book reviews

Christ is the center

A Tour of the Catholic Catechism provides a concise overview of the contents of the Catechism while at the same time including commentary providing the motivating reasons behind some particular aspects of the content of the Catechism. Fr. Stravinskas followed the development of the writing of the Catechism very closely and further, as editor of the Catholic Answer, has learned of particular areas of interest in this country which he likewise treats in this text.

The reader may readily recall the American Bishops' review of Fr. Richard McBrien's book Catholicism in Fr. Stravinskas's treatment of dogma. Fr. Stravinskas asks the question "What is the role of dogmas in the life of the Church?" Quoting from the Catechism dogmas "are lights along the path of faith" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 89). As the author states, this is "a beautiful way to express the centrality and indispensability of dogma in Catholic life." Therefore, dogma is "not an appendage. . . . pick and choose Catholicism is out of bounds."

Fr. Stravinskas's rich background is seen in his treatment of the liturgy. He brings to the attention of the reader the role of the Trinity in the liturgy. As if to counter the present confusion in belief in this country concerning the Real Presence in the Eucharist, Fr. Stravinskas states that "what we do in the sacraments is not a mere act of remembering. Rather, it consists in the traditional Jewish notion of memorial, whereby the present act of recalling truly brings about a present reality."

In addressing the event of the Resurrection, Fr. Stravinskas acknowledges recent attacks on the historicity of this event. The Catechism refers to the Resurrection as equally "the historical and transcendent event" (CCC, 639). Thus, the Resurrection is seen as truly happening in time and space yet as an act of God transcending human categories and limitations. "An essential sign" of the Resurrection is the empty tomb (CCC, 640). The Catechism treats of the various appearances of the Risen Lord, concluding that "the hypothesis that the Resurrection was produced by the apostles' faith will not hold up. On the contrary their faith in the Resurrection was born, under the action of divine grace, from their direct experience of the reality of the risen Jesus" (CCC, 644).

Fr. Stravinskas closes his remarks by reminding his readers that one of the objectives of the Catechism is to restore a sense of the sacred. There is a continued emphasis in the text on the primacy of the spiritual and supernatural. The terms "holy" and "saint" are readily seen in the text. The Catechism uses the present tense-"Christ says," "the apostles do" to remind the reader of the on-going presence of Christ and the apostles in the Church today. The Catechism is certainly Christocentric rather than anthropocentric.

This text also includes chapter study questions for parish discussion groups, several pages of prayers for personal use, a list of papal documents from 1846 in addition to the ecumenical councils and Vatican documents for reference.

As one may see from these few illustrations Fr. Stravinskas's Tour provides far more than overview. Rather, the author gives valuable insights as to the reason behind the formulation of text. This Tour is therefore a valuable teaching tool as well as means of clarification for the student of the Catechism. For those who are familiar with the Catholic Answer, Fr. Stravinskas's engaging and easy to read text will be readily recognized. A Tour of the Catholic Catechism is a valuable text for the continued implementation of the Catechism.

Sr. Madeleine Grace, C.V.I.

Houston, Tex.

A warm personal experience

There are two principal pathways to the understanding of large family living. The first is to experience it by being the parent or member of a large family. The second is to observe large families and counsel them as a professional dedicated to the care of the parent-child relationship. By these standards, Dr. Eugene Diamond, the author of The Large Family: A Blessing and a Challenge is uniquely qualified to write such a book. His expertise is compounded of empirical knowledge as the father of a family of thirteen children and special insights derived from forty years experience as a practicing pediatrician treating families of all sizes. His style is a mixture of a warm personal and descriptive portrayal of his daily involvement in the dynamics of large family living and a more detached scientific and sociological evocation of the internal and external forces which influence the large family's special position in society.

The chapters on The Mother of a Large Family and The Father of a Large Family are almost unavoidably personal but the author demonstrates an ability to generalize legitimately from the intimate experiences of his own forty-five-year marriage. The parenting skills involved in managing a large family inevitably evolve as the size of the family increases. The challenges will recapitulate themselves however and parental responses become more measured and less emotionally-charged. Older children become assistants and surrogates to facilitate the negotiation of the many routine and unexpected tasks and problems of daily living.

One of the more fascinating chapters is Large Family Research. Here the "small family system" is contrasted with the "large family system." The small family system is dominated by planning and parenting is likely to be intensive with interaction characterized by cooperation and democratic relationships. Parenting in large families tends to be extensive rather than intensive with less concentrated care, oversight and possessiveness. Group emphasis and awareness predominate and authoritarian rather than democratic roles are played. Large family living, viewed from the outside may seem to be more chaotic than systematic but the reality, as this chapter elucidates, is a contrast in systems.

