Angelus News | June 28, 2024 | Vol. 9 No. 13

ANGELUS 

FROM SERRA TO SPACE 

How a Gardena grad tackled the test of a lifetime 

June 28, 2024 Vol. 9 No. 13

June 28, 2024 

Vol. 9 • No. 13 

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ANGELUS 

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ON THE COVER 

VICTOR ALEMÁN 

A few months ago, Junipero Serra High School senior Travis 

Leonard had a science project going into space and a shot at 

joining USC’s football team on the horizon. On Page 12, Tom 

Hoffarth has the story of how Leonard pulled through the test 

of his lifetime: the sudden loss of his father. On Page 16, Greg 

Hardesty introduces a Providence High School graduate on an 

unlikely journey to the Air Force Academy, and on Page 18, a 

retiring LA Catholic school librarian looks back at 43 years of 

getting kids excited about reading. 

THIS PAGE 

CNS/VATICAN MEDIA 

Pope Francis engages in a lighthearted 

moment with Stephen Colbert, Chris Rock, 

Jimmy Fallon, and other comedians, after an 

audience at the Vatican June 14. The pope 

told the comedians that “in the midst of so 

much gloomy news, immersed as we are in 

many social and even personal emergencies, 

you have the power to spread peace and 

smiles.”

CONTENTS 

Pope Watch............................................... 4 

Archbishop Gomez................................. 5 

World, Nation, and Local News...... 6-8 

In Other Words........................................ 9 

Father Rolheiser..................................... 10 

Scott Hahn.............................................. 32 

Events Calendar..................................... 33 

20 

22 

24 

26 

28 

30 

LA’s new permanent deacons look back on their journey to ordination 

John Allen: What Europe’s latest elections mean for the Vatican’s agenda 

Elise Ureneck: Can this book spark real talk about women in the Church? 

Dr. Grazie Christie on why the ‘Jesus Thirsts’ phenomenon is real 

‘Hit Man’ movie sets its sights on a troubling Hollywood trend 

Heather King on the immortality of art that’s close to death 

June 28, 2024 • ANGELUS • 3

POPE WATCH 

An exciting and fearsome tool 

The following is adapted from the Holy 

Father’s June 14 address to world leaders 

at the Group of 7 summit in Borgo 

Egnazia in Puglia, Italy, on the topic of 

artificial intelligence. 

All of us, in varying degrees, are 

enthusiastic when we imagine 

the advances that can result from 

artificial intelligence but, at the same 

time, we are fearful when we acknowledge 

the dangers inherent in its use. 

The advent of artificial intelligence 

represents a true cognitive-industrial 

revolution, which will contribute to the 

creation of a new social system characterized 

by complex epochal transformations. 

For example, artificial intelligence 

could enable a democratization of 

access to knowledge, the exponential 

advancement of scientific research, 

and the possibility of giving demanding 

and arduous work to machines. Yet at 

the same time, it could bring with it a 

greater injustice between advanced and 

developing nations or between dominant 

and oppressed social classes. 

Artificial intelligence is above all else 

a tool. And it goes without saying that 

the benefits or harm it will bring will 

depend on its use. 

But artificial intelligence is a more 

complex tool than, say, a knife. While 

the use of a simple tool is under the 

control of the person who uses it and its 

use for the good depends only on that 

person, artificial intelligence, on the 

other hand, can autonomously adapt to 

the task assigned to it and, if designed 

this way, can make choices independent 

of the person in order to achieve 

the intended goal. 

Machines can make algorithmic, technical 

choices among several possibilities 

based either on well-defined criteria 

or on statistical inferences. Human 

beings, however, not only choose, but 

in their hearts are capable of deciding. 

At times we are called upon to make 

decisions that have consequences for 

many people. In this regard, human 

reflection has always spoken of wisdom. 

Faced with the marvels of machines, 

which seem to know how to choose 

independently, we should be very clear 

that decision-making, even when we 

are confronted with its sometimes dramatic 

and urgent aspects, must always 

be left to the human person. 

We would condemn humanity to a 

future without hope if we took away 

people’s ability to make decisions about 

themselves and their lives, by dooming 

them to depend on the choices of 

machines. We need to ensure and safeguard 

a space for proper human control 

over the choices made by artificial 

intelligence programs: human dignity 

itself depends on it. 

Artificial intelligence is not another 

human being, and it cannot propose 

general principles. This error stems either 

from the profound need of human 

beings to find a stable form of companionship, 

or from the subconscious 

assumption that observations obtained 

by means of a calculating mechanism 

are endowed unquestionable qualities. 

It is the ethos concerning the understanding 

of the value and dignity of the 

human person that is most at risk in 

the implementation and development 

of these systems. It is up to everyone to 

make good use of artificial intelligence, 

but the onus is on politics to create 

the conditions for such good use to be 

possible and fruitful. 

Papal Prayer Intention for June: We pray that migrants 

fleeing from war or hunger, forced to undertake journeys full 

of danger and violence, find welcome and new opportunities 

in the countries that receive them. 

4 • ANGELUS • June 28, 2024

l 

I 

am excited about the coming month 

of July! 

The month begins with our annual 

archdiocesan pilgrimage to Mexico 

City to pay tribute to Our Lady of 

Guadalupe. 

This is always a special time for me 

to be with the faithful of Los Angeles, 

praying in the presence of the sacred 

tilma that bears her miraculous image. 

This year we are expecting nearly 300 

will be joining us on this pilgrimage of 

faith. 

As we always do, we will be bringing 

prayers and petitions for our families 

and loved ones and offering them to 

Our Lady in confidence. 

Near the end of the month, I am also 

excited to be going to Indianapolis for 

the National Eucharistic Congress. 

Already thousands of pilgrims from 

every corner of the country are in 

procession making their way there, 

bearing the holy Eucharist, praying and 

singing, many traveling for thousands 

of miles. 

The pictures of the pilgrims are so 

inspiring, there is such joy and hopefulness 

that radiates from their faces, and 

I sense a new confidence in the power 

of Jesus Christ to change our world and 

change our lives. 

During these past three years of the 

National Eucharistic Revival launched 

by the U.S. bishops, we have witnessed 

a great outpouring of the Spirit. 

More and more, we can see how this 

Eucharistic revival is part of a larger 

movement of the Spirit in our times. 

Jesus told us that the Spirit is like the 

wind. Though we can’t see the Spirit, 

he is at work in the world and in history, 

bringing God’s plan of salvation to 

completion. 

Looking back, we can see that the 

visitation of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 

1531 marked the true spiritual founding 

NEW WORLD OF FAITH 

ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ 

The Gospel remains the answer 

of the Americas, touching off a great 

outpouring of holiness and grace that 

continues today in the mission of the 

Church. 

Several years ago I had the privilege 

to celebrate Mass with Pope Francis at 

the Pontifical North American College 

in Rome. 

The occasion was a day of reflection 

on the evangelization of the Americas 

and the witness of the then soon-to-becanonized 

St. Junípero Serra. 

The Holy Father concluded his homily 

with a powerful call for the Holy 

Spirit to come again to renew the face 

of our continent: 

“May a powerful gust of holiness 

sweep through all the Americas,” he 

said. “We ask God for this special outpouring 

of the Holy Spirit! There was 

so much holiness, so much holiness 

planted in America!” 

I believe we are now witnessing this 

outpouring of the Holy Spirit, not only 

in our country and on this continent, 

but throughout the world. People are 

returning to God and returning to the 

Church. 

This year we received a record number 

of new Catholics into the Church 

on Easter. Earlier this month I ordained 

11 new priests, more than we have seen 

in a number of years. And it is not only 

Los Angeles. We are hearing stories like 

this across the country. 

People are looking for meaning and 

purpose and love in their lives. They 

want to know: How should I live, what 

is the right path for me to follow? What 

happens when I die, and does my life 

make a difference? 

Those questions were on people’s 

hearts when Jesus walked the earth. 

Those questions are still on people’s 

hearts. 

And in the Church, we have the answers 

that people are looking for. 

In an article I was reading recently, a 

pastor wrote this: “The sun also rises 

and life continues for ordinary people at 

the local level, with all of its joys and its 

sorrows. People are born, marry, grow 

old, and die. And the Gospel remains 

the answer.” 

This is the truth! And this is the 

attitude that we need in the Church 

in this moment of spiritual revival and 

renewal. 

By our baptism, each one of us is 

called to live our faith in Jesus Christ 

with joy and love. And each one of us 

is called to lead others to meet Jesus 

and to know his love and share in his 

promise of salvation. 

St. Paul used to say, “For we are God’s 

co-workers.” And so we are. 

God has entrusted each of us with 

some part to play in his beautiful plan 

of love, whether it’s in our homes or 

in our parishes, or at work, or in our 

People want to know: How should I live, what is 

the right path for me to follow? What happens 

when I die, and does my life make a difference? 

communities. 

It is an exciting moment to be a 

believer and a follower of Jesus, a time 

when the Spirit is once again planting 

holiness in America. 

Pray for me, and I will pray for you. 

And let us ask Our Lady of Guadalupe 

to help us to do our part in this great 

movement of the Spirit in our times, 

working with his grace to bring many of 

our neighbors to know the love of her 

Son, Jesus. 


WORLD 

■ Holy Land tourism: 

Economic catastrophe worsens 

As the war between Israel and Hamas continues 

to keep visitors away, the effects on the tourism 

industry in the Holy Land are deepening. 

“Tourist facilities are closed; people working in 

the sector — including many Christians — have 

had no income for months,” Majed Ishaq, of the 

Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Palestine, 

told Catholic News Agency June 4. “People are 

trying to sell houses, cars, furniture, to survive.” 

Ishaq estimates that the tourism industry in the 

Palestinian Territory, where popular places such 

as Bethlehem are located, is losing $2.5 million 

every day. 

On the Israeli side, the country’s Ministry of 

Tourism doesn’t expect recovery until late 2025. 

Other important Christian sites, such as the Holy 

Sepulchre, receive few to no visitors each day, 

despite remaining open. 

“Before the war, we had more than a hundred 

groups a day. Today, we welcome two or three 

groups on a good day,” said Brother Siniša Srebrenovic, 

guardian of the Franciscan convent in 

the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Late Malawi Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima in 2019. | 

OSV NEWS/ELDSON CHAGARA, REUTERS 

■ Malawi’s 

Catholic VP 

remembered as 

a man of faith 

The vice president of the 

African nation of Malawi 

is being remembered as 

a faithful Catholic after 

dying in a plane crash. 

Saulos Chilima, 51, and 

eight others were killed 

when a military plane 

crashed in a mountainous 

area in the country’s north during bad weather June 11. 

Chilima, 51, was a devout Catholic who held leadership positions 

in his local church. He is survived by his wife, Mary, and their two 

children. Rescuers at the crash site reportedly found his hand clutching 

a rosary. 

“We have lost our beloved vice president of Malawi. May he rest in 

peace. He loved the Church. Very active and humble,” wrote Malawian 

priest Father Edmond Nyoka on X. 

Chilima and his contingent were traveling from the capital, Lilongwe, 

to the northern city of Mzuzu to represent the country’s government 

at the burial of a former government minister. 

