May 8, 2006 VOL. 44, NO. 9Oakland, CA

A celebration of scouting
Brownies from St. Joseph Parish in Fremont and St. Michael Parish in Livermore walk into the church where they will receive their Family of God award.

Members of Boy Scout Troop 444 of St. Bonaventure Parish in Concord lead participants in the Scout Oath.

A Boy Scout from St. Jarlath Parish in Oakland holds the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance at the annual celebration of scouting at St. Jarlath Church. During the ceremony, the St. Anne Medal was given to Grace Cassetta, former diocesan director of youth ministry, and Grace House of the diocesan CYO/Scouting department for their work with youth. The St. George Award was given to Doris Gamache of St. Bonaventure Parish for her dedication to the spiritual development of youth through scouting. WILLIAM BROWN PHOTOS

Walking the Walk

East Bay Catholics will show their solidarity with the poor during the Walk to End Poverty on May 13 at Oakland’s Lake Merritt, sponsored by Catholic Charities of the East Bay to raise funds for emergency assistance.
Parishes, schools and church organizations are being invited to organize teams to walk around the lake.

Each walker is asked to get financial sponsors whose donations will help CCEB provide food, rent, clothing and other resources to its poorest clients.
Participants will assemble at the Pergola at the east end of the lake at 8:30 a.m. The one-hour walk will begin at 9:30 a.m. For more information, contact Akili Harrison at (510) 768-3138 or akili@cceb.org.

Around the Parishes

St. Isidore Parish in Danville recently completed its 11th annual baby shower benefiting Birthright of Concord and Livermore and Mary’s House in El Sobrante. Seventy layettes containing 19 baby items each were collected by parishioners. Among the items were sweater sets and baby blankets lovingly knitted by the St. Isidore knitting club. The parish also collected 400 boxes of diapers for the three groups.

Members at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Fremont staged a vivid reenactment of the Stations of the Cross during a Good Friday service last month.

Antioch’s St. Ignatius Parish recently contributed $5,516 to Habitat for Humanity for the building of a Habitat residence at 5th and K Streets in Antioch. Parishioners collected the funds with special collections during Lent.

Speaking of Habitat for Humanity, the Catholic Community of Pleasanton (CCOP) will sponsor a Habitat work crew in Livermore on June 24. CCOP members have already contributed their time and talent as Habitat volunteers in February and March.

Members at St. Leander Parish in San Leandro joined local residents April 29 at the San Leandro Community Church to commemorate the fourth anniversary of April Showers, a program that provides showers for homeless people at the San Leandro Boys and Girls Club facilities as well as lunch, clean clothes and a voucher to do laundry at a local laundromat. The program was launched after the death of Clement McMenemy, a homeless man and St. Leander parishioner, who died while sleeping overnight in a construction project.

Jon Rosell III, a member of the Catholic Community of Pleasanton, was honored at the Eagle Scout Hour of Honor, April 29. For his Eagle Scout project, he coordinated a $20,000 construction project to erect a flag pole at the Ridge View Commons Senior Living Complex. He also coordinated the flag pole dedication ceremony on May 30, 2005. He is a senior at Foothill High School.

back to top

Around the Schools

Bishop Allen Vigneron and Hayward Mayor Roberta Cooper officiated at the April 30 groundbreaking ceremony for a multi-million dollar expansion at Moreau Catholic High School. The project includes increasing the school library, adding a state-of-the-art life and physical science laboratory and classroom, and building a film and video arts studio and multi-media classroom.

Emerging scientists at De La Salle High in Concord took top honors at the first annual Contra Costa Science Fair. The grand prize was awarded to Rob Ray (Physical Science) and Oliver Hernaez (Environmental Science). They earned an all-expense paid trip to the Intel Talent Search this week (May 7-14) that will feature projects from 46 states and 40 countries. They also captured first prizes along with Chris Ng (Biology). Special award winners were Chris Ng, Brad Zercoe, William Forrester, Joseph Gudino, Andrew Haggen, William Grabill and Dominic Venturino. Students also captured second, third and fourth place prizes.

Two thumbs up for Ben Levy, a 7th grader at St. Joseph School in Alameda, who earned a 1st place prize for 7th grade environmental science for his experiment, “Making Hydrogen is a Blast,” at the San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair. He is eligible to participate in a state science fair. Levy was also awarded a special prize from the Discovery Channel. Applause also go to Emily Dobrzanowski, 8th grade, whose experiment on extrasensory perception was awarded 4th prize for 8th grade social science.

