Blog by-the-Sea

2008 Easter & Easter Triduum Schedule for North San Diego County

This post will stay at the top of the page until Easter.  Please scroll down for newer posts.

Here are the schedules of some Catholic parishes from the Diocese of San Diego for Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday. 

Please click on the link for the church you may want to attend, and double check the schedule on its website or online bulletin before you go.

If you want to look for a parish's regular Mass schedule or for parishes in another location within the Diocese of San Diego, check the Diocesan website.

St. Peter's Catholic Community
Fallbrook, CA - 760-728-7034

Holy Thursday - March 20
5:30 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper

Good Friday - March 21
10:30 a.m. The Building of the Cross (Parish Hall)
12:00 noon  The Seven Last Words from the Cross  (Church)
3:00 p.m. Celebration of the Lord's Passion (Church)

Holy Saturday - March 22
7:00 p.m.  Bilingual Easter Vigil - beginning outside the Education Center

Easter Sunday - March 23
6:00 a.m. Mass (high school football field)
7:30 a.m. Mass (Church)
10:30 a.m. Mass (high school football field)

Mission San Luis Rey Parish
Oceanside, CA - 760-757-3250
All at Serra Center
Download Bulletin 3-2-08.pdf

Holy Thursday - March 20
7:00 p.m. Bilingual Mass

Good Friday - March 21
11:00 a.m. Passion Play
12:00 to 3:00 p.m. Reflection Time
7:00 p.m. Bilingual Service with Passion Play in Spanish

Holy Saturday - March 22
7:30 p.m. Bilingual Mass

Easter Sunday - March 23
7:00, 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Mass in English
1:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish

Prince of Peace Abbey
Oceanside, CA - 760-967-4200

Holy Thursday
4:45 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper and Public Eucharistic Adoration until Midnight

Good Friday
2:30 p.m. Liturgy of Good Friday

Holy Saturday
9:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
10:30 a.m. Mass

Daily Divine Office Hours
5:30 a.m. Vigils
7:00 a.m. Lauds
5:00 p.m. Vespers
8:00 p.m. Compline

St. Mary, Star of the Sea
Oceanside, CA - 760-722-1688

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper followed by Adoration

Good Friday
   
12:00 noon Stations of the Cross
3:00 p.m. Liturgy of Our Lord's Passion in English
7:00 Liturgy of Our Lord's Passion in Spanish

Holy Saturday
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Mass in English
12:00 noon Mass in Spanish

Church of Saint Thomas More
Oceanside, CA - 760-758-4100
Holy Week Calendar 

Holy Thursday
6:00 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper

Good Friday
8:15 a.m. Morning Prayer
12:00 noon and 7:00 p.m. Liturgy of Our Lord's Passion
3:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross

Holy Saturday
8:15 a.m. Morning Prayer
11:00 a.m. Blessing of the Easter Food
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
6:30, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Mass

St. Patrick's Church
Carlsbad, CA - 760-729-2866
Lent and Holy Week Schedule (online jpg)

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Bilingual Mass of the Lord's Supper followed by Eucharistic Adoration until Midnight

Good Friday
3:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross
5:00 p.m. Liturgy of the Word

Holy Saturday
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
6:00, 7:30, 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Mass

St. Elizabeth Seton Church
Carlsbad, CA - 760-438-3393

Holy Thursday
7:30 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper

Good Friday
2:00 and 7:30 p.m. Liturgy of Our Lord's Passion

Holy Saturday
7:30 Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Mass

Church of the Nativity
Rancho Santa Fe, CA - 858-756-1911
Download Bulletin 3-16-08.pdf

Holy Thursday
6:00 PM Mass followed by Eucharistic Adoration

Good Friday
2:00 p.m. Liturgy of Our Lord's Passion

Holy Saturday
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon Mass

St. James Church
Solana Beach, CA - 858-755-2545
Lent and Easter Calendar

Holy Thursday
7:30 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper

Good Friday
7:30 p.m. Good Friday Liturgy

Holy Saturday
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:30 Mass (Church)
9:00 Mass (Parish Hall)
9:00 Mass (Church)
11:30 Mass (Church)

St. Michael's Church
Poway, CA - 858-487-4755
Holy Week Schedule Online

Holy Thursday
7:30 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper

Good Friday
12:00 noon Stations of the Cross Outside
2:00, 7:30 p.m. Liturgical Service of the Passion and Death of the Lord with Communion Service

Holy Saturday
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:15, 9:00, 10:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Mass

St. Gabriel's Church
Poway, CA - 858-748-5348
Download Bulletin 3-16-08.pdf

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper with Eucharistic Adoration until 10:00 p.m.

Good Friday
12:00 noon Veneration of the Cross
3:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross (Outside, weather permitting)
7:30 p.m. Celebration of the Lord's Passion

Holy Saturday
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Mass
2:00 p.m. Bilingual Mass

St. Thérèse of Carmel
Del Mar, CA - 858-481-3232
Easter Schedule Online 

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper and Procession

Good Friday
12:00 noon Celebration of the Lord's Passion
7:00 p.m. The Seven Last Words of Christ

Holy Saturday
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil Solemn Mass

Easter Sunday
7:30, 9:00, 11:00 a.m. Mass
12:00 noon Easter Egg Hunt

San Rafael Parish
Rancho San Bernardo
San Diego, CA - 858-487-4314
Download Bulletin 3-9-08.pdf

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper, followed by Eucharistic Adoration until 10:00 p.m.

Good Friday
12:00 noon and 7:30 p.m. Celebration of Our Lord's Passion
7:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross

Holy Saturday
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:30, 9:00, 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon Mass (the 9:00 and 10:30 Masses will be in both the church and parish center; infants will be baptized during the noon Mass)

Carmelite Monastery:
San Diego 619-280-5424
(Carmelite monastery chapel - all are welcome to attend)

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Mass

Good Friday
12:00 noon Chapel open for prayer
3:00 p.m. Our Lord's Passion

Holy Saturday
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
4:00 p.m. Mass

San Diego Tridentine Latin Mass Society
San Diego, CA

There will be no Easter Triduum services.

Easter Sunday
7:30 a.m. Low Mass at Holy Cross Chapel
9:00 a.m. High Mass at Holy Cross Chapel

Our Lady of the Rosary Parish
San Diego, CA - 619-234-4820
Holy Week Calendar Online

Holy Thursday
7:30 p.m. Feast of the Lord's Supper followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until 10:00 p.m.

Good Friday
12:00 noon and 7:30 p.m. Stations of the Cross
3:00 p.m. Our Lord's Passion and Adoration of the Cross

Holy Saturday
4:00 to 5:00 Confessions
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Mass in English
12:00 noon Mass in Italian

Picture: "Resurrection" by Pieter Lastman.  Photo by me. Museum information.

Prayer Retreats in Silence

I just returned from one of Father Datius Kanjirmukil's Prayer Retreats in Silence.  I will not try to summarize anything he covered during the retreat, which needs to be learned in the retreat context.  However, I may later post something based on some of my own reflections from during the week, which may be indirectly related to what he presented.

The February retreat was full and 11 people were turned away, so they will repeat this retreat in June.  It is step 3 in a series, titled "Seeking God in Interiority", and it includes the transition from meditation to initial contemplation.  It is not necessary to attend the earlier retreats in the series before attending this one.

Some of those attending the retreat traveled from another state.  The retreats are well worth the trip to California to attend.  If you are interested in the June retreat, see the website, which has an online registration form and has an e-mail address for more information.

Lenten Penance Services in North San Diego County

This is a schedule of Lenten reconciliation services for some Catholic parishes in North San Diego County for 2008.  Some are bilingual.  Check the parish website for more information:

St. Peter, Fallbrook :
  March 3, 7:00 p.m.
Church of the Nativity, Rancho Santa Fe:
  March 4, 7:00 p.m.
St. James, Solana Beach:
  March 5, 7:00 p.m.
Mission San Luis Rey Parish, Oceanside:
  March 6, 7:00 p.m. (English and Spanish) - Serra Center 
St. Patrick, Carlsbad:
  March 11, 7:00 p.m.
St. Elizabeth Seton, Carlsbad:
  March 12, 7:00 p.m.
St. Thérèse of Carmel
  March 12, 7:00 p.m.
St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Oceanside:
  March 14, 7:00 p.m.
St. Mark, San Marcos:
  March 17, 6:30 p.m.
St. John the Evangelist, Encinitas:
  March 17, 6:30 p.m.
St. Francis of Assisi, Vista:
  March 18, 6:30 p.m.

