 626-289- 

1353, ext. 203 or visit https://sjcprogcoordinator@ 

carmelitesistersocd.com. 

Loyola High School Open House. 1901 Venice Blvd., 

Los Angeles, 1-4 p.m. Prospective students and families 

can explore the campus and meet with administrators, 

faculty, and staff. Visit http://www.loyolahs. 

edu for more information. 

Mon., Oct. 29 

Woman to Woman Ministry. Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 

4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Women 

gather for spiritual enrichment and topics of interest. 

This month’s theme is “Writing Together for Pleasure 

and insight.” No previous experience necessary. Participants 

are asked to bring writing materials. Initial 

brief presentation and prompts will be offered. Suggested 

donation: $15/person, with optional offering 

for refreshment table. Register online at www.hsrcenter.com 

or call 818-784-4515. Email questions 

to jmcbroehm@aol.com. 

Sat., Nov. 3 

Journeying in Grief Through the Holidays. Mary & 

Joseph Retreat Center, 5300 Crest Rd., Rancho Palos 

Verdes, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. We will consider possible ways 

of preparing for and participating in the holidays 

while honoring the memory of our absent loved one. 

We will also reflect on our ongoing everyday experience 

of grief, its various dimensions, and ways that 

may help us along the path. Cost: $50/person and includes 

lunch ($55/person after Oct. 26). Call Marlene 

Velazquez at 310-377-4867, ext. 234. 

Sacred Heart 37th Annual Fall Boutique and Family 

Festival. 920 E. Alhambra Rd., Alhambra, 9 a.m.-4 

p.m. Festival includes handmade items, homemade 

goodies, and a silent auction of unique furniture, 

collectible items, and antiques. Eucharistic adoration 

will be offered in the Sacred Heart Chapel. For more 

information on volunteering or donations, call 626- 

289-1353, ext. 201 or email assistantrd@carmlitesistersocd.com. 

Magnificat: A Ministry to Catholic Women Prayer 

Meal. Odyssey Restaurant, 15600 Odyssey Dr., 

Granada Hills, 10 a.m. Guest speaker: Jess Echeverry, 

advocate for children, women, and the homeless. 

Hear Jess’ testimony of her life on the streets and 

abuse, and then her glorious conversion. Cost: $32/ 

person. Call Teri Thompson at 805-527-3745 for 

more information. Register online at www.magnificatsfv.org. 

Laudato Si Workshop. Our Lady of Grace Church, 

5001 White Oak Ave., Encino. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Speaker: 

Bob Hurd. Register online at store.la-archdiocese. 

org/laudato-si-and-the-liturgy. Cost: $20/person. 

Call Joan Vos at 213-637-7588. 

This Week at AngelusNews.com 

Visit AngelusNews.com for these stories 

and more. Your source for complete, 

up-to-the-minute coverage of local news, 

sports and events in Catholic L.A. 

• A new app for kids that’s Pope Francis approved. 

• Robert Brennan offers a critical look at priests in literature. 

• The story of Cecilia Flores, the woman whose life was saved by St. Romero. 


SUNDAY 

READINGS 

BY SCOTT HAHN 

Jer. 31:7-9 / Ps. 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 / Heb. 5:1-6 / Mk. 10:46-52 

“Christ Healing the Blind Man,” by Gioacchino Assereto (1600-1649), Italian. 

Today’s Gospel turns on an irony — 

it is a blind man, Bartimaeus, who 

becomes the first besides the apostles 

to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. And 

his healing is the last miracle Jesus 

performs before entering the holy city 

of Jerusalem for his last week on earth. 

The scene on the road to Jerusalem 

evokes the joyful procession prophesied 

by Jeremiah in today’s First 

Reading. In Jesus this prophecy is 

fulfilled. God, through the Messiah, 

is delivering his people from exile, 

bringing them back from the ends of 

the earth, with the blind and lame in 

their midst. 

Jesus, as Bartimaeus proclaims, is 

the long-awaited Son promised to 

David (see 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Isaiah 

11:9; Jeremiah 23:5). Upon his triumphal 

arrival in Jerusalem, all will see 

that the everlasting kingdom of David 

has come (see Mark 11:9-10). 

As we hear in today’s Epistle, the 

Son of David was expected to be the 

Son of God (see Psalm 2:7). He was 

to be a priest-king like Melchizedek 

(see Psalm 110:4), who offered bread 

and wine to God Most High at the 

dawn of salvation history (see Genesis 

14:18-20). 

Bartimaeus is a symbol of his people, 

the captive Zion which we sing of in 

today’s Psalm. His God has done great 

things for him. All his life has been 

sown in tears and weeping. Now, he 

reaps a new life. 

Bartimaeus, too, should be a sign 

for us. How often Christ passes us 

by — in the person of the poor, in the 

distressing guise of a troublesome family 

member or burdensome associate 

(see Matthew 25:31-46) — and yet we 

don’t see him. 

Christ still calls to us through his 

Church, as Jesus sent his apostles to 

call Bartimaeus. Yet how often are we 

found to be listening instead to the 

voices of the crowd, not hearing the 

words of his Church. 

Today he asks us what he asks Bartimaeus, 

“What do you want me to 

do for you?” Rejoicing, let us ask the 

same thing of him — what can we do 

for all that he has done for us? 

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS 

Scott Hahn is founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, stpaulcenter.com. 


WIKIMEDIA COMMONS 

IN EXILE 

BY FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI 

Beyond anger and indignation 

Recently I attended a symposium 

where the keynote speaker was a man 

exactly my age. Since we had both 

lived through the same cultural and 

religious changes in our lives, I resonated 

with much of what he said. 

And in his assessment of both the 

state of affairs in our politics and our 

churches today, he was pretty critical, 

even angry. Not without reason. 

In both our governments and our 

churches today there isn’t just a bitter 

polarization and an absence of fundamental 

charity and respect; there’s 

also a lot of seemingly inexcusable 

blindness, lack of transparency, and 

self-serving dishonesty. 

Our speaker was plenty eager to 

point these out. 

And for the most part, I agreed with 

him. The current state of affairs, 

whether you’re looking at politics or 

the churches, is depressing, bitterly 

polarized, and cannot but leave you 

feeling frustrated and accusatory at 

those whom you deem responsible for 

the blindness, dishonesty, and injustice 

that seem inexcusable. 

But, while I shared much of his truth 

and his feelings, I didn’t share where 

he landed. He landed in pessimism 

and anger, unable to find anything 

other than indignation within which 

to stand. He also ended very negative 

in terms of his attitude toward those 

whom he blames for the problem. 

I can’t fault his truth and I can’t fault 

his feelings. They’re understandable. 

But I’m not at ease with where he 

landed. Bitterness and anger, no matter 

how justified, are not a good place 

to stay. Both Jesus and what’s noble 

inside of us invite us to move beyond 

anger and indignation. 

