Whenever Cardinal Roger M. Mahony visits Pope...

Whenever Cardinal Roger M. Mahony visits Pope John Paul II in the Vatican, the Los Angeles prelate says that the Pope, instead of greeting Mahony by name, often points to him and says, “Hollywood.”

The entertainment industry “is probably the area he touches on most with me,” Mahony said in a special issue of the archdiocese’s weekly newspaper, The Tidings, marking the 10 years that Mahony has led Los Angeles’ Roman Catholics.

The Pope “is fascinated by Hollywood and has a very personal interest” in the entertainment industry, said Mahony, noting that the pontiff had been an actor and had written a couple of plays in earlier years.

In his 1987 visit to Los Angeles, John Paul II addressed 1,500 communications and entertainment leaders at a Universal City hotel. He asked the mass media to contribute to the quality of life, avoiding the temptation to “promote what is debased” in people.

Asked in the recently published interview how well-informed the last three Presidents have been about the Roman Catholic Church, Mahony ranked Ronald Reagan first, George Bush second and Bill Clinton “a very distant third.”

Saying he believes a President’s knowledge of Catholic views depends on the aides around him, Mahony added that Clinton was improving now that Leon E. Panetta heads the White House staff.

“Even though he went to [Catholic-run] Georgetown,” Mahony said that Clinton in his first two years in office “just didn’t have the understanding of how many of us there were, much less what is important to us and what is our role in society in this country.”

PEOPLE

* The Rev. John E. Kim of Los Angeles, who led an exodus of some 20 conservative Korean American churches from the Christian Reformed Church in 1992, surprised his growing congregation last spring by accepting the presidency of Chongshin Theological Seminary in Seoul, Korea. Kim’s Los Angeles Christian Presbyterian Church, 2241 N. Eastern Ave., had doubled in size to 2,800 members after the large secession over theological issues. In the three months before hiring its new pastor, the Rev. Young Jin Kim, the church lost about 600 members, said education pastor Jonathan Lee. Now membership “is on the rise again,” Lee said.

* The large First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton, without a senior pastor since the Rev. Charles Swindoll resigned in April, 1994, after 23 years, has chosen a successor--the Rev. H. Dale Burke of Arroyo Grande. Burke, who will preach his first sermon as pastor of the Fullerton church on Dec. 3, has been pastor of Grace Bible Church, which grew from 500 to 1,350 members during his tenure. Swindoll, a best-selling evangelical author, became president of Dallas Theological Seminary.

* The Rev. Mel White, a onetime ghostwriter for Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson before revealing his gay orientation, will give a lecture 11 a.m. Tuesday at the University of La Verne’s Founders Hall Auditorium. White is now dean of the Cathedral of Hope Metropolitan Community Church in Dallas, Tex. He will also appear at a 7:30 p.m. panel discussion Tuesday at the campus’ La Fetra Auditorium. Information: (909) 593-5512.

FORUMS

* The Los Angeles Council of Churches will hold a forum at 7 p.m. Thursday on affirmative action hiring policies that have come under attack in government circles. “Affirmative action has meant a new hope for a substantial portion of our population,” said the Rev. Paul Stewart, council president and pastor of Philips Christian Methodist Episcopal Temple. The event, which will include gospel music, will be held at the Church of the Living God, 9800 S. Western Ave. Information: (213) 733-4527.

* Making tough medical treatment decisions will be discussed Oct. 15 at an Encino synagogue by an attorney, two physicians and two rabbis. The two-hour forum, which will start at 10 a.m., will consider what Judaism, the law and secular ethics, among other fields, say about duties and rights. The speakers will include Rabbi Harold Schulweis of the host temple, Valley Beth Shalom, 15739 Ventura Blvd., and Rabbi Elliot Dorff of the University of Judaism. Information: (818) 788-6000.

DATES

* Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti is scheduled to speak on “The Criminal Justice System in Los Angeles County” at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Temple Beth Hillel, a Reform synagogue at 12326 Riverside Drive, Valley Village. A $2 donation is asked. Information: (818) 763-9148. * Marking its 90th anniversary, the Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo District will hold a panel discussion next Saturday morning on the standing of Jodo Shinshu, or Shin Buddhism, in contemporary U.S. society. A panel discussion at 9:30 a.m. featuring Robert Ellwood, professor of religion at USC, and Alfred Bloom of the Institute for Buddhist Studies in Berkeley will be moderated by the Rev. Tetsuo Unno, chairman of the anniversary program, at the temple, 815 E. 1st St. Information: (213) 680-9130.