Our Lady of Fatima Statue in San Diego County

The Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be in the San Diego area beginning this Friday, January 4.  The statue is a replica of the one at the Fatima Shrine in Portugal, and it was made under the direction of Sister Lucia.  It is one of the most famous Fatima statues.

Here are the schedule and some links for more information.

The schedule shown here was found on the website International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima.  An article in the San Diego Union-Tribune also provides a schedule and information about the three week tour.  In addition to checking the parish website or bulletin to make sure this schedule is still current, you may send an e-mail  to Thomas McKenna to request a schedule for the San Diego events.      

Friday, Jan 4    St. Mary Star of the Sea,  609 Pier View Way, Oceanside: 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM (7:00 PM Mass)

Saturday, Jan 5    Mt. Tabor Monastery, Tecate MX 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Saturday, Jan 5    St. Pius X, 14107 Lyons Valley Rd., Jamul, 7:00 PM (7:00 PM Mass, followed by all night Adoration)

Sunday, Jan 6    St. Pius X, 14107 Lyons Valley Rd, Jamul, All day until 5:00 PM (Sunday Mass Schedule)

Monday, Jan 7    St. Thérèse, 6016 Camino Rico, San Diego, 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM (6:30 PM Procession, Mass)

Tuesday, Jan 8    Immaculate Heart of Mary, 537 E. St., Ramona, Beginning at 7:00 PM, with all night Adoration

Wednesday, Jan 9    Immaculate Heart of Mary, 537 E. St., Ramona, Following the Jan. 8 all night adoration and 8:00 AM Mass, the statue will remain there until 12:00 PM

Wednesday, Jan 9    Good Shepherd, 8200 Gold Coast Dr, 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM (6:00 PM Benediction)

Thursday, Jan 10    St. Rose of Lima, 293 H. St., Chula Vista, 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM (Mass at 9:00 AM & 6:30 PM)

Friday, Jan 11    St. Thérèse of Carmel, 4355 Del Mar Trails Rd, Carmel Valley, 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM (8:00 AM Mass, 7:00 PM Benediction).  A schedule for the day is available for download on the parish website, including morning Mass, veneration, a talk about the statue, enrollment in and distribution of the Our Lady of Fatima Scapular, a visit to a school from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., further veneration, and a benediction and candlelight procession.

Saturday, Jan 12    Mission San Luis Rey, 4070 Mission Ave., Oceanside, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Saturday, Jan 12    Little Flower Haven, 8585 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa, 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM (7:00 PM Benediction)

Sunday, Jan 13    Our Lady of Guadalupe, 1770 Kearney Ave., San Diego, 6:30 AM to 9:00 PM (Sunday Mass schedule)

Monday, Jan 14    Mater Dei High School, 1615 Mater Dei Dr. Chula Vista, 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Tuesday, Jan 15    Our Lady of Grace,  2766 Navajo Rd., El Cajon, 8:00AM to 1:00 PM (8:00 AM Mass)

Tuesday, Jan 15    St. Ephrem, 2766 Navajo Rd., 750 Medford St., El Cajon, 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Wednesday, Jan 16    St. Mark's,  1147 W. Discovery St., San Marcos, 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Thursday, Jan 17    St. Mary’s,  1160 S. Broadway, Escondido, 9:30 AM to 9:00 PM

Friday, Jan 18    St. Patrick, 3585 30th St., San Diego, 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM (5:30 PM Mass)

Saturday, Jan 19    Our Lady of the Rosary, 1629 Columbia St., San Diego, 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM (Saturday Mass Schedule)

Sunday, Jan 20    St. Joseph Cathedral, 1535 3rd Ave  San Diego, 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM (Sunday Mass Schedule)

Sunday, Jan 20    2:30 PM Benediction and Procession from St. Joseph Cathedral to the Family Planning Associates Abortion Center. Bishop Salvatore Cordileone will be presiding.

Monday, Jan 21    St. Elizabeth Seton, 6628 Santa Isabel St. Carlsbad, 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Tuesday, Jan 22    Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 13208 Lakeshore Dr., Lakeside,10:00 AM to 8:00 PM (5:00 PM Mass, 8:00 PM Benediction)

Wednesday, Jan 23    St. Pius X, 1120 Cuyamaca Ave. Chula Vista, 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM

Thursday, Jan 24    Our Lady of Perpetual Help Ukranian Catholic Church, La Mesa, 4400 Palm Ave., 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (7:00 PM Divine Liturgy)

The website of St. Thérèse of Carmel, one of the parishes that will display the statue for veneration, has a beautiful page with more information about the visit to that parish and a schedule for the day.  I have not checked to see whether other parishes have similar schedules.  However, it may be a good idea to check the parish website or bulletin before going.  At St. Thérèse of Carmel, for example, although the statue will be there all day, it will be at a school for 4 hours of that time.  The diocese has a web page with links to parish websites to make it easier to find parish online information and phone numbers.

The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue website has much more information.  California Catholic Daily also has an article about the visit. 

2007 San Diego County Christmas Mass Schedule

Here are the 2007 Christmas and Christmas Eve Mass schedules for several San Diego County parishes, with an emphasis on North County parishes.  This post will remain at the top through Christmas Day.  Scroll down for new posts.

Please check the website links or download the bulletins to double-check the accuracy and to check for whether a time change may have occurred after I posted the information.

You can also check the Diocese Website to find phone numbers and websites for some parishes not listed here.

Mission San Luis Rey Parish:
Oceanside

Christmas Eve:
  4:30 p.m. Children's Mass in English (Serra Center)
  6:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish (Serra Center)
  9:00 p.m. Mass in English (Serra Center)

Christmas Day:
  8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Mass in English (Serra Center)
  12:00 noon Mass in Spanish (Serra Center)
  (There will be no 7:00 a.m. Mass)

Prince of Peace Abbey:
Oceanside (Benedictine)

Christmas Eve:
  12:00 midnight Mass

Christmas Day:
  11:00 a.m. Mass

St. Thomas More
Oceanside
Download 12-16-07 Bulletin.pdf

Christmas Eve:
4:00 p.m. with children's choir
6:00 p.m. with Monday Night Mass Team
9:30 p.m. Family Christmas Caroling
10:00 p.m. Mass with Adult and Handbell Choirs

Christmas Day:
9:30 a.m. Mass with Adult and Handbell Choirs

St. Patrick's Church
Carlsbad, CA - 760-729-2866
December 16 Bulletin Online

Christmas Eve:

4:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. Mass in English
4:15 p.m. Mass in English in Parish Hall
8:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish

Christmas Day:
7:30, 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Mass in English
1:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish

St. Francis of Assisi:
Vista

Christmas Eve:
  4:30 p.m. Mass (Church, Gospel dramatization)
  4:30 p.m. Mass (Hall)
  7:00 p.m. Mass (Vietnamese)
  9:30 p.m. Mass (English)
  12:00 midnight Mass (English in church, Spanish in hall)

Christmas Day:
  8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Mass in English
  12:00 noon Mass in Spanish

Church of the Nativity:
Rancho Santa Fe
Download 12-23-07 Bulletin.pdf

Christmas Eve:
  4:00, 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. Mass

Christmas Day:
  9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Mass

St. James Church/St. Leo Mission:
Solana Beach
Download Bulletin 12-16-07.pdf  

Christmas Eve:
  5:00 p.m. Mass, Children's Choir
  5:00 p.m. Mass, Cantor, in Parish Hall
  8:00 p.m. Mass, Life Teen Music
  10:00 p.m. Mass, Compostela Choir

  9:30 p.m. Christmas Eve Concert

  10:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish at St. Leo Mission

Christmas Day:
  9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Mass, Cantor

St. Michael's Church:
Poway

Christmas Eve:
  4:45, 7:00, and 9:00 p.m. Mass

Christmas Day:
  7:15, 9:00, 10:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Mass

Saint Gabriel's Church:
Poway
Download 12-16-07 Bulletin.pdf

Christmas Eve:
  4:00 p.m. Children's Mass (For families with children, teaching children how to celebrate Christmas)
  6:00 p.m. Family Mass
  8:00 p.m. Youth Mass
  10:00 p.m. Mass of the Nativity

Christmas Day:
  9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Mass

St. Thérèse of Carmel 
Del Mar

Christmas Eve:
  4:00; 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. Mass
  9:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Concert

Christmas Day:
  9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Mass

San Rafael Parish
Rancho Bernardo
Download 12-23-07 Bulletin.pdf

Christmas Eve:
4:00 p.m. Mass in the Church and Parish Center
6:00, 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. Mass

Christmas Day:
8:00 and 10:00 a.m.

