ENOUGH: Auxiliary Bishop Armando Ochoa has led...

ENOUGH: Auxiliary Bishop Armando Ochoa has led three of six procession-vigils at abortion clinics that have won favor in the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese as a non-confrontational alternative to the controversial Operation Rescue, but he says that is enough for a while.

“I have a lot of other matters I have to tend to,” said Ochoa, who lives in Mission Hills and heads the archdiocese’s San Fernando Pastoral Region, which embraces 48 parishes in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. Ochoa led the first demonstration June 22 in Pacoima and another Nov. 23 in Glendale.

Ochoa indicated that his decision had nothing to do with the vandalism that marred the last anti-abortion event two weeks ago in Sherman Oaks. Vandals splashed red paint and stenciled slogans on the front entrance of St. Martin de Sales Church before churchgoers arrived for a pre-vigil Mass. The scheduled procession to a nearby abortion clinic for an hourlong prayer vigil was held without incident. The turnout was about 200 people, while the two previous demonstrations led by Ochoa brought out more than 500 each.

The protest was sponsored by Helpers of God’s Precious Infants based in Hacienda Heights, which has been successful in getting Los Angeles bishops, including Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, to lead such vigils outside abortion clinics within walking distance of Catholic churches. Unlike Operation Rescue, the protesters do not attempt to block clinic doorways.

BISHOP-ELECT: When the Rev. Gethin B. Hughes was assigned as vicar to the Prince of Peace Episcopal mission in Woodland Hills in 1973, the small congregation was in “very bad shape and very near to closing,” said longtime member Margaret Shively.

But Hughes revived the mission church “and had a way of making the place work” during the two years he was here, Shively said.

His role in reviving the Woodland Hills mission was recalled by the news that Hughes, now 50, has been elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego.

After a two-year stay in Woodland Hills, Hughes served on the Los Angeles diocesan headquarters staff from 1975 to 1980, then became rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara. Last month, he was elected on the third ballot as bishop of San Diego. Hughes will be installed in June.

LECTURES: Magician James Randi and theologian Harvey Cox--thought-provoking figures in the world of religion in their own ways--will speak Sunday in separate events in the San Fernando Valley.

“The Amazing Randi,” magician and author of the debunking book “The Faith Healers,” will speak at the 10 a.m. service of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Studio City, 12355 Moorpark St.

The service will have a conversational format with Randi answering questions about his efforts to expose unscrupulous psychics and healers, a spokesman said. For more information, call (818) 769-5911.

Cox, who teaches at Harvard Divinity School, will lecture on “Many Mansions: Encounter Between Judaism, Christianity and Islam”--the subject of his latest book--at 8:15 p.m. Sunday at Valley Beth Shalom, 15739 Blvd., Encino. Cox also authored “The Secular City” and “The Seduction of the Spirit.”

The talk, to be repeated Monday at Sinai Temple in Westwood, is part of the University of Judaism’s 1992 Public Lecture Series. Elliot Dorff, provost and professor of philosophy at the University of Judaism, will be moderator of the appearance in Encino. Richard Burstein, administrative vice president of Valley Beth Shalom, will respond to Cox’s talk.

Tickets for the Cox lecture are $18 and may be purchased at the door, as available. For more information, call (310) 476-9777, Ext. 246.

ETHICS: Carmelite Father Fred Tillotson of Encino, director of medical ethics for the nationwide Franciscan Health System, will begin a two-part lecture series on health care decisions at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the parish hall of St. Charles Catholic Church, 10828 Moorpark St., North Hollywood. Tillotson, who is also principal of Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, will give his second talk at 7:30 p.m. March 31. For more information, call (818) 766-3838.

SEDER: Jewish family educators will hold the first of three workshops on how to prepare and lead a Passover seder with a two-hour session at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Temple Judea, 5429 Lindley Ave., Tarzana. The ritual meal is the central family-oriented event during the holiday, which begins this year at sundown April 17. The workshops, led by Hamutal Gavish and relying on the book, “The Art of Jewish Living,” by Ron Wolfson, will also be held April 1 and 8 at Temple Judea. The Parent and Family Education Department of the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles is sponsoring the workshops and may be contacted for more information at (213) 852-1234, Ext. 2228.