Mexico’s biggest winner — Claudia Sheinbaum gestures to supporters at Zócalo plaza in Mexico City after 

winning the June 2 presidential election by a large margin to become the country’s first female president. A 

member of Mexico’s ruling progressive Morena Party, Sheinbaum was raised Jewish but identifies as nonreligious. 

In a statement, the country’s Catholic bishops congratulated Sheinbaum while lamenting “the obstacles 

and problems that arose during the electoral process, especially due to criminal violence and interference with 

legality by some authorities.” | OSV NEWS/ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI, REUTERS 

■ Will India’s liturgy 

war ever end? 

Priests within the Syro-Malabar 

Catholic Church in India have been 

given until July 4 to finally adopt the 

“uniform” Mass, in a Vatican-backed 

attempt to end a decadeslong liturgical 

dispute. 

Priests who do not follow the approved 

rubrics will face expulsion and 

their liturgies would be invalid after 

July 3, according to a June 9 pastoral 

letter from Syro-Malabar authorities. 

In the uniform Mass, which was adopted 

by the Eastern Church in 1999, 

the priest faces the altar throughout 

the Eucharistic prayer but the congregation 

during the Liturgy of the Word. 

Still, some have insisted on facing the 

altar for the full liturgy, while others 

facing the congregation. 

The Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly 

had a dispensation from the 

uniform Mass which ended November 

2021. Since then, critics of the 

synodal rubrics have led a contentious 

protest against the uniform Mass. 


NATION 

Smiles by the sea —U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden give Pope Francis a gift during a 

private meeting on the margins of the Group of Seven summit in Borgo Egnazia, a beach resort in Italy’s 

southern Puglia region, June 14. According to a White House release, Biden and the pope discussed the 

need for a ceasefire and a hostage deal involving Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as well as the humanitarian 

crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. | CNS /VATICAN MEDIA 

■ Cardinal tells New York to 

stop bullying Catholic schools 

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan 

accused state lawmakers pushing an 

anti-bullying bill that would force Catholic 

schools to follow progressive gender norms 

of attempting a “social coup d’etat.” 

The June 12 op-ed in Compact Magazine 

titled “Stop Bullying Religious Schools” 

took issue with the Nonpublic Dignity 

for All Students Act, which would allow 

discrimination lawsuits against Catholic 

schools by enforcing policies, including 

school uniforms, pronouns, and bathroom 

access, based on biological sex rather than 

gender identity. 

“Essentially, they are telling our families: 

If you won’t toe the line and enroll your 

children in our government schools, we 

will force the policies of the government 

schools onto your schools,” Dolan wrote. 

The bill was blocked from advancing in 

the current legislative session, but Dolan 

expressed worry that “the threat of this unjust 

intrusion won’t be going away anytime 

soon.” 

■ US, Mexico bishops criticize 

Biden asylum ban 

Catholic leaders on both sides of the southern border 

criticized President Joe Biden’s executive order temporarily 

shutting down asylum requests. 

The order temporarily shuts down asylum requests 

based on a seven-day average number of daily encounters 

with noncitizens between official ports of entry. 

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the 

U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration, said the 

group is “deeply disturbed by this disregard for fundamental 

humanitarian protections and U.S. asylum 

law.” 

“Imposing arbitrary limits on asylum access and curtailing 

due process will only empower and embolden 

those who seek to exploit the most vulnerable,” said 

Seitz. “These measures will not sustainably reduce the 

increased levels of forced migration seen worldwide.” 

Meanwhile, Bishop J. Guadalupe Torres Campos of 

Ciudad Juarez suggested in a statement that Biden’s 

order was “guided by the pressures of electoral times 

and politics.” 

“Every country has a right to manage its borders, but 

that shouldn’t be an excuse to restrict the people’s 

right to ask for asylum and international protection,” 

said Torres. 

Late Marquette University president Michael Lovell. | 

COURTESY MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY 

■ Marquette’s 

first lay 

president dies 

on pilgrimage 

to Italy 

Michael R. Lovell, 

the first lay president 

of Marquette University 

in Wisconsin, died 

June 9 while on a Jesuit 

formation pilgrimage 

in Italy. 

Lovell, 57, had been 

battling sarcoma for 

three years when he 

contracted his fatal illness. He had served as Marquette’s president 

since 2014 and was traveling with the Jesuit university’s 

board of trustees when he died. 

“He faced his challenges with strength and courage,” Archbishop 

Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee said. “He was a man 

of faith and an example for all. A true loss to his family, the 

Marquette community, the City of Milwaukee, and the Catholic 

Church.” 

Lovell is survived by his wife, Amy, who accompanied him to 

the hospital, and their four children. 


LOCAL 

■ New online classes to 

help Catholics learn more 

about Mass 

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is 

offering a new video series and online 

course to help Catholics better understand 

the different parts of the Mass. 

Created by the archdiocesan Office 

of Worship, the course is split into 

four parts. The first section released 

explains the introductory rites of the 

Mass and why they’re significant. The 

free course is offered in conjunction 

with Catholic Communication Collaboration 

(C3). 

“I pray that this experience will 

renew in you the reality of Our Lord’s 

love and intimate personal relationship 

that he wants to share with you 

in the mystery of his body and blood,” 

Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a 

video announcing the course. 

Sign up for the class at bit.ly/ 

C3MassClass1. 

■ El Monte 

pastor and 

Guadalupano 

chair dies at 51 

Parishioners and local 

“Guadalupanos” are 

mourning the passing of 

Father Julio Cesar Ramos 

Ortega, MG, who died 

June 6. 

Ramos, 51, was pastor of 

Our Lady of Guadalupe 

Church in El Monte 

Father Ramos with Archbishop José H. Gomez in 2023. | 

SUBMITTED PHOTO 

(known locally as “La Lupita”) since 2016 and also chair of the archdiocese’s 

“Guadalupano” committee. He had previously served at St. Paul 

Church in Mid-City and St. Martha Church in Huntington Park. 

Earlier this year, Ramos returned to his native Jalisco, Mexico, to 

receive treatment for an aggressive form of cancer while in the care of 

members of his religious community, the Misioneros Guadalupanos. 

As chair of the Guadalupano committee, Ramos oversaw the organization 

of the archdiocese’s annual Guadalupe-themed celebrations, 

including the tour of the pilgrim images and a special December Mass 

and procession held in East LA. 

“Father Julio touched something in each of your lives, and God 

brought you closer to his love through him,” said Father Eugenio Romo, 

MG, the order’s superior general, in his homily at a June 11 memorial 

Mass for the priest at La Lupita. 

Volunteers recognized — Father Thomas Elewaut, left, and Auxiliary Bishop Slawomir Szkredka, right, pose 

with honorees John Susleck, Eloise Kong, Jerry Cranham, and Jose and Lisa Mendez at Catholic Charities of 

Ventura County’s 22nd annual Partners in Service Awards dinner at the Mission Basilica San Buenaventura on 

June 2. The event recognizes select volunteers nominated by pastors from Ventura County parishes in the Santa 

Barbara Pastoral Region.. | ESTEBAN MARQUEZ 

■ San Diego Diocese to file for 

bankruptcy over abuse claims 

The Diocese of San Diego filed for Chapter 11 

bankruptcy reorganization on June 17, a decision 

Cardinal Robert W. McElroy said “offers the best 

pathway” to both provide “just compensation” for 

sex abuse victims and allow the diocese to continue 

its ministries. 

“The Diocese faces two compelling moral claims 

in approaching the settlement process: the need 

for just compensation for victims of sexual abuse 

and the need to continue the Church’s mission 

of education, pastoral service and outreach to the 

poor and marginalized,” wrote the cardinal in a 

June 13 letter to diocesan Catholics. “Bankruptcy 

offers the best pathway to achieve both.” 

While the bankruptcy filing is being made by the 

diocese and not by parishes or schools, McElroy 

said that “both the parishes and high schools [of 

the diocese] will have to contribute substantially to 

the ultimate settlement in order to bring finality to 

the liability they face.” 

In 2007, the San Diego Diocese settled lawsuits 

brought by 144 abuse survivors for $198 million, 

the news release said. In 2023, more than 450 

claims were levied against the diocese, almost 60% 

of which are more than 50 years old, the release 

added. 

Y 


V 

IN OTHER WORDS... 

Letters to the Editor 

Kicker should have defended all Masses 

I would like to accent Amy Welborn’s commentary (May 31 issue) with 

my belief that Harrison Butker missed the point by placing so much 

emphasis on the Latin Mass. With today’s faltering Mass attendance, his message 

could have been much stronger if he had emphasized the basic need to attend 

Mass. He could have parenthetically voiced his preference for the Latin Mass 

while still stating that the Mass is powerful and necessary in any language. 

— Judith Seki, San Gabriel 

A poignant point on chastity 

Heather King’s bracing review of Bishop Erik Varden’s “Chastity: Reconciliation 

of the Senses” in the May 31 issue makes me all the happier to be an Angelus subscriber. 

I know of few other writers who penetrate the heart of the Gospels more 

movingly but with such a lack of sentimentality. She’s funny, too. 

— Mac Iver, St. Therese, Alhambra 

Correction 

The number of infant baptisms at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church (La Placita) 

reported on Page 6 of the June 14 issue is from statistics in the 2023 Official 

Catholic Directory, not 2024. To be more precise, the reported 14,000 baptisms at 

the parish took place during the July 2022-June 2023 fiscal year. 

Y 

Continue the conversation! To submit a letter to the editor, visit AngelusNews.com/Letters-To-The-Editor 

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may be edited for style, brevity, and clarity. 

Deacon dignity 

The eight men ordained as permanent deacons for the Archdiocese 

of Los Angeles stand during their ordination Mass at 

the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on June 8. Read the 

story of the ordination on Page 20. | VICTOR ALEMÁN 

“It’s like a meeting of every 

poorly behaved kid in 

church.” 

~ Comedian and Catholic Jim Gaffigan, in a June 14 

Religion News Service article on famous comedians 

meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican. 

“They aren’t really 

prioritizing orbs that are 

bothering nuns in the 

1800s.” 

~ Diana Walsh Pasulka, religious studies professor 

at UNC Wilmington, in a June 13 Detroit Catholic 

article on researchers saying the Vatican holds UFO 

secrets. 

“If divorce is an option for 

you, you have too many 

options.” 

~ Montell Jordan, a singer most popular in the 

1990s, in a June 12 Crosswalk.com article on 

helping save Christian artist Lecrae’s marriage. 

“If we win the 

championship this year, 

we’re flying to Jerusalem 

and we’re walking from 

Jericho to Jerusalem.” 

~ Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics head coach, in a June 

14 Catholic News Agency article discussing his 

Catholic faith. 

View more photos 

from this gallery at 

AngelusNews.com/photos-videos 

Do you have photos or a story from your parish that you’d 

like to share? Please send to editorial @angelusnews.com. 

“I have been a wolf all my 

life. And I’ve had to be, to in 

my own way, survive.” 

~ Jerry West, NBA Hall of Famer, in a June 13 The 

Ringer article on West’s legacy following his death 

on June 12. 