San Diego Traditional Latin Mass Society
San Diego

Christmas Eve:
  12:00 Midnight Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church, 1638 Polk AV, San Diego, CA.

Christmas Day:
  7:30 a.m. Christmas Mass at Dawn (Low Mass) at Holy Cross Chapel, Holy Cross Cemetary, 4470 Hilltop Drive, San Diego, CA
  9:00 a.m. Christmas Mass of the Day (High Mass) at Holy Cross Chapel

Carmelite Monastery:
San Diego 619-280-5424
(Carmelite monastery chapel - all are welcome to attend)

Christmas Eve:
7:30 a.m. Mass
9:00 p.m. Carols
9:30 p.m. Mass

Christmas Day:
4:00 p.m. Mass

Our Lady of the Rosary Parish:
Downtown San Diego (Italian National Parish)

Christmas Eve:
  7:30 a.m. Mass
  12:00 noon Mass
  4:00-5:00 p.m. Confessions
  5:30 p.m. Christmas Mass for Children
  11:30 p.m. Christmas Carols in Italian and English
  12:00 Midnight Christmas Mass

Christmas Day:
  7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 Mass in English
  12:00 noon Mass in Italian

North San Diego County Advent Reconciliation Services

Looking for the Christmas Mass schedule?  Click Here for the 2007 Christmas Mass Schedule.

Here is a schedule for parish reconciliation services from now until Christmas Eve, taken partly from an online schedule from Mission San Luis Rey Parish, with links to parish websites or address information.  Phone numbers are provided, but keep in mind that some parish phones are "ringing off the hook" during Advent, and it may be considerate to look for schedule information on the website first:

Sunday, December 9, 2007
St. Thomas More, Oceanside (760) 758-4100 – 4:00 p.m.

Monday, December 10, 2007
St. Patrick, Carlsbad (760) 729-2866 – 7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Nativity, Rancho Santa Fe (858) 756-1911 – 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, December 13, 2007
St. James, Solana Beach (858) 755-2545 – 7:00 p.m.

Friday, December 14, 2007
St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Oceanside (760) 722-1688 – 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, December 15, 2007
St. James, Solana Beach (858) 755-2545 – 10:00 a.m.

Saturday, December 15, 2007
Nativity, Rancho Santa Fe (858) 756-1911 – 2:30 p.m.

Monday, December 17, 2007
St. Mark, San Marcos (760) 744-1540 – 6:30 p.m.

Monday, December 17, 2007
St. John the Evangelist, Encinitas (760) 944-8227 -  7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
St. Elizabeth Seton, Carlsbad (760) 438-3393– 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
San Luis Rey Parish, Oceanside (760) 757-3250 - 6:30 p.m. (English and Spanish)

Thursday, December 20, 2007
St. Francis of Assisi, Vista (760) 945-8000 – 6:30 p.m.

Catholic Fire Relief in San Diego County

For anyone seeking to donate funds to help uninsured fire victims in the San Diego County wildfires, here are a couple of links for Catholic organizations providing those services:

Catholic Charities - Diocese of San Diego (Catholic Charities has been providing some of the meals for evacuees and will be a source of needed items for those who have had losses and are uninsured or under-insured.)

Father Joe's Villages, including St. Vincent de Paul Village (Father Joe's Villages, which includes St. Vincent de Paul Village, have been providing some of the food, medical services, and other needs for evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium.)

I heard yesterday that Father Joe and St. Vincent de Paul Village have been providing 6,000 meals per day to Qualcomm Stadium and badly need donations to cover the cost. 

Most of the people who evacuated to the stadium on Monday have probably returned home already.  However, those charities will still need to replace money spent on fire relief the past few days.  Also, some of the burned areas will affect uninsured renters, rural homeowners, and  others who may seek assistance from those charities in the wake of the fire. 

If you have questions about how donations of money will be used, please contact the charity directly.  Also please contact the charity before sending donations of clothing or other items, as they may not want more donations in kind at this time.

San Diego Diocese Abuse Case Settling -- and the Ugliness in Its Wake

Our diocese has reached an agreement on settling 144 sex abuse claims for $198 million.  The North County Times has an article from the Associated Press. The diocese will have to sell property to cover the settlement.  Unlike the Diocese of Los Angeles, the Diocese of San Diego does not have much insurance coverage to pay for the settlement amount.  Under the settlement, a state court judge will decide the dollar amount that each individual plaintiff's case is worth.  They will not each receive the same amount.  There will then be two payments to each, from which their attorney fees and expenses will be paid and the balance to the plaintiffs in January 2008 and September 2008.

Obviously, it is good to have sexual perverts taken out of the priesthood.  That had already happened.  Most of the victims don't seem to be interested in doing anything to improve the Church, but rather most of what they are seen saying on television is disturbingly close to anti-Catholic hate speech.

What I wish could exist in our diocese, and others, is the sort of thing described in a post last week by Rod Dreyer at Crunchy Con, and picked up by Deacon Greg Kandra: The tragedy of a parish in a small town in Indiana, learning that their revered priest, dead for 19 years, had been a terrible pedophile was reported by the bishop himself without need for the victims to come forward.  The diocese faces no risk of liability, and yet the bishop himself has gone on consecutive week-ends to the parishes where that priest once worked,  saying that it is not ancient history for the victims and that their pain is real.

An added story, in the same Rod Dreyer post, is an account of Rod's own experience with someone who had been abused by a priest.  No one had believed the man when he was anally raped by a priest when he was 10 or 11 years old.  Not too long ago, the man went to hear a Croatian priest with a reputation as a mystic and stigmatist speaking at a New York church.  When the man went forward, near the end of a line of people wishing to receive the visiting priest's blessing, Rod describes this:

As he knelt and received the priest's blessing, Father Sudac, who spoke no English, whispered something to his interpreter. The interpreter leaned over and whispered to John, "Father says to tell you that the Virgin says she was with you in the rectory, and suffered along with you. You were not alone."

That is how it ought to be, the pain acknowledged, the wrong acknowledged, and the presence of God and Mary suffering with the victims, and that too acknowledged.  Reform and healing, compassion.

In contrast, the animosity in San Diego's abuse cases has been exceptional.   An article in the Guardian Unlimited a few days ago contrasted the cases in the Dioceses of Orange and Los Angeles, saying that in those cases "the plaintiffs and church lawyers managed to work together in a way that has been absent so far in San Diego."

About the bankruptcy proceeding, the Guardian said, "U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Louise DeCarl Adler has used her authority to interrogate church staff, order audits and, in the most recent blow, return individual cases to state court control for immediate trials."  The article quoted a professor from the University of San Diego as saying, "This case has been unusual in that she's gotten madder than she usually gets,''  and "By reputation, she's not always mean but she's definitely no shrinking violet." 

For a major U.K. newspaper to quote someone describing a U.S. bankruptcy court judge as "not always mean" does not convey the image that the U.S. judicial system would like to have.  The bankruptcy is likely to be dismissed as part of the settlement, with no improvement in that image before the news coverage ends.

As for the dollar amount of the settlement, I think personal injury judgments are too high as a rule, and that it weakens our society. That being my general opinion, I will say nothing more on the dollar amount.  It is, of course, being paid by the present day Church, and not by the people who actually committed the abuse.  In that sense, it is creating new victims, the innocent Catholic parishioners whose diocese will lose assets.

It is regrettable that the fear of a high jury verdict may prevent the state or federal Supreme Court from ever deciding whether the law lifting the statute of limitations for these cases was constitutional.  It leaves open a risk of future legislation designed to affect churches in particular and encourages religious prejudice.

