Rosa Martha Zarate

Sister Rosa Martha Zarate had been stripped of her duties as coordinator of community programs for the San Bernardino Diocese and was considering taking legal action when she wrote a letter to the Vatican in June, 1986. "I wrote that I was desperate, that I may file a lawsuit and that I knew there would be consequences," recalled Zarate, 46, who belongs to a religious community based in Guadalajara called the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. "I also wrote that I wouldn't run away."

Sister Rosa Martha Zarate had been stripped of her duties as coordinator of community programs for the San Bernardino Diocese and was considering taking legal action when she wrote a letter to the Vatican in June, 1986. "I wrote that I was desperate, that I may file a lawsuit and that I knew there would be consequences," recalled Zarate, 46, who belongs to a religious community based in Guadalajara called the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. "I also wrote that I wouldn't run away."

Five women who helped create a "more just and equitable society" will be honored Saturday at a fund-raising event sponsored by Cal State Northridge's Women's Studies Department. Proceeds from the biennial Phenomenal Women Awards reception and silent auction will help faculty, students, scholarships and the CSUN Women's Center, a student-run community referral service. This year's honorees are Aliza A.

Menudo cook-offs, carnivals, folk dances, 10-kilometer races and live entertainment will mark Cinco de Mayo celebrations in several Orange County cities. The holiday commemorates the Battle of Puebla in 1862, when the Mexican army defeated the French invaders. Among the activities: - ANAHEIM--A carnival featuring rides, booths, music and food is being held at La Palma Park through Sunday.

Sylvia Morales and Jean Victor's "Faith Even to the Fire" marks one of television's first in-depth explorations of the debates swirling inside the Catholic Church between an all-male hierarchy and a dissenting community of nuns--or sisters, as they prefer to be called. The film centers on three sisters and how their different paths brought them into conflict with church authority. For Sister Judy Vaughan of Chicago, it was a public letter advocating abortion rights.