Catholics to Focus on Religious Education

As many as 20,000 Catholic educators, priests, sisters and lay leaders are expected to attend the annual Los Angeles Religious Education Congress next weekend--the largest yearly event of its kind in Catholicism.

The three-day congress starting Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center registered 20,000 participants from around the country each of the last two years. Another 10,000 Catholic students are expected to attend the annual Youth Day in the center’s arena Thursday.

The congress will open with a service at 8:30 a.m. Friday in the arena and start the first of 260 workshops at 10 a.m. that day. Nearly 50 of those workshops will be conducted in Spanish.

Workshop topics range from Scripture studies and spirituality to homosexuality and AIDS, religion on the Internet, African American concerns and the Common Ground Project of the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago.

Cardinal Stephan Sou Hwan Kim of Seoul will lead workshops in English and Korean on evangelization efforts in Asia, and will celebrate a Mass in Korean at 5:15 p.m. next Saturday.

Father Michael Himes, professor of theology at Boston College, will give the keynote address at 8:30 a.m. that day.

Others among the 140 speakers are authors Richard Rohr and Gil Bailie, Los Angeles inner-city priest Gregory Boyle, talk show host-family therapist Laura Schlessinger and biblical scholar Walter Burghardt.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony will celebrate Mass at the congress’ closing liturgy at 5:15 p.m. on Feb. 16. Congress registration is $55. (213) 637-7332.

LENT

The Lenten period leading to Easter will begin for Catholic and Protestant Christians on Wednesday starting for many with the imposition of ashes on worshipers’ foreheads as a reminder of one’s mortality and the season of penance.

Easter falls on March 30 this year for Western Christianity. Due to traditional differences in calculating the date of the holiday, Eastern Orthodox Christians will begin Lent on March 10 and celebrate Easter on April 27.

In keeping with the reflective mood of Lent, many churches and retreat centers schedule special programs. At Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, for example, the Catholic facility will have both weekend retreats and midweek programs, starting Ash Wednesday with an evening of recollection for couples led by Father Phil Paxton. (818) 355-7188.

PEOPLE

Greek Orthodox Archbishop Spyridon of New York, the first U.S.-born spiritual leader for Greek Orthodox Christians in North America, will make his first visit to Southern California next week.

The Ohio-born Archbishop Spyridon, 52, was enthroned Sept. 21 in the seat long held by Archbishop Iakovos, who retired last year. The new spiritual leader for the Greek Orthodox on this continent was previously the church’s metropolitan for Italy.

On Thursday, the new archbishop will begin a five-day visit including stops at St. Nicholas School in Northridge and a folk dance festival in Ontario and a banquet next Saturday at the Red Lion Hotel in Ontario. Accompanying Spyridon will be Bishop Anthony of the Diocese of San Francisco, which includes Southern California.

* Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams, Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block, Inglewood Police Chief Oliver Thompson and Judge Roosevelt Dorn of Inglewood Juvenile Court will be given Peacemaker Awards on Sunday at West Angeles Church of God in Christ, 3045 Crenshaw Blvd.

A church spokesman said the honorees will appear at all four morning services--7, 8:30, 10 and 11:30--as a part of Law Enforcement Day in the large church. About 500 uniformed officers are expected to attend. (310) 996-3448.

* The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, minister of Harvard University’s Memorial Church and author of a newly published popular commentary on the Bible entitled, “The Good Book,” preaches at the 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. services Sunday at All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena. Gomes will also lead a Lenten discussion today at the parish from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. More than 500 have signed up for the day-long seminar, but reservations may be made at the door. The cost is $20 per person. All Saints is at 132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena. (818) 796-1172.

DATES

A seminar for clergy and related professionals on dealing with and diffusing anger will be held next week in Long Beach and Pasadena. The speakers will be clinical psychologist David Stoop of Orange, adult education specialist Lydia M. Sarandon of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, and the Rev. Robert Bock, pastor of North Hollywood First Christian Church. The identical seminars, sponsored by Forest Lawn Memorial Parks, will be at the Queen Mary on Tuesday and at the Pasadena Hilton Hotel on Thursday, starting at 9 a.m. both days. Registration prices vary. (800) 204-3131, Ext. 4741.

* More than 100 Christian and Jewish seminarians from Los Angeles area theological schools will meet in a 24-hour intensive retreat Sunday and Monday in Malibu. The annual retreat, aimed at overcoming religious stereotypes through personal contact, will focus this year on the role of the Ten Commandments and other tenets in their faith traditions. The sponsor is the National Conference, once known as the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

* Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin, senior rabbi at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Bel-Air, will start a four-part class at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at the University of Judaism incorporating themes from his recent book, “What This Modern Jew Believes.” Tuition is $75. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 246.

FINALLY

Valentine’s Day may have become a secular paean to love, but not a few churches will take note of the day that owes its existence to St. Valentine, the legendary patron of love martyred in 3rd century Rome.

The Madrigal Singers of Garden Grove United Methodist Church, for instance, will present a program at 7 p.m. Sunday titled “The Sweetness of Love.” Guest soloists and an instrumental combo will perform “romantic music,” said a spokesman. $5. (714) 534-1070.

On Valentine’s Day itself, more than 50 senior couples will renew their wedding vows at 2 p.m. in a succession of ceremonies led by a rabbi, priest and minister at Huntington Landmark Senior Community Center with wedding cake and champagne to follow. (714) 857-2226.

In what has become a 25-year tradition in the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese, couples marking their 25th, 50th or higher wedding anniversaries will participate Sunday afternoon in a Mass presided over by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony. This year’s renewal of vows will be at St. Mel Catholic Church in Woodland Hills.

Notices may be mailed to Southern California File, c/o John Dart, L.A. Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, or faxed to Religion desk (818) 772-3385. Items should arrive about three weeks before the event, except for spot news, and should include pertinent details about the people and organizations with address, phone number, date and time.

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HOLIDAY

Tens of thousands of Muslims will assemble at various locations for mass prayers early Sunday morning to mark the end of Ramadan, the 30-day period of daytime fasting.

The three-day Eid al-Fitr (Feast of Breaking Fast) is one of two major holidays in Islam, the second coming near the end of the annual Hajj, or pilgrimage.

Banners at the gatherings typically proclaim Eid mubarak, or Blessed Eid. Muslims often greet each other with an Arabic expression meaning, “May God accept your deeds.”

Dr. Maher Hathout, the chief spokesman for the Islamic Center of Southern California, will speak at 7 and 8:30 a.m. Eid prayers will be offered at the Los Angeles Convention Center’s West Hall. More than 10,000 are expected to attend.

A comparable assembly of worshipers is expected at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley for prayers at 8:30 a.m. with Muzammil Siddiqi as the speaker.

About 7,000 are expected to gather in the Cal Poly Gymnasium at the Pomona Fairgrounds for prayers at 7 and 8 a.m. Ahmad Sakr will deliver the messages.

Among other Eid gatherings are prayers at Hawthorne Plaza Mall and Cal State Northridge, both starting at 7 a.m. and expected to draw about 2,000 people each.