Correspondence
Ole! Twice! The September 11 issue includes two pieces that deserve high praise. The editorial, "The President," is the best piece I have read on this thorny subject. Balanced, reasoned,...
...You hint that this president is indispensable because of his economic accomplishments...
...405, New York, NY 10115...
...An ongoing study of the public ministry of Jesus Christ convinces me that the Spirit is now at work in the world, preparing the ways for Vatican III...
...405, New York, NY 10115...
...But Father Codd's "Modest Proposal" would seem to be of little value in dealing with these two situations...
...The hassid explained: violating the Sabbath is a sin, a great sin...
...But McConnell's review of PBS's "Reflections on Vatican II" [September 11] illustrates a significant problem that shows up whenever he takes on a religious theme: in McConnell's muse, Christianity doesn't seem to count for very much...
...of issues published annually: 22...
...MATER DEI INSTITUTE at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99202-1849...
...The number of Catholic converts is impressive but understandable...
...He says that he dropped the book, the way one would drop hot fire...
...Take that from an interfaith marriage convert...
...DANIEL W. MUTH Prince Frederick, Md...
...I t ' s t i m e for s t a t e s to create i n s t i t u t i o n s t h a t e n l i s t the American civic v a l u e s of community p a r t i c i p a t i o n and e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p toward t h e goal of a more j u s t society...
...Consider the case of Sharon, a t w e n t y - s i x - y e a r - o l d mother of t h r e e who p r e s e n t e d to a c o l l e a g u e of mine when she was f o r t y - t w o weeks p r e g n a n t , two weeks o v e r d u e , w i t h a twelve-pound dead fetus...
...1-800-986-9585 ext 6012...
...I saw the tremendous effect on a man, Private Ryan, when he looked into the eyes of one who sacrificed his life for him and heard the request that he try to "earn this...
...you lean against resignation or impeachment because a vice-president under official investigation "would be no guarantee of stability in government...
...Advance payment required...
...The purpose, function and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for Federal income tax purposes have not changed during preceding 12 months...
...10115...
...The Reverend Pierre Blet, S.J., the last surviving co-editor of Actes et documents, has just published a lengthy defense of Pius XII in France...
...3. Date of filing: September 22, 1998...
...Balanced, reasoned, unbiased, it deserves to be read by all sides on this topic...
...sometimes she boldly tells everyone exactly what they ought to be doing, sometimes she gives the impression of groping in the darkness...
...Editor, Margaret O'Brien Steinfels, 475 Riverside Drive, Rm...
...Theology degrees...
...But similar problems rise in more or less homogeneous ethnic parishes as later generations intermarry, cease using the mother tongue, and gradually shed national traditions...
...Yet without access to affordable housing and other basic human needs, families cannot successfully make the transition from welfare to work...
...Instead of repeating that mistake, shouldn't we use our limited resources to strengthen the "parishes within parishes" that already exist, and to form "pastoral flying squads" to give more limited transitional support to smaller and more scattered ethnic groups...
...I would not want to have to give up my Hispanic identity in order to worship, any more than I would want my wife to abandon her roots for the same purpose...
...Commonweal 3 0 October g, 1998...
...Come away to the beautiful and contemplative surroundings of Mercy Center in Burlingame, California, to rest, pray and experience renewal...
...12 word minimum...
...8. Location of the headquarters of general business offices of the publishers: 475 Riverside Drive, Rm...
...Here in Northern Virginia, for example, it would be simply impossible for each of our several dozen Latino, Asian, and African language groups and nationalities to be served by its own pastoral team...
...MARIAN BURKHART New York, N.Y...
...The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that the median renter would need a full-time hourly wage of $10.44 to afford a two-bedroom apartment at market rents...
...Box 1531, Deming, NM 88031...
...And he asked the hassid: How could you do such a thing...
...Retreat RETREATS ARE NOT JUST FASHIONABLE...
...So far, devolution has not provided us with new models for solving Mixed marriage: the up side I found James Davidson's demographic piece [September 11] on interfaith marriages of interest, but I feel he has lost some focus by pessimistically encouraging same-faith marriages...
...I hear McGarvey calling for a reinvigoration of a distinctly Catholic aesthetic sensibility...
...Heschel had never in his life seen anyone handle money on the Sabbath...
...It jogged our memories of history, and that is something we Catholics need...
...But when he walked into the synagogue, Sabbath had already begun...
...He strongly recommends the show, but I got little from his review other than his high opinion of what he expected the council to bring about...