Some of the most difficult themes of large family group dynamics are illustrated in the chapters on Family Morale and Preserving Individuality. While it may appear to be almost impossible to preserve individuality in a large variegated group of infants, children and adolescents, the author seems to be comfortable that this can be readily achieved. He rather looks to the preservation of Family Morale as the much more difficult group challenge. To an extent, preserving individuality tends toward the preservation of morale but a group of strong individuals does not necessarily coalesce into a group with high morale and identity. Experience in business, sports, military units and the like tend to authenticate the author's view that the maintenance of morale demands both skills and dedication.

The chapters on Preservation of the Large Family, Population Hysteria, and Maternal Deprivation are more scholarly and dependent on data and the sociological and scientific literature as well as intuitive responses. Likewise the Free Choice of Family Size is an astute exposition of the many subtle and overt disincentives that political and bureaucratic entities bring to bear on the freedom of couples to choose the number of children which families would embrace according to personal and spousal preference.

The author endorses permissiveness in the supervision of playtime in children and he particularly disapproves of the intrusive adult and parental involvement in juvenile athletics and competition. In the chapter on the Adolescent, however, he recognizes the strong need of children in this most vulnerable period for direction, role-models and appeals to idealism and religious conviction. Large family living may well be the preferred setting for emancipation into adult responsibility.

This is not really a "how-to" book but there is a lot of material that is worth emulating in the chapters on The Economics of a Large Family and Priorities in a Large Family. Feeding, clothing, and educating a large family are obviously potential sources of stress but the maintenance of discipline, ideals, and the work ethic require just as much ingenuity if not more. The overall impression which emerges from the book is that of a warm personal experience which was eminently worth living. The success seems to have resulted not so much from special techniques and planning as from a fundamental reliance on Divine Providence and the grace of God. As the author states in his epilogue, "The large family is indeed a blessing and a challenge with God as the source of both."

This book would be a worthwhile and educational experience for clergy, teachers and parents of families of any size. If the Federal Government through the Department of Health and Human Services were to decide to fund an in-depth long term study of large families, the results could not exceed the cumulative wisdom of the author's experience.

Herbert Ratner, M.D.

Editor, Child and Family

Oak Park, Ill.

Catholicism in Chicago

"The confidence bred of neo-scholasticism and papal direction was the lodestar of the lives of Stritch, Meyer and their contemporaries. It was this mood of confidence, in everything from Church doctrine to social justice, that stands in even bolder relief in the years since its passing."

These concluding words of this excellent study encapsulate the entire book which is a carefully researched, well written exploration of the events, details and personalities leading to the conclusion.

For those of us who lived during the 25 years covered in this history and who knew and worked with some of the principal players in the dramatic events of the period, the fascinating text reads like a diary.

In today's fractured Church, this account of a period of near-unanimity on theological, ecclesial and social principles, assumes a dream-like presentation of an unrealized and, indeed, unrealizable ideal-truly, ". . . a consummation devoutly to be hoped for."

It is an account of real sea-changes: the depopulation of the white, urban parish "plants" that had assumed identity roles for parishioners and priests never before imagined; the inundation of elegant, prosperous all-white neighborhoods by black arrivals from the South; the flight to newly-created suburbs which needed new parishes and schools; and the various struggles incidental to such massive changes for which there was absolutely no precedent to offer guidance. These, and the personalities which emerged from the struggles, are the stuff of this fascinating, well-told tale.

Professor Avella has done his work carefully. He uses access to hitherto unavailable records well to reveal many surprising details of the period, notably about the meteoric rise of Auxiliary Bishop Bernard J. Sheil and his many great works, especially the CYO and the hope it gave many during the Depression. Then his eclipse and departure to Arizona where he died in retirement far from the triumphs and failures that marked a singular career.

The influence of Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand is covered in great detail, especially his leadership as Rector of Mundelein Seminary and his work in introducing and spreading the movement of Specialized Catholic Action.

The serious problems of racial conflict, integration and open housing are all here, together with biographical sketches of the principals involved. The nascent liturgical movement is presented in fascinating detail.

While the book describes several highwater marks of great achievement, it also conveys a certain melancholic nostalgia for, ". . . of all words of tongue or pen, the saddest are, 'it might have been.' "

Thomas C. Donlan, O.P.

