LETTERS
2004 LETTERS
December
October
September
July/August
June
May
April
March
January
ARTICLES
NEWS
ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
LETTERS
January 2004
REPLY TO COULOMBE
I want to thank Charles Coulombe for his response to my letter concerning his review of Anita Caspary's book Witness to Integrity. [See "Why Humiliata, Not Caspary?" Letters, December Mission.] I appreciate that he comes to the subject from a particular point of view, as do I.
He might be interested that Kathleen Sprows Cummings reviewed the book in the November 21 issue of Commonweal. Her closing comment was that "a good history of it (the showdown between the IHMs and Cardinal McIntyre) demands to be written." I suggested to her that she might be the one to do so, and she indicated such an interest.
Two relatively minor caveats to Mr. Coulombe's response to my letter: 1) I have read the book, and 2) deacons in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are referred to by the title "Deacon" and not "Rev. Mr."
Deacon John Steele,
Holy Family Catholic Community,
Glendale
THE REASON FOR THE CHURCH
Charles Coulombe, in his response in your letters section (December Mission), makes the point that it is the basis of Catholicism "to save our souls." Cardinal McIntyre apparently understood this as well.
Because the focus of saving souls has been lost, the missionary activity of the Church is practically dead; priests and nuns have had to find other political and social causes to fight for. It seems everyone, progressives, liberals, and conservatives, all have their own little hobbies and forget that the Catholic Church, its sacraments, and its clergy and lay people are there for one main reason -- to get as many people as possible to respond to Jesus' invitation and proceed to Heaven. All the other matters, however laudable, are secondary.
Edward Wedinsky,
Woodland
THERE IS A THIRD WAY
Regarding your article on unions and Catholic social teaching ["Well, It's Nice.", December Mission], I couldn't have said it better myself. I began political life in high school and college as a Marxist, had my political soul "saved" by Ronald Reagan, and my real soul saved by a developing traditional Catholic faith. Pari passu, through fairly extensive reading of various papal encyclicals (albeit my personal application sometimes had a somewhat desultory character about it at times) and attendant material, along with several histories of the Church, I found that my initial instincts weren't "bad" per se; they were simply distorted by the prevailing secularist influence permeating virtually every aspect of today's Western societies. That is, contrary to the well-known and oft quoted expression, tertium non datur, there is, indeed, a Catholic via media which we must pursue in the interest of real social justice.
Steven B. Piper,
received via e-mail
NOT ON THE CUTTING EDGE
I enjoyed very much your setting the record straight as to what actually happened during Cardinal Mahony's "open mike" session with his priests [see The Cardinal's Karaoke, December Mission]. The Los Angeles Times put quite a spin on the facts by claiming that the open booing occurred because someone "questioned celibacy" -- when in fact it occurred because one of Cardinal Mahony's favorite pastors (Monsignor Torgerson) used the occasion to defy the magisterium and call upon the Church to create priestesses. The irony of what actually happened is delicious (and all readers are in your debt for bringing the actual facts to light): the aged pastor, who seems to fancy himself on the "cutting edge" of the future Church, tried to "update" and upbraid the teaching of the Holy Father, and he was openly booed by whom? -- a few old priests clinging to a bygone tradition? NO! The younger priests who are the future of the Church.
Despite the best efforts of the graying liberal regime represented by Mahony and Torgerson, the true faith not only survives but appears on the ascendancy, even in the feared and loathed (have you heard Catholics from other parts of the country talking about us lately?) archdiocese of Los Angeles. Despite all the damage that Mahony has done, there is hope. I quote a letter I recently sent to the Cardinal (and I know he read it because he actually, to his credit, sent a response): "Know that I am praying for your soul (along with many others, I am sure) and your conversion: that your eyes may be opened to how Satan has been using you in his attempt to destroy the Church."
Well, keep up the good work, L.A. Mission. We'll leave the light on for ya....
Larry Carstens,
received via e-mail
MASS EPISCOPAL SELF-DELUSION
In September of this year, Bishop Wilton Gregory, the president of the U.S. bishops conference, criticized the news media for their saturation coverage of the Catholic Church's clergy sex abuse crisis. According to Bishop Gregory, this caused unnecessary damage to the bishops. Apparently, our bishops will never accept the fact that the sexual molestation of a child is a crime and that the harboring of criminals is likewise a crime. Our bishops are living proof that there are such things as mass self-hypnosis, mass sell-delusion, and mass hysteria. It may be more accurate to say that the bishops believe that whatever they decide to do becomes the law of the land.
The most notorious child molester in the diocese to date was Father Ted Llanos. He made headlines for several years until he committed suicide in December 1996. He admitted to molesting 38 altar boys in six different parishes in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Bellflower, Covina, and South El Monte. Cardinal Mahony stonewalled the Long Beach police who were investigating Father Llanos' crimes. Diocesan spokesman Father Gregory Coiro said that the diocese would not be put in the position of doing the work of the Long Beach police. When one of Llanos' victims filed a suit against the diocese, the diocese stopped paying for the victim's medical bills. It was Cardinal Mahony's ruthless treatment of victims which led the state legislature to pass laws which allowed victims to sue the diocese after the victims became adults. The flood of lawsuits filed against the diocese since then are the direct result of Cardinal Mahony's reprehensible treatment of victims. The Catholics of Los Angeles will have to pay millions for Mahony's un-Christian conduct.
It seems Cardinal Mahony began covering up sex abuse crimes while he was the bishop of Stockton. At one trial, Cardinal Mahony was on the witness stand for four hours. The jury awarded the sex abuse victims $30 million. The jurors described Cardinal Mahony as arrogant, haughty, dishonest, and completely unconcerned about the welfare of the molested children.
Cardinal Mahony is a kindred soul with the child molesters. He chose a veteran sex offender by the name of Father Carl Sutphin to be an assistant pastor in his new cathedral. He wanted Our Lady of the Angels to have everything. More recently, he built a chapel for sodomized altar boys in the cathedral. Such a chapel is blasphemy, idolatry, and sacrilege.
Robert A. Obergfell,
Bellflower