CARDINAL LEO SUENENS

In your important obituary of Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens “Remembering Cardinal Leo Suenens,” May 19), you neglected to sufficiently highlight the cardinal's important and long-standing participation in and support of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. This was for him a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit and a joy. Flowing from his personal openness to the Holy Spirit, the cardinal first championed the recovery of charisms for the Church today in the debates of Vatican II.

Then, through his experience of fledgling charismatic prayer groups in the U.S., the cardinal became active in and pastored the movement in such a way as to insure its rootednesss in the Church. His book, A New Pentecost?, was key, as was his invitation to leaders in the movement to bring the fledgling international office to Belgium where it remained for several years until its subsequent move to Rome, where it exists to this day.

The cardinal was also influential in establishing the theological basis of the Charismatic Renewal through a series called the Malines Documents. In number IV, entitled “Renewal and the Powers of Darkness,” the cardinal wrote: “the Renewal is a precious grace which is offered to the Church and can powerfully contribute to the spiritual rebirth that the world so urgently needs.”

In 1992, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal celebrated its 25th anniversary. The cardinal was not able to be with us in person but a videotape was made and shown during the National Charismatic Renewal Conference in Pittsburgh, Pa. He encouraged us to open ourselves fully to the power of God, stressing that today more than ever before, the world needs the witness of people open to the Spirit.

Thank you, Cardinal Suenens, for your years of service to the Lord and to His Church, and thank you for your support to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

Walter Matthews

Locust Grove, Virginia

SPEAK OUT

If the President's Medicare Board of Trustees report is correct in predicting that Medicare will be bankrupt in five to seven years, one would think that responsible Church leaders would insist on solutions now. It will do no one any good in the future if these funds are not available. The administration's solution, so far, has been to criticize Republican ideas as “draconian cuts.” But they haven't come up with any ideas to save the program.

Much has been written regarding the President's veto of the Partial Birth Abortion Act. It would also be interesting to see a list of Catholic Senators and Congressmen who voted against this legislation. Church hierarchy must speak out on both of these issues!

Jim Ashcraft

Cle Elum, Washington

PAGAN ATTITUDES

How disappointed I was to read Father Richard McBrien's comments (“Father McBrien Criticizes Silly Season in the Church,” Nation, May 12). When he said, “even a conservative Pope, unless he wants to preside over a wreckage, is going to adopt a whole new style of leadership,” in reference to John Paul II, I felt compelled to write. Though Father McBrien may ridicule Bishop Bruskewitz and Archbishop Curtiss, almost every Catholic I know, and many Catholics I have conversed with over the Internet, have great admiration for the actions both have taken to prevent further dissension from the Church.

It seems unjust to allow our priestsóthe only men capable of turning bread into our precious Eucharistóto cater to dissenting parishioners with pagan attitudes who typically don't even believe in the Real Presence. I hope that Bishop Bruskewitz will become one of many that will tighten their ships, allowing our priests to serve our spiritual needs without being ridiculed and persecuted by members of their own parish for believing in the true faith.

I respect David Blankenhorn's efforts to make fatherhood a more profound concept to society (“Without Fathers, Children Remain Children,” Q & A, May 5). However, when he asserts that unwed mothers should be stigmatized, I fervently disagree. It is the stigmatization of these unwed mothers that led to illegal abortions many years ago. Right now we are dealing with 1.5 million abortions a year in the United States. The worst thing that we could do is give women more reasons to kill their unborn.

Though I agree that fatherhood is extremely necessary for a child's upbringing, I do not feel it is wise to assume that children from fatherless homes will be as damaged as Blankenhorn describes. It is dangerous to assume anything about them. There are many adults who grew up in a fatherless environment who would feel insulted by such a rigid analysis. I'm also sure that there are many adults who grew up with fathers who could fit the same kind of negative description that Blankenhorn used for the illegitimate children.

The key to solving the illegitimacy crisis is simply bringing our sons and daughters back to the Church—back to the truth. We must be examples of devotion and help our children discover the true meaning of sexuality and the beauty of marriage. They must also learn to leave judgment of others up to God.

Valerie Terzi Manhattan, Kansas

JEWISH ROOTS

I thank Lisa Pevtzow for her thoughtful article ( “catholic Schools Help Students Rediscover Jesus’ Jewish Roots,” May 5).

On the whole, Pevtzow's comments are balanced, and in agreement with the Vatican II guidelines (1974-75). I simply point out the following: Jews do not refer to Hebrew Scriptures as “the Old Testament” since Jews do not accept Jesus as God and do not accept Christian Scriptures as “authoritative.” Nor are Hebrew Scriptures constructed in the same way that the Catholic-Eastern Orthodox Scriptures are: the language is, obviously, Hebrew; the texts are divided into the Torah (the Five Books of Moses; the Prophets (subdivisions—major and minor); and Writings (which include “books” as Psalms, etc.) Nor are certain celebrations which are included in today's Jewish communities “biblical” (i.e., they were not practiced in the first century)i.e., bar/bat mitzvah; Purim etc. However, that Jesus received the basic Jewish education that he did can be traced to laws making elementary education a requirement for all Jewish communities.

Carol Bodenheimer

Winston-Salem, North Carolina