Correspondence
RADICK, ESTHER G. & WALSH, MOST REV. NICHOLAS E. & CONDRY, JOHN & HEANEY, MARIAN G. & KNOBLE, HERMAN DENNIS & CLOONEY, FRANCIS X. & CORBETT, MACRINA & BRANDENSTEIN, REV. ROBERT & JR., JOSEPH A. L. ERRIGO & DAUENHAUER, WILLIAM & ALEXANDER, LYNETTA LEWIS
CORRESPONDENCE Dangerous Liaisons East Windsor, N.J. To the Editors: In his review of the movie Dangerous Liaisons [March 10], Tom O'Brien calls Choderlos de Laclos's novel Les Liaisons...
...Paul...
...That is what differentiates these articles from Bishop Walsh's "anonymous letter...
...REV...
...JOSEPH A. L. ERRIGO, JR...
...The statements he quoted from Cardinals Innocenti and Gagnon foster anticlericalism against an institution which is not only sexist but which clings to its sexist nature...
...MARIAN G. HEANEY Divorced Catholics Boalsburg, Pa...
...Conspicuously absent in the list of panaceas is educating women and men on reproduction and government subsidies of birth control...
...First, for example, O'Brien labels Tourvel a marquise...
...In the fourth paragraph the author states: "While Roman and American prelates debate tribunal procedures, the vast ma-jority of divorced Catholics either absent themselves from Holy Communion or participate in violation of church law...
...The lyric superseded its mood-setting introduction...
...There was a statement, however, that could be taken erroneously by divorced Catho-lics, and perhaps by even a few pastors who would otherwise risk their ecclesial necks in this arena...
...Unaccountable evalu-ation, although comfortable for the evalu-ator, is worthless...
...In fact, Merteuil and Valmont were members of the highest level of aristocracy, while Tourvel was of a much lower rank, just a bit above the bourgeoisie...
...To the Editors: In his review of the movie Dangerous Liaisons [March 10], Tom O'Brien calls Choderlos de Laclos's novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses a novel of few ideas...
...Note that, in the end, all-innocent and evil-encounter tragedy...
...We have also had to publish pseudonymous reports on events in Eastern European or other op-pressive regimes and occasionally, alas, on events in the Catholic church...
...Convent, La...
...and far more worldwide...
...To me as amateur poet and omnivorous reader, poetry is much more than "filler" copy in any periodical...
...JOHN CONDRY, S.J Inexcusable sexism Minneapolis, Minn...
...I wanted to learn the identity of the author as an aid in determining how much credibility was due his piece...
...This would have been a huge "promotion" for her as her title was Presidente (from her husband's position) or simply Madame...
...Secondly, O'Brien states that Merteuil "Oddly...doesn't see how private and selfish her feminism is...
...I would be happy to see you give a complete article to their work and some indication of their place among the other fine programs in Dreier's report...
...To the Editors: Whatever else Joseph Campbell was, he certainly was not a Mother Teresa...
...MACRINA CORBETT Low-cost housing Churchville, N.Y...
...Hinduism, to cite the example with which I am familiar, contains many in-stances of belief in a positive divine reve-lation and a gracious, divine choice to initiate movement toward the human...
...Your conclusions that we must support children born on our planet are correct, but need to be extended to say that children born should be "wanted" chil-dren...
...The goals of mutual respect, spiritual enrichment, and coop-eration are not aided by inattentiveness to the particularity of each religion...
...Her reading of her society, and the story of how she created the monster she became, form the center letter of this epistolary work-the very heart of the novel...
...In praise of poets Wickliffe, Ohio To the Editors: Compliments to poet Pamela Uschuk on the composition and publication of "Red Cat Near Old Snow" [May 5 ]. I had feared that the poem would be less affecting than the poignant quote from Soviet dissident poet Irina Ratu-shinskaya, which served as preface to the piece...
...In his sidebar, Mr...
...To the Editors: The article "Audition for Tragedy" [April 21] has the value of an anonymous letter...
...But the suggestion that the "Eastern religions" are primarily a "human search for a profound meaning," in which that meaning is passive, is not adequate to the currently available information about how these religions think of themselves...