...Now, if we look into the eyes of Jesus and let the realization of his love and saving sacrifice become so real . . . . JOHN BERNBROCK, S.I...
...The pope's critics such as James Carroll and Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center continue to (Continued on page 28) Commonweal 4 October 9, 1998 derstood what learning Polish meant...
...it transcends culture and language...
...Here in Minn e s o t a , t o u t e d n a t i o n a l l y as a model for H e a l t h Maintenance Organizat i o n s , 90 p e r c e n t of i n s u r e d Minn e s o t a n s are in HMOs, y e t c o s t s cont i n u e to s k y r o c k e t , w i t h premiums going u p 15 p e r c e n t in 1998...
...Because she could n o t a f f o r d h e a l t h i n s u r a n c e , she had had n o p r e - n a t a l care...
...DIMITRI CAVALLI Bronx, N.Y...
...15 percent, 12 times...
...But melancholy, depression, on the Sabbath is an even greater sin...
...BROTHER THOMAS MORE, C.F.X...
...Had it not been for my discovery of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker, I doubt very much that I would still be a member of the Catholic church...
...And so I gave you the money, even though it was the Sabbath, so that you would know that you have it to use after the Sabbath...
...4. Frequency of issue: published biweekly except Christmas, New Year's and monthly July and August...
...McConnell's blind spot When he's not talking about religion or politics, your media critic Frank McConnell often has insightful things to say...
...Recently we renewed our wedding vows at an archdiocesan event for couples celebrating key anniversaries...
...The documents show, for example, that until his death in August 1944, Cardinal Luigi Maglione, Vatican secretary of state, the first person to see Pius XII every morning, frequently instructed Vatican representatives in Nazi-occupied countries to intervene on behalf of endangered Jews...
...What a role model...
...GLENN PEARSON, M.D Saint Paul, Minn...
...And one does not ask for material things on the Sabbath...
...Needless to say, not many of the working poor earn at that rate...
...Known bondholders, mortgagees and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: None...
...405, New York, NY 10115...
...For additional information call 212-662-4200 or write COMMONWEAL, 475 R i v e r s i d e Dr., Rm...
...Like the speech by Senator Joseph Lieberman, the editorial built up soaring hopes within me but then left me dismayed and deflated...
...It is certainly difficult to build a vibrant faith community among people who speak different languages and share no common cultural bond...
...In h o u s i n g , the f o u n d a t i o n of t h o s e i n s t i t u t i o n s a l r e a d y exists in t h e c o u n t l e s s community-based n o n - p r o f i t s . But if t h e i r p o t e n t i a l is to be r e a l i z e d , citizens, and p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e i r l e a d e r s in s t a t e governments, must be w i l l i n g to i n v e s t t i m e and tax d o l l a r s toward t h e goal of making d e c e n t housing a p o s s i b i l i t y for t h o s e m i l l i o n s of Americans who are homeless, o r live in m i s e r a b l y i n a d e q u a t e q u a r t e r s , or must pay so much in r e n t t h a t t h e y lack f u n d s for o t h e r basic n e e d s . As Jim Wayne made clear, s u c h i n v e s t m e n t s pay off n o t only for families b u t for whole communities...
...The Dominican Simon Tugwell has written: "The church has known many different moods in the course of her history...
...In many marriages, a spouse is drawn to the Catholic faith by frequenting and participating in the community of worship...
...Volunteers Needed CHEERFUL, RELAXED SISTER(S), laywoman, couple, needed to share ministry of listening, hospitality, prayer, outreach to community, gardening, library, office...
...2. Publication Number: 0010-3330...
...1. Tifie of publication: COMMONWEAL...
...My faith is not a Hispanic faith or an English-speaking faith...
...Scottsdale, Ariz...
...Can you be considered to have committed perjury if you answer untruthfully a question your interlocutor has no legal or moral right to ask...
...That cannot be accomplished by a parish where my people are ignored, or by a parish where hers have no place...
...How could you give me money on the Sabbath...
...once one gets to know the faith it is so compelling that it is impossible to ignore...
...This can be the beginning of conversion to the truth...
...The original sin Your otherwise balanced account of the Clinton contretemps leaves out one highly significant fact--as does nearly everyone else's...
...MANNY ROXAS Las Vegas, Nev...
...Helpful history I am no great fan of Andrew Greeley, but I believe his article on the revolutionary character of Vatican II ["The Revolutionary Event of Vatican II," September 11] served an extremely useful purpose...
...Priesthood...
...He gives voice to many who have found "refracted rays of truth" in the most unlikely places, including the rock idiom...
