Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor Week of June 25, 2022

Real Change Will Make a Difference

Dear Editor: The devastating massacre of 19 children and two teachers at Uvalde, Texas has every American, once again, demanding stricter gun laws and raising the age of 18 to 21 to purchase an assault weapon.

Our hearts go out to those poor parents on the horrendous loss of their precious children. Guns are like drugs, readily available to those who want them.

But the real game changer would be to make every school, nationwide, a hard target with at least two armed police officers or retired veterans stationed at one point of entry.

This would definitely send a strong message that our schools are no longer soft targets for these mentally depraved people. Whatever the cost, our children are our most precious gifts whose lives should not be squandered because one hesitated, once again, to not commit to the real change that will make a difference. God help us if we fail our children again!

Thomas and Constance Dowde 

Oakland Gardens


Is It the Guns?

Dear Editor: Recently Garrett Dempsey of Whitestone asked if Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco would deliver the same liturgical ukase to “the other party who seem to wear the Second Amendment around their necks…”?

He stated the 10 victims of Buffalo are “just as dead as any preborn infant.”

I will agree with Mr. Dempsey that there were indeed too many shootings in this country in recent times.

But I would like to remind Mr. Dempsey that there is another party that claims a woman has a right to kill her unborn baby AND more than 63 million abortions are estimated to have taken place in the U.S. since the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

Yes, I agree that 10 deaths in Buffalo is tragic. Plus, many, many more nationwide are just as hideous. But how can you chastise Archbishop Cordileone in the face of over 63 million deaths? And how does his “other party” justify that?

Edward J. Pisano 

Dyker Heights


The Eddie Bennett Story

Dear Editor: Although I’m an avid New York Yankee fan, I was unaware of the story of Eddie Bennett, Yankee Batboy/ Mascot of the 1920’s until recently (Former Yankees Batboy Receives Stone Memorial at Formerly-Unmarked Gravesite, Dec. 1, 2020).

The story warmed my heart, thank you for telling it. Also respect to the men who saw to it that his grave now has a beautiful engraved marker. God bless you all.

Michael Parry

Columbus, OH


Father Daniel Murphy’s 52nd Anniversary

Dear Editor: I much enjoyed the article by Jim Mancari (Former NY Mets Chaplain Celebrates 52 Years as a Priest, May 28) regarding the 52nd anniversary celebration of Father Daniel Murphy’s ordination to the priesthood.

As a parishioner at Holy Child Jesus Church for many years, when Father Murphy was our pastor, I always found him kind, outgoing and personally engaging. Father Murphy’s homilies were always joyous, positive, uplifting and filled with optimism. God bless you Father Murphy and Happy 52nd anniversary and may you have many more!

Felix Ferretti

Richmond Hill


I Might Have an Answer

Dear Editor: Last week (June 18th) Maureen Marilyn Santora raised the question, “Has the church changed the rules regarding abortion?”

The answer is unequivocally no! What has happened is two-fold.

First, there has been a lack or a de-emphasis on the dogmatic teaching of the church. One just needs to look at the recent poll as reported in The Tablet that roughly two thirds of U.S. Catholics do not believe in transubstantiation.

The second reason is that many Catholics, especially Catholic politicians, have this compulsive need not to offend anyone with their beliefs. One needs to remind these Catholics that there is something called truth; and as much as the secular world believes in “relative” truth, abortion being murder is an absolute truth. It is my prayer that the entire church finds the fortitude to proclaim the Catholic faith and not worry about the consequences that it brings.

Joseph J. Puntino

Flushing