New York, N.Y.

An unauthorized biography

Tad Szulc is a former foreign and Washington correspondent for the New York Times. He claims to have written an objective biography of Pope John Paul II. He also admits that it is an unauthorized biography.

The first eighteen chapters contain some history of Poland interwoven with the life of Karol Józef Wojtyla from his birth to his trip to Rome as a cardinal to elect Pope Paul VI's successor. It is a fast-paced and an interesting story, but with unauthorized biographies it is difficult to know what is fact and what has been fabricated.

Szulc, for example, says that eight-year-old Karol's mother died of inflammation of the heart muscle and kidney (Chapter 5) when other biographers write that she died while giving birth to his younger sister.

Szulc has obvious admiration for Pope John Paul's charm and personal popularity. He includes many anecdotes from his life illustrating this side of his character: "He was an instant hit at KUL (Catholic University in Lublin) with the students and fellow professors. The students admired both his erudition and captivating teaching style" (p. 203).

Chapters 18 through 30 cover his life from his election to the papacy through speculation as to how history will judge him: "Some will argue that the Polish pope was a great world leader, morally and politically, but that he had failed as the head of the Roman Catholic Church" (p. 533). Szulc's problem is that he thinks it is the pope who could have failed.

Although he admires the pontiff as a world leader, he does not have enough respect for his teachings on moral issues to include interviews with those who support him. This is the real failure of Szulc's biography of John Paul II. He quotes an unnamed New York priest, for example, as saying that Catholics "purchase his book, then buy condoms" (p. 512).

In the last chapter of the book, he quotes at length another anonymous "respected senior Roman Catholic churchman, personally devoted to John Paul II, and very familiar with the Holy See as well as Europe, the United States, and the Third World" (p. 518). The anonymous prelate fears that John Paul II is surrounding himself with people who think too much alike. This prelate indicates that he does not agree with the Holy Father's view of the Church that it has the truth.

Szulc also quotes Margaret Steinfels of Commonweal defending her dissent over birth control in particular. But Szulc could have quoted any number of loyal Catholics who would have given their names in support of what they hold as true. He doesn't, however.

Instead he asks, "Why is the Catholic Church under John Paul II losing in numbers and influence despite his continuing personal popularity?" (p. 533) It seems to me that the answer is found at least partly in the space Szulc gives to dissenting opinions in his book. He, like so much of the media, isn't interested in what loyal Catholics think.

People in general are drawn to what the Holy Father teaches; Szulc admits it. But the mainstream media is right in the middle of people's lives like the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Paradise. People are still buying the idea that they can be like God, making their own decisions contrary to what God tells them through the Holy Father. And Szulc helps sell the idea.

At the same time, Szulc mentions several times in his book the growing influence that Opus Dei is having on the Church today. "In the last decade new bishops and cardinals named in Latin America-as in the United States and Europe-are almost invariably of conservative persuasion. Opus Dei is much in favor among them" (p. 517). In spite of himself, Szulc gives faithful Catholics the hope that they need, that the Church is in good hands and will survive dissent as well as hostile forces in the media.

Pope John Paul II, The Biography has an attractive cover. It is bordered in gold like Crossing the Threshold of Hope and is centered with a smiling, thoughtful profile of Pope John Paul II. But it is not worth the price.

Sheryl Temaat

Monument, Colo.

A badly needed wake-up call

In his book, Lawrence Roberge provides pertinent data which reveal the high price of abortion in terms of its economic and social costs. The statistics he cites have received little, if any, attention because the abortion debate has been dominated by demographers who favor abortion as a means of population control. Roberge, a biomedical scientist, information broker, and biotechnology consultant, uses data from the Alan Guttmacher Institute and the Centers for Disease Control, and offers an objective analysis of this data. His reader-friendly book, which features graphs, tables and a brief conclusion at the end of each chapter, shows the negative effects abortion already has had on American society and what effects it is likely to have in the future.

Regarding abortions which occurred in the U.S. from 1973 to 1992 (28,511,160 according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute), the author states that the total number is higher than any source has counted because the statistics do not include abortions caused by mechanical means such as the intrauterine device, and chemically induced abortions caused by oral contraceptives and the "morning after" pill. Roberge cites pharmaceutical consultant Dr. Bogomir Kuhar's research which indicates that the number of U.S. abortions induced by all methods is between 9.6 to 13.4 million per year.

