Commonweal Commonweal - Correspondence

Population pressure Agawam, Mass. To the Editors. The times are definitely changing when both Commonweal and Mother Teresa acknowledge the legitimacy of managing population growth In its...

...Before charging anyone with the grave offense of homophobia, you need more that "feeling " You need proof...

...At a national prayer breakfast in Washington last February, Mother Teresa remarked, "I know that couples have to plan their family, and for that there is natural family planning " In much of the world today machismo keeps many women perpetually pregnant as a means of insuring fidelity Some nations promote having large families as a means to supply the work force and the military...

...It is thoughtful and thought-provoking, and articulates the unspoken thoughts and feelings of others The article offers a model of how we can search together for healthier ways to structure church polity and policy An example is the author's calling into question the tendency to judge yesterday's behavior of church officials by today's standards The apt analogy is the changed attitude toward alcoholism Thank you for publishing this wonderful article CONRAD t gromada The writer is associate director of the master of arts in ministry program at Ursuline College Time to take stock Murray Hill, N J. To the Editors Father Dreese's article is raw, straightforward, clear For me it says the whole body of Chnst here on earth needs to take stock and decide how to deal effectively with the sexual abuse of children by priests Speaking from experience as the father of two affected sons, my view is that this is not a job only for the hierarchy and the clergy, it is a responsibility that has been neglected by all of us It's a realm we don't want to be involved with, or even to discuss...

...All I can do is pray, and react indignantly when I hear disparaging words about priests...

...I would ask you and your readers to recall the "self-evident truths" enunciated in the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence that we are all created equal and are endowed by our Creator with "certain unahenable rights," among them "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness " Then write or call your representatives and tell them you do not want any of your tax money to pay for any abortion—and that, since abortion is self-evldently not health care, it ought not be part of any governmental health-care plan, national or otherwise...

...The response of many in the Republic has been akin to that of the poet W B. Yeats when he remarked to Lady Gregory about the inhabitants of the North and their politics- "I have always been of the opinion that if such disagreeable neighbors shut the door, it is better to turn the key in it before they change their mind " To that remark I hear a chorus of approval from my County Waterford great-grandparents, who fled that island in 1844 to walk through this great nation's open door ROBERT F LYONS Belief as a shield...

...I sense that O'Gorman's meeting with Dorothy Day during his college years taps into part of what is needed in the lives of many of today's college students They (and we) need to meet the living God incarnate upon this earth' How else does God invite9 May our young people come to know the O'Gormans of our time...

...Edward Gaffney's article on Northern Ireland ["An Adams Chronicle," April 8] omits reference to a critical factor in the discussions The majonty of the people of the Republic do not want union with Northern Ireland Ulster and the British deserve each other As Seamus Heaney has observed, "It is not enough for people to simply say, 'Ah, they're all Irishmen,' when some Northerners actually spit at the word Irishmen...

...With Father John Dreese, I think it is grossly unfair that all priests should be tarred with the stigma of pedophilia...

...Legal actions will not correct the situation JOSEPH JACKSON Still other victims San Diego, Calif To the Editors...

...Don't lose heart, Father Dreese We love (Continued on page 43) 2 CORRESPONDENCE (Continued from page 2) you and need you, and nothing will ever change that michael j kelly The writer is ajudge of the Circuit Court of Cook County A great service Twinsburg, Ohio To the Editors: Father John Dreese's article does a great service to the church, the priesthood, and all other church ministries...

...Hopkins si, Callahan no Park Ridge, 111...

...My expenence, like his, has been that most priests are dedicated men capable of living celibate lives and of being trusted with children When, however, Father Dreese wonders why the pederasts did not leave the priesthood (rather, the clerical state), my answer is that it's not that easy Ask the tens of thousands of perfectly healthy men, not pederasts,who have asked to be laicized over the past thirty years Ask me, I tried About fifteen years ago, after much anguish and counseling, I decided that I would not save my soul if I remained an active pnest I asked my religious superior whether I should seek a dispensation from the clerical state, and was told not to bother, that Rome was not granting them I left anyhow That was the saddest day of my life A couple of years later, I married, and have been very happily married ever since For the most part, my friends—clerical and lay—have stood by me Last year I met my spiritual director from my formation days Now a retired archbishop, this great man sat me down for three hours and asked me to tell him about myself After our meeting, he knelt down and asked for my blessing For the most part, however, married priests who have sought dialogue with the hierarchy have been chased away Most bishops don't want to hear from married priests Requests for reconciliation have been met with silence There is no forgiveness To nourish our spiritual lives, we—like the early Christians—meet quietly in each other's homes to celebrate our gifts and our calling A few U S bishops have begun meeting with married pnests but, again, it has to be done secretly for fear of the Roman authorities I know pnests who are highly qualified in academic and pastoral skills doing menial jobs to get by while parishes and other communities of the faithful are going pnestless all around them A pnest fnend of mine who got marned three years ago received a letter from a colleague telling him he was going to hell' I have met dozens of marned pnests, and I've known a few pedophiles, but I have never met a pnest who asked to be relieved of his vows because of pederasty 43 I knew one priest who was expelled from his order after many years of treatment failed...