IN EXILE 

FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI 

Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father 

Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual 

writer; ronrolheiser.com 

Ordinary Time 

In its calendar, the Church singles 

out special seasons to celebrate 

— Advent, Christmas, Lent, and 

Easter. But, outside of these special 

times, it invites us to live and celebrate 

Ordinary Time. 

For most of us, I suspect, that phrase 

conjures up images of something 

that is less than special — bland, flat, 

routine, domestic, boring. Inside us 

there is the sense that the ordinary can 

weigh us down, swallow us up, and 

keep us outside the more rewarding 

waters of passion, romance, creativity, 

and celebration. 

We easily vilify the ordinary. I 

remember a young woman, a student 

of mine, who shared in class that her 

greatest fear in life was to succumb 

to the ordinary, “to end up a content, 

ordinary housewife, happily doing 

laundry commercials!” 

If you’re an artist or have an artistic 

temperament, you’re particularly 

prone to this kind of denigration because 

artists tend to set creativity in opposition 

to the ordinary. Doris Lessing, 

for example, once commented that 

George Eliot could have been a better 

writer “if she hadn’t been so moral.” 

What Lessing is suggesting is that 

Eliot kept herself too anchored in the 

ordinary, too safe, too secure, too far 

from the edges. Kathleen Norris, in 

her biographical work “The Virgin of 

Bennington” (Penguin, $24), shares 

how as a young writer she fell victim 

to this ideology: “Artists, I believed 

were much too serious to live sane and 

normal lives. Driven by inexorable 

forces in an uncaring world, they were 

destined for an inevitable, sometimes 

deadly, but always ennobling wrestle 

with gloom and doom.” 

The ennobling wrestle with gloom 

and doom! That does have a seductive 

sound to it, particularly for those of us 

who fancy ourselves as artistic, intellectual, 

or spiritual. That’s why, on a 

given day, any of us can feel a certain 

condescending pity for those who can 

achieve simple happiness. Easy for 

them, we think, but they’re selling 

themselves short. That’s the artist 

inside of us speaking. You never see an 

artist doing a laundry commercial! 

Don’t get me wrong. There is some 

merit to this. Jesus said that we do not 

live by bread alone. No artist needs an 

explanation of what that means. He 

or she knows that what Jesus meant 

by that, among other things, is that 

simple routine and a mortgage that’s 

been paid do not necessarily make for 

heaven. 

We need bread, but we also need 

beauty and color. Lessing, who was 

a great artist, joined the Communist 

Party as a young woman but she left 

after she’d matured. Why? One phrase 

says it all. She left the Communist 

Party, she says, “because they didn’t 

believe in color!” Life, Jesus assures 

us, is not meant to be lived simply as 

an endless cycle of rising, going off to 

work, responsibly doing a job, coming 

home, having supper, getting things 

set for the next day, and then going 

back to bed. 

And yet there’s much to be said 

for the seemingly drab routine. The 

rhythm of the ordinary is, in the end, 

the deepest wellsprings from which to 

draw joy and meaning. Norris, after 

telling us about her youthful temptation 

to sidestep the ordinary to engage 

in the more ennobling battle with 

gloom and doom, shares how a wonderful 

mentor, Betty Kray, helped steer 

her clear of that pitfall. Kray encouraged 

her to write out of her joy as well 

as her gloom. As Norris puts it: “She 

tried hard to convince me of what her 

friends who had been institutionalized 

for madness knew all too well: that the 

clean simple appreciation of ordinary, 

daily things, is a treasure like none on 

earth.” 

Sometimes it takes an illness to teach 

us that. When we regain health and 

energy after having been ill, off work, 

and out of our normal routines and 

rhythms, nothing is as sweet as returning 

to the ordinary — our work, our 

routine, the normal stuff of everyday 

life. Only after it has been taken away 

and then given back, do we realize 

that the clean, simple appreciation of 

daily things is the ultimate treasure. 

Artists, however, are still partially 

right. The ordinary can weigh us down 

and keep us outside the deeper waters 

of creativity, outside that one-in-amillion 

romance, and outside of the 

wildness that lets us dance. However, 

that being admitted, the ordinary is 

what keeps us from being swept away. 

The rhythm of the ordinary anchors 

our sanity. 

Paul Simon, in an old 1970s song 

entitled “An American Tune,” sings 

about coping with confusion, mistakes, 

betrayal, and other events that 

shatter our peace. He ends a rather 

sad ballad quite peacefully with these 

words: “Still tomorrow’s gonna be 

another working day, and I’m trying to 

get some rest. That’s all I’m trying, is to 

get some rest.” 

Sometimes obedience to that imperative 

is what saves our sanity. There’s 

a lot to be said for being a contented, 

little person, anchored in the rhythms 

of the ordinary, and perhaps even 

doing laundry commercials. 


NEXT 

MAN UP 

Faced with the 

biggest test of his 

life, Serra High’s 

Travis Leonard 

launched a NASA 

experiment into 

space, and caught 

the eye of USC’s 

football program. 

Travis Leonard can do the math. 

Even without a slide rule from 

his AP calculus class. 

He graduated this spring from Gardena’s 

Junipero Serra High with a 4.7 

GPA, but perhaps the top headline 

of Leonard’s impressive résumé is his 

two-year participation in a pioneering 

International Space Station Program 

(ISSP) at the all-boys Catholic school. 

That’s resulted in an academic scholarship 

at the University of Southern 

Travis Leonard | VICTOR ALEMÁN 

California’s elite Viterbi School of 

Engineering. 

On the other side of the equation, 

the 6-foot-2, 280-pounder anchored 

the offensive line on a Cavaliers’ Mission 

League football team that went 

to the semifinals of the CIF-Southern 

Section Division 2 playoffs last fall. 

Leonard’s highlight reel impressed the 

USC Trojans’ coaching staff enough 

to invite him to be a preferred walk-on 

freshman for the nationally ranked 

BY TOM HOFFARTH 

football team, which starts practices 

this August. 

For now, the USC football walk-on 

status doesn’t come with an athletic 

scholarship or guaranteed playing 

time. But for Leonard, it all adds up 

in his favor. 

“There are fewer [football] players 

in the NFL than there are those with 

engineering degrees,” said the 18-yearold, 

sporting a silver chain with the 

number “66” dangling from it — his 

number on the football team. 

“But there are a lot of similarities in 

how to achieve things. In a class project, 

I can be like: ‘We’re meeting after 

school, we’re working on this project, 

and we’re staying until 5 p.m.’ On 

the football field, ‘The offensive line 

is moving right, we’re going over the 

linebacker, and we’re going to score.’ ” 

Leonard said he’s found a balance in 

doing both the last two years at Serra. 

“When I go to USC, I don’t think it 

will be as hard a transition.” 

What may be far more difficult, 

however, is the transition Leonard will 

face without his father rooting him 

on. Last January, Troy Leonard died 

unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 

54. 


It was the first Monday coming off 

Serra High’s 2023-24 winter break. 

The football playoff run was still 

fresh, and momentum was building 

as Leonard and seven schoolmates 

were about to see their 3D liquid resin 

printing experiment go into orbit from 

the Kennedy Space Center in Florida 

via a Hawthorne-based SpaceX Falcon 

9 CRS-30 rocket headed to the International 

Space Station. 

As per their routine, LaTasha Bellard-Leonard 

had dropped Travis off 

at Serra High on her way to work as 

a program director in Bellflower for 

Easterseals. The drive was a half-hour 

from their Long Beach apartment. 

Troy picked up Travis later that 

afternoon. This time they stopped at 

Troy’s parents’ house to pick up some 

materials for Travis’ upcoming senior 

class retreat. 

As Troy walked back to the car, he 

called out to Travis: dial 911. As he 

watched his father collapse, Travis 

attempted CPR waiting for the ambulance. 

He called his mother as they 

went to the hospital. It was too late. 

“I never thought that leaving the 

house that morning we wouldn’t see 

him that evening,” said LaTasha during 

Travis Leonard with his parents, LaTasha 

Bellard-Leonard, right, and Troy Leonard, 

who died last January of a heart attack. | 


an interview with Angelus, drying her 

eyes with a tissue. 

“It hasn’t been easy, and I’m still taking 

time to grieve,” said Travis. “It’s just 

so unfair. I did miss one day of school, 

but the reason I knew I had to go back 

was because, in my head, I could hear 

my dad saying, ‘Next man up.’ Now, I 

was the next man up. I can still hear 

his words.” 

Travis and Troy were training partners, 

pushing each other to succeed. 

Troy’s athletic background came from 

playing basketball at Banning High 

School in Wilmington. He saw the 

value of Travis playing sports at Serra 

High. 

John Moran, Ed.D., the president of 

Serra High since 2022, was impressed 

with the “unbelievable speech” Travis 

gave at his father’s funeral. 

“I saw how close they were, as his dad 

was a major mentor,” said Moran. 

Serra High, with 380 students 

today, boasts a prolific alumni base of 

athletes who have gone on to careers 

in football, basketball, and track and 

field since its opening in 1950. It was 

the first school in California history to 

win a state football and basketball title 

in 2009-10. Today, the student body is 

about 80% African American. 

Leonard’s accomplishments in both 

athletic and academic fields were a 

reason why, at the Serra High Senior 

Class Awards night prior to graduation, 

Moran chose him for the President’s 

Award for Character and Leadership. 

“I rarely have been as impressed in 

my 25 years of education leadership 

with a young man as I have been 

with Travis,” said Moran. “His public 

speaking is exceptional. No arrogance 

at all, very level-headed, poised, and 

Members of the team that helped launch an experiment into space were honored by LA County Supervisor Holly J. 

Mitchell’s office at a March 21 launch event at Junipero Serra High School in Gardena. | PHOTO COURTESY OF SERRA 

HIGH SCHOOL 

June 28, 2024 • ANGELUS • 13

confident. People see him as a leader 

— a strong, silent type who articulates 

so well now.” 

Leonard credits his mother with 

keeping him true to the motto: Leaders 

always lead from the front, not pushing 

everyone else forward from the back. 

He also credits Moran and Serra 

Science Department chair Ken Irvine 

with expecting him and his 81 other 

senior classmates to succeed at whatever 

they want to do. 

“The best part of being at Serra 

was all the opportunities they gave 

me,” said Leonard, a member of the 

National Society of Black Engineers. “I 

took advantage of what they provided 

and now I’m seeing the dividends and 

rewards. Serra also gave me a brotherhood, 

so my class will keep in contact 

because we were close.” 

LaTasha values the Catholic education 

she received at St. Frances 

X. Cabrini in South Los Angeles 

and the all-girls St. Mary’s Academy in 

Inglewood — so the family decision 

made for her son to attend Serra was a 

natural one. 

“Travis took the bull by the horns and 

was able to succeed,” she said. “His dad 

instilled strength in him definitely, to 

push forward. There’s a plan that we 

maybe don’t know or understand, but 

it’s there. I know his dad is watching 

over him and so many positive things 

are still going to happen.” 

Leonard has an array of proclamations, 

plaques, and awards to document 

his successes. One of them is the Serra 

Alumni Association Tim Boyer Character 

Award for his football sportsmanship. 