...The institutional church's insistence on denying women a full participatory role in liturgy is an institutional sin...
...In any case, we certainly do not publish material by authors not known to us and judged by us to be trustworthy...
...MOST REV...
...Therefore, it cannot be absolute...
...ESTHER G. RADICK Cloak of anonymity Tucson, Ariz...
...To the Editors: Joseph McNeal's article "Audition for Tragedy" [April 21] was well articulated and echoed conversations, experience, and ministry that many of us are engaged in as concerned Catholics...
...Nonprofit housing organizations are making a difference in the national effort to provide all Americans with suitable housing...
...Since our incorporation, we have sponsored and developed more than 1,600 housing units in southern Minnesota, working with locally based nonprofit organizations...
...In this, Laclos presents both a chilling portrait of pre-Revolutionary France and a parable for other repressive structures...
...Such was not the case...
...Perhaps-but they are huge ideas...
...This belief is amply explained and defended in Hindu theological texts...
...As president of one of the 2,000 nonprofit developers he lauds for filling in current gaps in affordable hous-ing, I want to thank you for your portrayal of nonprofits as the viable, proven part-ners in housing that we feel we are...
...Subsidizing birth control education is a much better investment than abortion, as well as a better choice for both sides...
...John should be congratulated for his boldness in bringing a Christian witness to bear on our commonly held assumptions...
...These seem to me to be a much better investment than "direct gov-ernment grants for children...
...This is using a twentieth-century perspective to judge an eighteenth-century context...
...Paul and Minneapolis in 1974 to provide decent, affordable housing for low-income families, seniors, and handicapped people...
...Even though some would claim that church teaching absolutely denies Eucharist to divorced Catholics with irregular status, the weight of this teaching falls consid-erably below both the Gospel and the teaching of the Second Vatican Council...
...Not unforgivable, certainly, but increasingly inexcusable...
...While the archdiocese remains an essential partner, CDC has succeeded in building and strengthening its own track record through partnerships with a diverse selection of community, financial, religious, and housing organizations...
...Laclos patterned her after real-life models of his era...
...The insti-tution of the Catholic church continues to ignore the cost of its choices...
...To the Editors: Peter Dreier did a good job of summarizing changes in the nonprofit housing movement during the past dec-ade, necessitated primarily by federal housing cutbacks ["Local Success Sto-ries," April 7...
...To the Editors: As a strong supporter of the prochoice option on abortion, I did agree with the summarizing paragraph of your May 5 editorial, "The Longer March...
...bishops are formally reconcil-ing less than 1 percent of their divorced fold a year...
...We also exercise special care that authors do not take advantage of a necessary pseudonymity to be irresponsible...
...THE EDITORS Successful nonprofits St...
...WILLIAM DAUENHAUER Teach birth control Adairville, Ky...
...NICHOLAS E. WALSH Bishop Emeritus of Yakima What's in a name...
...LYNETTA LEWIS ALEXANDER...
...The bottom line of the Gospel is unde-niably one of compassion...
...Divorced Catholics were never sanctioned by Canon Law in any way regarding Eucharist...
...One of the points Laclos was making with this when he wrote, on the eve of the Revolution, was the exploita-tion of the lower classes by the upper classes-even among the nobility...
...Please consider inviting the views of "longtime observers of the church scene" who have the courage of their convictions and who practice the openness which they preach...
...It causes one to wonder what advantage there might be to the use of a pseudonym...
...It puts an unnecessary burden on the reader, I think, to withhold the identity of the author of an article such as this...
...At different times in the past, Commonweal has seen fit to publish a regular Washington column under a pseudonym and a regular labor column under a pseudonym...
...It is time for this woman to begin search-ing for a Christian community which has had the insight to recognize the dignity of women...
...Chapters in many cities around the nation and worldwide are providing do-nated time, labor, money, and materials to make low-cost housing available with interest-free mortgages...
...FRANCIS X. CLOONEY, S.J...
...In the novel, Merteuil is by far the most energetic and intelligent character...
...To the Editors: It seemed strange to me that in Peter Dreier's article on nonprofit housing ["Local Success Stories," April 7], there is not a single line about Habitat for Humanity of Americus, Georgia...
