Commonweal Commonweal - Correspondence

CORRESPONDENCE Thanks a little Fayetteville, N.C To the Editors. I don't remember how often I've resolved not to renew my subscription Over and over, articles with their liberal and...

...On the agenda are such measures as a public works program, education and training, scientific development, rebuilding of the townships, land reform, free medical care for children and pregnant women, and a major clinlc-building program Great emphasis is placed on "mass involvement"—mobilizing the people to take part through community-based organizations, including the churches, which have already played a major role in working for change Aproblemhereisthatmany of the grassroots leaders are now in government posts where they are no longer in constant touch with the people who elected them New leaders will have to be trained, and after decades of confrontation both old and new leaders must adapt to new roles We in the West must also adapt, changing from opposition to support for the new South Africa, buying its products and encouraging investment while insisting on equitable wages and fair living conditions In his 100 days' speech, Mr Mandela mentioned legislation against racism now being prepared, but pointed out that "legislation on its own cannot change attitudes " We in other countnes know that it takes years to change racist attitudes Now we can look hopefully to South Africa, which has suffered more than any other nation from institutionalized racial division, to lead the world toward a more tolerant and more united human race MARGARET STANTON The writer is secretary of the Oxford Anti-Apartheid Group Misled by ihe Spirit...

...There's real money for some in the present system, and they'll make sure things stay as they are...

...Sacramento, Calif To the Editors When Patricia M Leiper alleges, in her letter on women's ordination, that "the pope's grasp of the evidence from Scripture and early church history is faulty" [Correspondence, September 9], her major thesis seems to be "the Bible is the sole rule of faith," Luther's greatest error For that matter, not one of the examples she cites from Scripture demonstrates the ordination of women by either Christ or the Apostles And she completely overlooks the Catholic doctrine of apostolic tradition...

...Even though a professional crank and chronic critic, I found myself agreeing with most (but never all, of course) of what Mr...

...Kraus to the literary critics Leslie Fiedler and F O Matthiesen And surely the traditional Catholic sense of the objective presence of God in the sacraments and in the church can be contrasted to Protestantism's critique of Roman sacramental practice, its celebration of individual conscience, and to liberal Protestantism's modern skepticism about the exercise of church authority...

...David Plante's remarks were edited, lending a certain abruptness to the discussion Still, noting the connection between the spiritual pessimism or "darkness" of classic nineteenth-century American literature, evident in Melville and Hawthorne for example, and the sometimes severe sense of God'sjudgment—or even God's absence—felt by the heirs to Calvinism is hardly a novel observation...

...I don't remember how often I've resolved not to renew my subscription Over and over, articles with their liberal and antipapal slants have infuriated me...

...This characterization of Protestantism would certainly come as a surprise to, say, Karl Barth donald kraus The writer is senior editor with Oxford University Press The author replies: Enlightenment follows...

...Hyde Park, Mass To the Editors In the current lively debate about the ordination of women, large amounts of emotional and intellectual energy are being expended on the question of whether women can "image" Chnst, can act "in the person of Christ" I am afraid that the debate phrased in these terms not only encourages poor sacramental theology but inadvertently furthers the patriarchy rightly condemned by many women To explain First, the term "priest" There is but one priest of the new dispensation, Jesus Christ Calling people in the second rank of orders "priests" is an unfortunate misnomer I don't expect that most Catholics will refer to "priests" as presbyters any time soon, but many official documents already do so The reference to presbyters as priests probably comes from centuries of the church's identifying ordained men with Christ, particularly at the consecration of the Mass and in the sacrament of reconciliation Which leads to my second point, that it is not the presider at the Euchanst who "images" or "sacramentahzes" Chnst It is the believing church that represents Christ, and in that church that the presence of Chnst pnmanly resides The bishop or presbyter who presides at the Eucharist exercises a ministry of leadership, leading the assembly, with its many other ministers, in orderly worship Ideally this is a continuation of the leadership she or he provides to the community dunng the rest of the week Now, it can be extremely damaging to the mental health of ordained Christians to be told that they are Jesus Christ When Catholics are exposed to the anger of a confessor, when pansh councils have to deal with a pastor who has all the answers, when a Sunday assembly finds itself only reluctantly admitted to the presider's Eucharist, chances are the presbyter in question entertains illusions of a special identity with Chnst A sure formula for the continuation of patnarchy among the ordained, men or women, is to by-pass the place of the whole church in the exercise of their ministry But accepting a leadership ministry to a body of loving, believing people who together are the presence of the nsen Lord in the world can be wonderfully challenging and healthily ennching for both the church and its ordained leaders (REV ) WILLIAM H MCLAUGHLIN Wailing at the tomb Rolesville, N C To the Editors Lois Spear's article ["The Sisters Still Teach," June 17] captures well the anxiety that many feel at the demise of institutional religious life as the church and Western culture have known it in the last millennium The community she describes is one of many that try to watch faithfully at the tomb Theirs is a crucial witness in this time of darkness Since we don't yet know what the nature of our resurrection will be, ours must be an accompaniment in faith We yearn for the dawn It may glimmer in the many small groups and networks that are ansmg, often ecumenical, noncanomcal, only loosely connected with the institutional church One thinks of the Catholic Worker movement, the Grail, the numerous peace and justice groups, associates being spun off traditional communities of women How will we know when it has arrived—the new form of religious life that can be sustained in a diaspora rather than a Catholic culture9 Perhaps we will know it only in its fruits, not in its structures Recently, one of our sisters, a great risk-taker in faith, died of a brain tumor A friend and colleague recalls saying to her before the end, "It's been an adventure, Mary " Mary responded, "A sacred adventure " Whatever networks or other new entities foster the vision of the sacred adventure may signal the shape of religious vocation in the future That kind of vision in our kind of culture is no less than a miracle...