There is the Principal Award for 

demonstrating good academic standing, 

and a Certificate of Recognition 

from the California Legislative Black 

Caucus for participating in the African 

American Leaders of Tomorrow Program 

at Cal State Dominguez Hills. 

But the key lesson learned, he agreed, 

is to stay in the moment and don’t take 

anything for granted. His father’s death 

underscored that. 

Leonard recalled how in starting 

sophomore year, this space program 

opportunity hadn’t even been introduced 

yet at Serra. He was focused on 

a biomedical career. 

When he was picked to be part of the 

mission, he had serious doubts they 

could pull it off. By his junior year in 

August 2023, he was part of the first 

ISSP project that involved watching a 

seed germinate in space. 

The second ISSP project earned 

Leonard and his team a special honor 

by the California State Assembly in 

Sacramento earlier this year. 

“I know the world is going to need 

more electrical and mechanical engineers 

because of where we are going 

with technology, and it’s about hitting 

deadlines, pushing our limits, getting 

past our fears,” he said. “I was very timid 

at first because I never had to speak 

in front of people, and I didn’t want to 

be wrong or look like an idiot. Now I 

can explain it: This is how it works, this 

is the experiment, A plus B equals C.” 

And that, any scout can agree, is a 

measurement of success. 

Tom Hoffarth is an award-winning 

journalist based in Los Angeles. 


Thalia Cintron, right, poses with 

Scott McLarty, left, Providence 

High’s Head of School, and 

Air Force Lt. Kyle Villacorta 

after graduating on June 1. | 


FAITH IN FREEDOM 

A Providence High School graduate credits her Catholic faith and 

education with pointing her toward a career protecting the country. 

BY GREG HARDESTY 

For Thalia Cintron, a trip last 

summer to the 9/11 Museum in 

New York sealed the deal. 

Growing up in Atwater Village in Los 

Angeles, her single mother, Jennifer 

Leyva, and other relatives always told 

her to thank military service members 

when she encountered them. 

When Thalia was 12, a close cousin 

joined the U.S. Army. 

“I thought, ‘I can do that, too,’ ” she 

recalled. 

So when Cintron saw the 56-footlong 

bronze memorial to firefighters 

who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist 

attacks on the World Trade Center, 

the motto inscribed on it really hit 

home: “Dedicated to those who fell, 

and those who carry on.” 

“I don’t want this to ever happen 

again,” she said. “I want to protect my 

country.” 

Cintron will now get her chance by 

deciding to join the Air Force Academy 

after graduating from Providence 

High School in Burbank, and wants to 

become a military intelligence officer. 

With a strong, hard-working mother 

as a role model, and a penchant for 

building up those around her that she 

developed for years playing volleyball, 

Cintron has the tools to succeed, according 

to those who know her best. 

“She will figure out what she has 

to do to be successful and then she 

will go about getting it done,” said 

Coach Mike, who coached Cintron in 

volleyball from fourth to eighth grade 

at Holy Trinity School and for the past 

two years at Elysian Valley Recreation 

Center. “No one will outwork her.” 

Funny, polite, and humble, Cintron 

pointed to her all-Catholic schooling 

as a character builder — as well as her 

mother, who often worked two jobs 

raising her. 

“I saw how strong and independent 

she was and how she carried all this 

weight on her shoulders, and that 

inspired me,” Cintron said. 

Holy Trinity was a two-minute walk 

from Cintron’s house. She recalled her 

and her mother packing lunch every 

morning together. Jennifer, who grew 

up Catholic, said the hard work to pay 

for private, Catholic schooling was a 

priority. 

“I wanted to make sure she had that 

Catholic school foundation and discipline,” 

Jennifer said. 


Thalia Cintron reacts during a match with the Providence High volleyball team. 

Cintron was a senior libero, a defensive specialist. | SUBMITTED PHOTO 

That foundation was ultimately 

made possible thanks to help from the 

Catholic Education Foundation of 

Los Angeles (CEF), which provided 

tuition assistance during Cintron’s 

four years at Providence High. 

Before that, Cintron was an altar 

server at Holy Trinity Church from 

grades two to eight. During seventh 

grade, she and her classmates visited 

Washington, D.C. Cintron fell in love 

with it. 

Her interest in social studies, government, 

and history continued 

during her time at Providence High, 

a Catholic co-ed college preparatory 

high school founded by the Sisters of 

Providence. 

When Cintron was a sophomore in 

high school, her mother suggested she 

apply to the U.S. Military Academy at 

West Point, New York. Cintron then did 

the same for the Air Force Academy. 

Her visit to Ground Zero came after 

she attended the West Point Summer 

Leaders Experience last June. Led by 

current West Point cadets, the event 

is a weeklong immersion into the 

academic, military, and social life of a 

West Point cadet. 

In the end, though, Cintron chose to 

remain closer to home and join the Air 

Force Academy in Colorado. 

“I relied a lot on prayer in deciding,” 

Cintron said. “My faith got stronger 

during the process. I read the Bible a 

lot.” 

On June 22, Cintron, 

her mother, and 

other relatives were 

scheduled to fly to the 

academy in Colorado. 

After being sworn in on 

June 27, she’ll report 

to basic training for six 

weeks. Her four years 

of academy schooling, 

which she will enjoy 

on a full scholarship, 

begins in mid-August. 

After graduating, 

Cintron will serve five 

years of active duty and 

then three years as a 

reservist. 

She’s confident in her 

ability to integrate into 

the collaborative nature 

of the Air Force Academy 

largely in part due 

to the lessons learned 

playing volleyball at 

Providence High. 

“It’s taught me that 

I need to be strong as 

an individual but also 

that I can’t let that 

get to my head, and I 

need to work with my 

teammates and bring 

them up as well,” said 

Cintron, who was a 

libero — a defensive specialist — on 

the team. “If one person’s energy falls, 

the entire team’s energy falls.” 

The COVID-19 pandemic also 

taught Cintron some lessons. Isolating 

herself during her first year of high 

school, she said, was particularly 

tough. 

“It was very hard to focus on school 

online,” said Cintron, who maintained 

a 4.0 GPA. “I relied on my friends. We 

held each other accountable. Staying 

in contact with people is critical. Also, 

I learned a lot about time management 

during the pandemic.” 

Jennifer said it’s going to be tough 

saying goodbye to her daughter at the 

Air Force Academy. But she knows 

Cintron has made the right choice. 

“She knew how to be responsible 

from a very young age, and frankly, 

she’s been very easy — I’ve never had 

any issues with her,” she said. “I’m so 

proud of her. She’s worked very hard 

to get to where she’s at. She earned it.” 

Coach Mike, who also is Cintron’s 

godfather, agreed. 

“She will combine her God-given 

talents with a great desire to excel and 

a work ethic that is second to none,” 

he said. “She has made me so proud of 

her accomplishments, and she’s made 

all of Holy Trinity School and Providence 

High School proud.” 

Greg Hardesty was a journalist for the 

Orange County Register for 17 years, 

and is a longtime contributing writer to 

the Orange County Catholic newspaper. 


ALL THE 

RIGHT PAGES 

For more than 40 years, St. Cyril 

of Jerusalem in Encino’s retiring 

librarian has taught students 

to appreciate books — and the 

shelves that hold them. 

STORY AND PHOTOS BY TOM HOFFARTH 

The final weeks of MaryLou Lia’s 

43 years as the librarian at St. 

Cyril of Jerusalem School in 

Encino have been winding down, and 

— for the most part — so is she. 

“Excuse my dirty hands but I’ve been 

doing inventory,” Lia explained during 

a recent visit to her well-kept classroom 

of wall-to-wall bookcases. 

Agile with her barcode scanner, 

Lia had been logging book titles that 

populate the popular fiction section, 

catching up on work after missing six 

weeks to mend a surgically repaired 

broken elbow. She took it as another 

signal that it was time to slow down, be 

at home in nearby Tarzana with her 

retired husband, and just come back to 

the school for visits as needed. 

By her latest count, Lia estimated she 

had about 5,000 books in circulation 

for the school’s 200-plus students. 

Keeping track of them is much different 

now than when she started, yet she 

developed a hybrid way of doing things. 

Not far from two large Apple computer 

screens, she still has the wooden card 

catalog file near the entrance, a relic 

she has kept since she agreed with the 

late Sister Claire Patrice, the school’s 

principal and a Sister of St. Joseph, to 

come to St. Cyril after a stint as a parttime 

volunteer librarian at nearby Our 

Lady of Grace School in Encino. 

Since Lia’s daughter, Roseanne, and 

her son, Robert, had been going to 

Our Lady of Grace, Lia said she had a 

natural inclination for a mom to jump 

in and help. 

“For me, volunteering was a natural 

thing to do,” said Lia. “They had some 

parents fix up a really nice new library 

and I did the organizing of the books. 

There was no budget for a salary, so I 

did it because I loved it.” 

As her daughter graduated from eighth 

grade, Lia got an inquiry from St. Cyril 

MaryLou Lia at the door 

of St. Cyril’s school library, 

where she’s worked for the 

last 43 years. 

before the start of the 1980-81 school 

year asking about her availability. 

“I had to be honest with the principal 

— I don’t have a degree in this field,” 

said Lia, who worked on Wall Street 

before moving to Southern California 

with her husband in the early 1970s. 

Lia wasn’t sure if she’d be a good fit. 

But Sister Claire’s persistence got her 

to say yes. 

“Libraries have always been my thing, 

even working back in New York.” 

Getting the job, Lia said, “was a dream 

come true.” 


Lia’s children became part of the 

school family, too: Her son came along 

as a sixth-grade student at St. Cyril 

before attending nearby Crespi Carmelite 

High School. Later, her daughter 

would send her three sons to St. Cyril. 

Lia’s oldest grandson is now 20 years 

old, a graduate of Loyola High School 

in Los Angeles. 

“We all treasured seeing MaryLou 

with her grandkids and watching her 

giving them the right amount of guidance 

and independence,” said Angelica 

Pugliese, principal at St. Cyril for the 

last 12 years. “She was always about 

letting the kids explore. If they picked 

a book and didn’t like it, she said, ‘Just 

put it on my desk and get another one.’ 

She wasn’t restricted to the transactional 

part of it.” 

A big part of Lia’s staying power, 

Pugliese believes, has been her willingness 

to pinch hit in other roles, from 

Pre-K recess supervisor to seventh-grade 

substitute teacher. “She could always 

zero in on a task and see the big picture 

as well.” 

As a tribute to the beloved librarian, 

the modest space next to the school’s 

main office will be renamed in Lia’s 

honor, Pugliese revealed. 

Despite concerns about children’s 

increased dependency on screens, Lia 

senses that “since the pandemic, students 

are reading again and a lot of that 

could be, especially with the younger 

ones, that the parents have been reading 

to them and keeping them engaged 

with books.” 

At a time when grade-school-age kids 

are almost born as “digital natives,” Lia 

has focused on reminding students that 

schoolwork topics 

can be researched 

without using a 

computer screen, 

and that the 

library has those 

resources. As an 

exercise, Lia often 

gave students 

scavenger-hunt 

sort of projects 

— topic quilts, 

she called them 

— to search out 

a subject and 

then track down 

books related to 

it. An old-school 

Google search, of 

sorts. 