Beyond anger, beyond indignation, 

and beyond justified criticism of 

all that’s dishonest and unjust, lies 

an invitation to a deeper empathy. 

This invitation doesn’t ask us to stop 

being prophetic in the face of what’s 

wrong, but it asks us to be prophetic 

in a deeper way. A prophet, as Father 

Daniel Berrigan so often said, makes a 

vow of love, not of alienation. 

But that’s not easy to do. In the face 

of injustice, dishonesty, and willful 

blindness, all of our natural instincts 

militate against empathy. Up to a 

point, this is healthy and shows that 

we’re still morally robust. We should 

feel anger and indignation in the face 

of what’s wrong. 

It’s understandable, too, that we 

might also feel some hateful, judgmental 

thoughts toward those whom 

we deem responsible. But that’s a 

beginning (a healthy enough starting 

point), but it’s not where we’re meant 

to stay. We’re called to move toward 

something deeper, namely, an empathy 

that previously we did not access. 

Deep anger invites deep empathy. 

At the truly bitter moments of 

our lives, when we’re feeling overwhelmed 

by feelings of misunderstanding, 

slight, injustice, and rightful 

indignation and we’re staring across 

at those whom we deem responsible 

for the situation, anger and hatred will 

naturally arise within us. 

It’s OK to dwell with them for a time 

(because anger is an important mode 

of grieving), but after a time we need 

to move on. The challenge then is to 

ask ourselves: 

“How do I love now, given all this 

hatred? What does love call me to 

now in this bitter situation? Where 

can I now find a common thread that 

can keep me in family with those at 

whom I’m angry? How do I reach 

through, reach through the space that 

now leaves me separated by my own 

justified feelings of anger?” 

And, perhaps most important of 

all: “From where can I now find the 

strength to not give into hatred and 

self-serving indignation? 

How am I called to love now? How 

do I love in this new situation? That’s 

the challenge. We’ve never before 

been called upon to love in a situation 

like this. Our understanding, empathy, 

forgiveness, and love have never 

before been tested in this way. 

But that’s the ultimate moral challenge, 

the “test” that Jesus himself 

faced in Gethsemane. How do you 

love when everything around you 

invites you to the opposite? 

Almost all of our natural instincts 

militate against this kind of empathy, 

as does most everything around us. 

In the face of injustice our natural 

instincts spontaneously begin, one 

by one, to shut the doors of trust and 

make us judgmental. They also invite 

us to feel indignation and hatred. 

Now those feelings do produce a 

certain catharsis in us. It feels good. 

But that kind of cathartic feeling is a 

drug that doesn’t do much for us longrange. 

We need something beyond 

feelings of bitterness and hatred for 

our long-range health. Empathy is 

that something. 

While not denying what’s wrong, 

nor denying the need to be prophetic 

in the face of all that’s wrong, empathy 

still calls us to a post-anger, a 

post-indignation, and a post-hatred. 

Jesus modeled that for us, and today 

it’s singularly the most needed thing 

in our society, our churches, and our 

families. 

Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual writer, www.ronrolheiser.com. 


JOHN MCCOY 

Claudia Aquina (left) with her 4-year-old daughter Sophia Lara, and Miriam Mejia (right) with her 3-year-old daughter Naomi, read books in English. 


SISTER ACT 

IN SOUTH LA 

A nonprofit school started by nuns 

25 years ago has discovered that 

helping immigrant moms can ‘make 

a neighborhood again’ 

BY CAITLIN YOSHIKO KANDIL / ANGELUS 


Mothers and daughters sit in a LAMP classroom singing songs in English. 

JOHN MCCOY 

JOHN MCCOY 

Diana Pinto is the executive director of LAMP, a South 

Central Los Angeles Ministry Project that offers ESL and 

parenting classes to mothers who have children under the 

age of 5, as well as an on-site preschool for children. 

Every new year after Miriam 

Mejia moved to Los Angeles, 

she set a goal for herself. This 

would be the year that she’d learn 

English, she would say to herself. 

But somehow that goal had always 

remained out of reach. 

Mejia, 35, was born in Mexico and 

immigrated to the United States with 

her husband 15 years ago, when they 

were newlyweds. She took a job in 

a factory and started taking English 

classes, but soon, life got in the way. 

After having three children, juggling 

the language lessons alongside work 

and family became too difficult, so she 

stopped. 

Still, she held onto her dream of 

learning English. 

“I didn’t want it to be another 10 years 

before I learned English,” Mejia said. 

“Every year in January I thought about 

my goals, and I kept thinking, ‘How am 

I going to do this?’ ” 

Last year, she found a way. 

Mejia enrolled in the South Central 

Los Angeles Ministry Project (LAMP), 

a nonprofit school that serves lowincome 

immigrant mothers and their 

young children. 

In a neighborhood where more than 

one-third of families live below the 

poverty line and nearly half of adults 

don’t have a high school degree, 

according to 2016 census data, women 

can take free classes in English as a 

second language (ESL) and parenting, 

while their children are enrolled in 

preschool just steps away. 

The idea is to not only provide child 

care while the mothers learn, but also 

to promote early childhood literacy, 

prepare the entire family to navigate 

the public school system — and 

empower women. 

“Our goal is to help them become 

leaders,” said Diana Pinto, executive 

director of LAMP, which celebrates its 

25th anniversary in October. 

LAMP was formed in the aftermath 

of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. 

Following the unrest, which left 63 


JOHN MCCOY 

dead and more than 2,000 injured, 

eight congregations of Catholic sisters 

came together to find a way to help 

South Central, the neighborhood most 

impacted. 

“We knew as single, individual 

congregations that we didn’t have the 

resources to take initiatives,” said Sister 

Mary Genino of the Sacred Heart, 

one of the founders of LAMP. “But we 

knew that together we could find a way 

to respond.” 

They canvassed the neighborhood, 

going door to door asking families what 

they needed. 

“We didn’t have a project, a program 

or anything in mind,” said Sister 

Genino, who now lives in Italy as a 

member of the general leadership 

team in Rome. “Our intent was to 

find a way to listen to the people in 

the community with the idea that 

we wanted to build bridges, promote 

healing, and make a neighborhood 

again.” 

The sisters found that as the 

neighborhood had shifted from 

predominantly African-American to 

Latino, one of the most pressing needs 

among women was learning English 

and developing the skills necessary to 

advocate for their children in a new 

country. 

Hearing this, the sisters developed a 

program to cater to these needs. 

“Investing in women, you invest in 

children,” Pinto said. “The higher their 

self-esteem and their confidence, the 

better advocates they’ll become for 

their children.” 

LAMP now has 32 women enrolled 

in the three-year program, and about 

100 children in morning and extendedhours 

care. Most families are either 

Mexican or Central American, said 

Pinto, and the children range in age 

from 3 days to 5 years old. 

