good morning welcome to mosaic. today we will look at the archdiocese of san francisco. we have as our guide the archbishop. welcome to the program. >> thank you very much. >> 160 years ago, archbishop allemany came to san francisco and talked about his role. he was told by pope pious while others go for gold you must carry the cross has the goal changed over the years? >> a great deal. because of circumstances of life but certainly that contrast is still available. the work of the arch buy cease

and archbishop is very much to guide the life of the church day by day what people are doing away from headlinea lot of notice is raising their children as catholics, educating them, praying and worshiping together, reaching out to the world around them, especially in helping those most in need because that is what christ called us to do. and the weight in which those things are done, the means used to do them will change, since 1853 but never the less those are the tasks catholics then were engaged in. >> you are the 8th archbishop of san francisco and installed almost exactly 5 years ago. what are your thoughts now after five years? >> well, very grateful coming here and meeting the people i have met especially the people who help me day in and day out the pastors, the women religious, the deacons and their wives, the lay ministers,

the many many thousands of lay ministers and i think it is in working with them, that the archbishop accomplishes what he accomplishes, they are the ones who i like to say make the music. i compare the archbishop to the conductor of the symphony. the only person on the stage not trying to make any sound but trying to harmonize all those signs together. i draw on their talents, their zeal. the efforts they put forth and i think that is really what continues the life of the church. >> when you get together with other bishops, meetings in washington or trips to rome how do you describe the san francisco archdiocese, they may have a particular image of the archdiocese based on media reports but how would you describe the archdiocese to them? >> i would hit first, diversity. many who may be from the heartland don't have enormous

diversity. they have more than they used to have but we are on the pacific rim. we have large numbers of filipino catholics, large numbers of latino catholics, other asian countries, vietnam we have mass in san francisco, every sunday in 18 languagethat is not true for many of them maybe in the interior of the u.s., on the coast perhaps, but we differ even from los angeles, los angeles might have 70% of the catholics would be latino, 400 miles north in san francisco, it is 25%. so that it is really -- it really reflects looking west ward as well as east ward. >> and the archdiocese itself, counter to popular opinion, it includes more than the city and county of san francisco. >> yes, it is marin to the

north, san mateo to the south, we go from men low park to nova doe. and it true to say -- i know it is true to say a majority of the catholics are outside of the city of san francisco. >> the urban areas, are matched by rural areas, you have areas like rio honda, so there is a real range when you talk about diversity, there is diversity in the kinds of communities people live in. >> the last thing people would expect visiting san francisco is looking at little frame wooden churches but we have three or four of them that is again diversity of situations of worship. the sites where people worship, styles they may worship. resources they may have. it is much easier to get musicians at the cathedral than

some tiny little village church. >> usually the orchestra are trying to achieve the mission of the local church, proclaim the gospel of jesus christ it is a challenge every day that you come to work i imagine. >> it is but again, i would stress the gratitude yes, the challenge is there we all know it and face it and deal with it but it is the dealing with it together that matters. you go back to the letters of st. paul to christian churches, cities founded he gives thanks to god for them and for their gifts and fidelity and hanging in there even when it is difficult even when they meet persecution or opposition. and i think that is a kind of standard, reaction for any bishop. >> okay we will come back and talk more about the contemporary church in a moment

welcome back to mosaic. i am talk being the arch by -- talking with the archbishop of san francisco. we are talking about the archdiocese itself and one thins he has talked about is diversity i thought of retired bishop wong the first chinese american named bishop in america. he is retired now but replacing him and helping the archbishop are two auxiliary bishops one, william justice the other, robert macle roy i think we have a shot of the ordination on the screen there now. archbishop, san francisco is not a large archdiocese but it is intricate and very diverse it is very different from the old days when most of the parish our life was known in the church through the

parishes. is that the case still? >> just to touch on the auxiliary bishops we have a tradition in san fan cisco having two -- san francisco, having two auxiliary bishops, helping the bishop be present to the parishes, carry the archbishop's concern for the local church and make a presence. bishop justice does that and serves as vicker for clergy as well. and bishop mcilroy will be working in areas of planning for parish life and ministry. the life is different in the parishes. the basic unit of gathering place, for catholics, that is the where people gather together to worship, pray, receive the sacraments, witness inner faith, learn about their faith to reach out to others, as a group, in ways that