“It’s about 

organizing 

their brains and 

realizing there 

are other ways to 

find information, 

and you can do 

that through having fun,” said Lia, 

Lia sorts books on the 

shelves of St. Cyril’s library. 

sitting on one of the pint-sized chairs at 

the library’s scaled down round table. 

“The library is still a place to go from a 

classroom as a treat, or a reward, and it 

can be exciting, especially for the little 

ones. You try to teach them the love of 

reading and exploring.” 

Children’s interests in the library, she 

reported, haven’t changed much over 

the years: the fantasy and fiction categories 

remain popular, especially Harry 

Potter. Girls still love horses, and boys 

still love sports. 

From a faith perspective, Lia has been 

able to point out how subjects such as 

science and math have rooted connections 

to saints who were teachers, making 

them worthy of biography projects. 

“Not so much the saints on a pedestal, 

but ones like St. Francis, or Mother 

Teresa, who show some modern faith 

values in the real world,” said Lia. 

“There are so many new wonderful 

books about the concept of Easter and 

Christmas that update language in how 

children read now.” 

What will Lia miss the most about the 

job? 

“Just the joy of coming here,” she said 

with a smile. “I’ve heard recently talk 

in some schools about bringing back 

libraries after they had let them go. 

Maybe the children really miss it. You 

have to look at the bigger picture. 

“I think when you work in a school 

like this and see a need, it has to be 

part of your soul to jump in and help. 

But you know, time marches on, and 

hopefully kids keep reading.” 

Tom Hoffarth is an award-winning 

journalist based in Los Angeles. 

Despite advances in cataloging technology, Lia has kept 

the original wooden box card file she brought to the 

library when she started at St. Cyril’s four decades ago. 


SERVING WITH GLADNESS 

The eight deacons and their wives 

pose with Archbishop José H. Gomez 

following their ordination Mass. 

For LA’s eight new permanent deacons 

and their wives, experiencing the journey 

to ordination together as a community 

made all the difference. 

BY MIKE CISNEROS / PHOTOGRAPHY BY VICTOR ALEMÁN 

The stranger in the donut shop 

knew Renee Sosa was a deacon, 

confident of it. She said it with 

conviction in her voice. 

“You are a deacon,” she told him in 

Spanish. 

The only problem was, he wasn’t a 

deacon. Hadn’t even considered it. 

Didn’t even really know what a deacon 

was. But he and his wife, Cynthia, had 

become so immersed in different ministries 

at St. John Vianney Church in 

Hacienda Heights that even his father, 

aunts, and yes, strangers, already saw 

him as one. 

So what others already sensed came 

true on June 8, when Sosa and seven 

other men, joined by their wives, were 

ordained as permanent deacons at the 

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. 

The group joins the already more than 

400 permanent deacons serving across 

the archdiocese’s five pastoral regions. 

“People receive their calling in so 

many different ways,” Sosa said. “I think 

the only reason why we got the call in 

the way we did was because that’s the 

only way we would have listened to it.” 

Archbishop José H. Gomez said 

during his homily at the Mass that these 

deacons were called to serve and bring 

more people to know Jesus Christ. 

“Brothers, each of you is being called 

to a life of friendship with the living 

God,” Archbishop Gomez said. “And 

each of you is being called today to a 

life of service in persona Christi Servi, 

‘in the person of Christ the Servant.’ 

“Today, Jesus is claiming you to be 

his own. He is setting his ‘seal’ on your 

heart.” 

Pedro Cardenas took that to heart 

during the ordination, calling the 

experience “supernatural” and “indescribable.” 

“It’s a feeling that is impossible to describe 

with words,” he said in Spanish. 

“But it’s a feeling of joy, of happiness, 

of satisfaction of reaching the goal and 

starting down a new path in ministerial 

service to the community, to God’s 

people.” 

The new deacons and their wives went 

through a five-year formation process 

where they learned everything from dis- 


cernment, spiritual growth, theological 

concepts, and how to preach homilies. 

Their formation process was marked 

by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also 

by the combination of the class’s English 

and Spanish-speaking candidates in 

a bilingual setting. 

Pedro Cardenas and his wife, Consuelo, 

speak little English, and were 

hesitant when the groups were combined. 

But the help of a translator and 

a Spanish-speaking deacon sent by the 

archdiocese to support them helped. 

With each class, Pedro became more 

serious about deepening his faith and 

becoming a deacon. 

“I saw his dedication, so I supported 

him,” Consuelo said in Spanish. 

Deacon Gary Smith, who went 

through the process with his wife, 

Shelly, said that while the combination 

“was really hard, it was a wise move and 

I think it’s the right one especially given 

the demographics of our communities. 

It’s what we need, to break down those 

walls.” 

The group’s closeness proved providential 

for Renee and Cynthia Sosa. 

Just before formation started, Renee injured 

his back and had nerve damage. 

The couple also dealt with Cynthia’s 

mother suffering with late-stage dementia. 

But most serious was Cynthia needing 

a hysterectomy due to having cancer in 

her uterus. For a couple already in pain 

from not being able to have children, 

this suffering was almost too much 

without the support and prayers of the 

group. 

“The entire class at one point or 

another have experienced some kind 

of challenges with our health, family, 

Cynthia Sosa, right, smiles after her husband, Renee, received the Book of Gospels during the ordination Mass. 

financial, all sorts of different issues,” 

Renee said. “But we would get together 

and talk about it, we would help each 

other and we were always there to 

support one another to help ourselves 

through it.” 

“It allowed us to really create that 

beautiful bond,” Cynthia said. 

The years of preparation are necessary, 

the class was told, but the real learning 

begins after ordination. 

“One of the areas we look forward to 

serving is continuing to work with kids,” 

said Renee. “Ironically, we couldn’t 

have kids but yet God places us in the 

ministry where we serve kids and now 

we are surrounded by them.” 

“I’ve already seen people come to me 

now in ways that they never did before 

and are open and looking for a way to 

feel closer to God,” Gary Smith said. 

“And so being able to pray with them, 

being able to bless them. … That’s one 

of the things I’m most looking forward 

to.” 

“Gary actually did his first baptism 

and I got to be a part of that,” Shelly 

Smith said. “I thought that was so cool. 

Just to be able to do these things for our 

communities, it really is going to be a 

good blessing. … It’ll be interesting to 

see where it takes us.” 

“We have found the precious pearl 

and now we need to protect it for the 

common good and the glory of God,” 

Pedro Cardenas said. 

The full group: 

• Antonio and Alicia Alcocer of Resurrection 

Church in Boyle Heights 

• Pedro and Consuelo Cardenas of 

St. Aloysius Gonzaga Church in South 

Los Angeles 

• Frank and Mary Faria of Holy Family 

Church in Artesia 

• Lloyd “Rex” and Karen Owens of St. 

Therese Church in Alhambra 

• Gary and Shelly Smith of St. Clare 

of Assisi Church in Canyon Country 

• Renee and Cynthia Sosa of St. John 

Vianney Church in Hacienda Heights 

• Hieu and Thu Tran of St. Catherine 

Labouré Church in Torrance 

• Alejandro and Elisa Villanueva of 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in 

Downey 

To learn more about the diaconate, 

there are upcoming virtual diaconate 

information days on July 7 and Oct. 13. 

View more info at lacatholics.org/diaconate-formation. 

Theresa Cisneros contributed to this 

story. 

Mike Cisneros is the associate editor of 

Angelus. 

Deacon Gary Smith assists Archbishop 

Gomez during consecration at the altar. 


A SILVER LINING 

IN THE WEST? 

The first provisional results for 

the European Parliament elections 

are announced at the European 

Parliament building in Brussels June 

9. | OSV NEWS/PIROSCHKA VAN DE 

WOUW, REUTERS 

Gains by right-wing 

parties in Europe’s 

latest elections 

represent a mixed 

bag for the Holy See’s 

social priorities. 

BY JOHN L. ALLEN JR. 

ROME — It’s the nature of 

Catholic social teaching to be 

a terribly imperfect fit with the 

left/right dynamics of Western politics, 

which have dominated things since 

the French Revolution. Conservatives 

tend to be good on religious freedom, 

life issues, and tradition, while liberals 

generally back the Church’s peaceand-justice 

agenda but are often tonedeaf 

on much of the rest. 

As a result, it’s pretty much always a 

glass half full or half empty exercise 

when one asks about the relationship 

between a given pope and a specific 

Western government. 

For instance, how should one characterize 

the bond between President 

Joe Biden, only the second Catholic 

commander in chief in American 

history, and Pope Francis? Biden 

obviously is an enthusiast for much 

of Francis’ agenda when it comes to 

climate change and poverty, yet there 

are deep rifts not only on Ukraine 

and Gaza, but also matters such as 

so-called “gender theory.” 

It’s worth recalling that in April, 

White House press secretary Karine 

Jean-Pierre was forced to clarify that 

the Catholic Biden had no intention 

of following the pope’s lead in the 

Vatican document Dignitas Infinita 

on transgender issues. 

All this is useful background to bear 

in mind as we sift through the results 

of the June 6-9 elections for the European 

Parliament — which, at first 

blush, might well be styled as a stinging 

rebuke to Francis in the Church’s 

own historical backyard. 

In France and Germany, the two real 

superpowers of the European Union, 


precisely the sort of far-right, nationalist, 

and populist which are the bête 

noire of the pope’s imagination scored 

their biggest victories. 

In France, the National Rally Party 

of Marine Le Pen surpassed President 

Emanuel Macron’s own faction so 

thoroughly that Macron was forced 

to dissolve parliament and call snap 

elections for June 30. In Germany, 

the far-right Alternative for Germany 

finished at 16%, humbling the Social 

Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz 

and becoming the country’s second-largest 

political force. 

That result in Germany, by the way, 

came after the country’s Catholic 

bishops publicly declared in February 

that the party’s platform is incompatible 

with Church teaching, and 

even fired a parish worker who was a 

prominent party member. 

In general, while the political center 

in Europe more or less held, in the 

sense that mainstream parties still will 

be the dominant forces in the new 

parliament, it’s a center destined to 

shift to the right — especially given 

the major losses of both Green and 

liberal parties, each of whom dropped 

more than 20 seats. 

As a consequence, this is likely to be 

a European Parliament which is at 

least slightly more Euro-skeptical. It’s 

also likely to be less enthusiastic about 

some of the more contested aspects 

of the EU’s much-ballyhooed “Green 

Deal” to fight climate change, such 

as phasing out the sale of gas-burning 

cars. 

Most notably, it’s likely to be a parliament 

inclined to a tougher line on 

migrants and refugees. In France, Le 

Pen famously has vowed to scrap laws 

allowing migrants to become legal 

residents, and also to limit financial 

benefits for new arrivals to reduce 

incentives to migrate. 

Alternative for Germany, meanwhile, 

has proposed changing the German 

Constitution to eliminate the right to 

an individual hearing in asylum cases, 

and also immediately deporting all refugees 

whose applications to remain in 

the country are rejected. It’s also floated 

the idea of foreigners who commit 

crimes in Germany being sentenced 

to prisons outside the country. 