...Jack Riemer is the rabbi of Congregation Beth Tikvah of Boca Raton...
...That said, allow a criticism...
...Heschel never got over that act of friendship...
...1-800-695-9599...
...Continued on page 4) Commonweal 2 October9, 1998 (Continued from page 2) In the spring of 1955 as a Korean War veteran beginning college studies, I was acutely aware that my Catholic faith had given me little if any appreciation of my life in the world...
...The report complained: "In a manner never known before, the pope has repudiated the National Socialist New European Order...
...We need to know that the church is not doomed always to follow the apparent direction of the moment...
...Ministry Program DESIRE LAY MINISTRY...
...This and similar items leave me wondering what a man with so little apparent use for Christianity is doing writing in a Catholic magazine...
...That suggests at least that Clinton's deposition--indubitably a lie--was still not indictable...
...In the whole affair there has been only one indisputable crime, and Bill Clinton didn't commit it...
...Residential program...
...7. Location of known office of publication: 475 Riverside Drive, Rm...
...The writer is executive director of Homeless & Housing Kentucky Coalition...
...That was enough to influence Ryan's behavior for a lifetime, as he tried to be worthy of so much unmerited love...
...Thus we need sociological studies of people who prepared the way for Vatican II and eagerly awaited its emergence...
...He is the chair of the National Rabbinic Network, a support system for rabbis across the denominational lines, and the co-editor of So That Your Values Live On (Jewish Lights...
...Greeley's reflection is brilliant on how Vatican II changed everything...
...Spend time alone or request spiritual direction...
...copies printed (Net Press Run): 18,897 19,704 B. Paid Circulation: (1) Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales: 744 794 (2) Mail subscriptions: 16,210 17,004 C. Total paid circulation: 16,954 17,798 D. Free distribution by mail (sample, complimentary, and other free copies): 912 902 E. Free distribution outside the mail (carriers or other means): 25 5 F. Total free distribution (sum of D and E): 937 907 G. Total distribution (sum of C and F): I7,891 18,705 H. Copies not distributed: (1} Office use, leftovers, spoiled: 520 541 (2) Returns from news agents: 486 458 1. Total (sum of G, H1, and H2): 18,897 19,704 J. Percent paid and/or requested circulation: 94.8% 95.2~ i certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete...
...For all of Clinton's squalid, immoral, unseemly, and reckless behavior, he has in no way ignored or overridden the law...
...She d i e d of an a m n i o t i c fluid embolus w h i l e an emergency C a e s a r e a n - s e c t i o n was b e i n g c a r r i e d out...
...Why not look at these statistics as a challenge, indeed an opportunity, to spread the Catholic faith...
...It taught him that observance is not an end in itself, that it must always be accompanied by intention, and that lifting the spirits of another human being is a mitsvah...
...If this president is indispensable, what need is there of law...
...You are resoundingly silent about the effect on our children of this president's incontrovertibly immoral behavior...
...ALAN DAHL Frankfort, Ky...
...Modern audiences may consider Pius XII's public statements bearing on this question to be vague, but in their own time they were often considered provocative...
...But that might be the lesser evil in light of the ominous shadow of yet another independent counsel looming over the president...
...Inculturation is a current buzz-word...
...Owner (if owned by a corporation, its name and address must be stated and also immediately there under the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding I percent or more of total amount of stock): Commonweal Foundation, 475 Riverside Drive, Rm...
...Saving Pvt...
...Like him, I believe such a sensibility is applicable to the world of pop music...
...A dispensable president...
...T.F...
...Linda Tripp did, with Kenneth Starr's approval and assistance, possibly at his behest, when she taped her conversations with Monica Lewinsky without Lewinsky's knowledge or permission, an act against the law in Maryland, where it took place...
...Publication title: COMMONWEAL...
...Aesthetics of rock Kudos to Bill McGarvey for his thoughtful piece, "Like a Rolling Stone" [September 11 ]. As a fellow Philadelphian, I too remember the Commonweal 2 8 October 9, 1998 "Viewers Guide to Movies" in the Catholic Standard and Times...
...Forever afterwards he fought for an understanding of Judaism that included law and love in inseparable combination...
...He dismisses too casually, however, the concern that new ethnic parishes could repeat past mistakes, and he is too optimistic about the new parochial structures he proposes...
...And Andrew Greeley's cogent sociological analysis of Vatican II is equally balanced, reasoned, unbiased...
...A person who is depressed cannot really observe the Sabbath...