The entire process has been ugly.  I am relieved that it is over, to the extent that it is over.  However, leaving a bad law on the books unchallenged in the highest courts also leaves a greater likelihood of a similar thing happening in the future, and a sense that religious intolerance is socially acceptable and rewarded in our society.  That, in turn, leaves open the risk that although one case is over, the ugliness is not.

Prayer as Our Diocese's Sex Abuse Cases May Soon Go to Trial

Bankruptcy Court Judge Louise DeCarl Adler has just ordered 42 of the 150 cases against the Diocese of San Diego to immediate trial in the San Diego Superior Court (the state court) according to KPBS local news.  I saw it mentioned on another local TV station a few minutes ago.  She had said yesterday that she would rule on the matter by Monday, and I suppose the order came late this afternoon.

It is too soon to tell what "immediate" trials will mean in this case.  Our county's trial courts do not have 42 departments available to start jury trials on Monday if the cases are to be tried separately.  And there is always the possibility that the cases will settle "on the courthouse steps" as we say.

Some of the plaintiffs would like to see trials because they want to see the evidence get news media attention.  There is a trace of a cycle of abuse in this process.  They are getting even with innocent people who never did them any harm, who will suffer the brunt of the resulting financial hardship and the increase of prejudice against Catholics that may result. 

This is a different situation from the criminal trials against priests who perpetrated acts of abuse.  The case is against the diocese, not against the abusive priests.  Many of the cases are about things that happened decades ago, under a law that did away with the statute of limitations for these cases.  Thus, the people defending the cases and who will have to pay any judgment are not the people of the Church of the time when this happened but rather the people of the Church decades later, people who had nothing to do with causing the harm.

Our diocese needs prayer now as these trials may begin next week.  With that in mind, I decided to post a few things about prayer for priests and bishops -- not prayer for good court decisions or protection of diocesan assets (as legitimate as it is to pray about practical things) but rather about holiness in the face of hardship that will be so important in the long run.

My patron saints, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Boniface, both gave great importance to such prayer.  One was a contemplative who wrote about prayer for priests and bishops, and the other was a bishop whose letters sometimes asked for such prayer.  Their words make me think about some of the things to pray about for our priests and our bishop at this time.

In a post last year called Prayer in a Time of Heresy, I mentioned St. Teresa of Avila's writing that we should pray for holiness (perfection) for priests, nuns and monks, so that they will be best prepared to fight for truth; and that we should pray for the Lord to protect those priests and nuns from the temptations of the world, "and stop their ears in order not to hear the siren's song [of heresy] on this dangerous sea."

A couple of months ago, I had a post called The Prayer Requests of a Great Missionary: St. Boniface, about the things he asked people to pray for him in some of his letters.  He asked "that while we are striving to offer the light of Gospel truth to the blind and ignorant who are unwilling to gaze upon it, we may not be wrapped in the darkness of our own sins" and "that where there should be the lovely feet of those who bear the torch of Gospel peace, there may not be the dark and wandering footsteps of apostates." 

How similar were the things a great eighth century missionary asked people to intercede for him and the things that a great sixteenth century contemplative asked people to intercede for the priests and bishops of her own time!

Much could be said about the suffering of the plaintiffs, the anti-Catholic bias in the law, and the effect the cases will likely have both in financial losses to the diocese and in an increase of anti-Catholic prejudice.  I do not mean to sound so impractical as to suggest that our diocese should not fight the cases of plaintiffs who seek more than a fair settlement.  A good trial, with a potential appellate issue over the constitutionality of the law on which these cases are based, may be better than a bad settlement.  Such practical matters require prayer and other support.

However, I hope that people will keep in mind to pray for our priests and bishops who are so distracted by the litigation that they will still strive "to offer the light of Gospel truth to the blind and ignorant who are unwilling to gaze upon it," and that they "may not be wrapped in the darkness of their own sins" but instead will become more holy, and that God will "stop their ears in order not to hear the siren's song [of heresy] on this dangerous sea."

Yesterday's St. Thomas More Society Meeting in San Diego

As far as I know, none of the bloggers or reporters who wrote last week about the St. Thomas More Society invitation to self proclaimed "womanpriest" Jane Via to be its speaker yesterday were present at yesterday's meeting.  I do not want to have a blog with a focus on controversy.  Nor do I generally write about anything that happens in my own parish or organizations of which I am a member, due to concerns for the privacy of other members.  However, I was there, and I don't see other articles about what actually happened at the meeting, so I will make an exception to my usual policy and write about it.

The invitation drew significant attention, but mostly after the invitation was actually withdrawn by vote of the San Diego board of directors.  Stories and blog posts appeared in California Daily Catholic (with a follow up story yesterday),  The Cafeteria Is Closed, The Deacon's Bench, and Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (with a follow up post yesterday).

Over the past week, the San Diego St. Thomas More Society has changed the way future speakers will be selected.  A committee of several members will now be involved in selecting each speaker.  The input of all members has been requested concerning the type of speakers who should be invited.

The one individual ("Dan") who invited Via to speak took complete responsibility for his decision.  He has received some 80 e-mails for and against the invitation.  I don't include his full name because there is no reason to trigger more.

Dan's presentation was gracious and apologetic, and he graciously listened to people who spoke afterward on both sides of the issue.  He knew that I had not planned to attend because of his choice of speaker, and that I was there because the invitation had been withdrawn, and Dan was professional and welcoming in his treatment toward me.

Those attending the meeting who spoke after he opened the floor for comments mostly spoke in favor of the invitation.  That may have been because they felt sympathy for Dan, who had encountered so much public controversy, because those whose views prevailed did not want to "rub it in", and possibly because some of those who had opposed the invitation did not attend the meeting even after the invitation was rescinded.

Dan said that he had thought Via's presentation would be interesting. It is difficult to find interesting speakers for an organization when only 15 people attend some meetings.  There was a larger attendance on Friday, and not all of those present had received the information that Via's invitation had been withdrawn.  Dan also expressed a concern that most of the members who attend the monthly meetings are over 50 years old.  He had wanted to find a speaker who would attract younger Catholic attorneys to the meetings.

When the board met, they voted 60% to 40% to rescind the invitation to Via. The meeting was reportedly a lengthy one.  One of those board members present at yesterday's meeting, who said she had voted against rescinding the invitation, stated that the board members who had voted to rescind had expressed that Via still claims to celebrate the Eucharist, which is close to the core of our faith.  Her handling of the Eucharist, while under an interdict from our bishop, was too serious a matter to allow her to be a speaker at a meeting of Catholics that begins with the Eucharist as central to our meetings.  One of the board members opposed to her speaking argued that she would use her presentation to spread teachings that are false and heretical.

Our bishop has referred Via's continued actions to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where further action against Via is under consideration, possibly to include formal excommunication.

I may do a future post on why I oppose the ordination of women while I do not oppose the presence of women in most other professions.  Meanwhile, here are a couple of links:

Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, an apostolic letter from Pope John Paul II to the bishops of the Catholic Church on reserving ordination to the priesthood of the Catholic Church to men alone,  May 22, 1994.

Women and the Priesthood: A Theological Reflection by Jean Galot, S.J. (a chapter from a book posted on Ignatius Insight).

The Bankruptcy Court's Audit Report on Our Diocese

The San Diego Union-Tribune's caption on its homepage right now is "Audit Critical of Diocese Books."  Clicking on that, I get an article titled "Report Says Diocese Accounting System Lacking."  The article is about an audit provided by financial expert R. Todd Nielson, who was appointed by the Bankruptcy Court to perform an audit of the diocese and parishes after the bankruptcy judge found the number of accounts and other information from the diocese confusing.  The abuse victims' attorneys are quoted by the article as making the sorts of comments they typically make, accusing the diocese of dishonesty.  The attorney for the diocese is reported as asking people "to listen to and rely only on the comments of Mr. Neilson himself."

The Union-Tribune also provided a download-able copy of the lengthy report in pdf format.  You can download it from this blog too: Download Nielson_Audit Report.pdf

The Diocesan web page about the bankruptcy offers downloads of both the entire audit report and a statement from the diocese in response to it. The Diocesan statement in response to the audit includes the following:

"Mr. Nielson's report praises the cooperation he and his personnel received from the diocese, parishes and schools.  We appreciate his recognition of the fine volunteers and employees of the diocese and parishes who responded to Mr. Nielson's inquiries.  The report also notes a small number of problems, all of which have been corrected or are in the process of being corrected. . . . [W]e encourage the media, the public and Catholics to listen to and rely only on the comments of Mr. Nielson himself."

