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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
SERVING SAN FRANCISCO, MARIN & SAN MATEO COUNTIES
www.catholic-sf.org
APRIL 22, 2021
$1.00 | VOL. 23 NO. 7
Pope calls all Catholics to be missionaries of God’s mercy CINDY WOODEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
ROME – All Christians are called to become missionaries, sharing the Gospel of God’s love and mercy with others, Pope Francis said. “Today Jesus tells us, too, ‘Peace be with you! You are precious in my eyes. Peace be with you! You are important for me. Peace be with you! You have a mission. No one can take your place. You are irreplaceable. And I believe in you,’” the pope said April 11. Pope Francis celebrated the Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday at the Rome Church of the Holy Spirit, just a block away from St. Peter’s Square. The church is the Rome Shrine of Divine Mercy, a devotion begun by St. Faustina
(PHOTO BY DENNIS CALLAHAN/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
Catholics prayed a multilingual rosary in front of St. Mary’s Cathedral April 10 before the prayer service for an end to violence against Asian Americans. The Vietnamese Catholic community handed out roses to the crowd to honor Mary and ask for her intercession.
Archbishop leads prayers for unity, end to ‘virus’ of racism NICHOLAS WOLFRAM SMITH CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
Mother against mines: Replacing the remnants of war with sustainable agriculture
A recent report by Stop AAPI Hate found 3,795 racially motivated incidents against Asian Americans across the country between March 2020 to February 2021. Physical assaults were 11.1% of CHRISTINA GRAY that total. In response to violence against Asian CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Americans, the Biden administration published in March a series of actions including the estabHeidi Kühn’s mission to remove landmines from the lishment of a Department of Justice initiative to soil and souls of people in conflictaddress anti-Asian violence. torn countries and replace them with HEIDI KÜHN H sustainable farmland they can prosSan Francisco is “a place where no one has to H wander anymore to find a welcoming and stable per from began with an unscripted home,” Archbishop Cordileone said, drawing toast in the living room of her San on the opening lyrics of one of the city’s official Rafael home. songs: “San Francisco, open your Golden Gate/ “May the world go from mines You’ll let no stranger wait outside your door/San to vines,” she said to a roomful of Francisco, here is your wanderin’ one/Saying I’ll anti-landmine activists and landmine wander no more.” survivors from around the world on The archbishop noted that San Francisco has Sept. 21, 1997. always attracted immigrants, from the Irish and The group was in San Francisco to raise awareness of Italian immigrants of the city’s earlier days to the an international treaty to ban the production and use of men and women from Mexico and other Central landmines. The young mother serendipitously offered and South American countries seeking freedom to host the reception for the Commonwealth Club in the personal way to honor your loved one’s patriotism to our country. from oppression and aAbetter life. woodsy hilltop home her grandmother Lucretia McNear M E M O I R / M O T I VAT I O N A L
P R A I S E F O R H E I D I KÜ H N A N D
B R E A K I N G G RO U N D
“Guided by the leadership of Heidi Kühn, Roots of Peace has saved lives, transformed communities, and advanced peace around the globe. Long after the bombs have been
silenced and the peace treaties have been signed, the deadly threat of landmines remains. We must maintain our drumbeat of activism and action until every child and parent can live free from the senseless devastation caused by landmines.”
HEIDI KÜHN
From Landmines to Grapevines, One Woman’s Mission to Heal the World
eidi Kühn’s commitment to fostering peace and raising awareness has been a driving force in her
—Nancy Pelosi
farmers and family members, spanning seven coun-
tries. Thanks to Roots of Peace, over one hundred thousand landmines and unexploded ordnances
“My late husband, Senator John McCain, served in the Vietnam War, which ended
almost fifty years ago. Unfortunately, over one hundred thousand innocent Vietnamese children and farmers have been maimed or killed due to the continued devastating
effects of landmines. Thank you to Heidi Kühn for her groundbreaking efforts in . . . removing unexploded ordnance and planting sustainable peace.”
have been removed since 2001.
Her numerous awards include the 2002 Alumni
of the Year Award for Excellence in Achievement
—Cindy McCain
Business owner, philanthropist, and humanitarian
“Breaking Ground is a testament to Heidi’s faith and raw courage and to her persistence
from UC Berkeley, the 2005 World Association of
in the face of seemingly impossible odds. It is an affirmation of the human capacity to do
Award, the 2006 Skoll Award for Social Entrepre-
—Ambassador George Moose
Non-Governmental Organizations Peace & Security
good in the world, one that could not be more welcome or more timely.”
