Kneeling for holy Communion is not a matter of human registration. It is a revealed truth (“No-Kneeling Rule Sparks Widespread Outcry,” Sept. 29-Oct. 5). St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians confirms this. In fact the Church too has upheld it throughout the centuries. “So that at Jesus' name every knee must bend in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth …” (Philippians 2:10).

Maybe the U.S. bishops are affected by their failure to reform seminaries. This so-called “no-kneeling rule” shows two things—a denial of faith in Jesus as God and a lack of [proper respect for] Jesus' role as God. When we do not believe that Jesus is God and take him as human, the best thing we can do for him is to afford him the highest respect offered to dignitaries, for whom we stand. However, if we accept Jesus as God, then we take the revealed way of respecting God, which is kneeling. God revealed this on many occasions [in Scripture].

At holy Communion we come face-to-face to face with God. Like all revealed truths, kneeling for holy Communion should be accepted as such.

FATHER MATTHIAS W. KIBUKA

Niagara Falls, New York

The eminent professor of canon law at the Gregorian University, Jesuit Father Felice Cappello (1879-1962), taught that the supreme law of the Church was the salvation of souls. He also taught that one needed common sense and much goodness in the practical application of Church law. This erudite scholar, author of books and countless articles, is best remembered for his hours spent hearing confessions, recommended by no less than St. Padre Pio. While his scholarship was anything but “liberal,” he was criticized by contemporaries for his generosity and, in the confessional, even accused of laxity.

I wonder what Father Cappello would make of the draconian enforcement of the “no-kneeling” rule for the reception of holy Communion by some American liturgists and priests. What comments would he offer to the statement that, should a person insist on kneeling to receive Communion, “they clearly will be demonstrating dissent from the mind of the Church?” As a priest I am disturbed by the lack of concern for the care of souls, by the lack of common sense and, especially, by the lack of goodness in this discussion. And it is not those wishing to kneel who disturb me.

FATHER GREGOIRE J. FLUET

Moodus, Connecticut

Regarding “No-Kneeling Rule Sparks Widespread Outcry” (Sept. 29-Oct. 5):

You placed a photograph of Bishop William Higi of the Diocese of Lafayette, Ind., directly under the headline, as though he were responsible for the controversy. You also quoted a statement from Bishop Higi that was part of an extended, detailed catechesis, and you used it out of context. You focused on one section of a larger issue, without acknowledging (as Paul Harvey was wont to say) “the rest of the story.”

In fact, as he has stated publicly, Bishop Higi is taking steps to ensure that all the prescriptions of the revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal are upheld in all parishes in his diocese. He has provided detailed catechesis to inform the faithful of the revised content of GIRM and of the history and reasoning behind those revisions. Some of those revisions are popular with “liberals,” and some are popular with “conservatives.” All of them are instructions from the bishops of the United States to all the faithful of the United States. We faithful cannot pick and choose in which areas we will practice the virtue of obedience.

To provide just one example, Bishop Higi wrote in his diocese's weekly newspaper, The Catholic Moment, in July: “In the Diocese of Lafayette, Ind., the assembly is to kneel during the eucharistic prayer where it is possible to do so, and in churches that currently do not have kneelers (there are several), kneelers are to be installed in a timely fashion.” You can read his columns yourself online at the diocesan Web site: www.dioceseoflafayette.-org/moment.html.

KAREN GILSON

Indianapolis