Aug 31, 2018
Recent news of abuse and misconduct in Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and other places in the world has shaken our local community and eroded trust in the Church and its leadership. These events are horrific. We must review and, if necessary, renew our efforts to heal all victims and others affected by these crimes and sins, bring perpetrators to justice and preclude further abuse.
The Diocese of San Jose remains committed to the protection of children and vulnerable adults. The Diocese of San Jose has long undertaken significant initiatives to protect all with whom we have contact.
Here follows a brief timeline of the development of our policies for the protection of children and vulnerable adults, a summary of our systemic efforts to ensure a safe environment, and an outline of our response to accusations of abuse and misconduct that highlights these efforts.
In 2002, the Bishops of the United States approved the Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The Charter provides policies for dioceses of the United States to address incidents of abuse and facilitate a safe environment in our parishes, schools, and Catholic organizations, the places where we worship, gather, educate and serve. It includes procedures for reconciliation, healing, and accountability. The Dallas Charter was updated and strengthened in 2005, 2011, and 2018.
The Diocese of San Jose has adopted and implemented the Dallas Charter. We have also successfully undergone annual audits to ensure compliance and ongoing growth and development in our efforts of protection.
In 2002, the Diocese of San Jose established the Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults. This office oversees and coordinates the pastoral care and outreach to victims of clergy sexual abuse (as well as other victims who may have been abused within parishes or Catholic institutions – here or in other dioceses). This outreach and care include counseling, support groups, spiritual assistance, and other support services. Throughout the years, we have had the service of Victim Assistance Coordinators, who organize these efforts and accompany victims through their healing.
The independent Diocesan Review Board was established in 2002. This board evaluates any allegation of sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults by clergy (deacons, priests, and bishops), Church personnel or volunteers within the Diocese, even if civil authorities have chosen not to pursue legal action. The board also evaluates accusations of clergy sexual misconduct that point to possible violations of pastoral relationships.
Following its evaluation, the board advises the Bishop of San Jose regarding recommended action. The Diocesan Review Board is presently chaired by the Honorable Edward Panelli, a retired Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, and includes other qualified lay persons and one pastor, as mandated by the Dallas Charter.
The Diocese of San Jose has ongoing programs to ensure screening and training of all clergy, diocesan employees, seminarians, and Church volunteers in Santa Clara County. All clergy, seminarians, employees, and volunteers must be fingerprinted and undergo a background check before they can minister in the Diocese. Approximately 46,000 persons have been fingerprinted and undergone background screening since 2002.
Additionally, all clergy, employees and volunteers are required to undergo comprehensive “Safe Environment Training” every three years. The Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults coordinates and monitors this training. Over 46,000 persons have undergone safe environment training in the Diocese since 2002. We provide age-appropriate safe environment training in our schools and catechetical programs. Additionally, the Diocese requires that employees complete training regarding sexual harassment and workplace conduct every three years.
While important, training and background checks cannot prevent all misconduct. All clergy, school personnel, and pastoral ministers are mandated reporters in the State of California and must report any suspected abuse immediately. When we receive an accusation of sexual abuse, we notify civil authorities immediately. The Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults then notifies the Bishop, the Vicar General, and the Chair of the Diocesan Review Board.
The Diocese of San Jose cooperates fully with any investigation.
The victim’s safety and care are the primary concerns, and a Victim Assistance Coordinator is assigned to facilitate an immediate response to the victim and family and to coordinate ongoing care.
If the accusation is deemed “credible,” we remove the accused from ministry, pending the results of further investigation. Following the civil investigation and any legal action, the Diocese will pursue additional sanctions within the Church.
As a Diocese, we have adopted and exceeded national norms. Our churches and schools are much safer since the Dallas Charter was promulgated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002. Through the Charter, Catholic dioceses across the United States, including San Jose, have committed to conducting background checks for all persons who work with minors and vulnerable adults and to training minors and adults to recognize signs of abuse and of grooming by sexual predators.
Although we are not perfect, our efforts help ensure that our churches and schools in Santa Clara County are much safer.
The Diocese of San Jose remains committed to the protection of all persons to whom we minister, to the facilitation of safe and healthy parishes, schools, and organizations, and to healthy pastoral relationships that foster each person’s relationship with our loving God. To that end, we will continue to review our policies and procedures to learn if there are ways that we may improve our efforts on behalf of children, youth and all vulnerable persons.
