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Pamphlet about morals upsets parents at SF Catholic school

By Vivian Ho
Updated 10:56 pm, Tuesday, February 17, 2015

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Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone is seen at the Archdiocese of San Francisco on Thursday, June 6, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone is seen at the Archdiocese of San Francisco on Thursday, June 6, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone is seen at the Archdiocese of San Francisco on Thursday, June 6, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.

In the latest controversy to strike the Catholic Church in San Francisco, elementary school students at the Star of the Sea School were given pamphlets referring to sexual topics that some parents say were inappropriate and far too advanced for their children.

At the Inner Richmond school whose parish recently made news when its pastor banned girls from acting as altar servers at Mass, copies of “The Examination of Conscience and Catholic Doctrine” were passed out to students in second through sixth grades about two weeks ago, just before confession, parents and students said.

They asked questions such as, “Did I perform impure acts by myself (masturbation) or with another (adultery, fornication and sodomy)?” and, “Did I practice artificial birth control or was I or my spouse prematurely sterilized (tubal ligation or vasectomy)?” as well as, “Have I had or advised anyone to have an abortion?”

“It was very careless on their behalf, and you would expect anyone who works around children to be much more careful,” said parent Siobhan McFeeney, who has four children at the school. “You should never show this to a 9-year-old.”

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco did not return messages for comment, and the Rev. Joseph Illo, pastor at Star of the Sea Church, could not be reached.

McFeeney said some teachers realized what the pamphlets contained and grabbed them before her child in the second grade could read one. But her fourth-grade daughter, Sinead Trevino, said she had read them. They were being handed out by Father Patrick Driscoll, the parish’s parochial vicar, she said.

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