...I would like to clarify that I.D...
...How-ever, in certain circumstances we have decided that the value to our readers of the information and insights of a writer who could only write without identifying himself or herself outweighed the incon-veniencies of anonymity...
...I cannot agree, however, with Garvey's claim that "where Christianity and the other religions of revelation (Judaism and Islam) differ from the Eastern religions is in the belief that God has moved toward us...
...THE EDITORS Religions differ Chestnut Hill, Mass...
...HERMAN DENNIS KNOBLE The editors reply: It is Commonweal's general policy not to publish pseudonymous articles, for the reasons suggested by our readers...
...So what is the basis of complaint by Rome when U.S...
...To the Editors: I enjoyed the article "Audition for Tragedy" [April 21], but was disappointed at the end to learn that Joseph McNeal, author, is "the pseudo-nym of a longtime observer of the church scene...
...Through our management subsidiary, Westminster Corporation, we are able to provide people-oriented management services for all of these housing owners...
...The worst scandal in the church today would be, in my opinion, to have to hide one's identity when at-tempting to speak or report the truth out of fear of dire consequences...
...The work here has the support of a wide range of ecumenically minded traditions, Christian and Jewish, as well as of nonreligious groups and individuals...
...As most every magazine published in America will report, we are overpopulating our planet severely...
...Whether this belief is correct or not is a point for further investigation and judg-ment...
...His shallow and smirking commentary on the God that he (and Jung) clearly rejected should not be so euphori-cally and mindlessly accepted by those who profess to follow the living Christ...
...Merteuil is, in fact, an example of what happens to a truly superior woman in a society so nar-row that she can find no outlet for her energy...
...Divorced Catholics who re-marry without tribunal interaction do have irregular status, but nothing in church law presently forbids them from receiving Eucharist if they believe that they should...
...In this present instance, I cannot imagine your quite limited space being put to better use...
...Dreier called our company the "Catholic Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St...
...Campbell & Christians San Francisco, Calif...
...Would it be to seek refuge in this way from possible reprisals for daring to speak out and thereby causing a sort of "scan-dal" in the church...
...Recently, I read a definition of sin that made a great deal of sense to me: sin is an act which alienates one from one's true self...
...The story of a woman at Jacob's Well (John 4), who was married five times and living with yet another man, and who was officially commissioned to tell the Good News, fits bottom-line Gospel far better than abso-lute sanctions against at least ten million divorced Catholics in the U.S...
...And I hope that such was not the reason for the use of a pseudonym in this instance...
...To the Editors: John Garvey is to be commended for his defense of the differ-ences among religions ["God's True Brew," April 21...
...To the best of my ability, I was unable to find any church law among the Revised Code of Canon Law that prohibits divorced Catholics from receiving the Sacraments...
...Merteuil exemplifies the emptiness that characterized the French nobility...
...Last summer in Rochester, N. Y., in a one-week volunteer effort by college students, a new house was built from the foundation to enclo-sure under the auspices of the Flower City Chapter of Habitat...
...When one sally is propagated in all its sensitivity it is cer-tainly well worth its space...
...Vatican II proclaims that personal deci-sions of well-formed conscience are above, not only church teaching, but church law (see Dignitatis humanae, Declaration on Religious Liberty, particularly section 3...
...LYNETTA LEWIS ALEXANDERis a much better investment than abortion, as well as a better choice for both sides...
...Paul, Minn...
...To the Editors: It was with a heavy heart and great disappointment that I read Joseph McNeal's article in the April 21 issue, " Audition for Tragedy.'' McNeal was correct...
...For starters, for a two-hundred-year-old novel, I think one can say that Liai-sons, as novel or movie, is not without ideas...
...ROBERT BRANDENSTEIN First Congregational Church of Riga The editors reply: Some time ago, Commonweal devoted a short article to the work of Habitat and its founder, Millard Fuller (see "Economics of Shelter," November 2-16, 1984...
...It would be a church truer to itself if Joseph McNeal could have written without risking reprisals by revealing his or her identity...
...The Community Development Corporation was originally sponsored by the Archdiocese of St...
Vol. 116 • June 1989 • No. 12
