Correspondence
CORRESPONDENCE Try the 'Tootsie' role Midland, Md. To the Editors: Besides thanking Bishop Francis Murphy for his courageous and profound critique of the proposed pastoral on women's concerns...
...and at additional offices...
...It is the church universal—along with the regional U.S...
...If "contending groups and individuals in the church" are to be criticized for not exercising "the capacity to be self-critical," for ignoring the "valid fears of adversaries," for wallowing in "the self-exculpatory pathos of imagining oneself [a] martyred underdog," for being "smug," and for "excommunicating critics or stigmatizing ideas," the author of such charges ought to provide specific examples...
...Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y...
...As a cofounder of ARCC in 1980—in the wake of the Vatican attacks on Kiing, Schillebeeckx, et al., and soon thereafter Hunthausen, Boff, Gutierrez, Curran, et ad infinitum—we felt it was important to establish an organization of Catholics which would focus on fostering "a collegial understanding of church in which decision making is shared and accountability is realized among Catholics of every kind...
...Curran's "everyone...
...Continued on page 29) Commonweal is indexed in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, Catholic Periodical Index, Index of American Periodical Verse, Book Review Digest and Book Review Index...
...Surely, Acts and Galatians have been published in Rome by now, in which the first pope and the first bishop of Jerusalem learned from Paul that one needn't become a Jew in order to become a Christian— which, till then, they had thought an unchangeable tenet of the faith...
...truth cannot emerge through consultation...
...To the Editors: The most chilling sentence I've read in a long time occurred in Bishop Murphy's piece, in the Vatican's response to the Imesch committee: "They asserted that bishops are teachers, not learners...
...Despite Ms...
...Clinton has many admirable qualities...
...He could be a purist like George McGovern or Michael Dukakis and enjoy the rest of his life as an unsuccessful candidate...
...Yearly subscriptions, U.S., $36...
...I have a subscription to Commonweal (my reading is eclectic) to keep my finger on the pulse of the dying institution, and to listen for other voices in the darkness...
...Ridiculous...
...Stcinfels seems to have misinterpreted my modification of Avery Dulles's four-category grid, but I take responsibility for not offering sufficient elaboration...
...With due respect, those prelates who fail to recognize the areas of injustice to women in the church might well follow the example of Dustin Hoffman and try living the role of "Tootsie" for a week...
...another Supreme Court Justice like Clarence Thomas...
...Although she has promised a more direct response in a letter to America, I would like to make a point here that I should have thought to have been obvious...
...SUZANNE- KEliN Substance, yes...
...It is a message to auxiliaries who affirm the ordination of women but are unwilling to put their careers on the line...
...style, no Notre Dame, Ind...
...From the editors: Both Leonard Swidler and Mary Louise Hartman [Correspondence, October 9] take issue with a phrase that we quoted from the Chicago Declaration (the one about obsessiveness) but did not endorse...
...it is, in fact, downright messy...
...gutting affirmative action and civil rights...
...The experience might throw a surprising light on things...
...I am also gravely concerned, however, about deep-seated attitudes that make possible the kind of rhetorical violence evidenced in McCarthy's next-to-last paragraph, in which she (unconsciously, no doubt) juxtaposes the nonviolent whitecollar criminal, whose incarceration is pointless, with the armed robber from the urban ghetto...
...They arc not "all politics...
...To the Editors: In the '60s, when I was asking priests to add their signatures on a newspaper ad that called for ending the bombing of Hanoi, two auxiliary bishops who agreed with the thrust of the ad declined to sign because their archbishop had not spoken on the subject...
...was saying," it may not be entirely my fault or the fault of others who share the reservations I expressed about her thesis...
...And I must point out to Mr...
...I am frankly puzzled as to how I may have misled Commonweal readers...
...In the'70s, I found I could not function in a male-dominated institution, and for several years attended Episcopal, then Unitarian churches...
...So, Commonweal, desist from this error, and help ARCC work toward its goals— which you obviously also desire—so that we all can live our Christian life of justice and love in the world the more effectively...
...DENNIS GEANEY, O.S.A...
...church—that will be enhanced if Bishop Murphy's sound advice is followed...
...Auxiliary Bishop Murphy's archbishop, a significant person in the bishops' conference, had not spoken on the women's issue...
...Keen's citation of a direct quote from the book which refers to the Underworld ("Some cross the bridge into the Bad Time, into the Underworld, and return to tell the tale") and her reference to Ms...
...church in the person of its hierarchy will be faithful to the Spirit working within its own faith community or will continue to make concessions to appease Rome...
...Single Copy, $2...
...14, 19, 27, Chariot...
...If this allusion is applicable, then the entire meaning of the novel ("if novel it be") is changed and Ms...
...To the Editors: Suzanne Keen's review of Margaret Drabble's The Gates of Ivory [August 14] was both incisive and informative, but one thing puzzled me...
...Keen's review is, to say the least, misleading...
...Ronan, given as she is to calling "cheap shot," must realize that to resort to the charge of racism is just that, and, in this case, very predictable...
...Right...
...A spark of hope Wakefield, R.I...