In other words, for a pope for whom 

global solidarity, environmental 

protection, and immigrant rights are 

cornerstones of his social agenda, it’s 

not exactly the stuff of dreams. 

On the other hand, the “square 

peg in a round hole” dynamic of the 

Church’s relationship with Western 

politics also means that the rise of the 

far right in Europe could actually be 

good news from the pontiff on at least 

a couple of fronts. 

For one thing, many of the rightwing 

populist movements across 

Europe tend to be more pro-Russia 

than the political mainstream, so 

their positions on the war in Ukraine 

tend to be a bit closer to the Vatican’s, 

though obviously not for the same 

reasons. Still, this may be a European 

Parliament less inclined to uncritically 

support a policy of arming Ukraine to 

the teeth, which would be gratifying 

to Francis. 

Needless to say, the pope’s wellknown 

opposition to “gender theory,” 

whatever precisely one understands 

that to mean, likely will get a more 

receptive hearing from the parliament’s 

new composition. It’s also less 

likely that the chamber’s new composition 

will be quite as aggressive 

as the previous body in pressing the 

EU to recognize abortion access as a 

fundamental right. 

Finally, the results in Germany 

specifically may produce a slightly 

chastened progressive majority within 

the country’s Catholic establishment, 

realizing they now seem out of touch 

with a growing cohort of voters, and 

in any event creating new perceived 

priorities in church/state relations. 

If that new reality in any way slows 

down the controversial “Synodal Path” 

of the German Catholic church, 

which the Vatican itself has tried to 

rein in on multiple occasions, Francis 

probably wouldn’t see that as a bad 

outcome either. 

In other words, the bad news for 

popes is that whenever Westerners 

vote, they’re never going to get 

everything they want. The good news, 

however, is that there’s also always a 

silver lining — a point which may be 

of some comfort to Francis right now. 

John L. Allen Jr. is the editor of Crux. 


ANSWERING THE TRUE CALL 

Is ordaining women necessary for true female leadership in the Church? 

A Catholic scholar’s ambitious new history project suggests not. 

BY ELISE ITALIANO URENECK 

Last month, CBS News aired a 

primetime “60 Minutes” interview 

between Norah O’Donnell 

and Pope Francis. Of all the topics that 

came up during the hour-long special, 

it was one exchange that got more 

attention than the others, prompting 

both celebration and condemnation 

from predictable corners of the online 

commentariat. 

The segment opened with commentary 

on how Pope Francis “has placed 

more women in positions of power 

than any of his predecessors.” 

“You will have many young boys and 

girls that will come here at the end of 

next month for World Children’s Day,” 

began O’Donnell. “And I’m curious 

… for a little girl growing up Catholic 

today, will she ever have the opportunity 

to be a deacon and participate as a 

clergy member in the Church?” 

“No,” replied the pope flatly. 

When pressed on whether or not his 

commissioned study of female deacons 

might provide a different answer, he 

responded that women “are of great 

service as women,” but not as ministers 

(within holy orders). 

As a woman who has worked for 

the Church in a variety of capacities, 

including in advisory roles for bishops 

Women attend a GIVEN forum in this undated photo. 

The GIVEN Institute is an “organization dedicated 

to activating the gifts of young adult women for the 

Catholic Church and the world.” | OSV NEWS/COUR- 

TESY THE GIVEN INSTITUTE 

and university presidents, I found this 

part of the interview to be frustrating. 

However sincere the intention or curiosity 

might be behind it, the question 

about female ordination sucks all of 

the oxygen out of the room whenever 

conversations arise about women in the 

Church. 

Because the priesthood dominates this 

topic—and repeatedly frustrates those 


who approach it in terms of power and 

function — attention is diverted from 

finding concrete avenues for women 

to find greater leadership opportunities 

and creative license in their work and 

ministry. It can also blind well-meaning 

men from seeing and addressing real 

issues of sexism within the organizations 

they lead. 

There is much work to be done to 

help Catholic entities hire, appoint, or 

commission women with an appreciation 

for and integration of their 

differences. Shifting the conversation 

about women’s roles away from ordination 

and toward the signs of the times 

— identifying where women are most 

needed — is what the young Catholic 

girls O’Donnell referenced need. 

Thankfully, this is precisely what 

author Bronwen McShea does in her 

new book “Women of the Church: 

What Every Catholic Should Know” 

(Augustine Institute-Ignatius Press, 

$24.95). McShea, a scholar of Catholic 

history, provides a sweeping look at 

a few women who have played both 

leading and key supporting roles in the 

Church’s mission since its birth. 

“For a variety of reasons,” she writes, 

“there were wide gaps between what 

I had learned in my American Catholic 

upbringing about women in the 

Church and what scholars knew — and 

are still coming to know and appreciate—about 

the great diversity and complexity 

of countless women who for two 

millennia have been at the heart of the 

Church’s life and have been shaping 

history just as much as men.” 

The females McShea identifies were 

disciples, martyrs, queens, mothers, 

wives, teachers, writers, academics, 

founders of religious orders, physicians, 

artists, and social workers. Among these 

women who changed the course of 

history in their respective eras, McShea 

also highlights women who will rightly 

never be canonized, but whose influence 

remains unquestioned. 

Some of these women are names that 

we’d expect: St. Mary, the mother of 

God, St. Mary Magdalene, Sts. Felicity 

and Perpetua, St. Catherine of Siena, 

St. Clare of Assisi, St. Teresa of Ávila, 

St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Katherine 

Drexel, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and 

Servants of God Dorothy Day and 

Thea Bowman. 

But she also features lesser-known 

women like Christine de Pizan, a medieval 

laywoman who served as a court 

writer for King Charles VI of France, 

but who also wrote her own poems, 

biographies, books of advice, and a collection 

of stories about holy women at 

a time when others were highlighting 

their vices. 

Or queens of the Middle Ages: St. 

Adelaide, who was responsible for 

ensuring the reform of Benedictine 

monasteries; Blanche of Castille, who 

influenced her husband King Louis 

VIII of France in his crusade against 

the Cathars, and Jagwida of Poland, 

who helped to restore the Jagiellonian 

University in Kraków, where the future 

St. Pope John Paul II would do his 

doctoral studies. 

She details the lives of Catholic women 

in England who were executed for 

their faith after the reign of Henry VIII, 

like Margaret Clitherow, a convert, 

wife, and mother, who was arrested and 

executed for hiding Catholic priests, 

and Margaret Ward, who was hanged 

for helping a priest escape from prison. 

She poignantly recounts the witness of 

the Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne, 

who one by one were executed at the 

guillotine, all the while renewing their 

vows and singing the Salve Regina, Te 

Deum, and Veni Creator Spiritus. 

And while it’s often said that behind 

every successful man is a strong 

woman, McShea brings to the fore 

countercultural men who championed 

women. 

Among these women were Renaissance 

poet Vittoria Colonna, who was 

encouraged by Cardinal Pietro Bembo, 

a poet of the papal court, to publish a 

book of poems under her own name 

(something that was virtually unheard 

of at the time). Colonna’s poetry even 

influenced the work of her friend 

Michaelangelo, who dedicated an 

image of Christ on the cross to her. 

There was also Margaret Roper, the 

oldest daughter of St. Thomas More, 

whose intellectual pursuits were 

remarkable for her time. Her father invested 

heavily in Margaret’s education, 

even bringing the scholar Erasmus into 

their home for her to converse with. 

Margaret published an English translation 

of his work, “Devout Treatise on 

the Our Father” at 19. Her husband 

also supported his wife’s scholarship. 

If the key to a more robust theology of 

women is what Francis alluded to — an 

appreciation of women as women, then 

McShea’s book helps the cause. The 

key is not what women have done in 

history, but who they have been. 

In her introduction to the book, 

Catholic writer Patricia Snow drives 

this point home by praising how “relational” 

its heroines are, “how gifted 

at forging and sustaining the kinds 

of relationships that are essential to 

communities and also at encouraging, 

often behind the scenes, the more 

visible vocations of prominent, socially 

powerful men.” 

“What modernity resists as a negative,” 

Snow added, “the Church has always 

affirmed as a gift: a gift for hearing and 

receiving, absorbing and remembering.” 

That receptivity and the “good soil of 

the female heart” has been a cornerstone 

of God’s plan of salvation for 

mankind, as evidenced by how often 

(almost always) he chooses women to 

receive divine messages, like Mary, the 

mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, or 

Bernadette Soubirous. 

Catholic women boggle the modern 

mind, dismissed as submissive to an 

outdated patriarchy who cares little 

about their flourishing. This book 

stands as a defense of the counterpoint: 

The question about female ordination sucks all of 

the oxygen out of the room whenever conversations 

arise about women in the Church. 

that when a woman leans into her vocation/mission 

with the full force of her 

feminine gifts, she can literally change 

history. 

Elise Italiano Ureneck is a communications 

consultant writing from Rhode 

Island. 


WITH GRACE 

DR. GRAZIE POZO CHRISTIE 

Explaining the success of ‘Jesus Thirsts’ 

One of the magnificent facets of our Catholic faith is 

our belief of Jesus’ true presence in the Eucharist. 

When we look at life through the lens of God’s sacrifice 

and his desire to give himself perpetually to us in holy 

Communion, everything looks different. 

We look different to ourselves: worthy, dignified, an object 

of immeasurable divine love. Our brothers and sisters gain 

their true stature in our eyes. Our churches and sanctuaries 

appear as they are: holy and sacred 

spaces where we meet God. Our 

troubles and weaknesses look smaller, 

standing beside the infinitude of tenderness 

of a Savior who stayed to dwell 

among us. 

You may be reading this and nodding 

along, secure in your own appreciation 

of the Eucharist. But here is a sobering 

fact: a 2019 Pew survey found that only 

one-third of practicing Catholics understand 

that Jesus is truly present in the 

Eucharist. I would suggest that behind 

this sad statistic is a world of hurt and 

dysfunction, and the reason for things 

like empty pews, the decline of marriage, 

the collapse of childbearing, and 

a general loss of hope in our culture. 

The new film “Jesus Thirsts: The 

Miracle of the Eucharist,” proposes to 

rescue Catholics, and non-Catholics, 

from this tragic confusion. 

To do so, the film calls on notable 

Catholic figures to help explore the 

biblical origin of the Eucharist: its 

centrality in God’s plan of salvation, 

prefigured and anticipated in centuries 

of prophecy and revelation. Theologian 

and Angelus contributor Scott 

Hahn, Supreme Knight of Columbus 

Patrick Kelly, and writer and speaker 

Chris Stefanick are among the list of 

voices included in the movie. Their insights 

go a long way in helping viewers 

approach an understanding of what is, 

at bottom, a physical reality wrapped in 

an ineffable mystery. 

The spiritual impact of an encounter 

with the Real Presence is traced as it runs through a prison 

population of men serving life sentences for heinous crimes, 

presented by the sympathetic Jim Wahlberg (film producer 

and brother of A-list actor Mark). The peace we see in those 

faces poses viewers with a question: What power could be 

hidden in that wafer of bread? 