I do not have time mid-week (if ever) to fully read and analyze a 176-page financial report on the Diocesan bankruptcy.  However, the report did say many good things about the diocese and about most of the parishes whose records were reviewed (including mine). 

Rather than comment (since the diocese asks that people read Mr. Neilson's Report and not other people's comments anyway!), here are a few excerpts from the actual report that I noticed in skimming it [my emphasis added]:

The Diocese and Parishes Cooperated With the Audit:

"During the course of preparing  this report, the Expert met with various personnel from the Diocesan offices as well as a  substantial number of Parish Priests and their accounting staffs.  In conjunction with these  meetings and interviews, the Expert reviewed thousands of documents in preparation for this  report and both the Diocesan staff, as well as almost all of the Parish staff, responded quickly  and professionally to the voluminous requests for records and supporting information."

The Diocese Only Has 38 Bank Accounts -- But If You Combine That With All of the Parish Accounts and Accounting Systems, It Does Get "Byzantine" (Confusing):

"In prior hearings before the Court the Debtor has referenced in excess of 700 separate  bank accounts being maintained at the parish level.  In addition, the Court previously referenced  a possible further accumulation of 500 “accounts” purportedly being maintained at the Diocese  level, prompting the Court to describe the accounting system at the Diocese as “Byzantine”.  The  Expert understands the Court’s frustration. The source of this frustration is probably based upon  two factors.  First, the term “account” can have a number of different but distinct meanings  depending upon the circumstances in which the term is used.  The Expert believes the Court  naturally assumed the term “account” meant a bank account or savings account located at a  financial institution which is not necessarily the same meaning perhaps ascribed to “account” by  the Debtor.  Secondly, for reasons described further within this report, there truly are a massive  number of bank accounts collectively maintained at the Parish level.  The Expert believes the  number of bank accounts at the Parish level will ultimately exceed 900 upon completion of his  analysis.  The thought of analyzing 900 bank accounts is a daunting but manageable process.   However, the potential existence of 500 separate undefined “accounts” maintained at the Diocese  combined with 900 accounts at the parish level, clearly moves us into the realm of Byzantine. . . .

"In actuality, the number of bank accounts at the Diocese level does not even begin to  approximate 500 separate bank accounts.  When using the term account as being an account  maintained at a financial institution, the Debtor had 35 bank or brokerage accounts at the date of petition and added three additional accounts post-petition, bringing the present number of  accounts to 38."   

Inconsistency in Describing the Diocesan Trust Bank Account:

"The Diocesan Office Funds Financial Statements contains all of the funds held by the  Diocese, including the Diocesan Bank, makes no disclosure of a trust relationship and gives no  indication that any asset in the Diocesan Bank belongs to anyone other than the Diocese.  Any  assertion by the Diocese that they are holding the Diocesan Bank funds in behalf of the  individual parishes and schools in a trust capacity is in direct conflict with the representations  made by the Debtor’s officers in the management representation letters .    It should be further noted that the Debtor’s Bankruptcy petition did not list the assets of the PSDL Trust and accordingly, were filed in direct contradiction to the assertions with the management  representation letters attested to by the Debtor."

The Parish Books and Records Were Well Kept, but by Different Systems:

"In practice, each parish and school is responsible for their individual method of  accounting and bookkeeping leading to a lack of standardized accounting.  This absence of a  prevailing accounting system leads to an incredible array of accounting programs and methods to  record their financial transactions. As a result, the accounting programs within the parishes range  from a handwritten system of ledgers [footnote: It should be noted that the handwritten system was meticulously maintained.] to advanced parish accounting software packages.

"Regardless of the method used, the Expert found that the parishes and schools were  reasonably well organized and sufficient detail was generally available to allow the Expert to  analyze the receipts and disbursements of each parish or school.  This availability is probably  due, in part, to the fact that each parish and school is required to send an annual report to the  Diocese."

Some Parishes Did Not Comply with Diocesan Instructions to Deposit Funds to the Diocesan Trust Account:

(This criticism is directed at certain individual parishes.)

The Diocese Instructed Parishes to Comply with Requirements to Make Deposits to the Diocese Trust Account, and Not All of Them Did So:

"There is a clear obligation on the part of the parishes to deposit excess funds into the  Diocesan Bank/PSDL Trust and a goodly number of the parishes are attempting to comply with  the guidelines as best as they can understand those procedures.  However, there is an  understandable, but clearly apparent, ambivalence on the part of the parishes to comply with that  requirement. . . .The Expert has found a veritable plethora of interpretations at the  parish and school level of the surplus funds requirement which range from good faith adherence  to absolute disregard. . . . This disregard for the policy is even more  troubling given a memorandum sent to the pastors, administrators and principals on May 24,  2007 by Monsignor Steven Callahan. [“Your cooperation is  essential so that the diocese and parishes are in compliance with the commitment to the Court.”]"

The Vengeance Game

From the latest Commonweal, by Mark A. Sargent, dean of Villanova University School of Law (Hat tip to Mark Mossa, SJ):

"It is not enough to say, however, that bishops, priests, and the church are finally getting what they deserve. The vengeance game is a dangerous one. When the original offense is terrible, we feel empowered to do terrible things in response. Blinded by our righteous rage and convinced of our moral superiority, we may do things we later regret.

"The consequences of the terrible assault of 9/11 on the innocent serve as an example. The moral horror of 9/11 provided, for a while, the sense that we were entitled to transgress our own moral boundaries. Torture seemed reasonable. Equally important, it made the rule of law seem a trivial charade. Why bother with the constitutional rights of Guantánamo prisoners? Why not enact legislation invading the privacy rights of millions of Americans, if that would make it easier to punish our enemies and protect ourselves from harm? In the “war on terror,” it seems that anything goes. In the purity of our victimhood, we can do no wrong-or so we think until wrong has been done. . . .

"The indifference of at least some victims and advocates to these problems, their assumption that the bishops are cynically crying poverty, and their tendency to treat every diocese as if it were as bad as the worst ones, suggest that they want not only to be compensated, but to burn down the house. They know that the enormous public sympathy for their plight and the extreme hostility to the church that their activism has created will give them great leverage with juries and leave most dioceses in a virtually indefensible position. Every attempt by the church to use perfectly appropriate legal devices such as pleading the statute of limitations, declaring bankruptcy, or trying to distinguish legitimate claims from fraudulent ones is met with outrage, and some advocates take the law into their own hands, as in Herndon and St. Louis. . . ."

Read all

I Support Bishop Brom.

I support Bishop Brom, and I am proud to have him as my bishop.  It is my impression that others in our diocese share that respect for our bishop.  I want to say that rather than risk that silence may be misconstrued in the context of recent articles about the Diocese of San Diego bankruptcy proceeding.

I have written only a few posts about the clergy sex abuse scandal.  That issue draws ample reporting elsewhere.  I will continue to do infrequent posts on such matters.

However, some recent news reports have drawn attention to abuse plaintiffs' accusations that Bishop Brom is hiding diocese assets, and sound as if he is being treated disrespectfully.  From all that I know, Bishop Brom is trustworthy.  Nothing that I have heard from people who know him supports those accusations.

I am aware that these articles may make events sound dramatic which would seem benign if I had been there.  A U.S. Trustee described in today's news as "impatient" during 6 hours of questioning, while Bishop Brom "replied in a calm voice throughout," might have just been frustrated at the bishop's wish to look at documents or consult with staff to give an accurate answer.  A judge who reportedly called the diocese's accounting system "byzantine" may have meant that she thought it overly intricate, and not devious.  I do not know whether that is a word that she uses often, or whether it reflected the religious or geographic connotations of the word "byzantine."  If I do not want others to judge our bishop or priests by what is said of them in such news articles, it would be unfair to judge others mentioned in those articles by them, and that is not what I want to do.