The women meet Mondays through 

Fridays from 8:30 a.m. until after noon. 

Most of their school day is English 

class — LAMP offers three levels — 

followed by a parenting class and a 

“mommy and me” literacy program 

known as Parent Child Interactive 

Literacy Activities (PCILA), which 

encourages mothers and children 

to read and develop good habits, 

like creating a home library to make 

reading a core part of their daily 

routine. 

From left to right: South Central LAMP Board of Trustees Chair Teresita Rodríguez-Ruiz; Board 

of Trustees member and honoree Margaret Graf; and Executive Director Diana Pinto. 

‘You are the light’ 

On October 20, South Central LAMP celebrated 25 years of serving 

women and families with an anniversary brunch honoring Margaret G. 

Graf, general counsel for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, with the 25th 

Anniversary Lantern Award. 

“Since joining South Central LAMP’s board in 2007, Marge immediately 

recognized the potential for each woman and child being served 

and understood the importance of SC LAMP’s programs to this community,” 

said Diana Pinto, the organization’s executive director. “Her work 

on behalf of the families has been instrumental to the agency’s growth.” 

Before accepting the award, Graf made a point of thanking the staff and 

families from LAMP for being “what make it wonderful.” 

“I accept this award for you, because you are what makes LAMP the 

light,” said Graf at the brunch. “You are a light to your families, to the 

community, to the schools where your children go, to the city officials 

who are actually here to celebrate you.” 

Office manager Luz Saucedo was also honored at the brunch for her 18 

years of service with LAMP, as well as the nonprofit project Investing in 

Place for being an “Outstanding Community Partner.” 

Proceeds from the event will benefit the LAMP’s Family Literacy programs. 

— Angelus Staff 

DAVID AMADOR GARCIA 


DAVID AMADOR RIVERA 

By encouraging literacy in early 

childhood, the kids are less likely to 

fall behind once they get to school, 

said Carla Silva, a preschool teacher at 

LAMP. 

Classes are free, but the women are 

required to maintain an 85 percent 

attendance rate and are expected to 

turn in all assignments and paperwork 

on time. 

This commitment, said LAMP 

English teacher Sister Cathy Garcia, 

sets a good example. 

“They’ve become great role models 

for their children because they see 

their moms studying, working and 

Sister Cathy Garcia 

going to school,” she said. 

Many of her students have overcome 

tremendous obstacles just to get there, 

Sister Garcia said. One gets up at 3 

a.m. every day to sell fruit before her 

lessons. Another leaves LAMP in the 

afternoon and goes to work until late 

at night, so that she doesn’t get to sleep 

until 2 a.m. 

But it pays off in their everyday lives, 

she said, whether it’s talking to teachers 

at their children’s schools, or being 

able to translate for family members. 

In addition to coursework, LAMP 

offers workshops in partnership with 

local agencies — nonprofits, hospitals, 

and law enforcement — on topics such 

as personal finance, school choice, 

mental health, and the difference 

between ICE and local police 

departments. 

LAMP also offers health screenings 

and a food distribution program, and 

organizes holiday festivals and field 

trips to expose the children to new 

parts of the city. 

“We’re building their arsenal of tools,” 

said Pinto. “You’re not empowering 

families if they only go to you. You 

empower them by giving them the 

opportunity to meet new people and 

to be comfortable with the different 

resources that are out there.” 

Mejia, now in her second year at 

LAMP, said while the program is 

helping with her goal of learning 

English, it’s also taught her other 

things that she didn’t expect. 

“It’s helped me in my character, in 

communication with my children and 

with my husband, and with my selfesteem,” 

she said. “There are so many 

things to do at home, but I’ve learned 

that I need to take that time with my 

family.” 

Claudia Aquina, a 39-year-old student 

at LAMP and a mother of two, agreed, 

saying that on top of English, she’s 

learned how to spend quality time with 

her family. 

“It’s challenging because there are a 

lot of responsibilities,” she said. “You 

have to wake up your kids, get them 

ready, take one to school. I don’t drive 

so I have to walk back, get the other 

one ready, make sure they have all the 

things ready for their school, make sure 

I have all my things for my education, 

and I have to have time to study. 

It’s difficult,” said Aquina, “but it’s 

definitely worth it.” 

Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil is an 

award-winning reporter and graduate 

of Harvard Divinity School whose work 

has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, 

NBCNews.com, Religion News Service 

and other publications. 

Miriam Mejia (left) with her 3-year-old daughter Naomi, and Claudia Aquina (right) with her 4-year-old daughter Sophia Lara, play on a slide outside LAMP. 

JOHN MCCOY 


Romero’s 

day in 

Rome 

Among the thousands of pilgrims 

from around the world 

who traveled to Rome this 

month for the canonization 

of St. Oscar Romero were more than 

100 pilgrims from Los Angeles, home 

to the largest Salvadoran community 

outside of El Salvador. Angelus Photo 

Editor Victor Alemán, himself a native 

Salvadoran, was there to witness 

the historic event. Here are a few of 

the special moments he captured. 

Pope Francis reaches to bless a child on his way through St. Peter’s Square before the October 14 

canonization Mass. 

Pilgrims from Los A 

Quattro Coronati in 

Pilgrims pose with Archbishop José H. Gomez and Cardinal Roger Mahony in the courtyard of the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati after Mass October 13. 


Pilgrims from Los Angeles attend Mass at the Basilica of Santi 

Quattro Coronati in Rome October 13. 

er 13. 

Parishioners (top and above) from St. Patrick’s Church in North Hollywood at the October 14 

canonization Mass in St. Peter’s Square. 


Hope from the global south 

Voices of developing nations heard loud and clear at Synod of Bishops 

BY JOHN L. ALLEN JR. / ANGELUS 

ROME — Measured solely by 

their conclusions, the truth is 

that most Synods of Bishops 

aren’t the stuff of high 

drama. No matter who the pope is, 

many of those conclusions are often 

scripted in advance, and anyway, the 

search for consensus often produces a 

lowest-common-denominator formula 

designed mostly not to offend. 

A synod, therefore, is a classic 

example of an event best viewed as a 

journey rather than a destination. The 

interesting part isn’t whatever appears 

in the final document but rather what 

bubbles up along the way, because 

that’s where you really detect the 

concerns of a global Church. 

There are 1.3 billion Roman Catholics 

in the world today, of whom twothirds 

live in the global south — Africa, 

Asia, Latin America, the Middle 

East, and Oceania, what collectively 

once was called the “Third World.” 

A century ago, that number would 

have been less than one-third. Among 

other things, this transition means that 

the price of admission to membership 

in the Catholic Church today is thinking 

in a global key. 

What are those global voices saying 

in the 2018 synod, dedicated to young 

people, faith, and vocational discernment? 