...Therefore it is wrong to denounce the pope and other Catholic officials for making what many homosexuals would consider to be homophobic statements...

...I prayerfully hope that you will reconsider your presentation of issues involving sexuality and spirituality BRUCE ADAMS The first human right Rochester, N.Y...

...Accordingly I am donating the price of this year's subscription to the National Catholic AIDS Network...

...Chew is that not all "religious convictions" are equal...

...instead we got speculation and frequent handwringing from authors who have not experienced the struggle of what it means to be Catholic and gay One author, Luke Timothy Johnson, asks whether there are "narratives of homosexual holiness to which we must begin to listen"—as if gay holiness were different from any other holiness' Both in past history and in the present, there are thousands of examples of holy homosexuals, particularly in response to the AIDS cnsis If Commonweal cannot find and publish such narratives I cannot, in conscience, support Commonweal...

...There's a lesson here somewhere for Father Dreese and the church at large When priests who do the decent thing are subjected to such shabby treatment, what chance do you have that men who are sick will act in the same responsible way9 DENYS HORGAN Let Ulster be Ulster Cambridge, Mass...

...Stuttgart, Germany To the Editors...

...In spite of all this, some quarters of the lay Catholic press assure us that we should not be concerned about human population growth, that "God always sends a loaf of bread with every baby," or, in one of the more extreme assertions, that the entire population of the planet could live comfortably within the borders of Texas' Many Catholics today practice sexual restraint not so they can buy a more expensive car but out of concern for how their procreative practices can impact the lives of other people's children...

...So far, however, this viewpoint has been largely missing from Catholic dialogue Commonweal is to be applauded for raising the issue in a way that invites further discussion RICHARD I LaPALME Aw, shucks Valparaiso, Ind To the Editors' What a marvelous issue [April 22]—every article is better than the last...

...Dreese, Hopkins, Callahan especially were examples of what Commonweal does so well Thanks for being good GAIL M. EIFRIG The writer is editor of The Cresset, published by Valparaiso University...

...MARY RITA CROWE 45...

...In his March 25 column, "Where Have the Liberals Gone9" David R Carhn, Jr, appears to argue that it is wrong to brand people as bigots if what they are saying on a given subject is based on religious conviction...

...As painful as the whole issue is, for me the greater pam is to see in the faces of priests I have known and loved the agony that Father Dreese so movingly describes in his own life If it would lessen his sadness I would gladly embrace him...

...But did no one else have the right to characterize their doctrines as examples of bigotry9 If you feel, whether or not out of religious conviction, that you are the victim of homophobic or racist slurs that give evidence of bigotry, what is wrong with saying so7 And why should liberals further demean the victims by "defending to the death" those who engage in homophobic or racist speech9 MICHAEL P chew The author replies: The obvious answer to Mr...

...The times are definitely changing when both Commonweal and Mother Teresa acknowledge the legitimacy of managing population growth In its editorial on "The Big Thirst" [March 25], Commonweal tells us that "those who ignore population pressures are ignoring reality...

...BROTHER JACK CURRAN, FSC Homosexual holiness Las Vegas, Nev...

...In the past some states have launched wars to secure resources for burgeoning populations, today we see clan warfare erupting as groups look toward a future of limited food and water Clearly, indulgent procreation can be as much an enemy of human dignity and social justice as abortion and artificial contraception...

...If so, our ideological foes have won the nght to veto the expression of our opinions...

...By contrast, when Christian churches in aracistsocietyjustifiedracism, they were devising ad hoc rationalizations that conflicted with the ancient Christian idea that in Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, male nor female, bond nor free There will always be people who try to justify bigotry on the grounds of religion...

...And it is no proof of homophobia that a person or church disagrees with the 44 Johnny-come-lately ideology of the gay movement...

...Father John J Dreese's article, "The Other Victims of Priest Pedophilia" [April 22], moved me greatly As a cradle Catholic who once studied for the priesthood, I share Father Dreese's dismay, disgust, and anger with respect to the enormous damage that priest-pedophiles have done But I write to assure your author and the many thousands of wonderful and devoted men of faith who preceded him and will, God willing, follow him in the priesthood that there are Catholics out here who love and respect you and share your suffering...

...I have subscribed to Commonweal for several years and have enjoyed your articles on many subjects, particularly those on the laity that provide thoughtful reflections on the real experiences of Catholics struggling with everyday issues and finding the Spirit in their midst But your recent symposium on homosexuality [January 28] upset me because none of the articles was written by an openly gay or bisexual person able to appreciate the issues from the inside out...

...Since these churchmen are simply expressing deeply held religious beliefs, the argument runs, liberals should defend not only their right to speak but their "right" not to be called bigots Not long ago leaders of the South African Reformed Church were expressing deeply held religious beliefs that were severely hurtful to black people Within recent memory, Mormon church officials spoke of AfricanAmericans as children of Ham and, as such, unworthy of priesthood At one point in his career Malcolm X, a profoundly religious man, referred to white people as "blue-eyed devils " Surely all these religious leaders had the right to express their views...