Pope Francis has asserted that “We have realized that these wounds never disappear and that they require us forcefully to condemn these atrocities….” He continues, “The heart-wrenching pain of these victims, which cries out to heaven, was long ignored, kept quiet, or silenced.” He calls us to prayer and penance: “Penance and prayer will help us to open our eyes and our hearts to other people’s sufferings.”
We continue to do all that we can, through prayer and action, to promote reconciliation and healing for those who have suffered and to create a safe environment for every person.
August 31, 2018
May 22, 2018
The Province of the United States of America recommends to your prayers our dear brother, Eugene Frank, S.M., of the Marianist Community of Cupertino, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on April 22 in Cupertino at the age of 86 with 59 years of religious profession.
Brother Gene was a gifted musician, scholar, and spiritual seeker. He was a beloved teacher, administrator, archivist and IT specialist in both the United States and Korea.
Eugene Nicholas Frank was born in Venice, California on May 23, 1931, the eldest of five children in the family of Nicholas Frank and Yvonne (Belanger) Frank. He attended Saint Monica’s grammar school and high school in Santa Monica. The Marianists administered Saint Monica’s High School at the time and that is how Brother Gene first came into contact with the Society of Mary.
Brother Gene was greatly gifted in languages and music. He was fluent in French, Spanish, Korean, Russian, and German.
It was during a stint with the U.S. Navy that Brother Gene decided to devote his life in the service of Mary, the Mother of God. Whenever he was in port at Pearl Harbor, he received spiritual direction from both Marianist Father Robert Mackey and Father Steve Tutas.
“Eugene was a careful seeker with a great sense of wonder,” recalls Father Tutas. After Brother Gene was discharged, he entered the Marianist novitiate at Santa Cruz, CA, and made his first profession of vows on June 7, 1958. He made his perpetual profession on August 15, 1961.
Before entering the Society of Mary, Brother Gene had already earned a bachelor’s degree at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He received his master’s degree in physics from UCLA in 1960 and his doctorate in plasma physics from Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1965. From 1960-1962, he was also teaching math and physics at Juniper Serra High School in Gardena, CA.
Upon receiving his PhD, Brother Gene was assigned to teach physics and mathematics at Chaminade University of Honolulu. In 1966, he was sent to Dayton University to teach graduate and undergraduate courses in physics. Under the tutelage of Brother Hugh Bihl, he worked with the Dayton Sodality, giving spiritual direction to sodalists and meeting with the members of the Marianist State. Brother Gene returned to Chaminade University in 1971 as associate professor of physics and mathematics.
In 1975, he volunteered to go to Korea to assist in the formation of Korean brothers. While teaching electronic engineering at Songang University, he continued to work with the brothers and various Korean lay groups. During this time, the Marianist Sisters from Japan founded a community of Marianist Sisters in Korea. Brother Gene felt privileged to assist in their education of Marianist spirituality and history. His final three years in Korea were spent as a principal of the Marianist high school in Mokpo.
After dedicating 15 years in Korea, Brother Gene returned to the United Sates in 1990. He then devoted five more years educating Catholic youth at Chaminade College Preparatory in West Hills, CA. There, he founded the computer studies program and the information systems department. In 1997, Brother Gene went to Villa Saint Joseph in Cupertino, CA, and invested his time and talents as province archivist. He retired to the Marianist Center in Cupertino but continued to spend much time in service to the brothers when they had computer issues. His life-long love of knowledge continued in his retirement.
In marking his 60th jubilee, Brother Gene wrote, “The most rewarding part of my life as a Marianist was living in community.” Brother Tom Redmond reflected, “One of the greatest compliments, I believe, that we can give a fellow Marianist is that we enjoyed his presence in community. I had the joy of living with Brother Gene in four communities and in each of these he added much to our lives through the gift of himself. He brought into community life his unique personality along with his deep interest for learning.”
Apr 12, 2018
Leadership Training – May 17 to 19 / 2018
Leadership Training: Priests, Parish Staff, Religious, Council Members, Ministry Coordinators (Youth & Young Adults; Liturgy; Social Ministry; Catechetical, School Teachers).
