Peace

Last week I watched the procession of the 133 Cardinals and their entourage from the Pauline Chapel into the Sistine Chapel. As they made their way to sit under one of the most beautiful ceilings in the world, the “Litany of the Saints” rang out. This is the traditional beginning for the conclave, a hymn that asks each saint, by name, to intercede and give the cardinals guidance and strength in their selection of a new pope.

Then, one by one, every cardinal announced his name and recited the pledge. “Et ego [given name] Cardinalis [surname] spondeo, voveo ac iuro. Sic me Deus adiuvet et haec Sancta Dei Evangelia, quae manu mea tango.” Or “I, [given name] Cardinal [surname], so promise, pledge and swear. So help me God and these holy gospels which I touch with my hand.” It is a pledge of secrecy (though occasionally it has been broken).

Though I am not a believer in any organized religion, I couldn’t help but be attracted to the pomp and ceremony of this long standing ritual. (The first conclave in this ritualized fashion took place in 1276 in Arezzo, Tuscany.) But even more important to me was Pope Frances himself because of the values he so clearly advocated for and manifested in his life: compassion, humility, a commitment to the poor and marginalized, environmentalism, peace, and justice. He was a man for all seasons, and a true leader who lived his values.

Finally, the master of papal liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, announced “all out,” and the journalists, photographers, the choir, quietly left. The grand wooden doors to the Sistine Chapel were closed, leaving only the intrigue and the question: what values will the next pope embody and promote in the world? White smoke appeared above the Vatican at little before 10 a.m. Pacific time on Thursday morning, May 8. Robert Francis Prevost will be the next pope—and the first American Pope!—Leo XIV gave his first remarks in Latin, Italian and Spanish. I lost count on how many times he said peace.” We’ll begin to get our answer soon (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV).

How will Trump policies affect Pacific County?

Meanwhile, the atrocities of the Trump administration are coming closer and closer to our corner of the world. Now the funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Society are being challenged. Both of these support radio stations in many other rural areas like ours. How this might affect our own beloved KMUN is yet to be seen, but it will likely result in the need for more community support. Count me in.
As is the case for so many of this administration’s flurry of policy decisions, U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, along with 21 mostly Democrat-led states ruled that the executive order to cut agencies supporting local museums and libraries violated the U.S. Constitution. This, as so many other push-back efforts, will be decided in court. But one consistency seems to be the proportionally greater negative effects these policies will have on rural areas like ours. In the coming weeks, I’ll talk about some of the changers that may start to affect our Ocean Beach Hospital.

Veteran update

I checked with our vet services office Ed Crawford last week to see if the proposed Veteran Administrative firings have hurt us. As Ed said, “They announced that 84,000 jobs would be cut as of April 12, but then they changed their minds. So we haven’t seen any of that yet. I did get that email about listing five accomplishments you made this week. We were told by our VA people not to answer it, but I sent something in anyway.” [Ed probably has five accomplishments a day because of the determined and passionate way he does his work.] It’s a day-to-day thing. We will probably get some cuts to our budget, but nothing has hit us in Washington yet.”
Ed works with his heart. He went on to say, “Do you remember that fellow I told you about last time we talked, ‘Angry John’? He passed this last Sunday. That was rough for me. I went over and met with his sister who came up from Northern California. I took him to every one of the Donuts for Vets meetings—he went to the last one just a couple weeks ago. And we’d go to breakfast together a couple times a month. I wanted to make sure he got out more. He was really sick, but I just wasn’t expecting to lose him like that. I know I shouldn’t have been surprised, but… my job can be rough sometimes.” The kind of care and attention Ed gave to Angry John, just one of the Vets he is helping, is an example of how important these services are and what is going on behind the scenes. People and budgets are not just numbers.

Our immigrant friends

So far, ICE has not been on the Peninsula grabbing people, but the fear about that in our immigrant neighbors and friends is running high. Last week I had the chance to speak to Erika Hersey, one of the officers of the Pacific County Immigrant Support organization:

“Thankfully, we have not seen any ICE on the Peninsula yet. We are anticipating it though. Recently we’ve had rights training workshops at Adrift and the Pickled Fish. We’re trying to keep the community informed. At the same time we’re emphasizing the training, we understand that once you may be in an ICE situation, you may forget what you’ve learned. You’re nervous. That’s why we are trying to have the other community members and citizens involved.”

“If we know there’s going to be a raid, we want to establish a rapid response system so we can remind people of their rights. At the same time we don’t want anyone to get hurt or arrested. So we’ve printed these red cards that clearly state your rights. You can say, ‘I do not want to speak to you. I do not give you permission to enter my home—you need a warrant. I do not give you permission to search any of my belongings, like my phone or computer. I am exercising my constitutional rights.’”

Since 2016, more than 100 immigrant families in Pacific County have had a family member arrested or detained by ICE, and dozens have been deported. If you want to support our immigrant friends and neighbors, you can get trained to be a rapid response helper. And red cards are available from many people on the Peninsula. Of course, financial support for trainings and other activities is always welcome (more information here https://www.pcisupport.org/ ).

Rob Hurst has also been extremely active in supporting the local demonstrations against the Trump policies. He has spoken eloquently at many of the rallies and organized a reading of some of the immigrant stories at the last two demonstrations. The next demonstration will be June 14th that same day Trump has asked for a massive display of military might.

June 14th is our president’s 80th birthday and the Army’s 250th birthday. Trump wants something similar to the Bastille Day Parade he witnessed in Paris during his first term. Defense planners have said that the parade has grown in scale and will cost between $25 million and $45 million. There might be a few other ways that money could be used.

Interesting times

In 1936, Sir Austen Chamberlain, brother of the British Prime Minister, wrote a letter that included this: “Many years ago I learned from one of our diplomats in China that one of the principal Chinese curses heaped upon an enemy is, ‘May you live in an interesting age.’ Surely, no age has been more fraught with insecurity than our own present time.”

Just to set the record straight, there is no proof that this is a translation of a Chinese curse. And, of course, the idea is a great ironic joke—interesting times are full of trouble, chaos, uncertainty, and upheaval. Too bad Sir Austen can’t return to see what a mess we’ve gotten ourselves into now.