For one thing, they’ve been heard 

amid discussions of the clerical sexual 

abuse scandals — not contesting the 

reality of those failures but insisting 

that they’re not the only major 

challenge, and also, at times, resenting 

the way attention to the scandals 

sometimes drowns out other narratives 

about the Church. 

“Despite all the pain [caused by] stories 

that are not so encouraging, about 

the very negative stories we hear,” said 

Bishop Godfrey Igwebuike Onah of 

Nsukka, Nigeria, “we feel [that] there 

Cardinal Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui, Central African Republic, leaves a session of the 

Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment at the Vatican October 5. Cardinal 

Nzapalainga said the key question before the synod is, “What is God trying to tell us through 

young people?” 

is still reason to hope.” 

“There is so much reason for hope 

that I think it’s an antidote, so to 

speak, to the negative stories,” he told 

a Rome event at the beginning of the 

October 3-28 Synod of Bishops. 

That event was sponsored by the 

University of Notre Dame’s Center for 

Ethics and Culture in collaboration 

with the Diocese of Orange in California, 

and Crux. 

The Nigerian bishop pointed to the 

many examples where the Church 

around the world is an agent of 

justice, peace, and equality, calling 

faithful not to let the shadows of the 

clerical sexual abuse scandals overcome 

the light of the gospel. 

Another point that’s come through 

loud and clear from the developing 

world during the synod is that 

Christian martyrdom is alive and well 

in the early 21st century. The two 

most sustained ovations so far have 

been for an Iraqi youth and an Indian 

archbishop, both of whom recounted 

direct stories of suffering and persecution. 

Safa Al Alqoshy, a Chaldean Catholic 

from Baghdad, spoke during the 

synod’s second week, describing the 

suffering of Christians in his country 

at the hands of the Islamic State and 

other forms of jihadi radicalism. 

“It’s very important to pay attention 

that there is not only persecution by 

killing, there is a persecution by psychology, 

by feelings. You feel that you 

are alone, that you are not supported,” 

he said in an interview with Crux 

shortly after his speech on the synod 

floor. 

Later, Archbishop John Barwa of 

Cuttack-Bhubaneswa in eastern India 

described the horrors of an anti-Christian 

pogrom that unfolded in the 

district of Kandhamal in 2008, which 

left more than 100 people dead. 

He told the story of Rajesh Digal, a 

young catechist who was murdered by 

Hindu fundamentalists on Aug. 26, 

2008. The mob tried to force Digal 

to convert, Barwa said, and, when he 

was buried in mud up to his neck, was 

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/PAUL HARING 


asked if he’d give up Jesus Christ. 

“He closed his eyes, looked up at 

him and said, ‘No!’ And the man 

dumped the stone on his head,” 

Barwa said. “He silently gave witness 

of the God of life. And this is only one 

story. There are so many powerful 

stories of faith.” 

In addition, Church leaders across 

the developing world often play a 

directly political role that might seem 

excessive by Western standards of 

church-state separation, given that 

political systems and figures are often 

seen as corrupt and the churches 

are one of the social institutions that 

enjoy widespread public trust. 

Bishops from those cultures haven’t 

been shy about voicing their priorities 

in the synod. 

“We’ve had powerful stories about 

migrants throughout the world, where 

in some of the African countries up 

to 90 percent of young people fleeing 

their country or leaving attracted by 

the Western dream, which might 

actually be a mirage in many ways, 

only to have their lives ended in the 

Mediterranean Sea,” said Archbishop 

Percival Holt, a synod delegate from India, participates 

in a news conference to discuss the 

Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational 

Discernment at the Vatican October 11. 

Eamon Martin of Armagh, Ireland, 

speaking about what he’s heard from 

his fellow bishops. 

Among others, Cardinal Dieudonné 

Nzapalainga of Bangui of the Central 

African Republic delivered that 

message. 

“Sometimes [immigrants] are treated 

like animals,” Dieudonné said during 

a press briefing October 6, “or they 

are welcomed only if they are useful 

for something. 

“No, they’re human beings and must 

be treated as such. This is the issue 

that we brought into the synod and we 

hope it will be addressed,” he said. 

Martin said such themes have been 

powerful throughout the summit. 

“We’ve heard very powerful stories 

of persecution, young people being 

drawn into persecution, human 

trafficking, being recruited as child 

soldiers,” ticking off issues that often 

don’t make headlines in the West, but 

which represent daily challenges for 

Church leaders in many parts of the 

world. 

It remains to be seen to what extent 

these voices will shape the content 

of the synod’s final document. In a 

twist to the procedure this time, if 

Pope Francis gives his approval to 

that document it will become part of 

the Church’s ordinary magisterium, 

meaning its routine teaching authority. 

What’s already certain, however, 

is that the voices of the developing 

world are being heard in Rome this 

October. That should be even more 

the case when bishops next assemble 

for a synod, scheduled for next fall on 

the subject of the Amazon. 



Earl Billings as Kermit Gosnell in “Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer.” 

‘A story that needs to be known’ 

Kermit Gosnell committed murders and thrived under abortion 

politics. Five years after his conviction, has anything changed? 

BY PETER JESSERER SMITH / ANGELUS 

Lodged in his prison cell at the 

Huntingdon State Correctional 

Institution in Pennsylvania, 

Kermit Gosnell remains as 

unnoticed today on the American 

cultural landscape as he was during 

his murder trial in 2013. 

But Gosnell’s invisibility, then and 

now, is thanks in large part to a priority 

that quietly dominates so much of 

U.S. culture and politics: the protection 

of maximum access to abortion. 

On October 12, the independent 

film “Gosnell: The Trial of America’s 

Biggest Serial Killer” opened nationwide 

in theaters — but the film has 

not gained wide coverage due to a 

reluctance by major media outlets 

to engage a ghastly subject entwined 

with abortion politics. 

Ann McElhinney, an Irish documentary 

journalist who crowdfunded and 

produced “Gosnell” with her husband, 

Phelim McAleer, told Angelus 

News that they wanted Americans to 

know the story of Gosnell. 

The film, styled after the “Law and 

Order” format, shows how Gosnell 

was allowed to get away with his 

crimes, with the state indifferent to 

the fate of women, thanks to his politically 

protected profession: abortion. 

“This is a story that needs to be 

known,” she said. McElhinney said 

some have told her the film has 

moved them as powerfully as “The 

Passion of the Christ.” Some audiences 

have even prayed together afterward. 

During his 40-year-long stint as an 

abortion provider, Gosnell killed more 

than 1,000 unborn children yearly 

on average through abortion. But the 

late-term abortionist’s career came 

to a crashing end when his Women’s 

Medical Society abortion practice in 

Philadelphia was raided on the suspicion 

of being an opioid drug den. 

IMAGE VIA IMDB 


Law enforcement found in 2010 

what they called a “house of horrors” 

— a filthy facility with damaged and 

unsterilized equipment, bloodied 

patients in semi-conscious states, and 

infant bodies kept refrigerated in jars 

like trophies, stored beside employee 

lunches. 

