Only With God’s Help Will Our Country Regain Unity
Dear Editor: Election fraud is not a new topic. More than 10 years ago, congressional Democrats raised the alarm on the problem posed by massive new mail-in voting (“The Election Results Have Been Litigated Ad Nauseum,” Readers’ Forum, Feb 6).
The November election’s last-minute rule changes by election officials caused mayhem. What the country saw on election night was a disgrace.
President Trump, unfortunately, did not have the expertise of election law lawyers. His legal team did bring many suits after the election, but all were rejected by judges in various courts. “Ad nauseam” is the phrase the opposition uses while lecturing over half of the country to “get over it” already.
It is a sacred act to vote in an election. It is your voice. That is why it needs to be protected by law. We need election reform, and we need to follow the law because everyone’s vote is too precious to waste.
Only with God’s help will our country regain our unity and a true love and respect of neighbor. But it must be based on truth.
I find it troubling that praying Catholics can be accepting of a praying Catholic president who is changing the Mexico City Policy that prevented U.S. tax dollars from paying for abortions in foreign countries and the Hyde Amendment, which prevents tax dollars to pay for abortions in the US.
Millions more of our unborn brothers and sisters, brown, black, white, and all colors and nationalities here in America and now around the world, will now lose their lives under the new president who is trampling on their God-given right to life every single day.
Tim Haggerty
Rockaway Park
We Can End Racism With Acts of Kindness
Dear Editor: Love is the answer for all of us to fight racism (“Black History Is American History,” Editorial, Feb. 6). February is Black History Month. Its origin can be traced to 1926 when historian Carter G. Woodson and others decided to make February Black History Month and this would be around the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass and this was a time to honor African Americans.
In 1976 President Ford said this celebration helped to “seize the opportunity to honor neglected accomplishments of Black Americans.” Well, I fully agree. We are one nation under God and that means respect for all races.
These are just words that I know only too well. I have, as a teenager in the 1960s, been involved with civil rights to a limited extent. I have made it my mission in the last few years to offer a hello or a kind word to others of different races and countries of origin. I hope others will feel I’m trying to extend kindness, love, and even a helping hand. Maybe we should all do the same.
Racism must end, and that can only happen with acts of kindness to our brothers and sisters who are black. Americans can finally be unified as one but it takes work. Remember, love is the answer.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Bellerose
No Catholic Can Dissent in Good Conscience
Dear Editor: San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone has said that Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not speak for the Catholic Church and her remarks on abortion are in direct contradiction with church teaching.
As the archbishop stated, it “is a smokescreen for perpetuating an entire industry that profits from one of the most heinous evils imaginable. Our land is soaked with the blood of the innocent, and it must stop.”
When Nancy Pelosi received the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood, she called pro-lifers “dumb” and “closed-minded,” demonstrating only her own ignorance.
Margaret Sanger was a racist eugenicist. No Catholic should be proud to receive such an award. As Archbishop Cordileone stressed then, no Catholic can dissent in good conscience from the teaching on the sanctity of life.
Patricia Gregorek
Greenpoint
Without Weighing the Cost To the Nation
Dear Editor: During the past presidential campaign, President Biden claimed the use of too many executive orders by a president was undemocratic and more a tool of a king than an elected leader.
This we totally agree with since Congress should have more input as the voice of the people. But last time we counted, President Biden had signed 40 executive orders, surpassing his two predecessors, Obama and Trump.
With a stroke of a pen, he has eliminated 11,000 jobs by canceling the Keystone Pipeline project with Canada. He claims to want to restore better relations with our allies, yet he didn’t reach out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before signing the executive order.
This at a time when we are in the midst of a pandemic and so many Americans are unemployed and desperately need all the jobs they can get.
The list goes on, too numerous to mention. But the fact is that President Biden had promised to unite all Americans in our recovery from the pandemic, and restoring our economy but instead succumbed to the wishes of the delusional members of his party without weighing the cost to the nation and its citizens.
We pray every day for our leaders and our great country.
Thomas and Constance Dowd
Oakland Gardens
Remembering Father Kevin J. O’Reilly
Dear Editor: Our family will miss Father Kevin J. O’Reilly so much (“Community Mourns Young, ‘Witty and Brilliant Teacher Of Church Doctrine,’ ” Obituaries, Feb. 6).
