Sept. 21: (Afternoon) Mass, Carmelite Monastery

Sept. 22: (Morning) Mass, Couples for Christ, Burlingame

Sept. 23: 10 a.m. Stational Mass, Cathedral

Sept. 24: Gathering with Oakland chancery staff, Chancery

Sept. 25-27: San Francisco Priest Convocation

Sept. 27: (Evening) Mass, National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors, Cathedral

Sept. 28: (Evening) Diocese of Oakland Clergy dinner, Cathedral Event Center

Sept. 30: 10 a.m. Stational Mass and reception, Cathedral

      (Afternoon) Jubilate Deo, Cathedral

Oct. 3: Vespers with clergy and religious of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Mission Dolores

Oct. 4: Installation as Archbishop of San Francisco

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Assignments announced

Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Oakland, announced these clergy assignments:

Effective Sept. 1, Rev. Sergio Lopez, from temporary to permanent parochial administrator at Corpus Christi Parish, Fremont. Father Lopez will continue as co-vocations director for Spanish speaking and helping out in the Canon Law Department.

Effective Sept. 1, Rev. William Rozario from St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Livermore, as parochial vicar at St. Raymond Parish, Dublin.

Effective Sept. 15, Rev. Derrick Kea Oliveira as parochial vicar at St. Bede Parish, Hayward.

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More summer mixers

Twilight by the Lake, free mixers on the Cathedral Plaza, continue from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 and Oct. 18 on the Plaza of The Cathedral of Christ the Light, 2121 Harrison St., Oakland.

Fleetwood Mask, a cover band playing the sounds of Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks will perform Sept. 20. Free admission, appetizers.

Family celebration

A multicultural Mass followed by food, entertainment, fellowship and fun in the Event Center is planned from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at the cathedral. Visit www.ctlcathedral.org/cathedral-life for more.

Crèche Festival dates

As part of the three-day festival at the cathedral, parishes are invited to display their crèche throughout the Dec. 14-16 festival. Details are being mailed to the parishes. The entire festival celebrates the family tradition of the nativity scene and will feature musical performances, an event for children and a guest lecture on the origins of the crèche. The event begins with a performance by Chanticleer in the cathedral, Dec. 14.

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Voter laws moving slowly

WASHINGTON — A cluster of federal court rulings in the waning days of August overturned several state efforts that might have limited who gets to vote this November. Each of those rulings was likely to be appealed, however, and laws or regulations in several other states related to voter identification and poll access remained alive in federal courts. Since the last presidential election, more than a dozen states have passed or tightened laws about the kind of identification required to vote or that reduce opportunities for early voting. Governors in five states have vetoed legislative attempts to tighten such laws. The efforts have been promoted with warnings that voter fraud is — or could become — rampant. Opponents of the laws say they are intended to suppress turnout by poor and minority voters, who they say are most likely to lack the kinds of photo ID the laws require.

Protocol raises questions

WASHINGTON — The U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine has developed a protocol to respond to questions raised about the work of theologians. Approved provisionally in September 2011, the protocol outlines various steps that committee members and the staff of the Secretariat for Doctrine at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops can take when evaluating the work of theologians to ensure that the material in question conforms to church teaching. The six-page protocol states that the committee reserves the right to "seek authorization to publish its statements without the prior consultation" with a theologian or the theologian's representative "if it judges that intervention is needed for the pastoral guidance of the Catholic faithful.

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Renault gives electric minivans One of two all-electric minivans given by French automaker Renault to Pope Benedict XVI is seen at the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sept. 3. This white van is for use by the pope and a blue van is for the Vatican police force. The Italian electric company has also installed recharging stations in Vatican City and at Castel Gandolfo. courtesy of Renault

God's life recipe

ROME — The Ten Commandments are a gift from God to help people live a correct relationship with God and with others, Pope Benedict XVI said. "God gave us the commandments to educate us about true freedom and authentic love so that we could be truly happy," he said in a video message played Sept. 8 in Rome's Piazza del Popolo. The big public square in Italy's capital was the site of the launch of "Ten Piazzas for the Ten Commandments," a project of the Italian charismatic renewal movement, the Italian bishops' conference and the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization. The project — evenings of reflection, music and dance — will focus on a different commandment in a different city each month.

Mary faith model

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — Mary, the Mother of God, represents a "full and mature" Christian faith, one that all believers should imitate, Pope Benedict XVI told Marian experts attending an academic conference in Rome. People can look to Mary as an example of living according to God's will with confidence and joy, he said Sept. 8, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary.

Promoting dignity?

VATICAN CITY — Religious communities can assist the North African and Middle Eastern pro-democracy movements by upholding human dignity and not trying to claim power for one religion or one movement within a religion, a senior Vatican official said. Comboni Father Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, represented the Vatican at a conference in Istanbul Sept. 7-8 on "The Arab Awakening and Peace in the New Middle East: Muslim and Christian Perspectives."

Share the Gospel

VATICAN CITY — Christians must trust in the power of the Gospel to awaken people's consciences and promote reconciliation, but that can happen only if they hear the Gospel first, Pope Benedict XVI said. "Faith is the most important gift that we have been given in life; we cannot keep it just for ourselves," the pope said Sept. 7 during a meeting with 92 bishops ordained in the past year and named to dioceses in the church's mission territories. The new bishops were participating in a Sept. 2-15 seminar, often referred to as "new bishops' school," sponsored by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Court grants bail

VATICAN CITY — The Pakistani Christian girl accused of blasphemy was granted bail Sept. 7 after three weeks in police custody. The judge, who ordered the girl's release on a bail of about $5,282, said there was insufficient evidence to justify continuing to hold Rimsha Masih in jail. Her parents said she is 11 years old and has Down syndrome; a court appointed physician reported she was about 14 and is developmentally delayed. However, the case against her was not dismissed. Investigations continue both into accusations that Rimsha burned pages of the Quran — a violation of Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws — as well as into the actions of Khalid Jadoon Chishti, a Muslim cleric, who was taken into police custody Sept. 2 after being accused of planting the pages of the Quran and burned pieces of paper in the girl's bag.

Power, abuse in Church

VATICAN CITY — The "most tragic wound" of clerical sexual abuse will not heal without a response from the entire Catholic Church — hierarchy and laity together — said the chief Vatican investigator of abuse cases. "I think that slowly, slowly, slowly we are getting toward a response that is truly ecclesial — it's not hierarchical, it's the church. We are in this together, in suffering (from) the wound and trying to respond to it," Msgr. Charles Scicluna told Vatican Radio.

Value of dialogue

VATICAN CITY — Living in a war zone taught Comboni Father Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot the importance of interreligious dialogue "as an instrument for overcoming conflict and drawing together from the source of peace." The 60-year-old Spanish priest, who did missionary work in Egypt and in Sudan before becoming head of Rome's Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, was named secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in late June.

Love Jesus and pray

VATICAN CITY — The more people love Jesus, the more they will want to spend time with him in prayer; and the more they pray, the more they will resemble him, Pope Benedict XVI said. While God always listens to people's pleas for help and is always ready to respond, "our prayer must first be an act of listening to God who speaks to us," the pope said Sept. 5 at his weekly general audience.

Search for truth, unity

VATICAN CITY — The search for truth is the vocation of a theologian and the key to overcoming divisions within Christianity, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of his former doctoral students. The pope celebrated Mass with his former students Sept. 2 at the Focolare Center in Castel Gandolfo as part of the annual meeting of the "Ratzinger Schulerkreis" (Ratzinger Student Circle), a group that has met since 1978 to discuss topics in theology and the life of the church.

— Catholic News Service

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