LETTERS
1997 LETTERS
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 1997
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
LETTERS
DECEMBER 1997
KNIGHTS OF THE ALTAR
In the interests of reverence at the altar and to block the proliferation of altar girls, a group of fathers is attempting to regenerate the Knights of the Altar.
Under the tutelage of Father Louis Marx, this program was conducted at St. Francis De Sales parish in Riverside. Father Marx has now been moved, and although the program continues, there is no center. Apparently it was very popular in the 1940s and 1950s as a way of organizing and forming young men in the ways of service at the altar, but also in the teaching of leadership in a program of ranks and achievement. The last we heard there was a national chairman or something in Chicago. This man has disappeared.
We have a collection of the pins and rank requirements. At one time there were also ties and a uniform. In any case, we seek help from anyone who knows more about the organization. In particular, are any other parishes still using the program? How was it organized? Does anyone have any samples of the materials used in the program?
Any assistance is appreciated. Please feel free to contact me at (909) 885-0019.
Andre N. Coulombe
San Bernardino
HE DOESN'T FOOL ME!
I read with great confusion the letter of Cardinal Roger Mahony to President Clinton, on page two of the archdiocese's Spanish newspaper, Vida Nueva.
My confusion stems from the hypocrisy of the American Catholic Church. The cardinal claims to be pro-life and against abortion, especially partial birth abortion. But actions speak louder than words.
If he is against partial birth abortion, why did he allow the abortionist doctor who pioneered partial birth abortion, James T. McMahon, to be given a full Catholic funeral and burial at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery? McMahon was a monster who had excommunicated himself through child killing. One might as well desecrate that holy ground with the bones of another excommunicated Catholic: Adolf Hitler. By allowing the excommunicated baby killer who invented the partial birth abortion procedure (which the cardinal tells Clinton is a "violent form of child abuse") to be given funeral and burial (which my parents, simply because they are followers of Archbishop Lefebvre will be denied when they pass away), he lent the ultimate in credibility and endorsement to child abuse, to child killing, to infanticide.
Likewise, as chairman of Vida Nueva, why did the "pro-life cardinal" allow a glowing front-cover article to be published glorifying the "Catholic" U.S. Representative, Loretta Sanchez, who votes 100% in favor of abortion, and voted against the very partial birth abortion ban which the cardinal is asking Clinton to sign into law?
With his hands the cardinal assists the baby killers, but with his mouth he whispers, "I'm against abortion." Cardinal Mahony, you don't fool me. And if you can't fool me, you surely won't fool God.
Craig Walterscheid
Director
Catholic Committee to Stop Child-Killing in America
Huntington Park
NO MORE OF YOUR TRASH
Somehow, I have been sent a copy of Mission. I don't know where or how you got my name, but I demand that you strike it from any list you have and never send me your "publication" again. Any paper that has as its purpose to bring division to the Body of Christ is considered TRASH, by me, and yours certainly falls into that category. Why not spend time healing divisions rather than enlarging the rift.
Rev. Malcolm Smith
Holy Family Cathedral
Orange
HE FAVORED THE KILLING OF BABIES
Pro-life people are puzzled by the show of favor by the Catholic Church for the recently decased abortion advocate, Democratic Congressman Walter Capps [see "News," this issue].
Capps greatly favored the killing of unwanted human beings. The Santa Maria Times said, "Coming out strong for abortion rights, Capps opposed the partial birth abortion ban as a 'questionable dogmatic fiat'... We in Congress, still predominately [sic] white males, have not been given authority to usurp choice for women who must face these terrible life-defining issues." Capps did not elucidate the meaning of "dogmatic fiat." It seems obvious that it refers to the pope's opposition to the killing of unborn babies.
The use of the Santa Barbara Mission church for a funeral Mass, and of the St. John Neumann Church (Santa Maria) for memorial services, gives apparent official Catholic Church approval of the killing of a million and a half babies every year, so strongly advocated by Capps, a Lutheran minister.
Does this mean that slaughter programs (such as the "Holocaust") represent only differences of opinion as to what is a "human being"? To the Schuetz-Staffel, Jews were merely animals. To Capps and the Supreme Court, unborn babies, not having inhaled the air of a free land, are also not human.
Those of us who are afflicted with one or many physical or mental problems may well wonder when the definition of "human being" may change with the vagaries of "liberal" opinion, and the bell may toll for us.
William J. Mathey, V.M.D., Ph.D.
Nipomo