Dear Editor: The Professional Ministers of Deanery Q9 take issue with my letter of April 2 concerning the disrespect shown to the Catholic bishops by N.Y.S. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. Their response misses the point.

I never said anything about African-American cultural diversity, nations of origin or piety. They seem to indicate that their community is diverse politically as well. For almost 50 years, African-Americans have voted for Democrats with over a 90-10 margin. Data from the Pew 2012 survey show African-Americans voted 95 percent for President Obama. Not much room for electoral diversity here.

The point I was trying to make is that lockstep voting patterns for a party, which has increasingly become more secularist and anti-Catholic, only weakens efforts to improve the lives of Catholic schoolchildren.

I am appalled at the indignity of Catholic schoolchildren having to sell chocolates and other items to help defray expenses when aid which could be rightly and constitutionally theirs based on Supreme Court decisions from Mueller v. Allen (1983) through Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn (2011) is blocked by the Democratic-controlled State Assembly. Continued support for one party which has shown itself antagonistic to religious schools and these avenues may be shut down as well.

Gerald De Maio
East Flatbush