...Who are among the offending individuals, groups, and publications—on all sides of the conflict, including especially the center-left...
...However, when she says that she views "systemic violence as far more serious in its implications," we do differ...
...Drabble's source, the Gates of Ivory exist in the Underworld along with the Gates of Horn...
...All Canadian and foreign subscriptions must be paid in U.S...
...I and the other ARCC members still believe it is important to focus on such goals...
...No one allusion governs the entire meaning of this book, as Drabble's narrator takes pains to establish in the sentences I quoted, one of which catches Mr...
...Commonweal Associates 15 Dutch Street New York, N.Y...
...Pinstriped violence Philadelphia, Pa...
...p. 18, Jones, Rothco...
...In the Aeneid, as everyone remembers, presumably Ms...
...Of course I believe that (some, not all) conflict in the church is about "important questions of substance that remain generally open or troubling...
...dollars by International Money Order or by check on a U.S...
...He worked hard on improving Arkansas education, and succeeded...
...2: 23 October 1992 Commonweal CORRESPONDENCE (Continued from page 2) Does Garvey want four more years of: making the poor poorer and the rich richer...
...The Gates of Horn afford genuine apparitions...
...Drabble's deployment of "objects in oblique metaphorical relation to one another," she makes no effort, anywhere, to relate the significance of the title to the meaning of the work itself...
...To the Editors: I welcome Margaret O'Brien Steinfels's courteous and thoughtful comment |"An Editor's Notebook," September 25] on my recent article in America [August 22...
...for Drabble the source is Homer's Penelope, as the epigraph to her novel indicates...
...Paul the consultant Bronx, N.Y...
...Indeed, I have tried to address these questions of substance in my own books, articles, and weekly columns over the years—as, in fact, Ms...
...I suppose then that the Sierra Club is wrong to be single-minded in its concern for the environment, and Amnesty International is wrong to be focused solely on human rights violations around the world, and the Commonweal Associates are wrong to be solely devoted to the survival and flourishing of Commonweal...
...No one would state that Bill Clinton is a perfect candidate...
...Her child, strapped in the car seat, was thrown out on the highway...
...glory" wars like Panama, Grenada, and the Persian Gulf...
...we pointed out that groups like the ARCC "might argue that they have good reason for their preoccupations," and we went on to list some of those reasons in terms similar to those used by Swidler and Hartman...
...To the Editors: Thanks be to Bishop P. Francis Murphy for writing "Let's Start Over: A Bishop Appraises the Pastoral on Women" [September 25], and to Commonweal for publishing it...
...There are remedies of sorts forthe victim of a bad mortgage...
...Special two-year rate...
...It seems to me that this kind of systemic violence is far more serious in its implications than "crimes of violence" by one individual against one or a few others—though I am not particularly enthusiastic about either kind, having been robbed several times, once at gunpoint, and being the owner of a New York City coop purchased in 1989 that is now worth considerably less than its mortgage...
...LEONARD SWIDLER The writer is editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, director of graduate religion studies, and professor of Catholic thought and interreligious dialogue at Temple University...
...30: 23 October 1992 Commonweal Gales of trouble Auburn, Ala...
...When bishops are willing to pay the price for breaking ranks, the facade of a unified hierarchy against the ordination of women will fall apart...
...I do not find her experience of both—systemic violence in the decline in value of her co-op contrasted with armed robbery—adequate underpinning for her argument...
...I am less inclined to rush to agreement on the matter of "style" raised toward the end of her piece...
...If I have, in fact, "misperceived what [she...
...If these different groups did not have an "almost obsessive preoccupation" with their particular concerns and goals, they would be ineffective and lose their purpose...
...But Commonweal implies that such sharp focus for the sake of effectiveness is wrong...
...THOMAS M. CURRAN The reviewer replies: Oh dear...
...Thanks to him and to you for gifting us with this breath of life...
...Ronan's eagerness to equate that violence (a la Marcuse) with systemic violence, attitudinal violence, (and, oh yes, rhetorical violence) is largely a matter of semantics...
...Steinfels and Commonweal have frequently done, to their justifiable credit...
...Has it...
...Like many, if not most, Americans, I am involved in many communities and groups, each with its own set of goals...
...But politics is still, unfortunately perhaps, the art of compromise, and only a centrist position can make a Democrat electable...
...That aside, how do we differ...
...To the Editors: Besides thanking Bishop Francis Murphy for his courageous and profound critique of the proposed pastoral on women's concerns [September 25], I would like to add one suggestion to his list...
...Now there's a spark of hope in the patriarchal darkness...
...Curran's attention...
...Authority hasn't negated Scripture yet...
...1, 1924, to current issues available through University Microfilm, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 and on Microfiche from Bell & Howell, Wooster, Ohio 44691...
...p. 20, Ross, Rothco...
...Garvey's recommendation that we "make a statement" by not voting for anyone for president may ensure that result...
...Cheap shots about political correctness cannot disguise the racist implications of this kind of language...
...But, good heavens...
...This past week an old woman (black) was found brutally beaten and thrown among the ashcans on Capitol Hill, and a twenty-two-yearold just beginning her career was found bludgeoned to death a few blocks away...