The Mission – June 20 to 22 / 2018
All Parishioners
FREE for All Participants
Parishes not participating in the D6 Multi-Parish Cooperative are WELCOME!
(We ask Parishes to contribute with a flat fee of $500 per parish, for both events; regardless of quantity of ministers, or staff )
Pastors: To register Please contact and confirm with the Dean Fr. Bob Fambrini, SJ. Individuals, Please send an email to Anabella Estrada at aestrada@dsj.org
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Feb 14, 2017
Did You Know?
- 1 in 4 persons sitting in our pews has a family member struggling with mental health issues;
- 1 in 5 of our youth experience mental health problems;
- A majority of individuals with a mental health issue go first to a pastor, priest, rabbi, imam, minister, faith leader for help;
- Studies show that clergy are the least effective in providing appropriate support and referral information;
- You need an ethical framework to choose how to respond appropriately to those with mental illness.
Learn…. Share…. Pray…. Break Bread…Be Inspired to:
- End the Silence in Our Faith Communities about Mental Health Disorders;
- Reduce the Stigma or Discrimination of Mental Illness;
- Leave with skills, resources, and ethical framework for being with and advocating for individuals and families affected by Mental Health issues.
Who Needs to Come: Clergy, Lay Leaders, Youth & Young Adult Ministers, Pastoral Care & Social Justice Staff & Volunteers, Church administrative staff (paid and unpaid), Congregants, Parishioners, Therapists, Social Workers, & Chaplains
Register at:
*PLEASE NOTE: WALK-IN REGISTRATION IS NOT ALLOWED.
Schedule
| 9:00 |
Check-in
Coffee (Browse resource table for NAMI, QPR, and other handouts) |
9:30
|
Welcome & Prayer
Rev. Dana Bainbridge, Founder & Director, Recovery Cafe |
9:45
|
Role of Faith and Spirituality in Mental Health
Simran Singh, MD, Behavioral Health, El Camino Hospital
|
| 10:30 |
Focusing an Ethical Lens
Ethics of What to Say, What to Do
Margaret McLean, Ph.D., Associate Director and Director of Bioethics,
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University |
11:00
|
Break |
11:15
|
My Lived Experience with the Faith Community and Mental Illness
Tri-alogue facilitated by Thomas G. Plante, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Spirituality and Health Institute, Santa Clara University; adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine
|
| 12:15 |
Lunch inside or outside |
1: 15
|
QPR
I’m thinkin’ the world is better off without me—Prevention and Intervention of Suicide -Evelyn Castillo Tirumalai, MPH, Senior Mental Health Program Specialist, Santa Clara County, Behavioral Health Services
|
| 2:30 |
Break |
2:45
|
“What We Found Works”
Practical & Prayerful Tools for Well-Being
Rev. Kim Engelmann, H.E.L.P., West Valley Presbyterian Church; Sr. Nancy Kehoe, Ph.D. assistant clinical professor Harvard Medical School; author, Wrestling with our Inner Angels: Faith, Mental Illness, and Wholeness, George Papageorge LMFT, Family Wellness Ministry, Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco |
3:45 |
Sending Forth in Peace & Wholeness
Sr. Nancy Kehoe, RSC |
Speakers Bio
Rev. Dana Bainbridge
is Pastor of First Christian Church, San Jose and has been an ordained minister for 22 years, as well as Co-Founder and Program Director of Recovery Cafe San Jose. Dana is a Certified Public Manager (CPM) and has served on the staff and Boards of many non-profit organizations including Habitat for Humanity. She has also worked as a project manager for a welfare-to-work program where she developed programs and community relationships to provide work experience and jobs for people stuck in the welfare system. Dana holds Masters degrees from both Notre Dame University and Vanderbilt University.
Thomas G. Plante, Ph.D., ABPP
is the Augustin Cardinal Bea, S.J. University Professor and directs the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University. He is also an adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. He recently served as vice-chair of the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Youth for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and is past-president of the Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (Division 36) of the American Psychological Association. He has authored or edited 21 books including, Graduating with Honor: Best Practices to Promote Ethics Development in College Students (2017), Do the Right Thing: Living Ethically in an Unethical World (2004), Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: A Decade of Crisis, 2002-2012 (2011), Spiritual Practices in Psychotherapy: Thirteen Tools for Enhancing Psychological Health (2009), Faith and Health: Psychological Perspective (2001), among others. He has published over 200 scholarly professional journal articles and book chapters as well. He teaches courses in abnormal, clinical, health, and general psychology as well as ethics and maintains a private clinical practice as a licensed psychologist in Menlo Park, CA. His practice specializes in Catholic and Episcopalian clerics and laypersons.
