CSF issue of January 14, 2005 Page 1 of 14 CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO, JANUARY 14, 2005 On the Street Where You Live By Tom Burke The new digs will not be the same without Marge Ward, a “friend to all” who retired from her Chancery receptionist post at the end of the year. Marge has been a “first impression” of the Church for almost 20 years starting at the “old digs” on Church St. and for the last several years at the new Peter Yorke Way address. “I’ve loved every minute of it,” she told me while taking some final calls at her desk in the Pastoral Center’s front lobby just before the Christmas break. Marge and her husband, Joe, a retired City firefighter, took their vows at St. Emydius Church on September 19, 1959. For the last “many, many years” they have been members of St. Finn Barr’s. The good news is that Marge will be back “in a relief capacity” at least several days during the year!!!… Prayers please for the continued recovery of Father Kieran McCormick now undergoing treatment for lymphoma and his brother Msgr. Mickey McCormick who has recently undergone heart by-pass surgery. Father Kieran, former pastor of St. James, San Francisco; St. Timothy, San Mateo and St. Charles in San Carlos, was ordained in 1964 and lives now at Serra Clergy House, 455 W. 20th Ave., San Mateo 94403. Msgr. Mickey, former pastor of St. John of God, Good Shepherd and Mission Dolores, where he currently resides, was ordained in 1958. The Mission Dolores address is 3321 16th St., San Francisco, 94114…. “All in all it was one of our best meetings ever,” said Denis Ragan of the Catholic Marin Breakfast Club on the occasion of the group’s 10th anniversary in November. Guest speaker was Yakima Bishop Carlos A. Sevilla, S.J., who, as an auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco, was CMBC’s first speaker 10 years ago. Denis, Wayne Batmale and Jim Mahoney are the group’s founding members. Board members have included Nick Allen, Sandy Hufford, Sharon Leveque, Veronica MacDonald, Christine Mibach, Jan Pasha, Jack Purl, Judy Stranzl, Joyce Thornton, Barry Wester, and the late Marianne Lashua. Chaplains have included Father Al Vucinovich, pastor, St. Catherine of Siena in Burlingame, Father Tom Parenti, pastor, St. Brendan’s in San Francisco, and Father Ken Westray, pastor, St. Sebastian’s in Greenbrae where CMBC is based. According to Denis, more than 60 people attended the first meeting in 1994 with many attending the recent milestone meeting which hosted more than double that number. During the club’s first decade speakers have included six bishops, five judges, four college presidents, political heavyweights, and entertainers..… Jeanne and Bill Barulich of Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame were honored with the Frank Brennan Award of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco in November. The honorees are “both very active in the community,” SVDP said. “Bill and Jeanne have continued their faithful support of the St Vincent de Paul Society over many years. We are honoring a very worthy couple.” Jeanne is a graduate of the much missed and revered St. Rose Academy and Bill is an alum of Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory. Both hold undergraduate degrees from USF. The award’s namesake, Frank Brennan, found refuge in the works of SVDP as a young man and later was among its principal supporters. He died in 2003…. The St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Mateo County held its annual awards brunch November 6. Recognized with the group’s highest honor – The Ozanam Service Medallion - were Richard M. Cabrera, Gretchen L. Lott and Deborah Payne. Additional honors were presented to individuals including Presentation Sister Ita Cleary, Sister Julie O’Neill, a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jodi Weidler, Tricia Reilly, Graciela Guerrero, Tyler Turdici, Jim and Anne Allio, Paul Trahan, Joan Lopiccolo, Carolynn Ghiorso, Blanche Sanchez; Judy King and Barbara Penner. In San Mateo County more than 1,000 men and women serve in http://www.catholic-sf.org/011405.html 1/10/2007 CSF issue of January 14, 2005 Page 2 of 14 the society as members or volunteers to its many programs….It only takes a moment to let us know about a birthday, anniversary, special achievement, or special happening in your life. Just jot down the basics and send with a follow-up phone number to On the Street Where You Live, One Peter Yorke Way, SF 94109. You can also fax to (415) 614-5633 or e-mail, do not send attachments - except photos and those in jpeg please - to [email protected]. You can reach Tom Burke at (415) 614-5634. Old St. Mary’s begins year of celebration to mark 150 years in San Francisco By Jack Smith