I could probably offer an educated guess about why a diocese has 770 bank accounts, which the judge reportedly contrasted with large business corporations.  Churches depend on lay volunteers who make small purchases and need access to small checking accounts, not to the entire parish cash flow.  Separate accounts could help to avoid the risk of overspending or financial impropriety in churches, which benefit from the work of lay volunteers, a situation not seen in the finances of large corporations.  There may be separate accounts for parish music ministries, which usually have their own separate budget and function somewhat independently.  When a court appointed accountant completes an audit, I am hopeful that the reason for the accounts will be more widely appreciated.

Bishop Brom surprised even the diocese's bankruptcy attorney in acknowledging that he reviews about 100 parish bank statements every month.  He has a reputation for being much more careful about diocese finances than would usually be the case for diocesan financial management.  Whether that has been understood, and whether people mentioned in the news articles were just frustrated with the complexity and caution, I do not know.

However, rather than risk that silence might be taken as agreement with the view of my bishop in the news media, I have written this post to voice respect for our bishop, to express a hope that he is being treated respectfully in the bankruptcy, and to express a further hope that the integrity of the Bankruptcy Court, the judge, the U.S. Trustee, our bishop and our priests, will be accurately communicated in news reporting as the case continues.

Schedules: TV & Radio, Local Parishes

Here are links to 2 posts that have fallen off the main page or soon will:

The local schedules posted here for Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday at several San Diego County Catholic parishes were updated on April 3.  There were some changes since information was posted earlier from March 18 and 25 bulletins.

A schedule of television and radio broadcasts available by internet provides links to several websites that broadcast Holy Week and Easter services online from Rome, Paris and Washington, D.C.  Broadcasts are also available online from Rome and from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston via Catholic TV.

2007 Easter & Easter Triduum Schedule for North San Diego County

This is last year's schedule.  For the 2008 schedule CLICK HERE.

Here are the schedules of some Catholic parishes from the Diocese of San Diego for Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday. 

These schedules were updated on April 3.  Some have changed since March 25.

Please click on the link for the church you may want to attend, and double check the schedule on its website or online bulletin before you go (so that I don't worry about whether I might have a mistake in the service times that might make somebody late for church).

If you want to look for a parish's regular Mass schedule or for parishes in another location within the Diocese of San Diego, check the Diocesan website.

All bilingual Masses are in Spanish and English unless otherwise noted.

St. Peter's Catholic Community
Fallbrook, CA - 760-728-7034

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Bilingual Mass followed by Eucharistic Adoration until midnight

Good Friday
11:00 a.m. Building of the Cross   
    (English - in the Hall)
12:00 The 7 Last Words (Church)
1:00 p.m. Community Cross Walk
7:00 p.m. Our Lord's Passion
    (English in the Church; Spanish in
    the Hall)

Holy Saturday
8:00 p.m. Bilingual Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
6:00 a.m. Mass in English for
    Youth on the Upper Grass
    (bring chairs)
7:30 a.m. Mass in English
9:00 a.m. Mass in Spanish
10:30 p.m. Contemporary Mass in
    English in the Church and Hall
12:00 noon Mass in Spanish

Mission San Luis Rey Parish
Oceanside, CA - 760-757-3250
All at Serra Center

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Bilingual Mass

Good Friday
11:00 a.m. Passion Play
12:00 to 3:00 p.m. Reflection Time
7:00 p.m. Bilingual Service with Passion Play

Holy Saturday
7:30 p.m. Bilingual Mass

Easter Sunday
7:00, 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Mass in English
1:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish

Prince of Peace Abbey
Oceanside, CA - 760-967-4200

Holy Thursday
4:45 p.m. Mass

Good Friday
2:30 p.m. Communion Service

Holy Saturday
9:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
10:30 a.m. Mass

Daily Divine Office Hours
5:30 a.m. Vigils
7:00 a.m. Lauds
5:00 p.m. Vespers
8:00 p.m. Compline

St. Mary, Star of the Sea
Oceanside, CA - 760-722-1688

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Bilingual Mass

Good Friday
12:00 noon Stations of the Cross
3:00 p.m. Our Lord's Passion

Holy Saturday
8:00 p.m. Bilingual Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Mass

Church of Saint Thomas More
Oceanside, CA - 760-758-4100
Download Bulletin 04-01-07.pdf

Holy Thursday
6:00 p.m. Mass
7:30 to 10:00 p.m. Eucharistic Exposition

Good Friday
8:15 a.m. Morning Prayer
12:00 noon and 7:00 p.m. Our Lord's Passion
3:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross

Holy Saturday
8:15 a.m. Morning Prayer
11:00 a.m. Blessing of the Easter Food
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
6:30, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Mass

St. Patrick's Church
Carlsbad, CA - 760-729-2866
Weekly Bulletin Online

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Bilingual Mass followed by Eucharistic Adoration until Midnight

Good Friday
12:00 noon Stations of the Cross
1:00 p.m. Tenebrae Service
2:00 p.m. Our Lord's Passion (English)
7:00 p.m. Our Lord's Passion (Spanish)

Holy Saturday
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil (English in the Church)
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil (Spanish in the Parish Hall)

Easter Sunday
6:00, 7:30, 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Mass (English)
1:00 p.m. Mass (Spanish)

St. Elizabeth Seton Church
Carlsbad, CA - 760-438-3393

Holy Thursday
7:30 p.m. Mass

Good Friday
2:00, 7:30 p.m. Our Lord's Passion

Holy Saturday
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Mass

Church of the Nativity
Rancho Santa Fe, CA - 858-756-1911
Download Bulletin 04-01-07.pdf

Holy Thursday
6:00 PM Mass followed by Eucharistic Adoration

Good Friday
2:00 p.m. Holy Communion

Holy Saturday
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
8:00, 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon Mass

St. James Church
Solana Beach, CA - 858-755-2545
Download Easter_Bulletin_2007.pdf

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Musical Meditations on the Eucharist
7:30 p.m. Mass followed by Eucharistic Adoration until Midnight

Good Friday
12:00 noon Stations of the Cross followed by Silent Prayer until 3:00 p.m.
7:30 p.m. Celebration of the Lord's Passion

Holy Saturday
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:30 Mass with Cantor
9:00 Mass with St. JamesCompostela Choir
9:00 Life Mass in Parish Community Hall
11:30 Mass with Children's Choir

St. Leo Mission
Solana Beach, CA - 858-481-6788
(Easter Bulletin for Download under St. James La Jolla)

Jueves Santo
7:00 p.m. Misa de la Cena del Senor (Adoration del Santisimo Sacramento hasta la medianoche)

Viernes Santo
6:00 p.m. Drama de la Pasion del Senor

Sabado Santo
8:00 p.m.  Vigilia Pascual

Domingo  de Pascual Misa
10:30 a.m. Misa de la Resurreccion Del Senor

St. Michael's Church
Poway, CA - 858-487-4755
Schedule Online

Holy Thursday
7:30 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper

Good Friday
12:00 noon Stations of the Cross
2:00, 7:30 p.m. Liturgical Service of the Passion and Death of the Lord with Communion Service

Holy Saturday
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:15, 9:00, 10:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Mass

St. Gabriel's Church
Poway, CA - 858-748-5348
Download Bulletin 04-01-07.pdf

Holy Thursday
7:30 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper followed by Eucharistic Adoration until 10:00 p.m.

Good Friday
12:00 noon Meditation on the Passion of the Christ
3:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross (outside weather permitting)
7:30 p.m. Celebration of the Lord's Passion

Holy Saturday
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
8:00, 9:30, 11:00 a.m. Mass
2:00 p.m. Bilingual Mass

St. Therese of Carmel
Del Mar, CA - 858-481-3232
Download Bulletin 04-01-07.pdf

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Mass and Procession

Good Friday
12:00 noon Celebration of the Lord's Passion
7:00 p.m. The Seven Last Words of Christ

Holy Saturday
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:30, 9:00 Mass
11:00 Mass for Children
12:00 noon Easter Egg Hunt

San Rafael Parish
Rancho San Bernardo
San Diego, CA - 858-487-4314
Download Easter Schedule_2007.pdf

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Mass, followed by Eucharistic Adoration until 10:00 p.m.