individuals can't by themselves, especially in charitable works so that is basic, however, there is a really good interaction between parish life and larger groupings, catholic charities which can do any more than one single parish can do by itself. a university like usf can offer catholic education at the post- secondary level st. patricks seminary, we need parish priests and we need a place where they can be trained and a parish is not going to be able to recruit its own priest and retrain them and actually i tell people yes, we are short handed so that makes for even more work and leadership for the priest in the parish but i like to point out the first person to talk about the vocation shortage was jesus who said the harvest is great,

laborers are few, pray to the lord to defend laborers. it is 20 centuries old. there has been change yet the same kinds of things need to be accomplished however, being pastor of a parish now is much more complicated than 100 years ago. >> pretty often a pastor might have a staff of eight priests for example. >> and the priests and women religious, do practically everything in the parish now there are so many lay ministers, so many -- there are readers, there are linguistic min sister, people who take communion -- ministers. people who take communion to the sick. now the faculty of entire catholic schools are laymen and lay women. >> parish life to me i have seen large parishes and small, tiffany san francisco, st. francis east palo alto, mission

san raphael, there is a great diversity there, how about staffing and priests not vailable, how do you and your staff and bishop justice approach that? >> we try i think to have in a centralized way that is helpful, reaching out to the parishes, have training sessions. we had an excellent program three years ago we will repeat it this next school year, the training women and men to be parish managers, to handle the material, physical side of the management of the parish, free the priest more for spiritual leadership and pastoral ministry, and that has been a marvelous thing. we thought it would be successful if we had 15 people and 35 showed up and sponsored by their parishes, and the people of the parish, the parish councils recognize the

need for that kind of resource for our parish. >> and in these tough economic times, i know the parishioner san mateo county, some have gathered together and are offering employment counselling, guidance counselling, did you notice the difference in the church or how we minister in the church? >> yes, i think we need to taylor it to the needs, it is interesting, the very first work of catholic charitying, over 100 years ago in 1907 was orphanage and adoption because there were so many children without parents as a result of the earthquake and other things as well. that isn't the primary need right now. but i think under archbishop quinn and laveda when the terrible scourge of aids came along the outreach to persons hiv positive or suffering from aids, the outreach to that, was

something that hasn't been known 20 years before but it was important for the church to gear up. we are one of the major offerers of outreach and assistance and housing for persons struggling with that illness. >> we are going to take a break we will be right back on mosaic

welcome back to mosaic. we are talking with the archbishop of the archdiocese of san francisco. welcome back. i want to talk a little in this segment about the witness to the catholic church in the bay area. in recently, two weeks ago there was a walk for life west coast, there were a lot of faiths involved but the catholic faith was certainly involved and there were two catholic women from san francisco that started the walk. you participated and many

others did that is an example of catholic witness how do we bring that forward? >> i think it is due to the work of those two women and it is the largest demonstration of its kind or size on the west coast. just in the 7th year has grown from a few thousand people to 40,000. it is terribly important for us as catholics t witness to -- to witness to the gospel of life the good news of life there can be a culture of death, that human life becomes an inconvenience at the beginning of it or at the end of it we must have abortion and euthanasia and these voices in the community, that cry out for this have to be countered by our own voices that say no, every human life is a precious gift from god there is a

dignity to every human person in the womb or out of the womb. what was very encouraging to me is number of young people in the walk. it was not just grey heads marching. there was a wonderful picture on the cover of our catholic san francisco newspaper and it was -- you would have to look for a grey head since i have one, i was happy to see there were not too many there. the future of it is very much this. i think in many ways one of the strongest weapons in our arsenal for this struggle, is the telegram. young people are looking, younger generations are looking at those evidences of life and they are coming down, even more strongly in pro life issues and demonstrating, in favour of pro life stance, than their elders. >> science is the technology,

reinforcing the teaching of the church which it has for years. >> the work at the church is also seen in areas like catholic charities, cyo. >> outreach to help people. >> yes >> catholic charities is certainly one of the largest providers on the west coast of health services provided through government contracts but also through millions of dollars of contributions by catholics and also a lot of volunteer work by catholics, it is called the social service arm of the archdiocese how do you see it? you serve as chairman of that. >> yes, i think that this is a way for us to get in touch with the larger community. it is not catholics serving catholics, it is catholics, and those aligned with them, reaching out to serve anybody in need. we don't ask for their religion or race. we don't ask for their political party because of their need we ought to reach out and serve them that is what jesus christ called us to do.