They discovered evidence Gosnell 

had been performing late-term abortions 

by delivering babies fully before 

stabbing their backs and snipping 

their spinal cords. 

The grand jury in 2011 made clear 

such evil was made possible because 

multiple state agencies deliberately 

turned a blind eye for 17 years, failing 

to inspect Gosnell’s clinic or act on 

complaints, in the name of preserving 

abortion access. 

“We think the reason no one acted is 

because the women in question were 

poor and of color, because the victims 

were infants without identities, and 

because the subject was the political 

football of abortion,” the grand jury 

concluded. 

A jury finally sent Gosnell to life in 

prison without parole after rendering 

a guilty verdict in May 2013 on 

three counts of first-degree murder 

for killing three infants shortly after 

delivering them. 

He was also convicted for manslaughter 

in the death of Karnamaya 

Mongar, a woman from Bhutan who 

died taking a dangerous sedative that 

Gosnell administered because it was 

cheap. 

Gosnell’s trial prompted some 

states to tighten safety regulations on 

abortion clinics, but such regulations 

in Virginia and Texas were eventually 

struck down in courts on the basis that 

compliance would create an undue 

burden to abortion access. 

Popular views unmoved 

Gosnell is hardly notorious in 

Pennsylvania, let alone in the rest of 

the United States — a situation that 

prompted the new film. Steve Bozza, 

who became director of the Archdiocese 

of Philadelphia’s Office of Life 

and Family during the Gosnell trial, 

told Angelus News that the trial took 

place in what seemed like a virtual 

media blackout. 

“Gosnell was certainly a rallying cry 

of the movement,” he said. Pro-life 

advocates following the case were 

energized. But beyond them, most 

people in Pennsylvania have not heard 

about Gosnell, and pro-life political 

success in the state has been mixed. 

The case, even when the mainstream 

media gave it coverage, did not significantly 

change abortion positions. 

In May 2013, Gallup found that 

most Americans (54 percent) were not 

following the trial at all. Just 7 percent 

of Americans followed it closely, and 

18 percent followed it “somewhat 

closely.” Among the generation born 

after Roe v. Wade, 18-34-year-olds, 

Gallup found that 71 percent were 

not following the case. 

In the five years between the Gosnell 

trial and the film’s release this year, 

American attitudes remained as 

unchanged and contradictory over 

abortion as ever. Gallup’s most recent 

2018 surveys found the population is 

evenly divided between calling itself 

pro-life (48 percent) and pro-choice 

(48 percent). 

A majority favors more restrictions on 

legal abortion, but 6 out of 10 Americans 

believe abortion should be legal 

in the first trimester, when 89 percent 

of abortions of unborn children are 

estimated to take place. 

Gallup’s polling also took place in 

the aftermath of the 2015 David Daleiden 

and Sandra Merritt undercover 

videos exposing Planned Parenthood 

and the abortion industry. 

With multiple generations of women 

having abortions following Roe v. 

Wade, the U.S. cannot bear to face 

the reality of abortion, explained 

Olivia Gans Turner, president of the 

Virginia Society of Human Life. 

“We have become a culture that is in 

many ways complicit in abortion as a 

social need,” she said. 

Turner said breaking the silence, and 

changing hearts and minds on abortion 

requires an honest conversation. 

Her own openness about the harm 

done by aborting her child in 1981, 

she said, has helped her family have 

that important conversation with 

someone they love. But without her 

setting that moral tone, “We would be 

a very different family.” 

Changing the conversation 

In many ways, the Daleiden-Merritt 

exposé of the abortion industry has 

affirmed a pattern set by the Gosnell 

case: The gruesome acts of abortion 

providers may spark pro-life outrage, 

but they do not leave a lasting impact 

on the national psyche. 

“We’re not moving the needle with 

any of these things,” Kathleen Buckley 

Domingo, senior director of the 

Office of Life, Justice, and Peace for 

the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, told 

Angelus News. 

She said the graphic images make 

an impression that ends up forgotten 

within a week unless pro-life advocates 

can continue the dialogue. “We 

need to get to the heart of the matter.” 

Pro-lifers have to be willing to look 

across the aisle, she said, and challenge 

both parties to do the right thing 

with Catholic social teaching. 

Fundamentally, Domingo added, 

pro-life advocates need to address 

the push factors driving women to 

seek abortion. Graphic images may 

haunt them, but Domingo said they 

are likely insufficient to overcome the 

crises and lack of support that brought 

them to seek abortion: poor behavioral 

choices, domestic abuse, sexual 

assault, rape, or grinding poverty. 

Domingo pointed out that rent and 

child care in Los Angeles are sky-high. 

Sidewalk counselors are recognizing 

women from church — according to 

Guttmacher 24 percent of abortion 

clients are Catholic — and many of 

them are mothers. 

Approximately 6 out of 10 women 

who have abortions are already 

mothers, and Domingo said that local 

Planned Parenthood clinics have 

asked their clients to stop bringing 

their children. 

Domingo said the pro-life community 

has to change these facts for women 

who experience life “ordered around a 

world where abortion is available,” and 

by changing that world show women 

that abortion does not have to be “a 

necessary piece of their life story.” 

Peter Jesserer Smith is a staff writer for 

EWTN’s National Catholic Register 

and is a frequent contributor to 

Angelus. 


A mother’s marching orders 

Less noise, more surrender: The wisdom of the ‘Marian Option’ 

BY KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ / ANGELUS 

Over the summer, I sat in on a Saturday discussion 

among mostly local women — all “pray-ers” 

— at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in 

Stockbridge, Massachusetts, about motherhood 

and faith. It had been convened by one of the Marian 

brothers there who was entranced by Pope Francis’ homily 

on the solemnity of Mary — New Year’s Day — this year. 

Brother John Luth, MIC, the convener, was particularly 

taken with these words from the 

sermon: “If our faith is not to be 

reduced merely to an idea or a doctrine, 

we must all have a mother’s 

heart, one which knows how to 

keep the tender love of God, and to 

feel the heartbeat of all around us.” 

He took these to be “marching 

orders.” 

“The pope was clearly reminding 

us of the imperative importance 

of mothers — of motherhood,” 

he wrote in his invitatory note to 

participants. 

“We know that a lack of maternal 

attention and care can result in a 

child’s failure to thrive. So, in our 

faith, culture, indeed, in our very 

world, the lack of that same maternal 

character in the very mix of the 

life of the family, parish, community, 

nation, and world, contributes to 

the current lack of vitality of life in 

all of these areas.” 

“Clearly,” he continued, “if we 

are to respond appropriately to the 

needs of the whole Church, and 

each to one another, we must have 

the maternal characteristic Pope 

Francis identifies here.” 

The idea behind the discussion was to unpack — through 

the experience of mothers — just what a maternal heart is. 

