Friday 29th March 2024

Home » Frontpage » Currently Reading:

California Online Catholic Publisher . . . Sees Some Bright Spots In Capital Of “Deviant Life”

December 30, 2014 Frontpage No Comments

By DEXTER DUGGAN

SAN DIEGO — As publisher of both an orthodox Catholic news website and this city’s major alternative weekly newspaper, Jim Holman makes his mark on religious and secular developments.
He heads both California Catholic Daily and the San Diego Reader.
Holman’s characteristically modest second-floor corner office at 2323 Broadway in San Diego’s Golden Hill neighborhood looks down the hill to downtown high-rises that look over San Diego Bay.
Victorian mansions on the hill recall a millionaire neighborhood’s past. His newspaper office in the former Carpenters Hall, which had a 1947 groundbreaking to be a headquarters for labor-union members, betokens a connection with everyday people, not the elite.
Other tenants in the building when The Wanderer visited on December 11 included the Flying Panther tattoo shop and Ballet Basics studio.
A proudly renovated building, the former laborers hall still has the workingman’s motto in Latin set in the floor tile near the front door, “Labor Omnia Vincit.”
Before moving to this location in March 2013, Holman’s enterprises outgrew tighter quarters in downtown’s touristy Little Italy, on India Street, where he and the staff worked for about 20 years. Bob MacPhail is editor of California Catholic Daily.
Reader operations manager Howie Rosen told The Wanderer that the hard-copy alternative weekly’s website had 579,000 unique visitors in October. The Golden Hill office occupies 8,200 square feet, he said.
Framed front covers of past Readers on the wall include a prescient one from June 10, 2010, headlined, “Looking for work has become the new work.”
As 2014 moved toward an end, The Wanderer asked Holman to look back on developments in both the California pro-life movement and Catholic Church in the Golden State.
In an email Q-and-A interview, with Holman responding to a list of questions, he cited an encouraging growth in “refuges” for orthodox California Catholics.
However, toward the end of the interview questions, The Wanderer mentioned prelates like Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez rubbing shoulders with Culture of Death Democrats. Holman replied that Gomez’s assurances to him didn’t seem to be true that pro-life is a “big priority for bishops.”
Here’s the interview with Holman.
Q. Over the last 30 or so years, what are the most significant changes you’d cite, for the better and the worse, in the California Catholic Church and in the pro-life movement?
A. The most significant change in California Catholic Church is the strong movement of young Catholics to defending the unborn. True here as anywhere in the U.S., probably because of many factors, but especially ultrasound imaging.
Another change in California is the growth of orthodox refuges. The Latin Mass parishes, the Norbertines, the non-diocesan Catholic schools, Thomas Aquinas College, John Paul the Great University, the Carmelites in Alhambra and Oakland, Ignatius Press, the Oratory in San Francisco, 40 Days for Life — all of these are spinning off activities and intentional communities.
Q. What would you like to accomplish with your apostolate as publisher of California Catholic Daily?
A. Print the news the mainstream media, including diocese papers, will not print — ugly truth of abortion and deviant life. Because California is the center of both, we have lots of material.
Q. What stories seem to be most popular and least popular with its readers?
A. Stories on the official Church cooperation with pro-abortion politicians get lots of comments. Plus stories on liturgy.
Q. What size is the readership, and how wide is it geographically? How much does Cal Catholic cost to run?
A. 5,000 to 10,000 unique visitors per day. About half in California and half all over the globe. Some in Vatican City, some in China. Rough estimate is $12,000 a year for Cal Catholic.
Q. You’d said you hoped things in the San Diego Diocese were improving, but its invitation for the September visit by pro-homosexual Fr. Timothy Radcliffe [to speak to the diocesan priests’ convocation] “gives the lie to that.” Does the San Diego Diocese seem more accommodating of a homosexual agenda than most U.S. Catholic dioceses? Or about the same as many other dioceses?
A. Jason Berry’s book on priestly pedophilia has a chapter devoted to San Diego. The worst pedophiles seem to be gone.
But there is a creepy influence left over, as evidenced by the Radcliffe retreat in September.
Q. Is the San Diego Diocese worse than many other U.S. dioceses at standing up for the faith? I just found you quoted in a 2008 [San Diego] Union-Tribune article about a parental-notification initiative, [saying that] “The bishops of California are cowards.”
A. The California bishops have improved since 2008. Archbishop [Salvatore] Cordileone in San Francisco, Bishop [Michael] Barber in Oakland, Bishop [Robert] Vasa in Santa Rosa have made courageous moves. I’m not sure what the new bishop of San Diego will be like.
Q. You’ll recall that last year Archbishop José Gomez, in the presence of [Gov.] Jerry Brown and his Sacramento cultists of death, celebrated the Democratic legislature giving illegal immigrants driver licenses, even though the same Democrats passed bills last year that Brown signed allowing non-physicians to do abortions, and allowing abortions in facilities not equipped for surgery. Gomez didn’t seem to mind that he was conveying an image of Church approval of moral outcasts.
Some Catholics note that Gomez seems to prioritize promoting the Democratic Party for its promoting illegal immigration rather than rebuking Brown and his gang for stomping on Catholic core principles. Earlier this year you wondered how many Hispanic Democrat legislators, presumably Catholics, were rebuked by their bishops for killing a bill in committee against sex-selection abortion. Just what does the California Catholic Church’s leadership really stand for, apart from rote political ultra-liberalism?
A. It could be the California bishops are acting behind the scenes with Jerry Brown and other agents of death to convert them. But I don’t see any evidence of it.

