Dear Editor: Christ was a radical, who railed against the political, social and religious institutions of His day, because they promoted privilege, injustice and oppression. He publicly denounced leaders, who enjoyed their elevated status, by sowing social divisiveness and instilling fear among the people.
Letters to the Editor
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Racist Implications?
Dear Editor: Just read “Sessions on Racism” and “Bishop’s Letter on Racism” (June 23 issue) and I have just one comment. The latter states that “the document will focus on concerns affecting Native Americans and African-Americans and the ‘targeting’ of Hispanics.” I get the implication that all other ethnic groups are the ones doing the ‘sinning!’ How racist is that?
Consistent with Christ
Dear Editor: I was very impressed with Mary Grace Donohoe’s letter “Grappling with Human Dignity” (Aug. 18). This young person has a simple, yet very strong grasp of the conundrums of various issues desperately facing our world today, for instance, being pro-life, but not being amenable to taxes that can support our poor and disenfranchised.
A Gift of Grace
Dear Editor: Just a note to say that I sent in some summer book suggestions and The Tablet shared them. A few weeks later, I get an email to thank me for one of the books I suggested. The book was “How The Light Gets In,” by Brian Doyle – who wrote a lot for Orbis Press – a writer and a poet, a very spiritual man.
A Brooklyn Connection?
Dear Editor: The article “Civil Rights Road Trip,”(Aug. 25) chronicling the pilgrimage of Brooklyn priest Father John Gribowich to sites associated with the history of America’s civil rights movement, is illustrated by a couple-of-stories-tall “mural of social justice figures in Memphis, Tenn.” apparently on a factory or warehouse wall.
More to Being a Deacon
Dear Editor: As a deacon for over 31 years, I can honestly say that there is more to serving as a deacon than what Deacon Ferrari wrote (“Is There a Need for Permanent Deacons?” Aug. 18).
No Limits on McDermott
Dear Editor: Mike Mastromatteo’s appreciation of Alice McDermott (Aug. 18) is right on the mark. If the author (or any artist) resents being pigeon-holed as Catholic, Irish, or whatever – remember the awful phrase “lady novelist”? – it is not so much that she denies her roots as that she rightly deplores the condescension that would limit the significance of her work.
Time to Clean House
Dear Editor: With all due respect, we have been getting apologies for the past 30 years all around the world from the Catholic hierarchy on clerical abuse. It’s time to clean house and excommunicate and civilly charge by secular authorities any priests, bishops and cardinals who participated or covered up these crimes. People need to go to jail. People have been leaving the church in droves around the world because of these crimes and coverups.
The Cost of Living
I am a longtime reader of The Tablet, an excellent publication. I was quite dismayed, however, when I read The Editor’s Space (July 21), titled ‘What Happens to a Building When It’s No Longer a Church?’
Mercy vs. Justice
I’m 79 years young, a retired civil engineer, a widower, and humbly a faithful Catholic. I completely disagree with the pope’s recent pronouncement on the death penalty.