Of course, a lot is being said and picked apart about 

Francis these days. But some of that which doesn’t make 

headlines and hasn’t been the subject of commentary and 

debate, may just be what the Holy Spirit needs us to notice 

the most. 

What does it mean to be Marian? St. Teresa of Calcutta 

gets to it when she advises, “We need to find God and he 

cannot be found in the noise and restlessness. ... The more 

The statue of Our Lady of Fátima is carried in 

procession at the start of a vigil Mass at the Shrine of 

Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal May 12. 

we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our 

active life.” 

In her book “When Women Pray,” Kathleen Beckman 

talks about the importance of a Marian heart. “Women 

who are contemplatives in action are great gifts to the 

Church and to the world because we mirror Mary’s life,” 

she writes. 

All of this is not to exclude men from the kind of Marian 

receptivity that models the spouse 

of the Holy Spirit. But God may 

have created women to give us 

a natural head start on the way, 

as complimentary people living 

together in family, community, and 

as the Church. 

Beckman writes that “Mary’s is 

the unique feminine heart that 

prays in perfect docility with the 

Holy Trinity. Her heart can be 

considered a school of prayer. In 

fulfillment of Simeon’s prophecy 

(Luke 2: 34–35), seven swords of 

sorrow pierced her heart. Perhaps 

the pierced heart prays best.” 

The mothers gathered in Stockbridge 

all knew pain. They’ve 

suffered with their own children, 

watching mistakes and heartaches 

and addictions and falling and 

pulling away from God. So, they go 

to the Lord in his passion, seeking 

union and healing. 

As Beckman puts it: “When our 

hearts are pierced, we are opened 

up; we face our poverty, step out of 

our hiddenness, and come before 

God with a hole in our heart. The 

Divine Physician attends to the 

wounded heart with tenderness. … The pierced heart can 

be a portal of grace if we remain open to divine transformation.” 

She quotes Edith Stein, writing just before the rise of 

Hitler: “Perhaps the moment has almost come for the 

Catholic women to stand with Mary and with the Church 

under the cross. It would be a shame to let her answer the 

call alone.” 

It’s not hard to hear St. Pope John Paul II and both his 

“Totus Tuus” (“Totally Thine”) about consecration to Mary 



Pope Francis venerates a Marian image outside the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome in 2016. 

and his writings on the “feminine genius” in the background 

to all this. 

In the book “Crossing the Threshold of Hope,” he wrote 

that “true devotion to the Mother of God is actually 

Christocentric, indeed, it is very profoundly rooted in the 

Mystery of the Blessed Trinity, and the mysteries of the Incarnation 

and Redemption.” Describing Mary at the Foot 

of the Cross, he writes in the encyclical “Mater Redemptoris” 

(“Mother of the Redeemer”): 

On that wood of the Cross her Son hangs in agony as one 

condemned. “He was despised and rejected by men; a man 

of sorrows … he was despised, and we esteemed him not”: as 

one destroyed (cf. Is. 53:3- 5). How great, how heroic then 

is the obedience of faith shown by Mary in the face of God’s 

“unsearchable judgments”! How completely she “abandons 

herself to God” without reserve, offering the full assent of the 

intellect and the will” to him whose “ways are inscrutable” 

(cf. Rom. 11:33)! And how powerful too is the action of grace 

in her soul, how all-pervading is the influence of the Holy 

Spirit and of his light and power! 

In her recent book, “The Marian Option: God’s Solution 

to a Civilization in Crisis,” Carrie Gress puts the choice 

before us quite clearly: 

The Marian Option is something that every man and 

woman must choose and decide to emulate. We must decide 

when faced with the true reality of who Mary is whether we 

will embrace or reject her love. The saints have reported that 

Satan and all his fallen angels rejected God because of the 

role of Mary, as a human woman, was to play in salvation 

history. We must decide if we will go the way of Satan — 

and so many others who have trampled on her gifts — and 

reject her. Or we can allow her to love us; to give us peace, 

joy, and all the virtues; and most important, to bring us to 

her Son. 

In that January 1 homily Francis said, “If we want to go 

forward, we need to turn back: to begin anew from the 

crib, from the Mother who holds God in her arms.” 

To a woman, at that Marian discussion, the conversation 

kept coming back to the imperative of seeing Christ in others, 

holding them in your arms as Mary did Christ in presence 

and listening and love and wisdom. The Church has 

to convey something of that: That’s our Marian mission. As 

Gress puts it, it’s not so much an option as a necessity. 

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review 

Institute, editor-at-large of National Review and a contributor 

to Angelus. 

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE FILE PHOTO/PAUL HARING 


CHANGING 

AMERICA 

BY RUBEN NAVARRETTE 

What the public wants 

As you may have noticed, 

President Trump and the 

media are at war. And, as 

a result, Americans have 

been getting an up-close look at the 

dysfunctional but co-dependent 

relationship between journalists and 

politicians. And it’s scary. 

These two tribes need each other. 

We feed each other. We tend to like 

each other as individuals. We understand 

each other. But that doesn’t 

mean we trust each other. We don’t. 

We’re not talking about different 

kinds of dogs and different varieties of 

cats. These are dogs and cats. 

Almost 20 years ago, when I was a 

baby journalist, I returned to my alma 

mater and became a mid-career student 

at the John F. Kennedy School of 

Government at Harvard. 

Most of my classmates were former 

or aspiring elected officials, government 

workers, or political appointees. 

But some — who made up my tribe 

— were current or former journalists. 

Oh, the glorious arguments we had, 

these two opposing cohorts — in class 

and over pints of beers in Harvard 

Square. We saw the world in fundamentally 

different ways. We had different 

interests. We pursued different 

agendas. 

Ideally, politicians have, as their 

highest calling, serving the public 

good. Journalists worship at the altar 

of seeking the truth — especially if it’s 

inconvenient or unpopular. 

Sometimes those two goals collide. 

There even seemed to be a difference 

in what we wanted out of life. 

The pols wanted power and influence. 

The journos wanted a voice and the 

chance to shape the debate. 

But the two groups did one thing in 

common, unfortunately: Neither of 

us spent much time thinking about 

what the public wants from us. That’s 

right, the lowly, oft-forgotten public 

for which we’re both supposed to be 

working. 

I know what the public wants, because 

I listen good when they scream 

it at me. When I write columns, I 

get emails from readers. When I host 

radio shows, folks call in. When I give 

speeches, people in the audience ask 

questions or make comments. 

The American people are saying 

loud and clear what they want from 

elected officials and the media, and I 

hear them. In advance of the November 

midterm elections, and with 

an eye toward 2020 — which will 

be dominated by President Trump’s 

re-election bid, and the efforts of 

Democrats to thwart it — this is what 

they’re saying. 