The author notes that the decline in U.S. population growth which began in the early 1970s, just after abortion was legalized, and plateaued during the 1980s, will eventually lead to a shrinking population. He points to Italy, where abortion was legalized in 1978, as an example of what may be in store for the United States.

Recent studies show Italy's birth rate at 1.21 childbirths per woman, "very low indeed," Roberge observes, "when compared to a birthrate of 2.1 which is necessary to sustain a country's population level . . . . At this present rate, within 100 years, the population of 57 million will shrink to 15 million with half of the population over 60 years of age."

The author notes some serious consequences of abortion and a declining population already evident in the U.S.: sharp drops in student enrollment and job opportunities in education, fewer consumers for products such as toys, food, school books, clothes, a decline in men and women available to serve in the military, and fewer producers-summer workers and affordable part time labor.

He notes that the older segment of a shrinking, graying population will increase the retirement tax (e.g., Social Security, etc.) burden on the younger segment and stunt economic growth.

Based on the data available, Roberge concludes that even if all abortions ended today, "the cumulative effects of over 20 years of abortion would be felt for many decades to come."

The information and analysis provided in Roberge's book clearly demonstrate the cost of abortion in terms of its serious social and economic consequences. Besides being an invaluable resource book for pro-lifers, The Cost of Abortion gives a badly needed wake-up call to those who support the legalized killing of unborn babies-America's greatest natural resource.

Geraldine Stafford

Lockport, N.Y.

Building vibrant, tireless voice

Henry Philip Schuler (1891-1986), an actor and singer in Hollywood, became voiceless for three years as a result of a ruptured muscle in his larynx while singing on stage. Unaided by throat doctors and speech specialists, he began an intensive self study of voice which restored his own voice. After converting to Catholicism in 1950, he left the stage and dedicated the rest of his life to teaching voice to seminarians in California for 20 years and, in retirement, to priests in private for 15 years.

The Schuler Method of Voice Production is primarily addressed to priests in order to teach them how to develop a vibrant and tireless voice. It presupposes that an educated person knows correct English and proper pronunciation. Furthermore, it is not a scientific study of voice anatomy, physiology or acoustics. Using the basic knowledge of the voice mechanism, Schuler teaches the natural function of voice production in building articulate, resonant and tireless voice in ordinary conversational tone and in projected speech.

The first edition on cassette tapes of the SCHULER METHOD is a synopsis of the voice course which Phil Schuler taught in seminaries in California for twenty years. He recorded it when he was eighty-one years old. The text is clearly explained and forcefully demonstrated on cassette tape. The first part treats of basic principles of voice production; the second demonstrates the building of voice in twenty-seven lessons, over a period of twenty-seven weeks. Phil, "The Human Sound Box," will inspire you to persevere and you will begin to profit very quickly from his teaching.

The Schuler Method is no quick fix; it demands practice of drills for short periods of time during the day, like ejaculatory prayer, Phil says, until correct, natural sound becomes automatic. A good time for practicing is while driving to and from work, playing the tape if your car has this equipment. Recommended: practice three minutes ten times a day.

Four essential phases are taught for developing painless and tireless voice and for developing them into one perfect and natural vocal function: (1) Learning to form the vowels with the root of your tongue only. (2) The process of amplifying the tone from the flesh of the throat to the hollow bones of the head-the natural drums of voice. (3) The correct function of the breathing mechanism. (4) Correct action of the abdominal muscle in supporting the tone for projected speech.

Basic to Phil's course is the "Vowel Purity" method. He thought that this was his unique discovery, but he was overjoyed when a priest professor, who was taking his course, brought to his attention the axiom of St. Gregory: "Puritas vocalium secum fert usum vocis liberum" (the purity of vowels of themselves bring forth the free use of voice). The vowels are the five free flowing tones. The tongue is the true organ of speech and it must be trained to shape these five prime tones without any interference from the muscles which destroy voice. Phil claimed that he could restore voice to anyone who could make the "musing" sound like "hum." Here we have the three basic parts of voice: the breathing apparatus, aspiration, which compresses the air contained in the lungs; phonation at the vocal cords, generating the free flowing vowel sounds; and the vocal tract resonating the sound. Thus, a basic exercise is saying or singing "HAM" "HEM" "HIM" "HOME" "HUM". The correct and constant practice of such exercises avoids throat irritation from flesh tones which are the most harmful of all bad voice habits. The tone must be imagined as starting in your head without the slightest feeling that it is being pushed from your throat. Flesh wears out, bones last for thousands of years. There must be no tension or strain of any kind along the sound tube between your face and your abdomen.