...PEDRO J. SAAVEDRA Garrett Park, Md...
...We need Christian musicians with a firm spiritual grasp and an ability to distinguish between the lame and the sublime...
...9. Names and addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor: Publisher, Commonweal Foundation, 475 Riverside Drive, Rm...
...An example is a January 22, 1943 report by the Reich Central Security Office on the pope's 1942 Christmas message, cited by Anthony Rhodes in his 1973 book, The Vatican in the Age of Dictators...
...Right on HMOs H a t s off to Commonweal and to w r i t e r Kip S u l l i v a n [ " H e a l t h Care Reform," A p r i l 24] for exposing t h e i n e f f i c i e n - cy of America's HMOs and t h e i r ina b i l i t y to c o n t r o l costs...
...So also my wife's...
...I realize that less than 10 percent of the congregation understood me, but I was thankful for the archdiocesan policy...
...Such t r a g e d i e s need n o t happen...
...Starr has...
...I saw a truth for my own life in this story...
...I hope I'm wrong here, but McConnell seems to appreciate Vatican II primarily because he thought it would result in a church that would cater more comfortably to twentiethcentury American liberal secularists, and it is a "failed revolution" because it didn't...
...I do not oppose ethnic parishes but I prefer one where we both can feel at home...
...Why must the nation's hallowed principles be twisted, mangled, ignored, to keep him in office...
...Even though it was Sabbath, Heschel was so distraught that he came to the hassid after the services and asked for the money with which to buy the book...
...How odd for a church that for centuries has preached Christ to the culture(s) in a way that took both seriously...
...Fact-finding on Pius XII Despite my delay in writing, I hope to respond to Father John Pawlikowski's article, "Plus XII & the Jews" [July 17...
...Sometimes she appears to be very confident of herself and of the value of her message, sometimes she seems rather to be a bit confused and unsure of herself...
...Maybe Congress should inquire into his act i o n s - a n d his motives as well, especially since his response when someone called attention to his misdeed was to subpoena the whistle-blower...
...How could a few bilingual priests, deacons, and lay ministers--many of them also coping with the problems of adjusting to life in this country--serve these new ethnic "parishes without boundaries," their members widely scattered...
...Manuscripts Wanted MANUSCRIPTS WANTED...
...Now we eagerly await the second volume, which will recount the story of how the man who was raised in a shtiebl became a moral force in the civil rights movement in America, a negotiator with the pope in Rome, a spokesman for the Jews of Russia, and "Father Abraham" to so many Catholic and Protestant theologians...
...Double identity Re: "Bring Back the Ethnic Parish": I am a Hispanic immigrant married to an American with roots deep in this land...
...650) 340-7480...
...It is time to end our failed e x p e r i - ment w i t h HMOs and reform h e a l t h care b y modeling any o t h e r Western nation...
...Balkanizing our parishes and ghettoizing our immigrants is neither prudent nor practical...
...And it is not necessarily in her 'best' moments, when she is most confident and clear, that she is most true to herself...
...ALL TYPES...
...Finally, you seem to suggest that this president can still govern effectively...
...Other a s p e c t s of h e a l t h care are worsening as well: t h e number of Minnesotans u n i n s u r e d r i s e s e v e r y year, and o p i n i o n p o l l s of h e a l t h - c a r e p r o v i d e r s show t h e q u a l i t y of care is d e t e r i o r a t i n g . The human cost of o u r p r o f i t - d r i - ven HMOs is v e r y high...
...Write: Nazareth House, P.O...
...it can be helped along by a spouse and, when the person is ready, by a good RCIA group...
...Let's cease pretense and have the first American monarch...
...405, New York, NY 10115...
...Louisville, Ky...
...That second volume should also tell how Heschel was able to translate the central insights that he learned in his childhood into a language that spoke to the minds and souls of so many in this land...
...Subsidy Publisher with 75-year tradition...
...Extentand natureof circulation: -'LASSIFIED Average Actual number number of copies of copies each issue of a single during issue preceding published 12 months nearesto filing date A Total no...
...No new ghettos needed Kevin Codd's article ["Bring Back the Ethnic Parish," September 11] deftly describes the process, and the pain, of cultural change in some American parishes...
...My fear is that if the ethnic parish becomes an exclusive model, people in ethnically mixed marriages will feel they do not belong in either kind of parish...
...The next morning the hassid handed him a book of the sayings of Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz...
...The prudential restraint against rushing to judgment (what a tired phrase that's become) shortcircuits the more important need to be logical...