As for elected officials, the public 

wants to see them work together for 

the common good. We got a taste of 

that recently when Sens. Jeff Flake 

of Arizona and Christopher Coons of 

Connecticut stepped out of Senate 

Judiciary Committee hearings to 

confirm Brett Kavanaugh and struck 

a compromise that resulted in an 

11th-hour FBI investigation into 

sexual misconduct allegations against 

the Supreme Court nominee. That investigation 

moved the process forward. 

The public also wants to see more 

elected officials who are honest and 

authentic and willing to break from 

party loyalty and do the right thing or 

the thing that will serve the greatest 

number of people. 

Witness the outpouring of love and 

appreciation for the late Sen. John 

SHUTTERSTOCK 


McCain of Arizona, the Republican 

maverick who went his own way regardless 

of party. Too many of today’s 

elected officials — at the local, state, 

and federal level — mistakenly think 

they work for the party, when they 

really work for the people. McCain 

never made that mistake. 

Then there’s the media, from whom 

the public wants fairness, transparency, 

and restraint. Reporters have to 

hold back on their personal opinions, 

and columnists who are paid for their 

opinions need to stop playing political 

consultant, where they try to elect 

some politicians and defeat others. 

The public wants journalists to cover 

the fray, but also have the good sense 

not to enter it. It understands that 

media figures are human beings who 

are going to have their own views, but 

they expect them to stay out of the 

arena and keep their biases in check. 

They want us to inform the country, 

not try to steer it in one direction or 

another. 

And they want us to be honest, and 

admit when we get things wrong — 

which can be often. 

The public also wants journalists 

and the media to treat both parties 

with the same level of fairness and 

scrutiny. It doesn’t expect the Fourth 

Estate to go easy on any one party, 

but it does expect the hall monitors to 

be evenhanded and equally tough on 

both of them. 

As it stands, many Americans have 

concluded that the mainstream media 

is merely a surrogate for the Democratic 

Party. That perception helps no 

one — least of all the media. 

More journalists should listen to the 

public, and so should more elected 

officials. We just might learn something 

about this great country, and the 

people who keep it that way. 

Ruben Navarrette is a contributing 

editor to Angelus and a syndicated 

columnist with The Washington Post 

Writers Group and a columnist for 

the Daily Beast. He is a radio host, a 

frequent guest analyst on cable news, 

and member of the USA Today Board 

of Contributors and host of the podcast 

“Navarrette Nation.” Among his books 

are “A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey 

of a Harvard Chicano.” 


LA’S CATHOLIC COMIC 

CARTOONIST 

How Mary Gallagher’s faith in the face of tragedy is 

bringing audiences a different kind of comedy 

BY CARL KOZLOWSKI / ANGELUS 

Growing up as the daughter of two United States 

Marines, it might have been expected that Mary 

Gallagher would follow in their footsteps, or at 

least engage in a serious-minded career. Instead, 

she confounded expectations, becoming a comic actress 

and professional stand-up comedian who made her national 

television debut on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen 

Colbert” in May. 

Yet the values instilled by her parents, of discipline and 

a devout Catholic faith, are a key part of her performing 

career and her other artistic endeavors as a cartoonist and 

children’s book author. 

Using her cartooning skills to teach children self-esteem 

in her books and in the classes she offers, she’s on a mission 

to save lives through laughter — all while bringing the 

world a kind style of comedy. 

“I’ve been battling that you can’t be funny and nice at the 

same time, because people always told me comedy has to 

have a meanness to it,” said Gallagher. 

“Then I heard [ comic] Brian Regan in an interview say 

he only likes kind comedy. When I saw that, I gave myself 

permission to be who I was. I have a certain kindness in my 

comedy, and Ellen Degeneres’ comedy is also based on an 

element of kindness.” 

Gallagher grew up in Wisconsin, and first performed 

stand-up comedy by opening for stars Pauly Shore and Sam 

Kinison at a Green Bay comedy club when she was 20. She 

was inspired to enter the comedy world after seeing Wayne 

Cotter perform what she believed to be “the perfect set” on 

David Letterman’s late-night talk show in 1987. 

Years later, she met Cotter at the Hollywood Improv and 

got to tell him how much he inspired her — and recited 

his entire routine from memory. 

Her determination to learn that routine so expertly was 

just a foreshadowing of the drive and dedication she would 

later apply when she made it to the hallowed stage of the 

Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City for the Colbert 

show. 

She worked on the six-minute routine for four years, honing 

every last joke to comic perfection as she pursued her 

dreams again, after taking several years off to focus exclusively 

on raising her daughter, Mia, now 12. 

Yet her innate niceness and role as a mom continue 

to be of utmost importance. She’s proud to be a trusted 

Comedian Mary Gallagher performs during her appearance at The Ice 

House Comedy Club on May 31, 2018, in Pasadena. 

confidant for many of Mia’s friends, as she tries to help 

them navigate life’s difficulties. She herself didn’t have the 

happiest of childhoods, growing up with a troubled brother 

who eventually committed suicide. 

“I have a strong urge to help children, and I’ve had my 

daughter actually bring to my attention some of her friends 

that need a kind, caring adult,” said Gallagher. 

“Children trust me and tell me things. I feel with 

everything I’ve gone through because I had a lot of pain 

with my brother in childhood, all is as it was meant to be 

because now I can help people. I believe in empowering 

children to feel good, and really all people. Everyone’s on a 

path to figuring out how can we feel good about ourselves.” 

To that end, Gallagher has illustrated two children’s 

books, “The Girl You Are” and “Gino Has a Birthday,” and 

teaches cartooning in a way that lets her young students 

develop confidence in their artistic choices. 

But on a deeper level, she has teamed up with her friend, 

MICHAEL S. SCHWARTZ/GETTY IMAGES 

26 • ANGELUS • October 26, 2018

comic Brian Kiley (a staff writer for 

Conan O’Brien’s talk show), to create 

a new book that aims to foster discussion 

between middle-school kids and 

their parents about suicide. She hopes 

to encourage children to discuss their 

feelings, and avoid tragedies. 

“It’s not jokey, but there’s a lightness 

to it,” she said. “It’s a conversation 

about the topic of suicide for 10- to 

12-year-olds, since once they get to 

high school, it’s something they’re 

hearing about and dealing with. Last 

year, three freshmen at Mia’s school 

in Burbank killed themselves. We talk 

about drugs, we talk about sex, but 

rarely do we talk about and have a 

conversation about suicide. I’m not a 

psychologist, but it shouldn’t be a dark 

secret we don’t talk about.” 

Gallagher’s faith guides her not only 

in being kind in her comedy, but 

being clean and clever as well. She 

performs frequently at Los Angeles-area 

parish fundraisers, and is a regular 

presence in area clubs such as Flappers 

near her home in Burbank. 

She is disheartened to see that many 

young female comics in their early 20s 

seem to be “just filthy, trying to shock 

audiences into getting their attention.” 