Good Friday
12:00 noon and 7:00 p.m. Celebration of Our Lord's Passion

Holy Saturday
7:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
7:30, 9:00, 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon Mass (the 10:30 Mass will be in both the church and parish center; infants will be baptized during the noon Mass)

Carmelite Monastery:
San Diego 619-280-5424
(Carmelite monastery chapel - all are welcome to attend)

Holy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Mass

Good Friday
12:00 noon Chapel open for prayer
3:00 p.m. Our Lord's Passion

Holy Saturday
8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday
4:00 p.m. Mass

San Diego Tridentine Latin Mass Society
San Diego, CA
Download Bulletin 04-01-07.pdf

Easter Sunday
7:30 a.m. Low Mass
9:00 a.m. High Mass

Our Lady of the Rosary Parish
San Diego, CA - 619-234-4820

Holy Thursday
7:30 p.m. Feast of the Lord's Supper followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until 10:00 p.m.

Good Friday
12:00 noon and 7:30 p.m. Stations of the Cross
3:00 p.m. Our Lord's Passion and Adoration of the Cross

Holy Saturday
4:00 to 5:00 Confessions
7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil Mass

Easter Sunday
7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Mass in English
12:00 noon Mass in Italian

These times are posted from the churches' websites.  If you know service times for a North  County San Diego church that is not listed here, please e-mail me and I will try to add it.

Photo: Tabernacle door with the Crucifixion, by Francesco Mochi, 1635-1640, photo by me, more here.

Lenten Penance Services in North San Diego County

This is a 2007 schedule.  For the 2008 schedule, click here. 

This is a schedule of Lenten reconciliation services for some Catholic parishes in North San Diego County:

St. James, Solana Beach:
  March 7 & 8, 7:00 p.m.
Nativity, Rancho Santa Fe:
  March 12, 7:00 p.m.
San Luis Rey Parish, Oceanside:
  March 14, 6:30 p.m. (English and Spanish) - Serra Center 
St. Thomas More, Oceanside:
  March 20, 7:00 p.m.
St. Peter, Fallbrook :
  March 21, 7:00 p.m.
St. Patrick, Carlsbad:
  March 26, 7:00 p.m.
St. Elizabeth Seton, Carlsbad:
  March 27, 7:00 p.m.
St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Oceanside:
  March 28, 6:30 p.m.
St. Mark, San Marcos:
  April 2, 7:00 p.m.
St. John, Encinitas:
  April 2, 6:30 p.m.
St. Francis, Vista:
  April 3, 6:30 p.m.

Picture:  "The Agony in the Garden" by Nicholas Poussin, now at the Getty, my photo.

San Diego Diocesan Newspaper Report about the Diocese Bankruptcy

The Diocese of San Diego's newspaper, The Southern Cross, has posted an article online about the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceeding that the diocese initiated one week ago.  The article about the bankruptcy was written by Cyril Jones-Kellett, a regular author of articles for the diocese's award winning periodical.  Jones-Kellett offers the following information about the final settlement discussions with plaintiffs in sexual abuse cases, which led to the bankruptcy filing, quoting the diocese's in--house attorney Michael Webb:

"Webb said, 'The Diocese of San Diego's final settlement offer was ... more money than any other archdiocese or diocese in the United States had offered or paid to settle childhood sexual abuse claims.'

"He told The Southern Cross that, 'In spite of one of the plaintiffs' attorney's comments that the gap between the diocese's final settlement offer and the plaintiffs' final demand was 'narrow', it was not. There was a significant difference between the diocese's final offer and the plaintiffs' final demand, and it was a huge gap that the diocese simply does not have the ability to cross. The diocese's final settlement offer was literally every penny the diocese could afford to pay without jeopardizing the mission of the Church.'"

That article also includes a list of questions about the bankruptcy process and the diocese's answers to those questions.

San Diego Diocese Filing Chapter 11

Late this afternoon, I received an e-mail saying that a fax had come into our parish office saying that the our diocese, the Diocese of San Diego, was filing its Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition.  The final settlement discussions over 143 clergy sex abuse cases have reportedly failed, with the first case scheduled to go to trial on Friday.

Bishop Robert Brom's Pastoral Letter on the Reorganization can be downloaded here.  

Sunday before last, at the end of Mass, we received another pastoral letter concerning the status of the diocese's sex abuse cases and the potential that a bankruptcy filing might occur.  That earlier pastoral statement can be downloaded here.

It all seems very sad to me.  Please remember to pray for our priests and parishioners at this difficult time.

While everyone feels great sympathy for the people who were truly injured, I also have great sympathy for the priests and parishioners who have been caught in the middle of this through no fault of theirs.  Last Sunday, on the evening television news, there was a good 5 minutes of a story about protesters from among the abuse victims, or on their behalf, who appeared at 2 or 3 churches on Sunday morning saying that the bishop had not agreed to pass out their own letter to parishioners in response to his.  They passed it out themselves to parishioners leaving Sunday Mass. 

The two churches that I know of where this happened were near downtown San Diego, near one or more of the local television station offices.  Without going too far in speculating about other people's motivations, it seemed to me that some people were used as they left Mass to obtain news coverage.

This is a sad episode in this ongoing tragedy, one that is likely to linger for some time to come as it works its way through the bankruptcy courts.  Please continue to keep our churches in prayer in the coming days, for our clergy and parishioners and for a fair eventual resolution to these very painful cases.

San Diego Bishop's Pastoral Statement on Sexual Abuse Cases

Here is a transcript of the Pastoral Statement on Sexual Abuse Cases that Bishop Robert H. Brom, Diocese of San Diego, California, asked clergy of this diocese to pass out to parishioners today after Mass:

Over the past five years, the Diocese of San Diego has been responding to people claiming sexual abuse by priests and others in the Church.  To this time, pastoral resolution has been accomplished with 43 individuals, of which 18 accepted professional counseling and 30 received financial compensation.

There are currently 143 people who have filed lawsuits against the diocese.  To date, settlement negotiations with them have, unfortunately, been unsuccessful.  While we are prepared to continue negotiations and would hope that they would be successful, we have to consider our alternative if they are not.

We are painfully aware of the harm that the victims of abuse have suffered, and we want to treat all of them fairly and equitably.  At the same time, good stewardship demands that settlements not cripple the ability of the Church to accomplish its mission and ministries.  Consequently, we must consider how best to fairly compensate the victims while at the same time not jeopardizing our overall mission.  If this cannot be done through settlement negotiations, the diocese may be forced to file a Chapter 11 reorganization in bankruptcy court.

To the Abused and Their Families

First and foremost, I want to speak to all of you who have suffered from abuse in the Church, and I want to say again what I expressed to those of you who were willing to meet personally with me: I am profoundly sorry for this betrayal of trust in your lives.  On behalf of those who caused you pain, and in the name of the Church, I beg your forgiveness.  Please continue to seek healing and reconciliation, and know that I stand ready to meet with any of you who might find this helpful.

To Priests in the Diocese

We have been ordained for the awesome responsibility of shepherding God's people entrusted to our care.  Consequently, all of us have been horrified by the fact that some shepherds over the years have abused "the lambs."

Coming to grips with the devastating consequences of abuse in the lives of victims and their  families, we can appreciate the reaction of Pope John Paul II, that "there is no room in the priesthood for those who would abuse children."

While only a few from among us have been guilty of abuse, all of us have suffered the shame.  We should not become bitter, we must become better, better shepherds after the manner of the Good Shepherd.  I know, as you do, the deep appreciation of our people for all of us who are laying down our lives for the sheep.

To All of the Faithful

These have been trying times for you as well.  Many of you have expressed the embarrassment you have felt.  I am very sorry for what you have had to endure, and am deeply grateful that you are remaining faithful.

Your priests need you now more than ever and your commitment to work together to accomplish the mission give by Jesus to us all.

Please join me in prayer for the victims of abuse and their families.  Let us pray, as well, for the offenders that they will be forgiven their sins and know God's mercy.

For all of us, the tragedy of sexual abuse in the Church should not leave us without  hope.  Conformed to Christ in his passion and death, may we be evermore transformed by the power of his resurrection.

† Robert H. Brom
Bishop of San Diego

North San Diego County Christmas Mass Schedule

Caution:  This is a 2006 post.  For a 2007 schedule, Click This Link.

Christmas Day Update: For those looking for a Christmas Day Mass at noon or later, see these churches below: St. Michael's Church in Poway (12:30 p.m. Mass), the Carmelite Monastery in San Diego (4:00 p.m.), Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside (noon in Spanish), St. Mary's Star of the Sea in Oceanside (noon in Spanish), St. Patrick's Church in Carlsbad (1:00 p.m. in Spanish),  and Our Lady of the Rosary in San Diego (noon in Italian).