...He came to the synagogue that Sabbath very upset, and decided to ask one hassid who prayed there and who was fond of him to give him the money for a Polish grammar...
...Gregory Wilpert, Business Manager...
...Yet much more needs to be said on how Vatican II was itself a response to underlying historic developments...
...Housing for all It has been my pleasure to work with Representative Jim Wayne, author of "Affordable Housing" in your issue Commonweal 2 9 October g, 1998 Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation (Act of August 12, 1970: Section 3685, Title 39, United States Code...
...No, I'm not talking about widescale deceptive or coercive methods...
...Discounts and monthly billing available for repeat advertisers...
...405, N.Y., N.Y...
...Continued from page 4) ignore such material because it contradicts their preconceived theories...
...Do we now live by bread alone...
...Although its admonitions were mostly mocked in my family, it undoubtedly reflected the view that much in the culture was to be feared...
...Ours was the twenty-fifth...
...In conversations with fellow Catholics, both liberal and conservative, about the path the church is taking, I am struck by how often ideology trumps history, and how often the ideology is thin stuff, a blend of timebound religious perceptions and the chatter you hear on television...
...I have seen some very good television that I might have missed but for his recommendations...
...RAY STROIK Stevens Point, Wis...
...The Spirit at work Although Andrew Greeley ends with a statement of his belief that "the Spirit was at work within the council," not once does he mention what difference the person of Jesus Christ makes in our lives...
...I understand that an English translation will soon be available...
...405, New York, NY 10115...
...Documentation on this topic can be found in the eleven volumes of Actes et documents du Saint Si~ge relatifs d la Seconde Guerre Mondiale...
...JOHN J. GROGAN Camden, N.J...
...It would seem that every subsequent act by the prosecutor has been illegal, for every one of them was based on tainted evidence...
...t h e housing crisis...
...of August 14, on legislation to establish a dedicated source of state revenue for Kentucky's Affordable Housing Trust Fund...
...Past experience suggests that a new generation of ethnic parishes would risk becoming spiritual ghettos, isolated from the life of the larger community, perhaps led by clergy with little understanding of American ways...
...If the general content and style of your magazine are equal to those of "The President" [September 11], the editorial in the first issue of my new subscription, I've struck a literary mother lode...
...Ryanmand me Thank you, Richard Alleva, for the fine appreciation of the movie Saving Private Ryan [September 11...
...STOCK Arlington, Va...
...Discounts 5 p e r c e n t , 3 times...
...We need more sense of history so that we will be less superficial...
...Issue date for circulation data below: 9/25/98 15...
...Every o t h e r major Western n a t i o n has u n i v e r s a l h e a l t h i n s u r a n c e w i t h lower cost and h i g h e r q u a l i t y care...
...Retreats have been a source of renewal for believers long before they became au courant...
...Here he is virtually accusing the German people of injustice toward the Jews, and makes himself the mouthpiece of the Jewish war criminals...
...none has HMOs...
...If one considers, as you do, that the president is waist deep in ethical muck, the conclusion must be that William Jefferson Clinton is the problem...
...Managing Editor, Patrick Jordan, 475 Riverside Drive, Rm...
...The "work first" philosophy of welfare reform has demonstrated that work alone will not raise families out of poverty or give them access to housing they can afford...
...While the occasional saint or theologian is mentioned here or there, the notion that the Holy Spirit is guiding the church into all truth is generally absent...
...WILLIAM F. BELL Lenox, Mass...
...In America, n u r s e s and d o c t o r s are b e i n g laid off to pad t h e p r o f i t s of HMOs w h i l e an e s t i - mated 85 m i l l i o n Americans have t r o u b l e g e t t i n g needed medical care...
...JULIE DONATI Sugar Land, Tex...
...405, New York, NY 10115...
...5. No...
...As the article points out, current housing policies are marked by retrenchment in federal social spending and a devolution of authority from the federal to the state level...
...10 percent, 6 times...
...There is more, much more, in this fascinating biography, which traces Heschel's life from his earliest years in Warsaw to the day he arrived in Cincinnati...
...In parishes where the influx of newcomers is not homogeneous, the problems must be compounded...
...RATES: $1.10 p e r word...
...Heschel opened the book--and there was the money between the pages...
...6. Annual subscription price: $44...
...My problem isn't with his headpatting of "conservatives," including the present pontiff, but with the seemingly total lack of Christian perspective...
...As with all such events in our archdiocese, one of the Scripture passages was read in Spanish, and I was selected to do the reading with my wife by my side...
Vol. 125 • October 1998 • No. 17