Vice Chair, U.S. Institute of Peace
neurship, the 2007 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Award for Outstanding Public Service Benefitting
Local Communities, and the 2019 Mahatma Gandhi Seva Medal.
“In her new book Breaking Ground, [Heidi] inspires us to do our part, to get engaged, and [to] support innovative solutions that plant the seeds for future prosperity and peace.”
—Pat Mitchell
Heidi is a graduate of the University of California,
Chair, Sundance Institute, and author of Becoming a Dangerous
Berkeley, and a former CNN reporter and producer.
She lives in San Rafael, California, with her husband, Gary, with whom she has four children—Brooks, Tucker, Kyleigh, and Christian.
For more information about Roots of Peace,
please visit www.rootsofpeace.org.
Woman: Embracing Risk to Change the World
“There are an estimated sixty million landmines in over sixty countries, [the] aftermath of civil wars. They maim or kill farmers and children. They also cause terrible harm to
life—from her early days as a student at the Univer-
animals, domestic livestock and wildlife alike. . . . Thank you, Heidi Kühn, for writing
sity of California, Berkeley, to her time as a reporter
Breaking Ground, [which] discusses this mostly forgotten aspect.”
—Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE
Founder, the Jane Goodall Institute, and UN Messenger of Peace ISBN: 978-1-68383-446-5
E A R T H AWA R E
www.MandalaEarth.com Manufactured in India
in Juneau, Alaska, covering the Exxon Valdez oil spill
and US-Russia relations. After overcoming a potentially terminal cancer diagnosis that threatened everything she held dear, Heidi became determined to rid
BREAKING GROUND
the world of another form of cancer that has plagued
the world for decades—landmines—in regions as farflung as Croatia, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.
Inspired by the work of the late Princess Diana,
Heidi began the humanitarian organization Roots of Peace from the basement of her Northern California home. She gained the support of famed Napa Valley
vintners Robert Mondavi and Mike Grgich, and soon her mines-to-vines mission began to take hold.
In this powerful memoir, Heidi tells the Roots
of Peace story, guiding the reader from the early days
in which she built her vision to her current pres-
ence on the global stage, where she has worked with presidents, prime minsters, landmine survivors, and religious leaders from around the world to spread a message of peace and recovery. In the years since the
Foreword by HER MAJESTY QUEEN NOOR
founding of Roots of Peace, its agricultural projects
have made tremendous progress in the fight against landmines, revitalizing devastated land and uplifting the lives of countless people in the process.
Through recalling her journey, Heidi reveals the
remarkable change an ordinary person can inspire.
$24.95 US / $33.95 CAN
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to aid landmine removal and replanting efforts around the world.
$24.95 US / $33.95 CAN
A captivating memoir about one woman’s journey of healing and her
relentless mission to replace war-torn
lands with fertile, sustainable farmlands
Speaker of the US House of Representatives
eidi Kühn is the founder and CEO of Roots of Peace, which has impacted over 1.1 million
BREAKING GROUND
Amid a surge in violence across the country against Asian-Americans, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone led a prayer service for unity, healing and peace April 10. “Our city has always been known as a place that welcomes the foreigner, a place of harmonization of diverse cultures where all can be who they are and thrive in community with others,” the archbishop said in his homily at the afternoon prayer service at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The prayer service, attended by about 100 people, was open to Catholics and people of other faiths. It was organized by Divine Word Father Peter Zhai, director of the archdiocese’s Chinese ministry. Before the prayer service, local Catholics gathered on the cathedral steps for a multilingual rosary. The Bay Area has been the site of shocking assaults and robberies against Asian Americans, especially the elderly. One San Francisco victim, 84-year-old Thai American Vicha Ratanapakdee, died after he was assaulted in January.
SEE POPE, PAGE 15
EARTH AWA R E
Preface by KEN RUTHERFORD
Her story is one of faith, healing, and the compas-
sion needed to grow a more peaceful world. Breaking Ground will encourage you to do the extraordinary and help plant the seeds of change for a brighter future.
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A Tradition of Faith Throughout Our Lives.
INDEX National . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 SF Católico . . . . . . . . . . . . 22