Please double check the time by the parish website or bulletin.  For the Carmelite Monastery, their Christmas and New Year's liturgy schedule is on a recorded message at 619-280-5424 (and I already double checked the 4:00 p.m. Mass time for today at that number).

* * *

Here are the schedules I found online for a few San Diego County churches.  I will keep this post at the top of the page through Christmas.  Please scroll down for newer posts. 

Christmas Day falls on Monday this year, so there will be Sunday morning Mass on December 24, followed by the Christmas Eve vigil Mass during the afternoon and evening of the same day, followed by Christmas Day Mass on Monday morning.

The Saturday evening and Sunday morning Masses for the 4th Sunday in Advent do not count as Christmas Mass.  The Sunday evening Mass is considered the first Mass of Christmas, and does not count as a Sunday Mass.  (Both the 4th Sunday in Advent and Christmas are holy days of obligation, and no one Mass counts for both.)

The information here is taken from parish websites.  Please check the website links or download the bulletins to double-check the accuracy.  You can also check the Diocese Website to find phone numbers and websites for some parishes not listed here.  This list is posted more or less from the north end of San Diego County to the south:

St. Peter's Catholic Community:
Fallbrook (schedule from The North County Times, and I phoned to find out which Mass is in Spanish)

Christmas Eve:
  3:30, 5:30,and 10:00 p.m. Mass in English
  7:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish

Christmas Day:
  8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Mass in English

Mission San Luis Rey Parish: 
Oceanside

4th Sunday of Advent:
  Saturday, Dec. 23, 5:00 p.m. Mass in English (Serra Center)
  Saturday, Dec. 23, 7:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish (Serra Center)
  Sunday, Dec. 24, 10:00 a.m. Mass in English (Serra Center)

Christmas Eve:
  4:30 p.m. Children's Mass in English (Serra Center)
  7:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish (Serra Center)
  9:00 p.m. Mass in English (Serra Center)

Christmas Day:
  8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Mass in English (Serra Center)
  12:00 noon Mass in Spanish (Serra Center)
  (There will be no 7:00 a.m. Mass)

Prince of Peace Abbey:
Oceanside (Benedictine)

4th Sunday of Advent:
  Dec. 24, 10:30 a.m. Mass

Christmas Eve:
  Dec. 24, 12:00 midnight Mass

Christmas Day:
  11:00 a.m. Mass

Saint Mary's Star of the Sea:
Oceanside (Download pdf-Dec. 17 bulletin.pdf)

4th Sunday of Advent:
  Saturday, Dec. 23, 5:00 p.m. Mass in English
  Saturday, Dec. 23, 6:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish
  Sunday, Dec. 24, 7:30, 9:00, and 10:30 a.m. Mass in English
  Sunday, Dec. 24, 12:00 p.m., Mass in Spanish

Christmas Eve:
  Dec. 24, 5:00 p.m. Family Mass in English
  Dec. 24, 7:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish
  Dec. 24, 10:00 p.m. Traditional Mass in English

Christmas Day:
  8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Mass in English
  12:00 noon Mass in Spanish

St. Thomas More:
Oceanside (Download pdf Dec 10 bulletin.pdf)

4th Sunday of Advent:
  Dec. 23, 5:00 p.m. Mass
  Dec. 24, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Mass

Christmas Eve:
  Dec. 24, 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Mass
  Dec. 24, 10:00 p.m. Mass with incense

Christmas Day:
  9:30 a.m. Mass with incense

Church of the Resurrection:
Escondido, CA (Download pdf Dec 17 bulletin.pdf)

4th Sunday of Advent:
  (Regular Schedule Saturday evening and Sunday morning)

Christmas Eve:
  5:00 p.m. Family Mass
  10:00 p.m. Mass in English
  12:00 Midnight Mass in Spanish

Christmas Day:
  8:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon Mass in English
  10:00 a.m. Mass in Spanish

St. Patrick Church:
Carlsbad

4th Sunday of Advent:
  Dec. 23, 5:30 p.m. Mass
  Dec. 23, 7:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish
  Dec. 24, 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00 a.m. Mass
  Dec. 24, 1:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish

Christmas Eve:
  Dec. 24, 4:00, 4:15 (Parish Hall), 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. Mass
  Dec. 24, 8:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish

Christmas Day:
  Dec. 24, 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00 a.m. Mass
  Dec. 24, 1:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish
  (No evening Mass on Christmas Day)

St. Elizabeth Seton Church:

Carlsbad

Christmas Eve:
  5:30 p.m. Mass with Children's Choir
  9:30 p.m. Carols
  10:00 p.m. Mass with Traditional Choir

Christmas Day:
  8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Mass

Church of the Nativity:
Rancho Santa Fe (Download pdf Dec 17 bulletin.pdf)

4th Sunday of Advent:
  (Regular Mass schedule for Saturday evening and Sunday morning.)

Christmas Eve:
  4:00 p.m. Mass with children's choir
  6:00 p.m. Mass with adult choir
  9:00 p.m. Mass with quartet

Christmas Day:
  9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Mass with soloists

St. James Church:
Solana Beach (Download pdf Dec 17 bulletin.pdf)

4th Sunday of Advent
  Saturday, Dec. 23, 5:00 p.m. Mass
  Sunday, Dec. 24, 7:30 and 9:00 a.m. Mass
  (There will be no 8:30 a.m. Mass.)

Christmas Eve:
  5:00 p.m. St. James Parish - Mass, Children's Choir
  5:00 p.m. St. James Parish Hall - Mass, Cantor
  7:30 p.m. Christmas Concert
  8:00 p.m. Mass, St. James Campostela Choir
  10:00 p.m. Mass, Life Teen

Christmas Day:
  9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Mass, Cantor and Congregational Singing

St. Leo Mission:
La Jolla

4th Sunday of Advent:
  Sunday, Dec. 24, 10:30 a.m. Mass in Spanish
  (There will be no 11:30 a.m. Mass.)

Christmas Eve:
  9:30 p.m. Canticos de Navidad
  10:00 p.m. Misa Misión de San León

Christmas Day:
  All services on Christmas Day are at St. James Church, and not at St. Leo Mission.

St. Michael Church:
Poway

Christmas Eve:
  4:45, 5:00 (Parish Hall), 7:00, and 9:00 p.m. Mass

Christmas Day:
  7:15, 9:00, 10:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Mass
  There will be no afternoon Mass on Christmas Day.

Saint Gabriel's Church:
Poway (Download pdf Dec 17 bulletin.pdf)

Christmas Eve:
  4:00 p.m. Children's Mass (For families with children, teaching children how to celebrate Christmas)
  6:00 p.m. Family Mass
  10:00 p.m. Mass of the Nativity

Christmas Day:
  9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Mass

St. Therese of Carmel:
Del Mar

Christmas Eve:
  4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Mass in English
  7:30 p.m. Mass in Chinese
  9:00 p.m. Christmas Concert
  10:00 p.m. Mass of Christmas

Christmas Day:
  9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Mass

San Rafael Parish:
Rancho Bernardo Download pdf Dec 17 bulletin.pdf

Christmas Eve:
  4:00 p.m. Mass in the church and the parish center (Children are invited to bring the baby Jesus from their home Nativity scenes to be blessed.)
  6:00, 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. Mass

Christmas Day:
  8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Mass

Carmelite Monastery:
San Diego (Carmelite monastery chapel)

4th Sunday of Advent:
  Dec. 24, 4:00 p.m. Mass (This is the usual time for Sunday Mass at the monastery.)

Christmas Eve:
  Dec. 24, 9:30 p.m. Mass

Christmas Day:
  4:00 p.m. Mass

San Diego Tridentine Mass Society:
San Diego

Christmas Eve:
  12:00 Midnight Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church, 1638 Polk AV, San Diego, CA.

Christmas Day:
  7:30 a.m. Christmas Mass at Dawn at Holy Cross Chapel, Holy Cross Cemetary, 4470 Hilltop Drive, San Diego, CA
  9:00 a.m. Christmas Mass of the Day at Holy Cross Chapel