Letters

Demands an explanation

It absolutely boggled my mind that a bishop (in this case, Roman Catholic Bishop Gumbleton of Detroit) would don a pink triangle over the Christian cross on his bishop's miter. You didn't mention it, but the rainbow colors along the lower half of his miter are also a symbol of those "proud to be gay." Indeed, the rainbow colored flags and decals on cars are the way that homosexuals identify each other and show their pride in their behavior Once can spot the rainbow-colored flags every year at New York City's "Gay Pride" week.
I have to wonder if Bishop Gumbleton would put donkeys (the symbol of the Democratic Party) or elephants (symbol of the Republicans) on his vestments while speaking to such groups? Or maybe, if pedophiles have a symbol (and I am sure they do), would he put such a symbol on his vestments? Does his putting of these homosexual emblems on his vestments mean that he is also proud to be "gay" and engages in such behavior?
Bishop Gumbleton should be made to explain his actions, formally informed that such is inappropriate, and put under some form of censure by his archbishop or the Vatican.

Daniel J. Barton

Fayetteville, North Carolina
Why not another petition?
A thought occurred to me--and probably has occurred to others--while reading about the attempt by the dissident "We Are Church" group to obtain a million signatures from other dissenting "Catholics" to present to the Vatican. They have even gone to the extreme of providing financial incentives to recruit high school students to sing ("Suffer the Children," January 1997). Why not support the Holy Father with a counter-referendum of a million (or preferably two million) signatures from orthodox Catholics? We have a major source already in place: Mother Angelica's EWTN audience. I really believe a counter-offensive is indicated to neutralize the attacks of the dissidents.It might give them pause should they think about doing it again.

Robert J. Shalhoub

Vienna, Virginia
Although it may be tempting to compete with the dissidents' effort, the fact remains that Catholic doctrine is not determined by majority vote or by petition campaigns. Better than our signatures, the Holy See could use the help of our prayers. - The Editor
Wormwood's advice
"Suffer the Children" in the January issue of Catholic World Report had a familiar ring to me. The letters sent out to the high schools had a striking resemblance to those in a work by C.S. Lewis of some years ago. Of course, I refer to the book, The Screwtape Letters. Anybody who has read Lewis' book will recognize the modus operandi.

John P. Kelly

Albuquerque, New Mexico
A hero down under
Your January issue carried a frightening collection of outrages that began with the cover illustration of Bishop Gumbleton and continued through the attached story on how dissidents--many of them employed by Catholic schools and Church agencies--are doing their best to corrupt the faith. But there was one very positive note in the issue: your report (World Watch) on Archbishop Pell in Melbourne, Australia.
The archbishop himself was prudent and careful in his public statements, but it is simple enough to read between the lines. He found dissidents in control of the seminary when he took over responsibility for the Melbourne archdiocese, and he quickly swept the staff out the door! He did not back down when the staff threatened to resign; in effect he thanked them for their work and showed them the way to the exit.
Is there something in the water down in Melbourne, to account for this display of episcopal backbone? Can we import it?

Russell Warren

New York, New York

 
Asleep in the garden
I read your January articles about the gay celebration, and about young Emilia Klepacka's brave refusal to accept her school prize from a pro-choice activist, with much interest. I feel, however, that those stories are incomplete without mention of the Catholic authorities' reaction to them.
A semi-retired Scottish Catholic priest was one of the speakers at the homosexual festival in Southwark Anglican Cathedral. When complaints about this were made, his bishop responded that although he recognized that the man trod on dangerous ground, he felt that he was only trying to do what he saw as his pastoral duty.
When complaints were made about Barbara Follett having been invited to distribute prizes at John Henry Newman School, the diocesan bishop first replied that Mrs. Follett had assured him that she was anti-abortion, but later stated that he believed that if the school's headmaster had known of her stance he would have withdrawn the invitation. Sadly, he failed to congratulate Emilia on her stand, or to explain why the headmaster did not in fact withdraw the invitation when pro-lifers told him of Mrs. Follett's true position.
Is it any wonder that, thwarted a every turn by their leaders, the orthodox Catholic laity lose heart and become disgruntled? All too often, I fear, our bishops emulate their predecessors and sleep in the garden whilst Christ and his Church agonize.

K.P. Platt

Sanderstead, Surrey

England
Boston College: not unique
Your December editorial on the scandals at Jesuit-run Boston College led me to conclude that there is a genuine need for Catholics to have a list of Catholic schools, colleges, and universities that can be trusted to teach and uphold the authentic doctrines of the Official Roman Catholic faith.
It would be an error to claim that the problems at Boston College are unique or isolated. If anyone doubts this let them read a few issues of The Catholic Answer or other Catholic publications which attempt to help Catholic lay people out of their confusion over what is in line with Catholic teaching and practice and what is not. Cardinal Ratzinger stated that there are more complaints from Catholics in the United States to the Vatican on questions of faith then from any other country.
My husband served in the military, and so our children attended many different Catholic schools across the United States. As we moved from base to base, we found disturbing problems everywhere. There was a lessening in the teaching of Catholic doctrine, less emphasis on prayer, lack of respect for the Eucharist, bizarre innovations at Mass, and scandals. In one town, the local Catholics warned us not to bother sending our children to the local Catholic high school.
The last straw came when our daughter attended a small Catholic college in Maryland and reported that a professor of theology told her class that premarital sex as well as masturbation were not sins but normal human behavior. Furthermore, the girls in her dorm were scandalized by two nuns who shared a room and went around together as a "couple."
One must wonder how many of our young Catholics have been exposed to erroneous teachings and scandalous behavior. How many have left the Church in disgust or dismay? Only God knows how many souls have been lost or will be lost as a result.
The time is due for direct, unequivocal, and decisive action against all those who are desecrating the sacred teachings of the Holy Catholic Church. In the name of "Catholic" many have violated their solemn duty to educate our children in the Catholic faith.
It is time the Catholic Church take back its name "Catholic." No longer should schools, colleges, or universities be allowed to call themselves Catholic if they fail to teach authentic Catholic doctrine. Catholic parents charged with the duty to see to it that their children are taught the Catholic faith should be able to trust Catholic schools to each the faith.
To accomplish this the hierarchy of the Church must bite the bullet. The bishops could set up an Inspector General of Catholic education charged with licensing all institutions who would call themselves "Catholic." The Church would have to set the standards, see to it that the standards are lived up to, and be empowered with granting an educational imprimatur on those educational institutions that qualified. Once this was done Catholic parents would at least have the names of those schools deserving the name "Catholic."

