The California Catholic Conference released the following statement in response to the honoring of a member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an openly anti-Catholic group, by the California State Senate and Assembly this week:

We are in sorrow and disbelief that California legislators paid tribute to a prominent member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), a group that openly commits acts of hate, misogyny, and discrimination against Catholics, our women’s religious orders, and against Christianity.

California is usually eager to condemn acts of hate, but today they chose to elevate them. Lawmakers praised a member of a group that actively disrupts our Masses, events and even steals our sacred Eucharist. SIP holds events that ridicule our sacraments with names so crass we will spare repeating them.

Our Catholic women religious voluntarily devote their entire lives to caring for immigrants, orphans, and those in poverty, working in hospitals and hospices, and stepping in to provide a way for those who would otherwise go without. They gladly serve others and remain in prayer even for those who openly disparage them. Our Sisters should be recognized for their selflessness, not ridiculed and denigrated.

Compounding our distress is the fact that the Sisters of Mercy previously owned the very land where the annexed portion of the Capitol building sits. There is a statue on the Capitol grounds to recognize their contribution. And today, the State chose to support the desecration of their selfless acts and those who follow in their legacy.

As the State has now greenlighted prejudiced acts of discrimination, we ask that Californians rise above the legislature’s divisive behavior and instead seek to treat each other with the love, integrity, and dignity that every person deserves.

For more reporting on this issue, visit AngelusNews.com

Catholics throughout the Sacramento area have been pivotal in providing for 36 immigrants who were flown halfway across the country to the Capitol city by chartered planes under the false guise that job opportunities awaited them.

“The outpouring of support for the 36 migrants who arrived in Sacramento in recent days has been inspiring and a reminder of our continued responsibility to protect human life and enhance human dignity through the works of mercy,” said Diocese of Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto.

Bishop Soto met with the first group of migrants on Monday, which departed El Paso, Tx., was flown to Sacramento, and then dropped off on the steps of the Diocese of Sacramento. The second plane was intercepted at the airport. The migrants who arrived were from Venezuela and Columbia and told officials they did not know where they had landed or where Sacramento was even located.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ office has claimed responsibility for the flights.

“Using human beings as political pawns is inexcusable,” said California Catholic Conference Executive Director Kathleen Domingo. “Most migrants seek refuge in the U.S. to escape the human travesties in their own countries. Moving them from one side of the country to the other and, in some cases, away from the places they need to be to continue their immigration proceedings, is akin to trafficking. America is better than that.”

Those wishing to assist the migrants and the thousands of others can contact their local Catholic Charities, which is on the front lines of providing services for the undocumented.

“In caring for and supporting our brothers and sisters in need, we fulfill our obligations to be like the Good Samaritan who encounters the suffering with compassion, provides merciful care, and invites others to walk with the suffering on their journey to healing and wholeness,” Bishop Soto said.

Pope Francis has appointed the Rev. Michael Pham and Rev. Felipe Pulido as auxiliary bishops of San Diego. Bishop-elect Pham is a priest of the Diocese of San Diego and currently serves as vicar general of the Diocese of San Diego and pastor of Good Shepherd parish in San Diego. Bishop-elect Pulido is a priest of the Diocese of Yakima, and currently serves as vicar for clergy and director of vocations for the Diocese of Yakima, and as pastor of St. Joseph parish in Kennewick, Washington. The appointments were publicized in Washington, D.C. on June 6, 2023, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The Diocese of San Diego comprises 8,852 square miles in the State of California and has a total population of 3,478,336, of which 1,391,334 are Catholic.

Read more on Rev. Michael Pham and Rev. Felipe Pulido here.

The following appeared in American Magazine on June 9, 2023

Unexpectedly, neighbors came knocking at the door of the Diocese of Sacramento Pastoral Center last Friday, June 2. Young women and men, mostly from Venezuela and Colombia, had been picked up in El Paso, Tex., and flown across the country on private jets paid for by the state of Florida. They now stood dazed and unaware of where they had been shuttled. When I visited with them the following Monday, the sense of geographic and emotional vertigo was still on their faces.

I listened to stories of the journey. Mentions of the “tren” referred to the notorious bestia that thrumbles north through Mexico, ladened with human cargo headed to the border. Some were quick to unburden themselves of the miles of accumulated misery that brought them to the northern end of California’s Central Valley. For others, their silence spoke. What could not be said haunted the gathering.

“Reality is greater than ideas,” Pope Francis taught us in his first apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium” (Nos. 231-3). As I sat in the room with the migrants, the Holy Father’s sober wisdom came to mind. Our neighbors brought seemingly distant realities very close. Suddenly, solidarity had to be practical and personal. They have traveled far for this awkward encounter. Their continental migration presented the complex, troubling realities of many brothers and sisters in the vast neighborhood called America.

Continue Reading at AmericaMagazine.org

There are currently two vacancies for Catholic Chaplains at California State Hospital, Norwalk, and California Institution for Women, Chico.

Applicants must be endorsed by the bishop of the diocese where the institution is located, and ordained and lay persons are encouraged to apply.  The bishop can also endorse more than one person for each position. You can find the state application and more information here.

The Catholic Chaplain interviews and counsels inmates on ethical and moral problems and spiritual matters; prepares and conducts religious services; administers religious rites; organizes and instructs classes in religious doctrine, counsels with inmates; and provides many other vital services.

Click here for more information.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is asking Catholics “to stand together in prayer” leading up to the Dodgers’ Pride Night celebration on June 16, when the team will honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

The California-based group has been accused of mocking the Catholic faith, desecrating the cross and Eucharist, and making light of religious sisters.

In response to the June 16 event, the archdiocese has called on parishes and parishioners to pray special prayers on that day, specifically the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Mass or during a Holy Hour with the Blessed Sacrament.

Continue Reading at AngelusNews.com