Letters
Kerry's Catholicity Quotient
I read with amusement “Democrat Kerry Is Most ‘Catholic’ in Senate” (June 13-19). Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., devised the test that tracked senators' voting records on issues described as U.S. bishops' legislative priorities. Sen. John Kerry's overall score was 60.9%, the best among Catholic senators. His score on pro-life issues, meanwhile, was only 11%.
Where I went to school, 70% was a passing grade. An 11% score in a core subject meant automatic summer school. A student with an overall average of 60% would have to repeat the grade. Allowing a student to advance with such a learning deficiency would be more harmful to him in the long run than the stigma of being held back. In those days, good teachers made hard and unpopular decisions for the long-term benefit of the student.
Kerry failed the very test designed to prop him up in the minds of Catholics, and he failed miserably in the core curriculum of Catholic morality. And while serious Catholics will dismiss the Durbin survey as election-year politics, the bishops can no longer dismiss Kerry's blatant support for abortion on demand. They must make the hard and unpopular decision to deny him — and other pro-abortion politicians — holy Communion for the long-term good of their souls.
The Durbin survey is not just electionyear politics. It distorts what it means to be Catholic. The nonmoral issues on which senators were surveyed are not defining issues for Catholics. As Catholics, we can disagree on the minimum wage, capital punishment, labor policy and immigration reform. However, we have a duty to oppose abortion and uphold Church teaching on moral and doctrinal matters.
KEN SKUBA Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania
Battling Bush
A letter to the editor titled “Don't Judge Politicians” (May 30-June 5) states in its concluding paragraph: “Particularly this year, it is important not to do anything that could be construed as an encouragement to vote for President Bush in November. His position against abortion is very weak in that he will do as little as possible in order to cater to a Catholic vote.”
Abortion promoters have a very different view of Bush. At the recent March for Women's Lives, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the National Organization for Women and other abortion-promoting organizations couldn't stop denigrating Bush as their No. 1 enemy because he has nominated candidates for federal judicial positions who might eventually get on the Supreme Court and overturn Roe v. Wade. Democratic senators are filibustering Bush's judicial candidates who have not expressed publicly their support of Roe v. Wade. This group of senators includes 12 Catholics, and Sen. John Kerry is one of them.
Bush is striking at the lifeblood of the abortion industry — and the industry and its backers are taking him seriously. Ask Ellie Smeal or Kate Michelman if Bush should be trying harder.
BARBARA DEREUIL
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Political Pharisees?
I respectfully disagree with Father James Conner's comments about judging politicians (“Don't Judge Politicians,” May 30-June 5). Holy Communion is a blessed privilege, not a right.
As Catholics, we have a right, duty and obligation to defend the Church and its teachings. That includes those politicians who call themselves Catholic. The good Father Conner must remember that those very politicians who vote for abortion in any form — or support homosexual rights, euthanasia or any other [agenda] contrary to Catholic teaching — are going against the Church and are subject to the Church for not following Church doctrine. It would appear that those very politicians forgot they were Catholic long before they became politicians.
Father Conner is failing to see the message of the Gospel he is quoting about Mary Magdalene. She came to Jesus as a sinner who was repenting for her sins and seeking Jesus' forgiveness for those sins. It's quite obvious what Mary Magdalene's role was after that. She followed Christ to the cross and spread his message up to the time of her death.
Father Conner cites the Pharisees in his letter, also. We know all too well what the Pharisees wanted done to Jesus and the hand they played in his death. Now it would appear that those politicians who call themselves Catholic are acting just like the Pharisees who helped crucify Jesus!
NEIL BALTAZOR Harrah, Oklahoma
Mocking the Eucharist
In his letter “Don't Judge Politicians” (May 30-June 5), Father James Conner mentions the example of how the Pharisees judged Christ for socializing with Mary Magdalene. Father Conner then draws a parallel to Catholics who advocate denying holy Communion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians.
In reviewing this passage from holy Scripture, I see two problems with Father's proposed parallel. First, nowhere does Christ excuse or condone Mary Magdalene's sin. In fact, as Father points out, Our Lord said: “Many sins have been forgiven her because she has loved much.” In short, Jesus judged her previous actions to be sinful. He did not excuse her; he forgave her. Thus the Church obviously has the power to judge certain actions as sinful.
Second, both the text and the context of this passage suggest Mary Magdalene acknowledged and recognized her sins for what they were. It was in a spirit of contrition that she approached Our Lord and sought his forgiveness. Have the pro-abortion Catholic politicians being refused holy Communion shown a similar spirit of contrition? On the contrary, when not passing judgment on President Bush's pro-life judicial nominees, we find many of these pro-abortion Catholic politicians publicly boasting about their perfect Planned Barrenhood rating.
Yet, in discussing this issue, let us never forget that what lay in a woman's womb is not just some anonymous blob of cancerous tissue. Rather, it is a human life. Abortion ends that human life. Thus when a Catholic politician campaigns on the slogan “this is my body” to promote the horror of abortion, he or she mocks the very words that make the holy Eucharist so sacred to Catholics.
PETE VERE, JCL Sudbury, Ontario
Counting on Godparents
I appreciated the article on the role of baptismal godparents (“Godparenting With Grace — and Goals,” May 23-29).
Godparenting is an area that is too often overlooked. To those of us who are trying to reclaim a true sense of spiritual service rather than a one-time stand-in by godparents, it was a welcome gift.
I was, however, disappointed in one element present in the photo. The picture and caption mentioned the child, his godmother and godfathers. Canon law does not permit three sponsors, nor does it permit two individuals of the same sex to serve in this capacity. Canon 873 states: “Only one male or one female sponsor or one of each sex is to be employed.”
While I'm sure it was simply an oversight on your part, it is unfortunate that a photo of a priest and a ceremony wherein the Church's instructions are not being followed appeared in the Register. Many people, myself included, trust the orthodoxy of the content of articles in Register, and some might be led by this error to believe that having three sponsors or two godfathers is an acceptable practice. A correction of this mistake would be most helpful.
May God continue to bless you and your fine newspaper!
REV. ANDREW P. CARROZZA, Sacred Heart Church, Suffern, New York
Creighton Confusion
Creighton University might be a mandatum school, according to “Creighton Doesn't Hide Professors' Status” (May 23-29), but it is also a pro-homosexual school. It hosts a chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance that is sanctioned by the university administration and that favors homosexual “marriage.”
THOMAS SYSESKEY
Worcester, Massachusetts