For her, comedy is a gift to be used for 

a higher purpose. 

“Laughter is so powerful, so healing,” 

noted Gallagher. “Just the pure 

entertainment of it, the whole idea of 

presenting this to people — that this 

is who I am and what I think about. 

It’s one of the greatest things you can 

do. I just want to spread a good vibe in 

the world. When we see someone go 

onstage and make light of their own 

shortcomings, it gives us all permission 

to laugh at our own because it 

disarms the heaviness of our faults. 

“Seeing what happened with my 

brother gave me a lesson that every 

day is so precious, and I will truly live 

my life for the glory of God and the 

gift that I’m given,” she concluded. “I 

pray every day for the ability to bring 

joy to more people and make the 

world nicer and kinder.” 

To learn more about Mary Gallagher 

and find her show dates, visit www. 

marygallagher.tv. To learn more about 

her cartooning classes and children’s 

books, visit www.myfriendmary.com. 


THE CRUX 

BY HEATHER KING 

Loneliness at Sunnylands 

A peek into the life of luxury at the Annenberg estate 

Sunnylands, former estate of 

billionaire couple Walter and 

Leonore Annenberg, comprises 

200 acres in Rancho Mirage. 

From Walter’s New York Times obituary: 

“The lavish way of life enjoyed 

by Mr. Annenberg and his wife, Leonore, 

was most visible at Sunnylands 

— completed in 1966 at a cost of $5 

million — where the couple spent the 

winter months. 

“An airy, Astrodome-size extravaganza 

of glass and Mexican lava stone, 

pink marble floors and clustered 

plantings, the 25,000-square-foot 

house — surrounded by well-guarded 

fencing — sits on acres of rolling 

terrain. A well-primped, mock-English 

country landscape in the desert, with 

trees, hills, ponds, waterfalls, it has 

a nine-hole golf course and even an 

artificial swamp for the birds that Mr. 

Annenberg liked to watch.” 

The Visitor Center, designed by LA 

architect Fred Fisher, is all glass, steel 

and sleek, low-slung furniture, with 

stupendous mountain views. Don’t 

miss the very cool bathrooms. There’s 

a cafe and a gift shop. There’s a continually 

changing exhibit or two. 

The first time I went this consisted 

of gifts the Annenbergs had received 

from various heads of state: a bully-mouthed 

bass from George Bush, a 

golf-themed lamp. 

Last June (the estate is closed during 

the hot summer months), it was 

“Carved Narrative,” showcasing the 

work of José and Tomás Chávez, artist 

brothers from Guanajuato, Mexico, 

who produced a half-scale version 

of their world-famous fountain, “Las 

A view of the Visitor Center at Sunnylands. 

Paraguas,” for the entry court of Sunnylands. 

The front garden and grounds, designed 

by The Office of James Burnett 

with horticultural consultant Mary 

Irish, are water-conserving, lovely, and 

free. I thoroughly enjoyed strolling 

about in the 96-degree sun and taking 

photos so bright and Disneyesque that 

they look like they’d been photoshopped. 

The house, designed by A. Quincy 

Jones and completed in 1966, is hidden 

away and costs 48 bucks to tour. 

Apparently tickets, released in monthly 

blocks at 9 a.m. Pacific time on the 

15th day of the preceding month, sell 

out within minutes. 

The locked gates opened. The golf 

cart-mobile proceeded. Right away I 

realized that, interestingly, the Visitor 

Center is way more mid-century modern 

in feel than the residence. 

Which looks like a spaceship and has 

Portuguese pink marble floors, mintgreen 

walls, and is furnished not in 

mid-century modern but rather a style 

called Hollywood Regency: all crystal 

chandeliers, enameled boxes, giltedged 

mirrors and tufted silk chairs 

in shades of sherbet — pale orange, 

raspberry. 

Scattered pieces were to die for. A 

white William Haines biscuit-tufted 

récamier in the master bedroom. 

A series of Ming Dynasty funerary 

containers. A pair of cloisonné herons 

flanking the gas fireplace before 

which Frank and Barbara Sinatra 

were married and which has never, 


once, been lit. 

In 1969, Walter was appointed 

ambassador to England by Richard 

Nixon, and in 1981 Lee, as she was 

known to her friends, was made 

Chief of Protocol by Ronald Reagan. 

Sunnylands began billing itself as the 

West Coast Camp David. The Reagans 

were close friends and frequent 

visitors. 

Photos in the Room of Memories 

capture the vibe: the Queen of 

England, George and Barbara Bush, 

Ronnie lounging before the TV in a 

pair of espadrilles, inscribed: “Let’s 

forget this commie rubbish.” 

“I like everything about the desert 

but the desert,” Leonore observed, 

which is kind of like saying, “I like 

everything about Catholicism but 

Christ.” Acres of bone-dry Coachella 

Valley desert sand were thus planted 

with water-guzzling grass and deciduous 

trees. The Annenbergs didn’t like 

waiting in line at the country club, so 

they built their own 9-hole course. 

Nowadays, what with global warming 

and the Southern California drought, 

the foundation has become way more 

ecology-conscious. It’s let much of the 

lawn go brown, eliminated some of 

the 14 man-made lakes, and installed 

a mile-and-a-half of water efficient 

irrigation tubing. 

As of 2013, the foundation was 

trying out a new grass variant called 

Ultra-Dwarf Bermudagrass on the golf 

course that could be painted green in 

the winter. 

What is the truth and what is a 

mirage? 

Here’s one truth: The Annenbergs 

were philanthropists and art collectors 

who gave away more than $2 billion. 

In 2001, they established a trust providing 

that Sunnylands would henceforth 

be open to high-level national 

and world leaders for retreats. 

They graciously donated their collection 

of Impressionist and post-Impres- 

sionist paintings to the Met in New 

York. Their Annenberg Space for Photography 

in LA features beautifully curated 

exhibits about which I’ve written 

several times. They have opened their 

lovely Visitor Center, breathtaking 

views, and gorgeous desert garden to 

the public — also for free. 

Still, the whole enterprise struck me 

as a bit lonely. Walter died in 2002; 

Leonore in 2009. True to themselves 

till the end, they wished to be buried 

apart from the hoi polloi, in their own 

private mausoleum. 

I thought of my apartment back in 

Pasadena, one of eight in a subdivided 

three-story Craftsman, where, for 

better and worse, I live cheek-by-jowl 

with all manner of neighbors. 

Gazing out over the San Jacinto 

Mountains, I wanted to say, “Walter! 

Lenore! After all you did for the 

world, you deserved more company 

than that.” 

Heather King is a blogger, speaker and the author of several books. 

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip visit Walter and Leonore Annenberg at Sunnylands in 1983. 

THE ANNENBERG RETREAT AT SUNNYLANDS/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Angelus News | October 26, 2018 | Vol. 3 No. 36

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