* Three psychoanalysts in the tradition of Carl Jung will lead a three-hour program on psychology and spirituality at 9:30 a.m. next Saturday, Oct. 14, at Osaka Sangyo University, 3921 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Studio City. The organizer is the Coldwater Counseling Center of Studio City, a group that was sponsored by the Episcopal Church in Studio City for 30 years until the center was spun off last year as an independent organization. Preregistration is $30, registration at the door is $35. Information: (818) 508-0703.

* With the needy in mind, the Christian Resource Fair will provide information on an array of social services from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hawthorne Park, 3901 El Segundo Blvd., Hawthorne. Besides food and games, free information on counseling, child care, self-help groups, drug programs, youth groups, homeless housing and other matters will be available. The sponsors, based in Inglewood, are Jacob’s Ladder Community Fellowship Church and the Direct to God Resource Directory Project. Information: (213) 732-5300.

* Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, professor of Bible at Hebrew Union College and the first woman to join its rabbinical studies faculty, will give four presentations next weekend as “scholar in residence” at Temple Beth-El & Center, 1435 W. 7th St., San Pedro. The series begins at 8 p.m. Friday with “Family Portraits--Biblical Style” and ends Oct. 15 at 9:30 a.m. with “Who Wrote the Bible?” Registration: (310) 833-246.

* Clifford and Joyce Penner, sexual therapists and author of six books, will speak on their specialty next Saturday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Hollywood Presbyterian Church, launching a bimonthly program for marriage enhancement. The seminar on Dec. 2 will be led by the Rev. Louis and Collen Evans of Menlo Park. Louis Evans was founding pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian Church. Reservations: (213) 463-7161, ext. 219.

* Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, a 72-year-old woman who teaches Sahaja Yoga Meditation, will make her third appearance in three years in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., speaking at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, 1700 Ocean Ave. Information: (310) 544-4794.

* The 1995-96 concert season at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Pacific Palisades will begin 8:15 p.m. Friday with the parish’s chamber orchestra performing the “Jupiter” Symphony No. 41 and other works by Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart. Information: (310) 573-7787, ext. 127.

* Notre Dame biblical scholar James C. VanderKam, author of the recent “The Dead Sea Scrolls Today,” will give a public lecture on the current state of research on the Scrolls at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Fuller Theological Seminary’s Travis Auditorium in Pasadena. The talk is free. Information: (818) 584-5367.

* Valley Faith Fellowship of Delano will host a weekend conference for singles, featuring Willie Lewis, formerly of the Platters singing group, as guest speaker. Services will be held on Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 14 at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the church at 15570 County Line Road. There is no registration fee. Information: (805) 725-6034.

CORRECTION

* In Southern California File on Sept. 30, an observation about the rise in anti-Semitism in Poland during the Nazi era was not made by attorney Barry Fisher but instead by Rabbi William Kramer.

FINALLY

* Close on the heels of Yom Kippur, the solemn Jewish holy day that ended at sunset Wednesday, comes the holiday Sukkot, starting at sunset Sunday. The harvest festival is signified by the building of a sukkah, or shanty with a roof of branches.

The shack commemorates the biblical story of the Israelites’ 40-year journey through desert lands. During the weeklong celebration, the lulav , a bundle of myrtle, willow and palm branches, and the citrus etrog are held together and shaken in four directions to symbolize God’s omnipresence.

Two synagogues have added new wrinkles to the celebration.

Members of Temple Beth Haverim of Agoura Hills will go Sunday morning to an orchard in Oxnard to pick crops to donate to the poor. Rabbi Gary Johnson will conduct a brief family service there with a picnic to follow. (818 991-7111).

Westminster’s Temple Beth David will take its first Sukkah Mobile, complete with lulav and etrog , to surrounding Orange County communities for short 6 p.m. celebrations at members’ homes, starting Monday. The congregation, led by Rabbi Michael Mayersohn, will begin the holiday at 5 p.m. Sunday with a dinner on the lawn near the temple’s sukkah. (714 892-6623).