Msgr. Quinn Had a Deep Love for Those he Served

Dear Editor: Bishop DiMarzio, as well as Postulator of the Cause Msgr. Paul Jervis, has been outstanding in promoting my great-uncle’s cause (“A Black Lives Matter Champion Avant la Lettre,” Up Front & Personal, Aug. 29).

Although Msgr. Bernard Quinn died before I was born, my parents were devoted to all he was and did.

In Chicago, we are certainly aware that Black Lives Matter. The canonization of Msgr. Quinn would mean a great deal to all of us who are praying for his cause. He had a deep love for those he served and we in turn have a great love for those we serve and are able to tap into the graces and blessings that Msgr. Quinn offers to us. 

He enjoyed and participated in life in a way that inspires and drives all of us. May our Pope Francis, who truly loves the people he serves, see Msgr. Quinn as a man/priest who wants the best for the community he served.

Eileen Quinn Knight
Countryside, Illinois

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The Passing of Jeopardy Host Alex Trebek

Dear Editor: It was sad to read of the passing of Jeopardy Host Alex Trebek who died of pancreatic cancer (“Alex Trebek Dies at 80,” Nov. 14).

As with a lot of viewers, I have watched Jeopardy for over thirty years and found Alex Trebek the nicest game show host.

As a matter of fact, my wife Eva and I had the opportunity to attend five of his shows that were taped at Madison Square Garden back about twenty-five years ago.

During the intermission between shows, he had a question and answer period where those of us there had the opportunity to talk to him. I asked him how one could become a contestant on the show. He was delighted to answer that question and told me where to send my inquiry.

It truly can be said about Alex that he was a most friendly person to talk to. R.I.P. Alex and my heartfelt prayers go out to his family, friends, and fans that loved him.

Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Bellerose

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The Magnitude of This Crime Is Hard to Imagine

Dear Editor: We Catholics have a long history of promoting the special value of human life. Since the 1st century, the Catholic Church has been opposed to the high crime of abortion. The magnitude of this crime is hard to imagine. Our Catechism and other writings explain in detail the opposition the church has to this horror. Those who claim to be Christians must put aside arguments to the contrary.

If they for any reason fail to do so they are in conflict with church doctrine. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about “sins against the Holy Spirit” and said “resistance to the known truth” or “obstinacy to clinging to sin” or “presumption for receiving pardon without repentance, amounts to sins against the Holy Spirit.”

To support a flagrant violation of this doctrine is to put one in direct opposition to the Holy Spirit.

Time is running out; conditions for the church will be getting worse. The Catholic Church is at another crossroads in history. We have before us a situation that is going to be a stumbling block for salvation for many. Most people have a knowledge of our faith that they acquired when they were children: nice stories, but not sufficient to combat the atheist forces at play in the world today. The Catholic Church needs to promote dialogue on this now.

Robert J. Tillman
Richmond Hill

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They Are All Human Beings

Dear Editor: Over the last year I have read many letters in the Readers’ Forum. It seems to me that many Catholics have developed a “hierarchy of innocence.” In-utero fetuses are the apex of innocence according to this hierarchy.

I can somewhat relate to this. When I was eight years old in the early 1960s, my only concerns were improving my skills at baseball and keeping my grades up in school. By the time I was 18 in 1974, my father had died; I witnessed the Vietnam War at home with all the protests; I witnessed the struggle for civil rights; three deaths of public figures; and Watergate.

I am presently jaded, cynical, and disheartened. When I walk around Marine Park I long for my lost innocence. I believe in-utero fetuses are a metaphor for the lost innocence in all of us.

Why do I say that? When young children are slaughtered by guns many people say that the sanctity of their lives is tertiary behind the sanctity of the Second Amendment and the ephemeral idea of liberty.

When children are killed by poisoned water, soil, food, or air many say that it is the unfortunate, but acceptable price that must be paid to maintain the corporation’s profits and ability to grow.

When children die due to poverty many will say that poverty was a choice by the family. To live in America, a land of opportunity, and remain poor is certainly a choice.What people often dismiss is that they are all human beings (of course, including the unborn babies) who are capable of self-transcendence and God is immanent in each one of them.

To imagine a “hierarchy of innocence” is unchristian and an egregious social sin. Please, stop it!

Stephen J. Trani
Marine Park