...This is the first honest essay by a bishop on the subject of women and the church that I have ever read...
...Are we not in similar circumstances with the cry for liberation rising strongly from women in the U.S...
...But from the Gates of Ivory "The Shades send up to earth false dreams that impose on us" [Bk...
...Steinfels has drawn of them...
...LAURA RYAN CALDWELL, R.N...
...10038 nancial security many people have worked for...
...thoughtful Americans cannot afford the luxury of waiting for perfection...
...Does she really think that Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken and their ilk have not done violence to people, when the leveraged buy-outs, bankruptcies, and bank failures they caused have resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of homes, pensions, and whatever semblance of fi23 October 1992: 29 Have you renewed your associate membership...
...REV...
...Canada, $66...
...marietta culhane, o.s.f...
...Unhappily no one in the United States in these troubled times is wholly immune to the charge but perhaps I can be forgiven for feeling that, as the recipient of various citations for work in race relations and for social justice over the years, and as a Caucasian who can proudly claim black cousins and Asian in-laws, I am at least inoculated against it...
...WILLIAM J. OMALLEY, S.J...
...Please do so today...
...Abigail McCarthy Cease and desist Philadelphia, Pa...
...MARIAN RONAN The author replies: Surely Ms...
...The bishops in Juneau, Saginaw, and New Ulm have cut themselves off from moving up by speaking out...
...bank...
...To the Editors: Commonweal slipped into a serious error of logic in its otherwise helpful special supplement on the laity [September 111 when it implied that ARCC, the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (you also dropped off the important last three words of the name), was guilty of an "almost obsessive preoccupation with the church's structures and processes...
...Canada, $39...
...He correctly augments my review with the Virgilian reference...
...This did not stop Murphy from speaking for himself...
...few, if any, for the victim of armed robbery, especially if it is accompanied, as it often is, by physical violence...
...JANE BLEWETT The price of candor Calumet City, 111...
...One thing strikes me very strongly: This pastoral is a defining moment, not only in setting straight where the "concern" should truly lie (not with women but with a church that has excluded and continues to exclude women from its life and mission) but also in deciding whether the U.S...
...Now, happily a Quaker, specifically one of the Quaker Universalist Fellowship, I am committed to a spiritual journey that is unmediated, intelligent, and free...
...CATHERINE HULL Garvey's choice Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio To the Editors: In the forty-three years that I have been reading Commonweal, I have rarely, if ever, seen a more irresponsible piece than John Garvey's recent effort [September 25...
...To the Editors: Abigail McCarthy's understanding of the difference between violent and nonviolent crimes ["Crimes & Punishments," September 11 ] is a most upsetting one...
...The implications for society as a whole of these crimes of violence "by one individual against another" are dire for us all...
...Not, certainly, on the point that white-collar crime has victims or that white-collar criminals should be appropriately punished...
...And where I live physical violence goes far beyond armed robbery...
...p. 22, Engleman, Rothco...
...Microfilm from Vol...
...Garvey that perfect presidential candidates are found only in novels...
...RICHARD P. McBRIEN The writer is Crowley-O'Brien-Walter professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame...
...foreign, $41...
...God, so far, has not struck me down with thunderbolts, but has opened my existence to tolerance and joy...
...foreign, $72...
...Serials Data program No.: ISSN 00103330...
...Illustrations: Cover design, Emil Antonucci...
...p. 9, Valerry...
...My column makes it clear that I think whitecollar crime a danger to society but a danger different from that of crimes of physical violence...
...As everyone knows, democracy is not a perfect system...
...church (though certainly not exclusively here...
...I suspect that Abigail McCarthy and I are in complete agreement about the need to change this...
...To the Editors: Two reasons to send congratulations for the issue of September 25: your own fine editorial and Bishop Murphy's courageous, insightful, and creative article on the pastoral on women's concerns...
...The desire of many Americans to punish rather than rehabilitate criminals—as evidenced by minimum sentencing laws and the relentless rejection of the tax increases needed to provide the food, education, housing, and health care that would reduce crime in this country—is certainly a cause for grave concern...
...The election is a few weeks away...
...Copyright © 1992 Commonweal Foundation...
...more Americans dying for lack of health insurance, more vetos of family leave bills, more unemployment...
...Even worse, a young mother (a woman of color) taking her child to school was "carjacked" by two young men whose own car had run out of gas...
...And, though he has not handled the draft questions well, his original thoughtful letter on the Vietnam war staked out a clear moral position...
...ARCC is not my only activity...
...she was dragged to her death after they failed to scrape her off against a fence...
...His daughter attends public schools where two-thirds of the students are black...
...A defining moment Laurel, Md...
...What have they written or said that would merit the severe characterizations Ms...
...8,26, Baloo, Rothco...
...I think of how impoverished the whole church would be if liberation theology emanating from the lived experience of the people of Latin America had been squelched by Rome...
...Why do I feel I am not to be included in Mr...
...In the same issue, Peter D. Walzer's letter ("A Way Out") proposing a third way for disaffected Catholics also surprised and delighted me...
Vol. 119 • October 1992 • No. 18