A standing ovation for students at De La Salle High School in Concord who enthusiastically supported their annual Lenten Spartan Charity Challenge. Every class surpassed its $2,000 goal. The sophomores collected $2,187.94, the seniors accumulated $2,330.02, the freshmen amassed $4,117.62 and the juniors raised a record-breaking $6,202.66. The overall total was $15,644.24. The funds will be distributed to four charities: De La Salle’s sister school in Eritrea, Africa; De Marillac School in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district; the Christian Brothers’ schools in Sri Lanka and India, and to a school-building project in Afghanistan.

Congratulations go to Kiersten McKoy, a senior at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, who recently signed a letter of intent to play volleyball at Georgetown University. A middle blocker and right side hitter for O’Dowd, six-foot McKoy helped lead the team to two straight Hayward Area Athletic League Championships in 2004 and 2005.

Kudos also go to David Singleton at Salesian High School in Richmond, who was named all-state for Division IV basketball by CalHiSports.com.

Speaking of the Richmond school … Salesian High will celebrate a landmark reunion for the classes of 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991 and 2001 on Sept. 9 in the Salesian High Gym. For more information, contact Henry Moe, director of Alumni Relations, at (510) 234-4433, ext. 1104 or hmoe@salesian.com.

back to top

Among the Religious

The Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters recently issued a statement urging President Bush to withdraw military forces from Iraq as soon as possible. They also continue to urge the United Nations and the Iraqi government to protect the rights of women and religious minorities.

On May 1 when millions of immigrants were demonstrating across the nation, the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued a statement of support for family reunification, earned legalization, worker protections and a humane border policy. “We believe that the human dignity of immigrants is violated by imprisonment and deportation. We must find ways to foster the oneness of us all,” they said.

Kathi Ippolito and Luella Santos became associates of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Wichita in a pinning ceremony in Hayward on March 5. The associate program is a way for lay people to join the Sisters in their mission and ministry. To become an associate, each candidate must complete a curriculum that covers the history and spirituality of the Sisters and associates.

Catholic Sisters in California, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and Guam observed the 50th anniversary of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious with meetings in San Francisco and Los Angeles at which Capuchin Father Michael Crosby spoke on “The Heart of the Prophet: Challenge for Today’s Religious." LCWR represented 275 congregations with more than 70,000 members.

back to top

Names, News, Notes

Five members of the Oakland Diocese will attend the First National Asian and Pacific Catholic Convocation, June 30-July 3 in Crystal City, Virginia. They will explore future directions for ministry with Asian and Pacific Catholics. Others interested in attending can obtain information by calling (909) 986-5146.

Kevin Fowles became a new member of the Knights of Columbus Council #12587 at St. Ignatius Parish in Antioch when he made his first degree on March 19 and second and third degrees on March 25. Tim Burwell, another member of the council, also made his second and third degrees on March 25.

“Not a Genuine Black Man,” the one-man play by Brian Copeland, a graduate of Hayward’s Moreau Catholic High School, ended its amazing two-year run on April 29 at The Marsh Theater in San Francisco. Copeland, a local radio talk show host and stand-up comedian, will open “Genuine” Off Broadway on May 23 at the DR2 Theater in Manhattan’s Union Square. The New York production will be directed by Bob Balaban (The Exonerated) and produced by Daryl Rich, a Tony Award-winning producer. For more information, visit his website:www.briancopeland.com.

St. Mary’s Center in Oakland recently received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the U.S. largest independent evaluator of charities. The recognition, the second in as many years, means that St. Mary’s Center successfully manages its finances in “an efficient and effective manner.” The Center serves the needs of poor seniors and children in downtown Oakland.

FESCO (Family Emergency Shelter Coalition) will hold this year’s Shelter Shuffle at the San Leandro Marina on May 13. If you want to support the organization’s major fundraiser, contact the office at (510) 886-5473 or visit the website at 222.fescofamilyshelter.org.

EWTN programming: Father Francis Stone, the host of EWTN’s Life on the Rock, will interview Amy Welborn, author of “Decoding Da Vinci,” which criticized parts of Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, “The Da Vinci Code.” The program airs live May 11 at 5 p.m. with repeat broadcasts on May 11 at 10 p.m., May 12 at 10 a.m. and May 14 at 8 p.m.

Writer Helen Hull Hitchcock, a former Episcopalian, tells her conversion story on The Journey Home on May 22 at 5 p.m. It will be re-aired May 24 at 10 a.m. and May 27 at 8 p.m. The 24-hour Catholic TV network is carried on Comcast Digital channel 229; DISH Satellite channel 261; and Direct TV channel 422; in Alameda on Comcast channel 30 and Alameda Power channel 26. Visit www.ewtn.com for more program notes.

Got news? Send your news for the next issue by May 10 to Carrie McClish at The Catholic Voice, 3014 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland, Ca 94610; phone: (510) 419-1074; fax (510) 893-4734; e-mail: cmcclish@oakdiocese.org.

back to top

home