A scene depicting Eucharistic adoration in a dusty and 

impoverished village in Uganda invites reflection on mate- 

An image from the feature-length documentary 

“Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist.” | 

OSV NEWS/DIMITRE PHOTOGRAPHY INC 


Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie is a mother of five 

who practices radiology in the Miami area. 

rial poverty and spiritual richness. Then there’s the story of 

Cardinal Van Thuan of Vietnam, who spent 13 years in a 

Communist prison and sustained himself by celebrating the 

Mass secretly in solitary confinement, using drops of wine 

and crumbs of Communion hosts smuggled in by family 

members. (He didn’t just survive his captivity through the 

grace of the Eucharist. He flourished, converting the guards 

who were blessed enough to be near him.) 

Eucharistic heroes like the New York-based Sisters of 

Life are featured in the film, inviting strangers passing by 

to join them in adoration at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Their 

happiness and innocence is infectious, and the reason for 

their joy is intriguing, even to the areligious. In Chicago 

we see a Spanish-speaking parish where a large monstrance 

containing the Blessed Sacrament is embedded in a statue 

of the Virgin Mary styled as the Ark of the Covenant. The 

Eucharistic life is richer, higher, more glad and loving, than 

we can imagine. 

This beautifully shot, wide-ranging documentary succeeds 

in large part thanks to the passion for apostolate that its 

creators brought to the project. The film understands that in 

a secular culture often inimical to faith, the arts need to be 

reclaimed for their proper purpose: the ennobling and lifting 

of the human spirit. It’s no accident that the film coincides 

with the high point of the National Eucharistic Revival, 

launched with the hope of helping Catholics rediscover the 

source and summit of our faith. 

“Jesus Thirsts” enjoyed a wildly successful limited run the 

first weekend of June across the country, selling out and 

becoming the second-highest grossing documentary of 2024 

so far. Because of popular demand, Fathom Films brought it 

back to theaters June 18 and 19. 

Don’t miss this lovely work, or the opportunity to bring a 

friend or family member to an encounter with the magnificent 

reality of the Eucharist. 

For more information about “Jesus Thirsts,” visit JesusThirsts- 

Film.com. 


NOW PLAYING HIT MAN 

A DEADLY IDENTITY CRISIS 

It may not leave much room for God, but ‘Hit Man’ challenges the 

‘positive nihilism’ typical in Hollywood today. 

Adria Arjona and Glen 

Powell in “Hit Man.” | 

IMDB 

BY JOSEPH JOYCE 

are you?” 

It’s a question — perhaps 

the question — “Who 

long pondered by philosophers and 

forensic procedurals since the dawn 

of time. 

Ironically, we are all a bit too close 

to the subject to ever get a straight 

answer. In the same way science has 

charted more of outer space than the 

ocean, we remain far more comfortable 

gazing outward than in. The 

cosmos is forever trying to kill us but 

at least we see it coming. Beneath 

the still waters of the human psyche, 

there are monsters not worth discovering. 

Those monsters are the subject of 

Richard Linklater’s recent film “Hit 

Man,” released first in some theaters 

and then on Netflix June 7. The 

movie follows Gary Johnson (not that 

one), a mild-mannered psychology 

professor played by Glen Powell, 

rocking a Jeffery Dahmer haircut and 

glasses that’s mitigated slightly by a 

pair of cutoff jorts. 

Now Gary is an adjunct professor, 

so he must supplement his income 

by moonlighting as tech support for 

the New Orleans Police Department, 

usually in sting operations involving 

hit men. As Gary explains in voiceover, 

real life hit men are an occupation 

found only in the movies, like a 

ghostbuster or a financially solvent 

film critic. 

When people believe the movies and 

try to hire an assassin to solve their 

problem, the assassin they contact is 

invariably an undercover cop. For an 

arrest to happen, the procurer must 

verbally assent to the murder and 

hand over the money, so the officer at 

hand must be a smooth operator and 

a patient fisherman. 

Gary is happy sitting at a safe distance 

in the surveillance van, until 

the field comes to him when the 

undercover cop fails to show. Hastily 

plugged in at the last second, the 

officers are shocked when Gary proves 

a natural. He stacks his résumé as the 

department’s best undercover assas- 

28 • ANGELUS • June 28, 2024

sin, using his psychology training to 

cultivate the ideal fictional hit man 

for each “customer.” His guises (including 

a redneck, Russian, and a Post 

Malone-looking guy) reveal as much 

about Gary as they do the buyer. 

Gary is also an avid birdwatcher, and 

in one scene explains to his bored colleagues 

how his favorite birds to spot 

are the ones that, without distinctive 

plumage, go unnoticed and uneaten. 

Gary is such a bird, driving his Honda 

Civic and feeding his cats so the 

world doesn’t disturb his peace. But 

like that other famous mild-mannered 

man Clark Kent, Gary himself feels 

like more of a disguise than the fake 

persona. He cares little for Superman 

and less for superego, the persona a 

valve for his bubbling id. 

It’s all fun and games until Maddy 

(Adria Arjona) tries to procure his 

talents. Maddy fears her abusive husband, 

and Gary finds her too innocent 

(and, frankly, too pretty) to entrap. 

Although premised on homicide and 

eavesdropped by the authorities, it’s a 

more charming first date than any I’ve 

had since the Obama years. She likes 

his persona, Ron, and moreover Gary 

likes him too. Ron is everything Gary 

wants to be, untethered from inhibition 

and the wearer of cool jackets. It 

is Ron, not Gary, who pursues her. 

Linklater is the most philosophical 

director of our time, so despite all 

the later plot machinations he never 

loses sight of that central question of 

identity. Is the Self something we are, 

or something we create? Is there even 

a difference? We might judge Gary, 

or in this case Ron, for dating Maddy 

under false premises. But dating with 

pure honesty would doom the species 

in a generation, and the world must 

be populated. 

Is it the same man who puts a napkin 

on his lap for the first date, then licks 

barbecue sauce off his shirt for the 

50th? The questions don’t stop at marriage. 

During college I knew men of 

unparalleled Dionysian capacity, only 

to see them years later in a tucked 

polo watching “Frozen” for the 400th 

time. Has the man evolved, or have 

two men passed the baton under one 

dome? Ask his wife; such distinctions 

matter less on the other side of 30. 

“Hit Man” was always an easy sell 

to me, with its true-blue movie star 

charisma, goofy disguises, establishing 

shots of New Orleans streetcars, etc. 

But what I admire most is its cold, 

dead, blackened little Grinch heart: 

While in the mode of a romantic 

thriller, “Hit Man” maintains a 

throughline of amorality which I find 

honest and in some ways more ethical 

than some of its contemporaries. 

The recent theme in cinema has 

been “positive nihilism,” most prominently 

seen and rewarded in Oscar 

juggernaut “Everything Everywhere 

All at Once.” These movies argue 

that nothing matters and rather than 

despair, we should celebrate our freedom 

from cosmic expectation. These 

characters never follow through, by 

coincidence the extent of their liberation 

is always Christian morality with 

a dash of premarital sex. Of course 

we don’t need God, because morality 

is just common sense. (Occasionally 

common senses don’t precisely align; 

we refer to these instances as “war.”) 

None of this is new. Nietzsche’s famous 

“God is Dead” pronouncement 

was not him contracting his own hit 

on the deity, but rather the hypocrisy 

of a society that no longer believes 

in God but assumes his shadow is 

just the night sky. In another of those 

happy little coincidences, Gary often 

quotes from Nietzsche during his 

college lectures, with frequency as 

matters get hairy in his other life. 

Gary is a good man; he loves his cats, 

he loves his friends. But Ron is a dog 

person, so what happens when Gary 

proves the main obstacle to what Ron 

wants? 

Linklater doesn’t blink at the abyss; 

In fact, he bats his eyelashes. 

Joseph Joyce is a screenwriter and freelance 

critic based in Sherman Oaks. 


DESIRE LINES 

HEATHER KING 

Art that takes death seriously 

“View of Ceret,” by Chaim 

Soutine, 1922. | WIKIART 

Thoughts: Late Style 

in a Time of Plague” (Thames 

“Immortal 

& Hudson Ltd, $21.95) is a book 

about the art of painting and the life of 

the artist. 

It’s about aging, decaying, dying, and 

the stubborn tenacity of the creative 

urge. 

Author Christopher Neve, a British 

artist and writer (“Unquiet Landscape: 

Places and Ideas in 20th-Century British 

Painting,” [Thames & Hudson Ltd, 

2020]) was spurred by the COVID-19 

lockdown, his own increasing age, and 

his sense that the earth itself might be 

dying. 

To ride out the pandemic, he returned 

to his isolated childhood home in the 

British countryside. He gazed upon the 

flowers, trees, and birds he loves, knowing 

that one day this particular countryside 

will be no more, and knowing, too, 

that his appreciation was sharpened by 

this very ephemerality. 

Could it be, he began to wonder, that 

many artists produce their ripest, most 

innovative, most profound work in their 

last years? 

Is it worth taking a second look at art 

by people who have already peaked in 

the eyes of the world; who have become 

weakened physically, emotionally, and 

perhaps even mentally, and yet are still 

painting, drawing, sculpting, growing? 

He compiled “Immortal Thoughts” 

in 2020, interspersing his profiles with 

ruminations on COVID’s terrifying 

global spread. He reflected on the last 

years and works of Poussin, Constable, 

Pisarro, El Greco, Chardin, Morandi, 

Rouault, and Chaim Soutine, among 

others. 

I first came across Soutine at the 

Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia and 

instantly fell in love. A Lithuanian-born 

Jew who made his way to Paris, his life, 

personal hygiene, finances, romances, 

and health were a perpetual mess. He 

died in agony of stomach cancer at 50, 

basically fleeing from the Nazis. 

You don’t have to have a degree 

in art history to appreciate “Immortal 

Thoughts,” which includes 29 

high-quality color illustrations. 


Heather King is an award-winning 

author, speaker, and workshop leader. 

Neve isn’t a critic of art; he’s a lover of 

art, and a lover of the people who make 

it — Soutine chief among them. 

He’s also one of those people who 

have followed a passion — in his case, 

painting — but excel as well at another. 

His writing is gorgeous, not only 

because of the beauty of the prose, but 

because he has taken the time to enter, 

as much as possible, into the hearts of 

the painters he profiles: their terrible 

losses, their isolation and loneliness, 

their physical frailty and, in many cases, 

their poverty. 

He sets forth their biographies — not 

the typical critic’s list of exhibits and descriptions 

of how this or that work was 

restored, but the stuff you really want to 

know: their failed marriages, dead children, 

arguments with neighbors, stays 

in mental institutions. Their dogged 

daily return to the studio in spite of it 

all, the nearly insane drive by which 

they stay at their watch till the end. 

The memory, intuition, and dreams 

he imagines them using to create what 

he often sees as their best work even as 

they’re dying. 

“In talking about Soutine’s last paintings,” 

Neve writes, “I need to discuss 

the idea of risk. Risk in painting is characteristic 

of many artists’ last work. … 

That is because they knew far too much 

to be held up by technical difficulties 

and because it no longer mattered to 

them very much what patrons and 

buyers might expect.” 

