Cologne Coup

Congratulations on publishing Pope Benedict's own evaluation of World Youth Day in Cologne (“Youth in Germany Offer a New Springtime of Hope,” Weekly Catechesis, Sept. 4-10).

I believe it was a scoop for you since you yourselves translated the talk from his words to the 7,000 pilgrims in his general audience on Aug. 24. My heart was moved also by Robert Francis's interview of Legionary Father George Elsbett titled “The Most Incredible 6 Days of My Life.”

“The policeman were very strict on Tuesday morning,” said Father Elsbett, “but by the afternoon, the same policemen were sitting in a corner drinking beer and greeting us with, ‘Hi, Father,’ as they realized they would have almost nothing to do outside the massive events. … They had no idea such a crowd of young people could so well behaved.”

A further comment is that I would like to see youth leaders repeat some of the 30 times Jesus taught that we can store up treasures of grace, beauty and closeness to Jesus as did St. John the Apostle, who leaned on the breast of Jesus.

FATHER RICHARD F. KONEN

Wall, New Jersey

The Plan-B Process

Relevant to “U.N. Scientists Warn of Pill's Link to Cancer” (Sept. 18-24):

Plan B, known to many as a “morning-after pill,” is surrounded by controversy. Women deserve not to be hoodwinked.

First, Plan B's generic name is levonorgestrel. The drug, Norplant, also has the generic name levonorgestrel. Norplant was removed from the U.S. market because of harmful complications to women. So why is levonorgestrel back on the market?

Second, Plan B is being marketed as an “emergency contraceptive”; however, its modes for action prevent ovulation, or fertilization, or implantation of the fertilized egg into the uterine lining. Plan B should be more accurately described as a “contraceptive/contraimplantation pill.” Despite the acceptance by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of the “redefinition” of pregnancy as beginning at the time of implantation, many people still adhere to the ‘original’ definition of pregnancy as beginning at the moment of fertilization/conception.

Third, Plan B should not be distributed to young girls without a physician's prescription and parental notification. If the young girl is not totally forthcoming with her medical history (e.g., being diabetic or epileptic), she could be placing herself in harm's way using Plan B. One wonders whether a young girl will know the difference between experiencing abdominal pain as a reported side effect of Plan B and experiencing abdominal pain as a result of an ectopic pregnancy, which could prove fatal to her. Young girls need monitoring.

Fourth, it appears that Plan B will be available and accessible at numerous locales throughout communities. That being said, a woman's right to purchase Plan B and a professional's right to choose not to participate in the distribution of Plan B should never be mutually exclusive. Respect for each other's rights is paramount. The healthcare professional may adhere to the embryologists’ scientific view that human life begins at the time of fertilization and, in so doing, cannot distribute Plan B because of its abortive mode of action.

Just as a professional should never berate, belittle or lecture a patient, a patient should never berate, belittle or lecture a healthcare professional. Women can still obtain Plan B; on occasion they may need to go “next door” to buy it.

As an advocate for women's health and a woman myself, I am emphatically making the following statements: Women need more than selective information being clothed in a misnomer; they deserve full and accurate information (controversies notwithstanding) to help them in their decision-making about usage of Plan B. Misleading information always debases a woman's intelligence and worth.

BARBARA J. REUDINK

Syracuse, New York

Be Mindful of Mormonism

I am deeply concerned about a misconception that is held in some of the highest councils of the Church concerning the true position of Mormons on abortion Issues.

The official position of the Mormon church allows abortions in the cases of rape, incest, deformity, risk to life and risk to the health of the woman (basically Roe v. Wade all the way).

For verification, please contact the office of the LDS First Presidency (through lds.org) … and ask them to read you their official position from the General Handbook of Instructions.

Also, the LDS church now allows the use of various forms of birth control, and their baptisms have been officially rejected by the Catholic Church.

With the knowledge that the Mormon church aggressively seeks to convert Catholics worldwide to these doctrines, we should beware of any alliances with them.

WILLIAM SHARP

Chairman, Life for Utah

Castledale, Utah

The Writing Is on the Wall

In your editorial “God and New Orleans” (Sept. 11-17), you informatively described several extremes of ultimate understandings about Hurricane Katrina.

In the spirit of biblical Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar we should “read the writing on the wall.” Hurricane Katrina shows much written on the wall:

God is the author of individual liberty. We think we can hide our wrongs in collective social efforts where inconsequentially “everyone shares guilt.” In this we of America flagrantly sin against the natural moral law by such as allowing abortion. Also, doesn't our arrogance in getting away with natural moral evil embolden in us the notion that we are masters of nature, and lead to reckless violations of the natural physical law as well? How many supposedly good people “go along” with the flow of social evil, not “shaking the dust off their shoes” but, instead, staying and sharing the spoils of a corrupt society?

The “sin side” of New Orleans is sordid Mardi Gras blasphemy, and the goings-on of the Gulf Coast's “pleasure belt” are not the doings of only the people living there but of all of us who travel to enjoy it or allow it to thrive. Moreover, wasn't Louisiana a state in the 2002 national election that had legal abortion in the very forefront of its campaigning, only to see the so called “good Catholic state” elect so-called Catholic, pro-abortion Mary Landrieu to be its U.S. senator? In this, we collectively call God's punitive wrath down upon ourselves. We are our “brothers’ keepers” and, as Americans, we have failed in New Orleans and elsewhere

God does interact with his creation by natural physical and moral laws. The notion of these two spheres of law being kept separate is a human wish not borne out by Revelation. Let us remember Sodom and Gomorrah and some more recent examples, such as the message of Bernadette at Lourdes and Mary's message to the children at Fatima about the destruction of nations by communism.

FRANK STRELCHUN, PH.D.

Canaan, Connecticut

That's Not Entertainment

Regarding “Latina Rediviva?” (Sept. 25-Oct. 1):

Bishop Thomas Olmsted recently expanded the availability of the Latin Tridentine Mass by establishing Mater Misericordiae Mission. I now can and do attend daily the traditional Mass. I appreciate the reverence and focus on the sacrificial nature of this Mass.

As far as the priest facing the altar, I am reminded of a shepherd leading his flock, leading his flock to Jesus. Also, it eliminates the temptation for the priest to be an entertainer.

JOEL FAGO

Phoenix, Arizona

State Support

My response to the letter “Welfare Alternatives Work” (Sept. 4-10) is to point out that Pope Pius XI stated in his 1930 encyclical Casti Connubii (On Christian Marriage) that unwed mothers and their illegitimate children “must be helped” by the state if necessary “to avoid a greater evil.”

JOSEPH SIMON

Richland Center, Wisconsin