San Francisco’s Old Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception kicked off a year-long celebration of its 150th anniversary with a Christmas Eve Mass celebrated by Archbishop William J. Levada and Paulist Father Charles Kullman, pastor. The celebration recalled the Christmas Eve Mass at which San Francisco’s first archbishop, Joseph Sadoc Alemany, dedicated this first cathedral in the new state of California 150 years ago. Archbishop Alemany dedicated the church to Our Lady under the title of the Immaculate Conception just 16 days after Pope Pius IX formally defined the doctrine making his cathedral the first church in the world so dedicated. The building was designed by architects William Craine and Thomas England to resemble a gothic church in Alemany’s Spanish hometown. When completed, Alemany’s cathedral was the largest brick building in San Francisco and was the seat of a bishop whose territory stretched from San Jose to the Oregon Border and including all of the territory north of the Colorado River and west of the Rockies. San Francisco underwent rapid changes during its early years and by 1881, Archbishop Alemany felt that the area around St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception was no longer suitable for a cathedral. Alemany purchased property for a new cathedral on Van Ness and O’Farrell, but it would be up to his successor, Archbishop Patrick Riordan, to oversee its construction. When Riordan dedicated the new Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in 1891, the original Cathedral became a parish church thereafter known as Old St. Mary’s. On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1894, Archbishop Riordan entrusted Old St. Mary’s to the care of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (Paulists) who have administered the parish and its many outreach programs and ministries for 110 years. The walls of Old St. Mary’s survived the 1906 earthquake, but its roof and interior were burnt out by the subsequent fire. A renovated Old St. Mary’s was rededicated by Archbishop Riordan in 1909. The age, beauty and central role of Old St. Mary’s in San Francisco life is recognized by its designation as the City’s second Registered Historical Landmark, behind only Mission Dolores. The ministry of the Paulist Fathers has always responded to the changing landscape of San Francisco, from establishing a mission to poor Chinese near the turn of the 20th century to its current care of a congregation composed of many tourists and weekday parishioners from downtown financial district businesses. That care involves numerous ministries including the Paulist Center Bookstore, Adult Education Classes, popular weekday Masses and confessions, several 12- step programs, and outreach to those returning to the practice of the faith or inquiring about it for the first time. Old Saint Mary’s also has hosted a popular free noontime concert series which will begin again February 1 running the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 12:30 p.m. A four day series of events honoring Old St. Mary’s history and celebrating its anniversary is scheduled to begin January 20. Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, will be signing copies of her latest book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, http://www.catholic-sf.org/011405.html 1/10/2007 CSF issue of January 14, 2005 Page 3 of 14 on Jan. 20 at 12:30 p.m. in the Paulist Center Bookstore at 614 Grant Avenue. On Jan. 21, Old St. Mary’s will celebrate “My Other Parish Day,” recognizing the parish’s special relationship with business and neighborhood communities. After a noontime celebration Mass, the event proceeds with 12:45 p.m. remarks by San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and special honors for San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong who is an alumna of the Paulists’ St. Mary’s Chinese School. That is followed by a 1:00 p.m. “Taste of San Francisco” luncheon with food by the California Culinary Academy and wine from Buena Vista Winery. An Old St. Mary’s birthday celebration will begin at 2:00 p.m. which includes raffle. This event is free, but tickets are required by visiting the Paulist Center Bookstore or calling 415-228-3800. A Gala Celebration of Old St. Mary’s 150th Anniversary begins on Saturday, Jan. 22 with 5:00 p.m. Mass offered by Archbishop William J. Levada. That is followed by a sold-out Gala Dinner Celebration, however, all are invited to a 9:00 p.m. concert by the New Century Chamber Orchestra followed by Champagne and Dessert. Cost for the concert and dessert is $50 and tickets are available by visiting Old St. Mary’s, the Paulist Center or calling New Century Chamber Orchestra at 415-357- 1111.