Nancy C. Kehoe, RSCJ, Ph.D.
is a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart. She is a part-time Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and has been affiliated with the Cambridge Health Alliance since 1976. Her area of expertise is religion and spirituality in the clinical context. For thirty-three years, using a model she created, Dr. Kehoe has led groups on spiritual beliefs and values for adults with psychiatric disabilities. She currently consults with healthcare providers in mental health and geriatric settings. She has presented at regional, national, and international conferences and published on the subject of religion/spirituality and mental illness. She has recently published “Wrestling with Our Inner Angels: Faith, Mental Illness and the Journey to Wholeness.” She has also published six You Tube videos entitled, “Conversations on Religion and Mental Illness” which can be viewed by clicking on the following link: http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/rshm/conversations-religion-and-mental-illness
Margaret R. McLean, Ph.D.
is the Associate Director and Director of Bioethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. A Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies and affiliate faculty in Bioengineering, she teaches courses on ethics including health care ethics and ethics and biotechnology. In 2006, she received the Brutocao Award for Curriculum Innovation. Holding a doctorate in clinical pathology from the Medical College of Wisconsin and a Masters of Divinity from Luther Seminary, she has a second doctoral degree in ethics from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She is a member of the Bioethics Committee at O’Connor Hospital (San Jose), Seton Medical Center (Daly City), St. Louise Regional Hospital (Gilroy), Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (San Jose), the Infant & Children Bioethics Committee at Valley Medical Center, and the Santa Clara County Medical Association Bioethics Committee. Professional and research interests include the ethical dimensions of biotechnology, especially medical applications of genetic technologies, neonatology, justice in health care, disaster preparedness, medical decision making for vulnerable patient populations, and end of life decision-making. Current projects include: end of life decision-making with a focus on unrepresented patients, ethical preparedness for medical disaster, innovative approaches to undergraduate education in medical ethics, and the ethics of space exploration and astrobiology.
Simran Singh MD MBA
completed her psychiatry residency in Adult Psychiatry from Stanford Health care in 2000. She is a pioneer in building and sustaining integrated Primary Care Psychiatry programs or organizations like Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Currently she is the director of Thought disorders program at El Camino hospital. She continues to pursue her interest in inpatient psychiatric care, emergency psychiatry and partial hospitalization programs at El Camino Hospital. She is an MBA and can relate to business aspects of stress and their impact on health. Her interest in physician well-being issues and ethics draw her to create a platform of integrating self care, spirituality and personal value systems into comprehensive models of healing in her private practice and beyond.
Evelyn Tirumalai, MPH
is currently Sr. Mental Health Program Specialist at Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services Department, having served as the Suicide Prevention Coordinator since 2012. Evelyn has a Developmental Psychology degree from UC Berkeley. She completed her Master of Public Health degree with an emphasis on Health Promotion and Education at Loma Linda University. Currently, she coordinates the work of multiple workgroups and community collaborators in the implementation of the Santa Clara County Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan. She was recently promoted to coordinate the County’s MHSA programs.
Rev. Kim Englemann
is Pastor of Caring Ministries at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California, since February 2001. Menlo Park Presbyterian is a dynamic church with nearly 5,000 members. She supervises staff, oversees recovery and support groups, does individual counseling, crisis intervention, and prayer ministries as well as preaching on designated Sundays and teaching fellowship/bible study classes. Before working at Menlo Park, Kim was Associate Pastor at First Congregational Church in Redwood City, California. She grew up on the East Coast and worked in many pastoral settings there, including working as the chaplain in a psychiatric hospital and a general hospital, and serving churches in urban and rural settings. Kim was Associate Pastor of Trinitarian Congregational Church in N. Andover, Massachusetts, and The Federated Church of Ashland, Massachusetts. Kim is married to Tim Engelmann who is a clinical psychologist in private practice in California. They have three children. The Engelmanns live in the Bay Area in CA and enjoy the beach, kayaking, camping, water skiing, snow skiing and just about anything else that has to do with being outside.
