Jailed Priest Inspired to Protest by Reading Martin Luther King Jr.

Just who is this Edward Kaicher and what made him become the first priest from the San Diego Catholic Diocese to be jailed for anti-abortion activism?

Does his incarceration at the Descanso honor camp for blockading abortion clinics foreshadow increased militancy among the Catholic clergy?

Answer one: He’s a 35-year-old native of Lakeside, a graduate of the University of San Diego and a Benedictine seminary in Minnesota.

He had protested the treatment of Latin American refugees by the Immigration and Naturalization Service but had never been arrested. He decided civil disobedience was morally justified in the abortion demonstrations after reading the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He promises to continue his anti-abortion protests, including further arrests, and wants to minister to the migrants of North County when he returns to his parish in Solana Beach.

Answer two: More militancy? Maybe so, maybe not.

When Kaicher was ordered to Descanso last week to begin his 45-day sentence, his first visitor was Bishop Robert H. Brom, coadjutor of the San Diego Diocese and future successor to Bishop Leo T. Maher.

Kaicher and Brom talked and prayed. A joint news conference may be held when Kaicher is released. With time off for good behavior, that should be by Thanksgiving.

As a trusty, Kaicher has relative freedom within the barbed-wire fences but returns to the crowded dormitory at night. He receives no special privileges.

He celebrates Mass for fellow prisoners. Jail officials say he is receiving more than 200 letters a day.

“One woman wrote that I was her hero,” Kaicher said. “That’s wrong. I know that I am as sinful and unworthy as any man. I’m just someone who has had God hit him in the heart.”

He is troubled that the pro-choice movement says protesters like him are cruelly inflicting pain on women who are seeking the clinic’s services. Unlike other protesters, he won’t shout at the women.

“I’m not there because I’m against the women,” Kaicher said. “I’m there because I’m against what they’re doing.”

On the Road With the Chorus

Notes from the chorus.

Since its formation in 1928, the main duty of the Red Army Chorus has been to entertain Soviet troops. It did 1,500 concerts during World War II.

That’s why U.S. Navy types who organized the two free concerts on San Diego naval bases dubbed the chorus, “The Bob Hopeski Show.”

The sight of the Red Army Chorus performing with the U.S. amphibious assault ship Belleau Wood as a backdrop sent Capt. James Prout III, commander of the San Diego Naval Base, scurrying for explanation:

“The times certainly are a-changin’. If you’d have told me just a year ago that I’d see this many boatswain’s mates waiting to see some Soviet men dance, I’d have ordered you to undergo immediate drug testing.”

Among those present at the chorus’ concert Thursday at the 32nd Street Naval Station was Soviet television anchorwoman Svetlana Bestuzheva.

Soviet standards for anchor women are different than ours.

Bestuzheva is short and grandmotherly. She also holds a doctorate in art history and has been decorated for patriotism by the Soviet government.

Report in a Plain Brown Wrapper

Copies of House of Representatives Report 101-293 are making the political rounds in San Diego. The 58-page document with the plain brown cover is the final report of the House ethics committee “in the matter of Representative Jim Bates.”

The committee last month issued a gentle reprimand to the San Diego Democrat for sexually harassing female staff members and improperly using his office for campaigning. Now the complete report is out.

Among other transgressions, one former employee says Bates got drunk at a fund-raiser for Gary Hart and grabbed her knee. He denies it.

Another ex-employee says Bates “mentioned to her over the phone that he was naked.” He denies that, too.