Following his method of voice production will ensure you a voice which is vibrant and tireless until death (so it was with Phil, his wife recently assured me). It is one of the most effective methods known for restoring and for building vocal power and resonance. Hundreds of priests have written in testimony to the effectiveness of the Schuler method.

Schuler began teaching this course about forty-five years ago. However, since that time great advances have been made in voice production; today it is recognized as a speech science because of the contributions within the past twenty years in voice physiology, anatomy and acoustics. It is not surprising, then, that some criticism can be made regarding Schuler's theories of voice production which, nonetheless, validate the essentials of his voice method.

All agree that the human voice is a wind instrument; while Phil compared it to a clarinet, today it is considered like a trumpet. The faint sounds originating in the glottis are made by small bursts of air through the vocal cords as they open and close, sounding like a buzz tone. Again, Schuler describes good resonance as the result of head "bone tones." Now it is generally taught that good resonance is located in the sound tract (the pharynx and the cavity systems). The vibrations felt in the face and skull are only weak resonators; but it is admitted that they are a sign of correct and good resonance, the effect rather than the cause of projected resonant speech. In addition, the "vowel purity" method may not have been totally original with him; perhaps he used a pioneer work on this topic: T. Chibat and M. Kajiyama, "The Vowel: Its Nature and Structure" 1941. One last observation on the Schuler course claiming tireless and vibrant voice until death: it is known that with advanced age the quality of voice is affected because the vocal cords shrink, weaken and lose flexibility. However, modern science and medicine have slowed down the aging process and reputable professors of voice affirm that with proper maintenance and good speech habits vocal power and resonance can continue into old age.

It was Phil's hope that his course would be used by future priests and seminarians, but because it was never converted to current cassette tape from the obsolete seven and a half reel tape, out of stock a generation ago, this publication is once again available. It came about by chance when several months ago I asked his wife, Dorothy, for some of Phil's materials. At her request and in fond memory of Phil I have edited his course in appreciation for helping me to restore my voice during the summer of 1969 at his home in Santa Rosa.

Fr. Peter Toscani, O.S.A.

Philadelphia, Pa.

A comprehensive analysis
of homosexuality

Subtitled "A Psychoanalyst Answers 1000 Questions About Causes and Cure and the Impact of the Gay Rights Movement on American Society," this books provides a comprehensive analysis of homosexuality from the perspective of a physician and psychotherapist who has treated and cured homosexuals in his medical practice. The special value of Dr. Socarides's book is that he not only examines homosexuality as a disorder and disease that is subject to treatment and healing but also as a grave social problem that affects all of society and the future of civilization. Critical of the media's promotion of the gay lifestyle as "alternative," of the acceptance of gays in the military, of homosexual indoctrination in public schools and colleges, of the politics that protects the right to privacy but ignores the deadly pestilence of AIDS, and of the moral cowardice of the American Psychiatric Association for eliminating homosexuality from its list of pathological disorders in 1973, Dr. Socarides's medical, social, and moral views defy all the canons of "political correctness."

He fearlessly dares to utter all the hard truths that surround this complex and volatile topic. First, he exposes the popular myth perpetuated by the media that gays are "born that way" because of genes and heredity. Rather Dr. Socarides traces the roots of homosexuality to early childhood relationships between fathers and sons in which the children were abandoned, abused, and ignored by their fathers and controlled by possessive mothers: "My homosexual patients did not have good relationships with their fathers. They feared their fathers, and they reported excessive fears of injury during childhood, often at the hands of their fathers." Because of cruel or negligent fathers and dominating or "smothering" mothers, "the normal processes of gender identification went awry for them, soul and body." Although it is unpopular in the ideological atmosphere of politics and academe, Dr. Socarides defends the simple moral truth of the natural law: a child with a good father-son relationship does not develop a homosexual tendency because he has a role model and does not go searching for his lost masculinity.

