Nasty Nuns on Film

I really appreciated Steven Greydanus' review of The Magdalene Sisters (“Beware Psycho Sisters Bearing Laundry,” Aug. 31-Sept. 6).

Ever since I saw the insipid movie Monsignor more than 20 years ago when I was in college, I have been aware that some people in Hollywood have no problem skewing the truth and portraying the Church as evil and corrupt.

I totally agree with you, Steven, when you say that the Sisters of Mercy were probably pretty much like anybody else, with some bad apples, some good ones and most somewhere in the middle. I was exposed to two different orders of sisters, first in grade school and then in college. Quite frankly, I think a few of them were frustrated and a couple were probably a little nuts, but, for the most part, they were truly beautiful, caring human beings.

In contrast to the movie you reviewed, I have a much greater appreciation for the scene in Heaven Help Us where Donald Sutherland's character removes the abusive brother, saying “I don't want you around the kids anymore.” Like you, I just can't believe that the sickness of a society would permeate a religious order to the extent shown in The Magdalene Sisters. Even the vast majority of nuns in Nazi Germany didn't get sucked into Hitler's insidious ideological frenzy.

I also appreciated the fact that you stated, “Not all films critical of Catholic clergy or religious are guilty of this sort of thing.” Some Catholic reviewers and critics will condemn a movie if the priests don't bear a striking resemblance to Barry Fitzgerald or if the nuns don't behave like Mother Teresa. I think it's also interesting to note that some of these same reviewers will condemn a movie if it shows an intelligent, productive teen-ager taking a hit off a joint or includes a homosexual who is introspective and benevolent. Some reviewers just don't understand that it's not a writer's job to advance their agenda.

Thank you for giving the average Catholic a little credit, and also for showing respect to writers of fiction. As one of my writing professors once said, “It doesn't have to be real, but it does have to be true.”

JOHN BOGNER

Wichita, Kansas

Courting Commandments

Regarding “Monumental Battle: Judge Moore Stands by Ten Commandments” (Aug. 31-Sept. 6):

If not for Judge Roy Moore's stand, many would still go about talking about “commandments” without really knowing what they were talking about. It took Moore to help us have a second look at the Ten Commandments and have a better understanding of their role in our lives. Constitutions, and judges to uphold those constitutions, are there because of the existence of commandments.

Our very nature is governed by laws. In turn for us living by those laws, we have sets of commandments. Laws are part and parcel of any limited existence. Thus as long as one is within the confines of that given law, the concerned existence prevails. As a matter of fact, when the observance of that given law stops, the very existence terminates.

It is not so with the commandments. God spoke and wrote the commandments on tablets. Laws are learned, while the commandments are part of our very existence.

Without the Ten Commandments, the Constitution has no meaning, and the very judgeship has no explanation for its very existence.

The base line is this: Our very existence is founded on laws and, in order to stay that existence, the Ten Commandments are a necessity. Many a dynasty has come and gone depending on how they followed the Ten Commandments.

FATHER MATTHIAA KIBUKA

Niagara Falls, New York

Catholic Politicians

Thank you for the article “Bishops' Quandary: How to Handle Vatican Note On Politicians?” (Aug. 31-Sept. 6).

May I comment of some of Father William Maestri's comments? As you noted, he is communications director of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Specifically, he said that excommunication is unlikely to work because today's style of episcopal leadership is more collegial and pastoral than it was 40 years ago. The bishop has to consider the effect an excommunication would have on the public so it won't cause further turmoil in the community.

Some 45 years ago, as a new college graduate, I moved from Virginia to the New Orleans Archdiocese. I was hungering for God and soon committed my life to Christ in the faith of my forebears, Anglicanism. Soon thereafter, I got serious with a Catholic girl and told her I didn't believe in marriage. I asked that we investigate each other's faith and discern together which we'd choose.

She said, “No way.” I thought her arrogant but took instructions. Halfway through it, we broke up—but I knew where God wanted me and entered the Church in 1960.

A few years before that, the archbishop of New Orleans had excommunicated a local politician who was defying the Church regarding racial segregation in the schools.

Through I was just a hungering pagan at the time, I recall thinking that it seemed to be the reasonable thing to do if the archbishop's faith meant anything to him. His action seemed to say: “My faith isn't just a Sunday thing; it's for Monday through Saturday also.”

What part did Archbishop Joseph Rummel's courageous action play in my conversion? Only God knows, but to me his action was an example of the New Evangelization the Holy Father begs God for. But it must come from us, his Church. We might get persecuted for it? Boo hoo! Does not Scripture say that's a time for rejoicing?

Let's pray for our bishops. It's not an easy job—but then Our Lord never said it would be.

DICK REEDER

Green Village, New Jersey

Abortion and Mercy

Regarding “Stop the Spin on Sin” (Letters, Sept. 7-13), which was critical of the gentle verbiage in “The Other Church Abortion Teaching: Mercy” (Aug. 24-30):

As a new creature in Christ who happens to have had two abortions, I would like to assert that the desire to rub the nose of the woman in her past abortion sounds more like “the accuser of the brethren” than the spirit of Christ, whose greatest attribute—mercy—is above even his justice. It is exactly this type of attitude that I hope my suffering sisters do not come in contact with when they give up their defenses and begin their journey to healing in Jesus. I would much prefer those women to visit www.rachelsvineyard.org to hear about truly authentic Catholic teaching on post-abortion healing. (Even Mother Teresa thought so!)

Maybe Ginalynne Mielko could learn something from our Holy Father, who says to the post-abortive woman in The Gospel of Life: “The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the sacrament of reconciliation. You will come to understand that nothing is definitively lost, and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child who is now living in the Lord. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of … life.”

Name Withheld

Register Associates Correction

If you've joined our Register Associates program by donating to the Register, mark your calendar. There's an opportunity for Register Associates to meet Father Owen Kearns and attend a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York on Thursday, Oct. 2. The date was misprinted in last week's issue.

Call Mike Lambert at (203) 230 - 3805 or e-mail him at [email protected] for details.