Correspondence:

...Celebrants seldom preached at weekday Masses...

...Robertson and the cardinal...

...The point I make in my book is that meaningful dialogue can occur on other grounds, even though our two cultures have fundamentally different approaches to sexual ethics...

...Is it really necessary for a proudly gay man to abandon his own sexual identity and ethic for such a dialogue to occur...

...indeed, it was foun-dational to the thought of that great American Jesuit, John Courtney Murray...

...JAMES L. NASH...

...And perhaps along the way, as we gays and Catholics wrestle with the complexities of this epidemic, some of our old stereotypes (such as one unfortunately presented by Nash, that gay relationships are nothing more than sex acts and are therefore anything but sacred) may begin to fall away, and we could develop, as Murray hoped, the conversation of civilized human beings...

...Rather it requires a largess able to encompass even those whose values I may deplore...

...Smith claims I believe that "a mutually enriching conversation between gays and the church cannot occur until there is agreement on the morality of homosexual acts...

...Isn't that mildly hyperbolic...

...RICHARD JOHN NEUHAUS The writer is editor-in-chief of First Things...

...now, they almost always do...

...To the Editors: I am honored that James L. Nash reviewed my AIDS, Gays, and the American Catholic Church for your pages [March 24], yet he clearly missed the point of my book...

...CORRESPONDENCE Seven homilies a week...

...What the church does teach is that homosexual acts are always immoral...

...In the dark old days of thirty years ago, homilies (then called sermons) were for Sundays...

...While John England may have made innovative reforms in his diocese and vigorously supported the culture and institutions of his adopted country, the imagery of Matthew 23:24 comes to mind when one remembers that the evil of chattel slavery was the great moral issue of his day...

...Gays & church can talk San Jose, Calif...

...There is a good deal of valuable information in the book as well...

...I agree that it is good for old stereotypes to fall away...

...Despite several fundamentally irreconcilable differences, our two cultures share strong convictions regarding the rights and responsibilities of persons living with AIDS...

...REV...

...Moreover, unlike debate, successful dialogue does not necessarily end with a "winner," nor need it result in total agreement...

...As John Courtney (Continued on page 30) CORRESPONDENCE (Continued from page 2) Murray wrote, "genuine disagreement is a rare achievement...

...One tiny quibble with Smith's letter: I would ask a traditional Catholic to relinquish the conviction that "homosexuality is an abomination," because I do not believe that is the church's teaching...

...Robertson and Cardinal O'Connor were among the many Evangelical and Catholic leaders who have endorsed the declaration, neither of them was involved in producing the statement...

...JAMES L. NASHways immoral...

...It now seems that the limited preparation given to weekday homilies sets the pattern for Sundays as well...

...In fact, I agree with almost everything else Smith puts in his letter...

...It is precisely this demand for agreement on sexual morality, this unwillingness to accept "difference," that I found problematic in the book...

...In his book, Smith insists that the church must change its position so that it will agree with his own...

...It is therefore grossly misleading to say that it is a "document of understanding" between Mr...

...RICHARD L. SMITH The author replies: In his letter, Mr...

...Dialogue does entail, as Smith suggests, the desire to understand the other's difference, the ability to accept fundamental disagreement...

...In a society as polarized as ours, such areas of common ground need to be celebrated and exploited...

...Genuine dialogue cannot begin with agreement, or there would be nothing to talk about...

...JOHN MAHER Flawed hero Stuttgart, Germany To the Editors: I do not understand how a nineteenth-century bishop who published a defense of slavery can be regarded as a hero ["An Americanist Hero," April 7...

...To the Editors: A factor not yet mentioned in the discussion of Dennis Burke's article on preaching [April 7] is the post-Vatican II practice of including a homily in every celebration of Mass...

...From the editors: "Grossly" misleading...

...To the Editors: In his article "Catholics and the 'Religious Right'" [May 5], George W. Gerner cites a Catholic volunteer with the Christian Coalition who refers to the declaration "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" as "a document of understanding" between Pat Robertson and Cardinal John O'Connor...

...To suggest, as he does, that a mutually enriching conversation between gays and the church cannot occur until there is agreement on the morality of homosexual acts is like saying that Protestants and Catholics cannot profitably converse until they first agree on papal infallibility...

...It is on such tolerance that civil discourse between gays and Catholics relies...

...While those of us responsible for the declaration are pleased that Mr...

...MICHAEL CHEW They didn't write it New York, N.Y...

...No more than for a traditional Catholic to relinquish the conviction that homosexuality is an abomination...

...On the contrary, my review says that it is over this disputed question that genuine dialogue ought to begin...

...The impulse for dialogue is hardly postmodern (as Nash accused me of being...

...But few if any priests have the time or energy to give seven well-prepared homilies a week...

...I agree that in a society as polarized as ours, we need to celebrate what unites us...

...It's just that when it comes to AIDS, gays, and the Catholic church, I do not think the author does a very good job of discovering where the common ground lies...