A Long Road

Q. How great a threat do you view Barack Obama to be to people of faith now, when we see a lot of media still in the tank despite his aggressive outrages?
A. Not sure Obama would take anti-religious move with executive order, but because he might not get what he wants with Congress now, he could. That is a danger of the bishops supporting his executive order on immigration — OK for their short-term goals, but not great for balanced government.
Q. Some years ago [columnist] Dan Weintraub noted in The Sacramento Bee that as California grew steadily more left-wing Democratic, the main change in the population was the increase in Hispanics. If this is so, do the bishops, like Archbishop Gomez, think the Culture of Death is really pretty OK as long as their political friends run it?
A. Can’t speak for Archbishop Gomez. He assured me not long after his arrival [in Los Angeles] that pro-life was big priority for bishops. But this has seemed not to be true.
Q. When you got arrested for sitting in at an abortion clinic, did you ever dream the road ahead would be so long?
A. I was just a small actor in the rescue movement; never looked into future much at that time.
[An October 2006 Union-Tribune article recalled that in 1989, Holman was “arrested outside an abortion clinic in La Mesa (Calif.). He was convicted and spent two weeks in jail for trespassing. ‘Under the circumstances, I consider it a great honor to go to jail,’ he said at the time.”]

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Abortion Advocates No Longer Consider It “A Necessary Evil,” They Celebrate Killing Babies

Last week, Kamala Harris became the first vice president in U.S. history to make a public visit to an abortion clinic. Though the Democratic party’s support for abortion is nothing new, Harris’ Planned Parenthood appearance does illustrate how that support has become a flagrant celebration of abortion as a public and personal good, essential to both “freedom” and to “healthcare.” At the appearance, Harris proclaimed,  It is only right and fair that people have access…Continue Reading

Wisconsin Supreme Court says Catholic charity group cannot claim religious tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a major Catholic charity group’s activities were not “primarily” religious under state law, stripping the group of a key tax break and ordering it to pay into the state unemployment system. Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) last year argued that the state had improperly removed its designation as a religious organization.  The charity filed a lawsuit after the state said it did not qualify to be considered as an organization…Continue Reading

Walgreens and CVS Will Start Selling Abortion Pills That Kill Babies

The two largest pharmacies in America will start selling abortion pills this month that end the lives of unborn children by starting them to death. Walgreens and CVS will both sell the abortion pills despite the fact that they kill a developing human being and have killed at least dozens of women and injured tens of thousands more. They plan to initially roll out abortion drug sales in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, California…Continue Reading

Cardinal Burke announces novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Raymond Cardinal Burke has announced the start of a global, nine-month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, calling on Catholics to beseech Mary’s intercession on the Church and the world in the face of the “crises of our age.” In a new endeavour published online over the weekend, Cardinal Burke announced a novena beginning in March, and culminating on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.

Texas attorney general targets Catholic nonprofit, alleges it facilitates illegal immigration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 21:15 pm Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to shut down a Catholic nonprofit organization in El Paso based on allegations that the group may be facilitating illegal immigration, harboring immigrants who entered the country illegally, and engaging in human smuggling.  Paxton filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit Annunciation House, which has operated in the state for nearly 50 years. The lawsuit asks the District Court of El Paso…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)