My teens were so upset because they really enjoyed how Father O’Reilly linked his great stories to important faith lessons in his homily. My 11-year-old was able to tell us about his favorite homily from one of Father O’Reilly’s Masses.
He left such an impact on all of us and made us more faithful. Thank you, God, for the gift of his priesthood.
May he be gazing upon the face of Our Lord whom he loved and served so faithfully.
Rosaleen Tallon DaRos
Yonkers
Biden Shouldn’t Be Called ‘Catholic’
Dear Editor: Calling Joe Biden “the second Catholic president” is an oxymoron. Biden is a Catholic in name only.
Mr. Biden supports abortion on demand, partial birth abortion, gay marriage and other policies that contradict Catholic moral teaching. And he selected Kamala Harris, an anti-Catholic, as his vice-president. God help our great nation over the next four years.
Fred Charles Ryan
Bronxville
Providence House Thanks The Tablet Readers
Dear Editor: Thank you very much for the Bright Christmas campaign gift to Providence House. The Tablet readers’ generosity will have a transformative effect on the lives and families at Providence House.
The families we serve have suffered incarceration, homelessness, domestic violence and discord, and other hardships in the past — but because of you, the future will be different! These families will have safe, dignified places to live, along with compassionate people who challenge and encourage them toward more stable, independent, productive lives.
Your gift to Providence House makes you a part of each of their stories. When a young mother completes a training program and gets her first job, though you may never know her name, you share in her success.
Danielle Minelli Pagnotta
Bedford-Stuyvesant
Editor’s note: Minelli Pagnotta is the Executive Director of Providence House, an organization that serves women and families at risk of harm, providing them with a safe community and the necessary training to achieve stability and independence.
Thankful for the Bright Christmas Fund Gift
Dear Editor: On behalf of the board of directors, the staff, and guests served at St. John’s Bread and Life, I am writing to thank DeSales Media and The Tablet’s Bright Christmas Fund for their generous support to our programs.
This gift has been a blessing to us as the number of those in need continues to climb every day. The Bright Christmas gift has helped parents provide a happier Christmas for children, provided gloves, hats and socks to our homeless guests and thousands of pounds of food to those who are hungry. We are blessed to have you join us as we try to alleviate the chaos that many of our guests have experienced due to COVID-19.
Thank you for helping us give hope to those we serve on the frontlines each day.
Sister Caroline Tweedy, RSM
Bedford-Stuyvesant
Editor’s note: Sister Caroline is the executive director of St. John’s Bread and Life, a program that serves nearly 3,000 meals to New Yorkers in need every day.
Dear Editor,
In reference to Mr. Haggerty’s letter dated 092/20/2021. His phrase, “God-given right to life…” evoked all the metaphorical meanings of life: love, joy, laughter, family and fulfillment. It was enough to put a tear in the eye of a jaundiced cynic. But, realistically, life itself, a heartbeat and brain functioning is not enough. Life must have meaning !! All the metaphors we attach to the concept of life are due to relationships: other people are what give meaning to life.
Prior to birth, Mr. Haggerty, and an entire community, fueled by the metaphors that are attached to life, fight for the birth of every child. They feel that every child is a gift from God. I applaud and support their effort.
But after birth society says “Sorry, we only promised you a heartbeat and brain functioning. If you want love, joy, laughter, family, and fulfillment then that is your responsibility. You should have read the fine print !”
So human beings are shot, poisoned by the environment, live in poverty, and oppressed due to gender, race, politics, and economic status. People from South and Central America who come here for an opportunity to give their lives meaning beyond fear and violence are told to go home and find meaning within the fear and violence that surrounds them.
The tragedy of abortion is that human beings have no opportunity to give meaning to their lives. The tragedy of the born is that their relationships and the meaning of their lives are secondary or tertiary to politics, economics and culture. There are few opportunities for love, joy, laughter, family, and fulfillment that are not framed or influenced by fear.
A heartbeat and brain functioning are not enough. Life must have meaning !!!
Thanks,
Steve Trani
.