Dear Editor: I take issue with the statement that “a lay person is supposed to serve in only one function at Mass” in the letter about deacons written by “name withheld” (Readers’ Forum, Sept. 1). Nothing I say should be taken as diminishing the role that deacons serve in our church, which is an awesome responsibility. However, I wonder what “one function” the writer had in mind. Was it altar server or sacristan? Was it lector or extraordinary minister of communion? Was it cantor, choir director, organist or choir member? Or was it usher or greeter? I’m sure that the writer did not mean to minimize the role that lay people have in the celebration of the mass, but in the same issue of The Tablet that Bishop DiMarzio warns of the dangers of clericalism, the writer shows us a very real danger of clericalism.

JERRY TORTORELLA

Via website