Second, contrary to the propaganda of the gay rights movement, Dr. Socarides explains that homosexuality is neither joyful, harmless, nor normative. His treatment of patients demonstrates that many are obsessed with "compulsions they can't control" and pursue "an unending search for sexual gratification with other men," a search that dominates their lives and leads to promiscuity: "Homosexual men are far more promiscuous than their counterparts in the heterosexual world." Those who fear AIDS look for younger boys and promote an international sex market in children that flourishes in places like Thailand. Quoting one of his patients, he notices the selfishness and coarseness that drive homosexuals: "Each guy is out for what he wants to try to satisfy. It has nothing whatever to do with the other person at all." Despite the claims of Alfred Kinsey and his followers that all types of sexuality from heterosexuality to homosexuality to bisexuality are normal, Dr. Socarides does not mince words: "Despite the danger, gay male sex is still sadistic, masochistic, promiscuous, hedonistic, contemptuous, anonymous, anti-hygienic and compulsive." In his view it is a death wish, "a refusal to continue the world."

Third, Dr. Socarides refuses to be intimidated by the charge of "homophobia," a term he calls "a propaganda word." Always compassionate and charitable to homosexuals as persons in need of healing and understanding, he resists being hoodwinked by identifying the disapproval of the gay agenda with "discrimination" or the violation of human rights or an infringement upon the right to privacy. The civil rights of homosexuals does not entitle them to enlistment in the military for very basic reasons: an army cannot defend a nation with soldiers who suffer from addictions, whether drugs, alcohol, or same-sex habits. The military is designed to win wars and protect citizens from foreign aggression, not "to provide a nation with a social laboratory." Reports indicate that eight out of ten homosexuals have been court-martialed for misconduct, and half of these assault cases have been against children-further proof of a disordered sexual compulsiveness.

As a physician Dr. Socarides finds it unconscionable that a military that draws four-fifths of its blood supply from its own members should accept homosexuals prone to carrying the HIV virus. He decries the absence of testing for health-care workers when 50,000 are predictably HIV positive. He bewails the legalization of gay bathhouses in many cities that perpetuates the AIDS pestilence. And he finds it utter madness that the AIDS epidemic is ruled by gay politics rather than by medical knowledge. In the name of the right to privacy the United States government refuses to take the necessary measures to protect the public good by mandatory testing for AIDS and quarantine, "the only epidemic in history" to be given such wanton neglect because of political considerations.

As a scholar Dr. Socarides recognizes the sham of "gender studies" that are in vogue at prestigious universities and the fraud of compulsory sex education in public schools informed by the bias of Kinsey and his school of sexology-the notion that "all types of sexual activity-sex with the opposite sex, sex with the same sex, sex with both sexes, sex with children . . . was normal." The infiltration of the gay rights movement into elementary and higher education forebodes "the massacre of kids," precipitates the "seduction of the innocent," and subjects the young to assaults "on all sides by the powers of darkness." Oberlin College's reputation as a "gay mecca" and Harvard University's installation of a "gay tutor" in each dormitory amount to recruitment with the temptation, "Try it! You'll like it!" Dr. Socarides excoriates education and academe for its abuse of the young and for its blindness to the wisdom of the ages, the basic truth that "no society has ever accepted adult preferential homosexuality" and that "there's nothing so important for a well-functioning society than good happy loving families," for that has always been the universal experience of the human race: "Good happy loving families tend to turn out good happy loving children." Ideology has replaced truth on all levels of education.

While the substance of Homosexuality: A Freedom Too Far defends the traditional norms of civilization, upholds the integrity of the family, and exposes the fallacies and propaganda behind the gay rights movement, it occasionally reflects moral blindness and inconsistency. For example, as part of his therapy in leading homosexuals to heterosexuality, Dr. Socarides recommends "creative masturbation" and the use of Penthouse magazine while thinking of a particularly beautiful woman, even recommending this practice for priests who are patients. He fails to consider the moral precept that one cannot do evil to accomplish good and that the end does not justify the means. When asked whether he first tells a client to stop having same-sex sex before treatment, he responds, "No, that would be treating the symptoms not the causes," arguing "I cannot (and do not try) to tell people they should not have same-sex sex." This counsel suggests a lack of charity, a denial of the truth that sets one free. While claiming to be a doctor treating a disease rather than a moralist condemning vice by avoiding words like "virtue" and "vice," Dr. Socarides' position is overnuanced and somewhat disingenuous, for any sexual practice that leads to the epidemic of AIDS, to the destruction of society, to the abuse of children, to a death wish for the human race deserves to be called by its proper name-evil. Lastly, Dr. Socarides carefully but needlessly avoids the whole topic of religion in his condemnation of homosexuality. Without being sectarian or moralistic, he might have acknowledged that medical knowledge confirms the profound wisdom of all the world's major religions that forbids sodomy.

Mitchell Kalpakgian

Simpson College

Indianola, Iowa