i think it is that. walking the walk, we have to talk the talk, we have to read the gospel, pray about the gospel, proclaim it to one another but we have to live it too. and this is very much a way for all of our people to live out the gospel, whether it is through volunteerism, contributions as you said, all of these are tremendously important ways to walk the walk that we have already talked about and continue. >> and st. vincente depaul society active in many parishes, grass roots effort to help people in need. >> yes >> that is another image. >> it is active within the regions of the archdiocese, within parishes and it is just a very important work, and also it brings to the local level, the opportunity for people to collaborate. >> mm-hmm. we will talk about schools later but i wanted to draw on

other ways the universities, we have catholic hospitals in the area, catholic cemeteries, holy cross catholic cemeteries in marin, and san mateo county. they are an important part of the catholic church as well to send people on their way, to nurture people. >> and to have a respect for and a reverence for those who have gone before us, we believe they will rise with us on the last day, we believe that the remains of the body that held them, that was the housing for their soul here on earth deserves respect, deserves a kind of reverence and it is in those circumstances of the cemetery, that that can happen. there can be a place where people can come and pray, for the repose of the soul for those people where masses are offered regularly for the

repose of the soul when where their memory is held in real benediction and there is. >> announcer: isanticipation of eternal life for them and us. >> we will be right back on mosaic

welcome back to mosaic. we are talk being the archbishop about the archdiocese of san francisco. which is named after st. francis of assisi. and rightfully we have a shrine to st. francis. tell us the story about that. >> well, the parish of st. francis of assisi was the second after mission delores it is not the original church that came down in the earthquake but when the parish was closed as a

regular functioning parish, territorial parish, archbishop lavada had it declared the national shrine of san francisco. recently a gem of a chapel has been built in conjunction with the national shrine it is called a portuncula. it is the little portion. it is a replica, 80% to scale, the little chapel, st. francis rebuilt when jesus spoke to him from the cross and said francis rebuild my church that sits in assisi but now we have a reproduction of it here. we are delighted people make it part of what they visit when they go to north beach and it is a wonderful witness to the city and to the visitors especially, of the life that still comes to us spiritually from the example of st. francis. >> well, the shrine of st.

francis here, and st. francis in italy have been the venue of interfaith activities, northern california, robust venue for faith. recently you went on a trip in the fall with the greek orthodox priest tell us about that. >> yes, the archbishop of the greek orthodox church here and i conducted a joint pilgrimage to rome to athens and is stan bull, which they might refer to as constantinople so that we could become aware of and appreciate each other's roots and be able to see the many ways in which we share some of the rich tradition of the faith. >> ecumenical meaning christian faith. >> yes. >> inner faith meaning anyone at the table. >> exactly just a couple weeks ago we had martin luther king day and had a gathering

downtown, in the gardens for the celebration of that and the celebration of him crossing the bridge. >> we have a minute and a half, this being very close to catholic schools week, i wanted to just talk about catholic schoolsin general. many are vibrant in the archdiocese some are struggling can you say a word about catholic schools in general? >> we operate 54 elementary schools, high schools are often more successful in recruiting students than some elementary schools, but my mantra now is that what matters is not school buildings being full, but children in desks, quite frankly when the last couple schools have closed, 100% of the children in that one school, the next year were in some other catholic school and 90% of the other schools

students were in another catholic school there may some times be consolidations but it is not that fewer students are going. >> nationwide i was reading there is 2 million -- more than 2 million students in catholic schools in the united states in the archdiocese alone, 25,000 students and the impact of the catholic church very often may not be noticed but if all of those students were some how placed in public schools, the level on tax payers would be in the order of $250 million. >> much higher. >> or more. so the impact of the catholic church when we talked about the very beginning, very often you don't see the impact it is substantial. >> we are serving our own purposes of catholic education but also serving the larger community as well. >> thank you very much for joining us today. i know you celebrate your 75th birthday later this summer,

early happy birthday. >> thank you. >> you have been a great success archbishop of san francisco we wish you many many happy years. thank you for joining us on mosaic, tom burke who usually hosts will be back next week, or next month meanwhile, have a great day and god bless you. ,,,

a great change is at hand and our task is to make that revolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all. those who look only to the past or the present, are certain to miss the future. do not pray for easy lives. pray to be stronger men. ask not what your country can do for you. ask what you can do for your country.