Letters 12.10.17

Readers respond to Register articles.

(photo: Register Files)

Public Scandal

Pertinent to “Dubia Cardinals Seek Papal Audience” (Vatican, July 9 issue):

One can only be scandalized if he allows himself to be. Even if the Pope publicly said he strongly felt (under certain conditions, determined by the individual couple and their spiritual director) Catholics who are divorced and remarried without an annulment should be able to receive Holy Communion, even though not living as “brother and sister,” I would not be scandalized.

The Church’s (and Jesus’) teaching of these couples’ receiving Holy Communion being always unacceptable still stands. Let’s be real and serious, eternally serious. Those who are in this divorced and remarried un-annulled state and know the teaching of the Church and still receive Holy Communion would be in a state of mortal sin and sacrilege. If they remain in this state and unrepentant at death, they will suffer the eternal pains of hell. Is it worth it?

Unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, which finds nonexistent understandings of the Constitution that legalize abortion and “gay marriage,” the Pope does not have the authority to change the Church’s teachings on fundamental doctrinal issues. It is a non-starter.

Don’t worry; be happy? No. Don’t worry, and pray for our Church leaders. Pray hard.

         Joe Marincel,

         Flower Mound, Texas

 

Visible Fruits

Regarding William Brown’s letter to the editor entitled “Obvious Charade” (July 23 issue), Mr. Brown feels “thousands will be spiritually damaged” if Medjugorje is approved by the Holy See.

I have been to Medjugorje many times. My daughter has been a religious sister for 20 years, and she would tell you she received her vocation because of the fruits of Medjugorje. Father Don Calloway, a Marian priest, just wrote a book on Medjugorje that started his conversion. I’ve seen hundreds of priests celebrating Mass in Medjugorje. I’ve seen hundreds of pilgrims lined up at the outdoor confessionals to receive the sacrament, some for the first time in decades.

Medjugorje is an extremely peaceful and holy shrine. If, as Mr. Brown claims, it’s demonic, we would have to thank the devil for more than 600 priestly vocations, millions of people returning to prayer and the Church and countless physical and spiritual miracles that have taken place there.

         Mary Anne Condit

         Newton, New Jersey

 

Endangering the Flock

Regarding “Priest’s ‘LGBT’ Approach Sparks Concerns” (page one, July 9 issue), by Judy Roberts: Clerics such as Jesuit Father James Martin need to go back to an orthodox seminary; or, better yet, under the oath of obedience, they need to memorize the brilliant commentary “Eight Modern Errors to Know and Avoid,” written by Msgr. Charles Pope (June 25 issue).

The most egregious error, however, is that Father Martin was allowed a public forum to perpetuate those modern errors and further confuse Catholics with the narrative he purports in this article.

Dissension and different points of view are innate in the workings of the Church.

However, when one of the shepherds openly endangers the flock with his unholy dissension, doublespeak and collusion with sin, he should be treated as one of the wolves.

Where is the courage in the Church hierarchy to protect its flock from such predators?

         Kathleen Perera

         Jacksonville, Florida

 

Brush With Holiness

I enjoyed reading your list of U.S. saints in your July 9 edition (“Holy US Candidates for Sainthood”). I am glad that now-Blessed Stanley Rother was added to the list.

There is another one missing on this list: Venerable Msgr. Aloysius Schwartz [Editor’s note: He was included in the June 25 sidebar with “Sanctity Made in the USA”].

He was born in the U.S. in 1930. He died in 1992. He was the founder of two religious congregations: the Sisters of Mary and the Brothers of Christ.

I met him in Belgium in 1956 at the American College at the Catholic University of Louvain.

He was studying to become a priest of the Samists (a Belgian missionary society) who prepared priests for foreign missions.

He went to Korea, where he founded homes for orphan boys and girls. His religious continue to do this work in Korea, the Philippines and Nicaragua.

They are known as “World Villages for Children.” The sisters have an office in Washington, D.C.

         Msgr. Charles DesRuisseaux

         Manchester, New Hampshire