Correspondence
Correspondence Was JFK Catholic? Newport, R.I. To the Editors: I have just finished reading Ed Marciniak's review of Second Spring by Charles A. Fracchia [Aug. 28 ]. Mr. Marciniak's statement...
...Wrong deplore Begin's bloody bombings of densely populated areas of Beirut...
...In my article, I attempted to address the Israeli contribution to the cycle of violence in Lebanon...
...28th issue, the Rev...
...Surely he jests...
...Although the world only occasionally remembers the Lebanese and their national tragedy, Father Ramsperger should recall that in April, weekly magazines throughout the U.S...
...To couple his name with that of Dorothy Day...
...TERENCE H. WRONGBeirut...
...seems to miss the point...
...Kennedy's efforts thus contributed to the momentum which eventually produced Vatican IPs historic Declaration on Religious Freedom, which Pope Paul VI called "one of the major texts of the Council...
...I notice that that is also Mr...
...separation of church and state-in the face of the muddled thinking then current about the subject among theologians and philosophers...
...HELEN R. HOLLAND The author replies: In order to disparage John F. Kennedy, Helen R. Holland truncates not only my statement but also its thrust...
...C'est rire...
...The U.S...
...International screams were raised over the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear plant, and tons of dust were thrown in the air over the fabricated so-called Syrian missile crisis, while hardly a whimper was heard about the deliberate destruction of civilian lives and homes in Zahle and east Beirut...
...and the U.S.S.R., made the phrase "Lebanese crisis" in vogue again...
...It is indeed lamentable that the world press has consistently focused on Palestinian-Israeli violence in Lebanon while neglecting the long-standing inter-Arab antagonisms that plunged the country into bloody civil war in '75-'76 and continue to divide this strife-torn land today...
...Wrong's home...
...Marciniak's statement concerning "the Catholic style of John F. Ryan, John Kennedy and Dorothy Day" is altogether outrageous...
...I have lived and worked in Beirut for over fifteen years...
...FRANK A. RAMSPERGER, S.J...
...The possibility of a full-scale Syrian-Israeli war and the potential involvement of their two superpower allies, the U.S...
...Unfortunately, after the Israelis shot down two Syrian helicopters and the Syrians responded by positioning defensive SAM missiles in the Bekaa valley, "Lebanese crisis" gave way to the even more catchy "Syrian missile crisis...
...TERENCE H. WRONG...
...presidency in 1960, Kennedy shaped the future of American politics...
...As for the Syrians , who have a twenty year "friendship treaty" with their chief supplier, the Soviet Union, Washington's stock in Damascus is very low...
...Frank A. Ramsperger, S.J...
...In overcoming anti-Catholic bigotry to win the U.S...
...Finally, I would inform Father Ramsperger, that while I spend most of my time in West Beirut, I did in fact spend a very cruel April under (Continued on page 671) Correspondence (Continued from page 642) Syrian bombardment in the Ashrafiyeh neighborhood of East Beirut...
...Most schools have been closed since that date and business has been paralyzed...
...The genius of twentieth century Catholicism in the United States," I wrote, "was that it could generate women and men [I named seven ] who had an impact on both church and state, who moved easily between city square and cathedral...
...Is it correct to presume that he lives and writes in west Beirut which has, mysteriously enough, been spared the devastation of the Syrian army attacks...
...ED MARCINIAK Lebanese & Syrians Beirut, Lebanon To the Editors: Concerning the article "Begin and Preemption" in your issue of August 28th: I as much as Mr...
...is the chief arms supplier to Israel, and ideally, would have some ability to influence Israeli policy in Lebanon...
...Since April 2, the Syrians have killed hundreds of civilians, and destroyed schools, hospitals, and private homes while forcing thousands to seek what shelter they could find in the mountains...
...As Father Ramsperger points out, although the so-called "Syrian missile crisis," evaporated, the 30,000-man Syrian ' 'peace-keeping forces'' and their willful bombardment of Lebanese Christian areas has continued to be a day-to-day reality for those who live there...
...REV...
...and Europe ran graphic feature stories on the Syrians' "genocidal war against the Lebanese Christian community" (Menachem Begin's words...
...Wrong wisely points out the "reluctance of the Western press to tell the full story in Lebanon" but omits to inform us that it is not only about the Israeli terrorism that the West is being kept in the dark...
...So far as one could observe there was nothing "Catholic" about the style of John Kennedy...
...The author replies: In his response to my article, "Begin and Preemption," which was published in the Aug...
...But I am amazed that he can devote such an intelligent article to the unending violence that is destroying much of Lebanon without so much as one word about the savage and indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas of east Beirut and the barbaric siege of the 200,000 inhabitants of the city of Zahle by the Syrian army which still carries the laughable title of a "peace-keeping force...
...With the help of John Cogley, a former editor of Commonweal, and others like John Courtney Murray, S.J., Kennedy formulated a philosophical approach to the U.S...
Vol. 108 • November 1981 • No. 21
