LETTERS
2004 LETTERS
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
LETTERS
May 2004
TRIDENTINE (TRANSLATION: ANTICHRIST)
Let me express some thoughts on your journalistic efforts. I do not want to hide anything about the church -- good or bad -- but I think it might be a good idea to do things with charity (which translated is gift). The gift of Jesus to his Church was that there are many voices and many ways of looking at things -- conservatively or liberally (both words mean the same thing, one to save, the other to free) the Church from the shackles of close-mindedness and rash judgment. My feeling from reading some of the articles here is that there is only one way to do things -- the Tridentine way, which is so very antichrist that it's hard to see any gift (charity) in your one-sided and extremely uncharitable paper.
Please discontinue sending this hate letter regarding the cardinal and all things Vatican II to this address.
Father Leo Baysinger, Director,
St. John Bosco High School,
Bellflower
IT SEEMS RATHER SILLY
The Kirk Kramer interview with Msgr. William Smith of the New York Archdiocese in the April issue was outstanding [see "It's Awkward in the Catacombs"]. He is one of America's leading churchmen, who obviously has a wry wit. I was not aware of the fact that Cardinal Mahony has once again made Los Angeles a proving ground for liturgical novelties. His episcopal acolyte in Orange County now has all the neighboring Catholics also standing for the latter half of the Mass. It all seems rather silly, given the more profound issues that beset our religion and society. At least most of the other U.S. bishops are not following suit -- or am I mistaken?
From your report of Cardinal Mahony's critical comments about Mel Gibson [see "News," April issue], it seems he has all but excommunicated the great Catholic producer/director. But Cardinal Mahony is the one who may be out of step and isolated by the beauty, piety, art, architecture and ancient rituals of the traditional church. The public response to The Passion of The Christ speaks for itself and reveals Americans' profound religious yearnings and beliefs -- we all want that authentic "old time religion."
Patrick F. Flynn,
Yorba Linda
OFFENSIVE, JUDGMENTAL, BACKWARD LOOKING
Please stop sending your newspaper to our parish. I do not agree with your vision of Church nor your mission, whatever that may be. I find your paper offensive because of its critical, judgmental, and backward thinking slant.
The Rev. John S. Woolway, Pastor,
Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
Los Nietos
BEWARE VASSULA
In 1996, when Jesus impersonator Vassula Ryden made appearances in San Francisco and Los Angeles, San Francisco archbishop William Levada, in an announcement, quoted Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Ratzinger's announcement said "Catholics should not consider Ms. Ryden's messages as divine revelations but as personal meditations. The meditations contain elements that are negative in the light of Church doctrine. The faithful are asked to preserve the purity of faith by not relying on presumed revelations but by following the Word of God and the directives of the Church's teaching authority."
According to Archbishop Levada, Cardinal Ratzinger's statement about Vassula "said her writings contained several doctrinal errors, including ambiguity and confusion about the Trinity."
Archbishop Levada's caution is relevant at this time since Vassula Ryden is re-appearing in the Los Angeles area in Glendale on May 20. Those Catholics curious about Vassula can see for themselves the nature of her bizarre actions and "messages" by visiting her websites at www.vassula.org or www.tlig.us. Official Vatican documents and statements by bishops opposed to the Vassula phenomena can be found by searching "Vassula" on www.google.com.
Laurette Elsberry,
received via e-mail