Jane M. Lorenz

Washington, DC
The standards which Catholic schools and universities must uphold, and the trust to parents which they must fulfill, have already been established: by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Code of Canon Law, and especially by the Vatican document Ex Corde Ecclesiae. What is lacking now is not a set of guidelines, but enforcement of the guidelines already in place. Perhaps the previous letter sheds some light on this topic. - The Editor
What the West owes China
Steve Mosher's article ("The Dying Rooms," December 1996) on Chinese orphanages and that socialist nation's one-child-per-family policy make one wonder what will China do to calm the envy of millions of Chinese young men who are unable to find wives. These young men will have the right to ask of their own parents, their government, the United States, the United Nations, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation: Who will pay for their health and welfare in their old age, since they have no children? Will the World Bank, the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the Pathfinder Fund, or the Rockefeller Foundation help them?
Perhaps China will take advantage of this huge pool of unmarried men and enlist them into the military with the promise of taking wives on foreign lands, with Taiwan being an obvious first target. In Bud Macfarlane Jr.'s best selling and truly great American novel, Pierced by a Sword, he envisions America being invaded by foreign troops from Europe at the approval of the president and under UN control. Could such an army actually come from China?
In time, the controllers of populations could find themselves the very targets of the greatest population they have tried to control. The main reason for this is that the controllers are attempting to deny the reality that the basic unit of every society is and will continue to be the family. Men and women were created by God with the natural ability and desire to make a family. There can be little doubt that the murder of one sex in the largest population on earth must be considered, even by those responsible for the murders, as the greatest threat to world peace. And this treat is not limited to China, for India has its female infanticide.
I cannot help but have pity for the Chinese persons who made the basketball shoes one of my sons wears; every brand we saw was made in China. The Walkman my daughter uses to practice her German was also made in China, every brand in the store was made there. The very least we owe to the Chinese (and others) who make what we wear, watch, and hear is our prayers. For the time being, at least, we live in a land of the mostly free, if not a land of the brave. (A brave nation would never permit a slaughter of its unborn children.) We who are free to worship in our churches, if not our schools, owe the unfree our prayers and much more.

George A. Morton

Hopewell Junction, New York
The liturgy is not a party
Scott Reid's excellent review of Aidan Nichols', Looking at the Liturgy (December, 1996) reminds me of the recent past, when our then-pastor digressed from his homily to express a peeve. The object of his ire were parish teenagers who professed to find Mass "boring." He admonished them to immerse themselves in charitable activities.
Now it is understandably shocking to be told that the result of your liturgical relevance-seeking is the equivalent of a sleeping pill. However the corporal works of mercy, while always commendable, are not an antidote to an insipid liturgy.
Two cautions come to mind. First, if we transform the Mass from essentially a sacrifice to primarily a social gathering, we should not be surprised if today's teenagers are not excited about partying with a bunch of old fogies from the 1960s. Second, any liturgical form grows wearisome unless one understands the essential nature of the Mass as the one acceptable sacrifice; the uncomprehending Roman soldiers on Calvary were probably bored stiff.

John Cyril Hanisko

Southfield, Michigan
Understanding Newman's cause
That those who wish to see Newman canonized are suffering from anxiety, as Stephen Hough suggests (Letters, October 1996), is undoubtedly difficult for the correspondent to comprehend, but his charge that Newman labored from grave sins against charity in his lifetime merits a response, for the correspondent misunderstands the object of the beatification process. There are three points worth making when responding to his claims; one theological, one canonical, and one technological.
First, when a beatus is proposed as a model of heroic virtue who in some way reflects Christ in his daily life, this is not the same thing as saying that he imitated the behavior of Christ. Each beatus is a new reflection of the face of Christ that is hewed from the rock, as it were, of his time and place.
Second, the process is not designed to certify impeccability, but to ascertain that given the weaknesses of character that an individual possessed and the limitations imposed by context and conditioning, the servant of God achieved a level of the practice of virtue that may be deemed heroic. Given that a virtue is not practiced in vacuo but in context, and given that it is to be guided by prudence in its practical determinations, it seems that these factors are paramount in arriving at a truly worthy judgment about the virtues of a beatus. Taking into account what Newman had to put up with, both from his contentious and competitive colleagues and from sparring partners in print, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints arrived at a very nuanced decision with regard to Newman's virtues.
Third, mid-Victorian England did not have the benefit of that great vehicle of spontaneous communication, the telephone. Consequently sentiments which today would never find their way into print in that period did so, and since the beatification process peruses the written legacy of the life of a potential beatus, it is understandable that sentiments which we today would find rather too bare-knuckled to put in writing might find their way into public or private record, particularly those of someone who was a prodigious correspondent.
I hope that when Newman is canonized he will appear not as the "demagogue" that his opposite numbers found him to be but as the venerable servant of a master who was righteous in anger, gentle in mercy, but always forthright in his dealings with calumny and error.

Tim Dolan

Yarburgh Way, York

England