George Papageorge, LMFT
is a licensed marriage & family therapist who has been working with couples, families and young people for the past 25 years. Working in areas of empathy based relationships, parenting with emotional intelligence, family systems therapy and addiction recovery. He is also a highly sought out seminar speaker in a variety of areas of family life and personal growth. George serves on the Family Wellness Ministry for the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, providing Wellness Conferences for the parishes of the west coast. George offers patients and workshop participants a path toward integrating sensible psychological insights within a solid Orthodox foundation.
Faith, Spirituality, & Mental Health Conference; May 10; 9 a.m.-4 p.m.. $25 including lunch. Locatelli Student Actvity Center, Santa Clara University. Registration closes May 1. No walk-ins. 1 in 4 members of our parish are afffected by mental illness. People often first seek support from faith leaders. Sadly, folks experience rejection and are given incorrect information–soemtimes with tragic consequences. DSJ’s Mental Health Ministry Network partnering with Santa Clara University, NAMI, and Catholic Charities offers prayerful & practical day-long conference on accompanying those with mental illness and their families. Learn QPR–Question, Persuade & Refer: Three simple steps anyone can take to save alife from suicide. By being trained in QPR, you will recognize the warning signs of a suicide and how to question, persuade and refer someone to help. If you minster to youth, adults, or elders, you need this training. Conference speakers include Simian Singh, MD, Sr. Nancy Kehoe, rscj, Harvard University; Thomas Plante, PhD, Spirituality and Health, SCU, Margaret McLean, PhD, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, SCU, Fr. George Aranha. Diocese of San Jose, Rev. Kim Engelmann, HELP; Rev. Dana Bainbridge, Recovery Cafe, George Papageorge, LMFT; Greek Orthodox Metropolitan, and Evelyn Tirumalai, MPH, Behavorial Health, Santa Clara County.
Make time NOW to register. Registration closes Monday May 1; no walk-ins. Take time for your professional and personal development to learn how to be present and effective to the 1 in 4 people in our churches affected by mental illness. Learn how to reach out to the 1 in 5 teens who struggle with mental illness. Practice skills in suicde intervention and prevention. Learn how to reduce the stigma of mental illness, end the silence and accompany those affected by mental illness with prayer and support. Sign up today, Registration closes Monday May 1
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Sep 18, 2015
Dear Friends,
It’s been a long time coming, but we are extremely happy and excited to announce that the position for the Associate Director for Campus Ministry & Young Adult Ministry has been filled! Our new Associate Director is Mary Gandeza. She officially starts on Monday, September 21. Mary comes to us with a strong formational background and also a wealth of experience in young adult ministry, particular in a college setting.
Mary is a native to the Bay Area and grew up in Sunnyvale. Several years ago, Mary was a participant at our Diocesan Youth Retreat, then known as the “Tahoe Retreat”. She was an active parishioner and leader at her home parish of St. Lawrence the Martyr in Santa Clara prior to going off to college. Mary attended Notre Dame de Namur University for her undergraduate work, with a double major in Sociology and Religious Studies, also obtaining a certificate in Inner-City Studies. During her tenure there, she gained extensive professional and ministerial experience working in various offices on campus, but mostly at the NDNU Center for Spirituality where she held coordinator positions for Liturgy and Spiritual Events. After her undergraduate work, she returned to San Jose and became one of the founding members of young adult ministry at Saint Lawrence Parish in 2010, a time when there weren’t many YAM programs throughout the diocese. Mary then accepted a position in the Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of Seattle to work as Young Adult Service Team Member before pursuing her graduate studies in theology at Villanova University where she held a Campus Ministry Internship for two years. At Villanova, Mary honed her leadership and ministerial skills in campus ministry by leading small groups, serving as a mentor to students, training new interns, supporting retreat teams, and facilitating business meetings. Now, she will be bringing everything she has gained and learned in campus ministry over the years back to our diocese and take the Newman Center and young adult ministry to the next level!
Mary is a great fit for our team and a great fit for the Newman Community and the greater diocese. We look forward to having her on board and meeting all of you.
Blessings,
Steve Do, Director
Robbie Ocampo, Associate Director
Bernard Nemis, Administrative Assistant
Diocese of San Jose Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries
Love Boldly. Live Fearlessly. Make Christ Known.