...Kenneth Woodward's "Ushering in the Age of the Laity" [September 9] is just such an article...

...BAUMANN Do you find that to be Protestant somehow...

...We regret the error "plante There is in perhaps the greatest classical American literature a darkness which is final and utter and from which there is no redemption...

...I thank Mr Kraus for his close reading of the interview, but I am surprised by his irascible tone...

...The correct name of the institution is the "Catholic Theological Union at Chicago...

...I rise up and call him blessed' (rev ) john jay hughes Dark...

...He doesn't need me to exist...

...I'm sure David Plante's remarks were not meant as an attack on the coherence of classic Protestant theology or on the faith of Protestants...

...Woodward had to say For once, I'll forgo the pleasure of nitpicking...

...george Stewart Thanks a lot St Louis, Mo To the Editors What a splendid article by Kenneth Woodward' I am sending copies, filled with underlmings and notes of agreement, to a number of friends, clerical and lay...

...New York, N.Y To the Editors • Could you explain, please, the meaning of the following exchange in the interview of David Plante by Paul Baumann, "Seeing Through a Glass, Darkly" [August 19]: Correction The author's identification accompanying Kenneth Woodward's "Ushering in the Age of the Laity" [September 9] incorrectly said that the article was adapted from a convocation address given at the "Chicago Theological Union...

...Absolutely And can you also enlighten me about the source of the following global statement...

...There is no reason why the medical insurers should want cost controls their payments are a percentage of the charges Meantime, the cost of the paperwork they do amounts to 25 percent of expenditures for medical services...

...You are to be congratulated, but not too heartily of course, for including this article...

...He's out there...

...EVELYN MATTERN, SFCC 30...

...Ridd referred to the formidable task confronting South Africa, with 40 percent unemployment, 60 percent illiteracy, millions of homeless It is worth noting that before the election the African National Congress (ANC) had formed commissions and research groups to prepare a reconstruction and development program to address these problems In a speech noting the end of his first 100 days in office, President Nelson Mandela said that his government of national unity has brought bitter enemies together to work toward the transformation of their country...

...Most of the discussion of health-care reform neglects the first principle of the dance hall (and the marketplace)1 He who pays the fiddler calls the tune...

...JOSEPH-LOUIS GOLDIN Why health costs rise Toledo, Ohio To the Editors • It has been pointed out that the chief cause of the high cost of medical care is the willingness of insurers in the '60s to pay for almost everything At (Continued on page 29) 2 CORRESPONDENCE (Continued from page 2) the time, the biggest insurers benefited from an agreement between big business and big labor that the former would insure the latter's medical expenses In our economy, prices are determined by a balance of pressures When, as in this case, the buyer in effect no longer tries to get the lowest pnce for the service, the seller is left free to raise prices boundlessly The important thing is that for many years employers gladly wrote off the payments as an expense against income No physician or hospital sought this, their standing was already quite high without this We reap what we sow Curious, but the best that Congress can do now is to declare all payment of health insurance costs income to the employee This will restore the competitive pressure and begin to undo the damage done SANDOR HALASZ South Africa's task Oxford, England To the Editors In her article on South Africa's first one-person-one-vote elections ["Relief into Joy," June 3] Rosemary Ridd brilliantly conveyed the responses of the people, black and white, and of the expectations of "imminent improvements" of the majority population hitherto oppressed by the apartheid state By now the early euphoria has passed and change may seem disappointingly slow, but already there is much less violence and fear in most areas Ms...