A Thank You to the Diocese
Dear Editor: The family of the late Rev. Msgr. Paul W. Jervis expresses heartfelt thanks for the love and support shown to him during his illness.
Special thanks to Dr. Alma Carrington and the nursing staff of Calvary Hospital, Bronx, to the many parishioners, fellow priests, Bishop Robert Brennan, Father Thomas Vassalotti, friends, and family members who visited him.
To everyone who attended the vigil Mass, funeral Mass, and nine-night prayer service, your presence brought us much love and comfort.
We also thank you for your prayers, cards, monetary gifts, and donations to his lifelong cause of the canonization of Msgr. Bernard Quinn and in whatever way you showed us how much you loved our brother, uncle, cousin, and best friend.
The Family of Msgr. Paul Jervis
Hooray to Father Lauder
Dear Editor: I thoroughly enjoyed reading Father Robert Lauder’s column (“Motivating Contemporary College Students to Read,” Sept. 16).
As a grandparent of two college age students I agree that it is the most challenging thing to accomplish in the modern age of electronics.
I liked the description of his own experiences with wonderful teachers and professors who encouraged him. I too was blessed. I have a stack of books waiting for me, and Father Lauder inspired me to pick one up and start reading.
Mary Thomas
Bay Ridge
The Time Has Come
Dear Editor: About a month before I was born in 1980, the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen died.
Thanks to the internet I have gotten to know the works of the archbishop.
I was pleased when the cause of his sainthood was approved by the Church. I was even more pleased when a miracle was attributed to his intercession that led to a beatification ceremony scheduled in December 2019.
The ceremony was postponed for some reason. I have not heard any news in the past four years that would tarnish the venerable archbishop’s reputation.
I think the time has come to have the venerable archbishop beatified.
I encourage all Catholics to look at his works and pray for his sainthood.
As he would say, “Bye now, and God love you.”
Joseph J. Puntino
Flushing
Editor’s note: On Dec. 3, 2019, Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria (where Archbishop Sheen’s body was buried) announced that the Vatican had decided to indefinitely postpone the beatification ceremony. That decision was in response to a request submitted to the Vatican by some U.S. bishops for further investigation of Archbishop Sheen’s tenure as bishop of the Diocese of Rochester from 1966 to 1969.
Knowing the Full Story
Dear Editor: As a Jewish Catholic who is the son of Polish Holocaust survivors, I applaud your recent article about the museum that highlights Catholics who aided Jews during the Holocaust (“Angels Amid the Holocaust,” Sept. 2).
However, current-day Catholics should also be taught about all the Catholics who participated in advancing the Holocaust.
To not do so is to whitewash history. We should never forget the true story.
Lenny Rodin
Forest Hills
Beautiful Story on Family’s Beatification
Dear Editor: What an unbelievable story (“Small Polish Town Gears Up for Beatification of Entire Family Killed for Sheltering Jews,” Sept. 9).
Wish I could have been there when the Ulma family, including their unborn child, were beatified.
This is an historic Catholic moment and reflects on the support for the Jewish people in WWII and the Polish support now of Ukraine.
God bless everyone involved.
Vincent Maligno
Staten Island
Fascinating Piece on the Pope and the Church in Mongolia
Dear Editor: I’d never encountered the idea of outreach to the “periphery,” or to an area with such a tiny Catholic population (“Mongolia Trip Captures Pope’s Passion for the Peripheries,” Sept. 9).
I think that’s a perspective worth articulating, and not the “holier than thou” attitude I sometimes see among Catholics, even Church officials.
Pope Francis is a breath of fresh air, as he so often has been.
The Mongolian Cardinal sounds refreshing, too.
Mary Pradt
Downtown Brooklyn