“In Soutine’s case extreme anxiety and 

angst are part of his method of inner 

expression turned outwards, his way of 

making something his own by realizing 

it in a system of energetic marks. … To 

get in touch with your inner genius you 

act now, this very moment, on impulse 

and exactly true to your own nature. 

… This energetic ardour, an uncontrolled 

appetite for paint and life, can 

produce out of violence and disorder 

and profound anarchy an occasional 

truth, the truth he first imagined as if by 

accident.” 

Of another, earlier artist, he observes: 

“Very soon it will be February 8th, 

1564 [the day Michelangelo died]. Do 

not attempt to guess what is running 

through Michelangelo’s head in these 

last five drawings. 

“All are of the crucifixion. Four 

include Mary and Saint John. Each 

drawing is blotched and marked, full 

of revisions, alterations, corrections, 

and patently incomplete. In two the 

vertical of the cross has been changed 

using a ruler, apparently at a late stage, 

to a slight tilt, the better to express the 

dead weight of the body. For in these 

drawings Christ is dead. … Mary and 

John are in despairing attitudes. … 

Their feet heavily grip the ground and 

their clothes are either absent or so rudimentary 

as to accentuate their nudity by 

wrapping round it. The body of Christ 

himself is beautiful beyond all belief, 

full of hollows, the agonized muscles of 

the chest and stretched stomach, which 

are at the centre of each drawing, 

conveyed miraculously by a sort of 

smoke of changing indication within 

the form.” 

“Do not say: This is drawing by an old 

man’s shaky hand. For it is drawing by 

one of the greatest sensibilities there has 

ever been, at its wits’ end.” 

Neve lavishes the same depth and care 

on all his subjects. Would that we aim 

toward immortality in our own “late 

style” — however and whenever that 

comes. 


LETTER AND SPIRIT 

SCOTT HAHN 

Scott Hahn is founder of the 

St. Paul Center for Biblical 

Theology; stpaulcenter.com. 

Like mountains 

Dante saw the great Apostles in heaven, 

they affected him like mountains.” So wrote 

“When 

C.S. Lewis, who imagined that an encounter 

with the apostles would be “rather an overwhelming experience.” 

As June draws to an 

end, we celebrate 

the memory of the 

apostles Peter and 

Paul. It’s a great feast 

in the Church — the 

day when the Holy 

Father gives a special 

vestment, the pallium, 

to all the new archbishops 

in the world, as a 

sign of their office and 

their unity with him 

as the successor of St. 

Peter. Once it was my 

privilege to witness this 

at St. Peter’s Basilica in 

Rome. It was indeed an 

overwhelming experience. 

I sometimes wonder, 

though, whether the 

apostles seemed so 

imposing to their contemporaries. 

Did Peter 

and Paul exude such 

charisma that people 

found their proclamation 

irresistible and 

irrefutable? 

The evidence seems 

to indicate otherwise. 

Paul gave his level best in Athens, and yet he failed to have 

much of an impact. Peter hiked all the way to Rome, the 

capital city of the Empire, and there he preached and 

taught. But at his death he left a city largely unconverted, 

a Church minuscule and seemingly defenseless before the 

scorn of the media and the power of the state. 

It is only from the distance of centuries that we can see Peter 

and Paul as they were and are — as giants, as mountains. 

Yet so they were in the order of grace, even as they served the 

Church on earth. 

Sometimes people seem larger than life simply because 

we’re so close to them. When we distance ourselves, in time 

or space, we can see 

“St. Peter and St. Paul,” by El Greco, 1541-1614, 

Greek. | WIKIMEDIA COMMONS 

them more accurately, 

with all their faults and 

flaws. 

Some people, however, 

seem larger than 

life simply because they 

are. That is what a canonization 

confirms: that 

these men responded 

to God’s grace in an extraordinary 

way, living 

lives of holiness in the 

world and heroic virtue. 

We will never, this 

side of the veil, see our 

own lives with such accuracy. 

What we judge 

to be our greatest accomplishments 

— what 

we post on social media 

or tout on our resume 

— may actually prove 

to be of little value to 

us or to the world. The 

actions, perhaps, that 

we wish to forget may 

more truly define us: 

our losses, our defeats, 

our suffering. But think 

of Paul’s failures. Think 

of Peter’s. Think of the 

passion and death of 

Jesus Christ. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors 

through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). 

Peter and Paul may have seemed the victims on June 29 in 

the year A.D. 64, and the emperor Nero may have seemed 

the conqueror. History proved otherwise. 

You and I will certainly know our share of challenges in 

life. I pray that we will be faithful through them all — and 

more than conquerors through him who loves us still. 


■ SATURDAY, JUNE 22 

St. Josemaría Escrivá Mass. Cathedral of Our Lady of the 

Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 11 a.m. Archbishop 

José H. Gomez will celebrate Mass for the feast day. 

Mexicali Border Mission Trip. El Centro/Mexicali Border. 

A group of 15-20 people will travel to Mexicali and 

visit with some 200 migrants living in a shelter, bringing 

donations for the men in honor of Father’s Day. Valid U.S. 

passport, Global Entry card, or valid permanent resident 

card required. Limited spots available. Email immigration@la-archdiocese.org 

to register or for more information. 

■ SUNDAY, JUNE 23 

Juneteenth Texas Style Barbecue. St. Agatha Church, 

2646 S. Mansfield Ave., Los Angeles, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Dine 

in or takeout. Wear red. Call 323-251-2888. 

■ MONDAY, JUNE 24 

Summer Bible Sessions. Holy Family Church, 209 E. Lomita 

Ave., Glendale, 7-8:30 p.m. Immersion into the Gospels 

runs June 24-27. For more information, visit lacatholics. 

org/events. 

■ THURSDAY, JUNE 27 

St. Jude Relic Veneration. Bede the Venerable Church, 

215 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada Flintridge, 2-10 p.m. Mass 

will be celebrated at 7 p.m. The relic is a piece of bone 

from St. Jude’s arm, and is part of the Tour of the Relics of 

St. Jude the Apostle. Visit bede.org. 

■ FRIDAY, JUNE 28 

“Rise Up in Splendor”: ACTheals Southern California 

Joint Regions Retreat. Vina de Lestonnac Retreat Center, 

39300 De Portola Rd., Temecula, 4 p.m.-Sunday, June 30, 

2 p.m. Retreat focuses on the compassionate love of God 

expressed in the heart of Jesus. Call Al Nyland at 323-420- 

1560. 

■ SATURDAY, JUNE 29 

Let’s Pray Like Jesus: Catechist Workshop. Our Lady 

of the Assumption Church, 3175 Telegraph Rd., Ventura, 

9 a.m.-12 p.m. Workshop will teach catechists different 

hands-on activities to explore prayer traditions. Bring 

scissors, crayons, and markers. English and Spanish 

workshops available. Registration required by June 27. 

Cost: $10/early bird by June 16, $15 after June 17. On-site 

registration is not available. For more information, visit 

lacatholics.org/elementary-catechesis. 

Summer Bible Retreat. Holy Family Church, 209 E. Lomita 

Ave., Glendale, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Free event, registration 

required. For more information, visit lacatholics.org/ 

events. 

SCRC Catholic Renewal Convention: “Refreshed in 

Spirit.” Anaheim Marriott Ballrooms, 700 W. Convention 

Way, Anaheim, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. More than a dozen popular 

Catholic speakers, including Father Robert Spitzer, Father 

Ismael Robles, and more. Presentations, reconciliation, 

liturgy, and live praise and worship. Register at events.scrc. 

org. Call or text 818-771-1361. 

■ FRIDAY, JULY 5 

Mass for Pilgrims. Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad 

de México, Mexico City, Mexico, 10:30 a.m. Archbishop 

José H. Gomez will celebrate a special Mass for LA 

pilgrims. 

■ SATURDAY, JULY 6 

Mass for Pilgrims. Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 

Mexico City, Mexico, 12 p.m. Archbishop José H. Gomez 

will celebrate a special Mass for LA pilgrims. 

■ SUNDAY, JULY 7 

Virtual Diaconate Information Day. Zoom, 2-4 p.m. Do 

you feel Jesus is calling you to be a deacon? Come and see. 

To register, email Deacon Melecio Zamora at dmz2011@ 

la-archdiocese.org. 

■ TUESDAY, JULY 9 

Memorial Mass. San Fernando Mission, 15151 San 

Fernando Mission Blvd., Mission Hills, 11 a.m. Mass is 

open to the public. Limited seating. RSVP to outreach@ 

catholiccm.org or call 213-637-7810. Livestream available 

at CatholicCM.org or Facebook.com/lacatholics. 

■ THURSDAY, JULY 11 

St. Padre Pio Mass. St. Anne Church, 340 10th St., Seal 

Beach, 1 p.m. Celebrant: Father Al Baca. For more information, 

call 562-537-4526. 

■ SATURDAY, JULY 13 

Our Lady Queen of Angels High School Seminary 

Reunion. Alemany High School, 11111 N. Alemany Dr., 

Mission Hills, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. All former students, staff, 

and faculty are invited to attend. Email John L. Weitzel at 

johnlweitzel@gmail.com or call 714-699-3471. 

Rosary Crusade. Morgan Park, 4100 Baldwin Park Blvd., 

Baldwin Park, 6:30 p.m. Monthly meeting to pray the 

rosary. 

■ WEDNESDAY, JULY 17 

National Eucharistic Congress. Lucas Oil Stadium, 500 S. 

Capitol Ave., Indianapolis, Indiana. Eucharistic Congress 

runs July 17-21. Join Archbishop José H. Gomez and U.S. 

Catholics in a historic gathering of missionary disciples 

that will be a new Pentecost, a powerful commission to 

invite others to know Christ. Register at https://lacatholics.org/event/eucharistic-congress/. 

LACBA CFJ Veterans Record Clearing Clinic. Virtual, 

3-6 p.m. Assisting with clearing California traffic tickets, 

expunging criminal records, and felony reductions. Open 

to Southern California veterans. Registration required by 

calling 213-896-6536 or emailing inquiries-veterans@ 

lacba.org. 

■ SATURDAY, AUGUST 3 

Holy Trinity Western Hoedown. Holy Trinity Church, 

1292 W. Santa Cruz St., San Pedro, 5-9 p.m. Hot dogs, 

sliders, chips, and sides. Country music, line dancing, and 

games for kids. Casual attire. Call 310-548-6535. 

■ TUESDAY, AUGUST 6 

C3 Conference. Bishop Alemany High School, 11111 

N. Alemany Dr., Mission Hills. The C3 Conference runs 

Aug. 6-7, and is an annual gathering that unites educators, 

school administrators, and faith leaders from the Archdiocese 

of Los Angeles. The 2024 theme is “Elevate.” For more 

information, visit c3.la-archdiocese.org/c3-con-2024. 

■ THURSDAY, AUGUST 8 

St. Padre Pio Mass. St. Anne Church, 340 10th St., Seal 

Beach, 1 p.m. Celebrant: Father Al Baca. For more information, 

call 562-537-4526. 

Items for the calendar of events are due four weeks prior to the date of the event. They may be emailed to calendar@angelusnews.com. 

All calendar items must include the name, date, time, address of the event, and a phone number for additional information.

Angelus News | June 28, 2024 | Vol. 9 No. 13

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