Correspondence Sex-abuse crisis, Christology, the 'mandate'...
MAHONEY, GEORGE L. & ROMERO, ALEX & MARTIN, REGIS & CALLAHAN, PATRICK & FOY, DONALD & McGOVERN, THOMAS J. & McMahon, John J.
COROSPONDENCE
What's needed
I commend Commonweal for its editorials on the Catholic Church's sex-abuse crisis ("Priests & Pedophilia," March 8, and "The Whole Story," April 5). Considering the...
...no rush to judgment...
...protecting the civil rights of the accused...
...March 22), not the least of which is his dismissal of the necessary role of the church's teaching office in adjudicating disagreements...
...In short, the problem lies in the hearts of people...
...respecting the paucity of our information about the broader topics of seminary training, or practices in other religions...
...For the dozens and hundred thereafter, shame on the cardinal...
...Although its principal focus should be the Catholic Church, some comparison with other religions and professional groups should be made for the sake of perspective...
...When I dropped philosophy and went off to law, I somehow lost touch...
...It is quite another to omit any reference to the one divinely instituted means for settling their disputes...
...The point that seems to have escaped Krieg's notice is that in giving us Dominus Iesus, Cardinal Ratzinger is not doing theology...
...The story here is not the sexual abuse...
...Your editorial, "The Whole Story," makes many good points: no respect for uninformed pundits...
...Iraq presents a dilemma for U.S...
...What will it take to make him reexamine his premises...
...He concludes that the causes of the scandal are "cowardice, hypocrisy, and arrogance," along with the failure of priests to stand up to bishops-not the "hierarchy or celibacy per se...
...I am far less impressed with the theological opinions of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger than I am with his work as head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith...
...A mealy-mouthed endorsement of a study, along with a despairingly stated conviction that it won't happen...
...It is true that Saddam is a tyrant, waging war on his own people, with designs on becoming a regional power...
...Please stop ducking the systemic and institutional problems facing the church...
...Cover-up is the story I have recently resubscribed to Commonweal after a thirty-five-year hiatus...
...So, what do we get from Commonweal...
...So then what...
...COROSPONDENCE What's needed I commend Commonweal for its editorials on the Catholic Church's sex-abuse crisis ("Priests & Pedophilia," March 8, and "The Whole Story," April 5...
...Considering the "frenzy" of the moment, they were the most balanced commentaries on the subject that I have read...
...JOHN J. MCMAHON Boise, Idahc Rome has spoken There are several problems with Robert Krieg's piece on Christology, "Who Do You Say I Am...
...Now I've returned...
...For sanity Finally, a voice crying out in the wilderness for sanity on the Iraq question ("Evildoer," March 22...
...A common thread in the media coverage has been that the U.S...
...Paul Baumann's column ("Mud in Your Eye"), appearing just two pages after the editorial, isn't any better...
...Rather, he is defending the faith from the depredations of those who, like the "seducers" exposed in the letters of Saint John, would de-f Saint John, would de...
...Is this really the best that Commonweal has to offer...
...Case in point: your coverage of the sex-abuse scandal in the April 5 issue...
...I am very disappointed in your current orientation and level of dialogue...
...However, the notion that the United States has anointed itself sole judge of who will govern sovereign nations is scary and crazy...
...policy makers...
...For the first few molestations, shame on the abuser...
...GEORGE L. MAHONEY Katonah, N.Y...
...Catholic hierarchy is so compromised that they no longer have the moral authority to bring about a solution, that the laity must come forward and insist upon reform...
...When I was a young philosophy teacher in various Catholic universities in the 1960s, Commonweal was the most exciting Catholic publication in the country-politically alert, intellectually stimulating...
...It is one thing to canvass the competing claims among theologians-whose views, while perhaps very interesting and original, are scarcely the stuff of revelation...
...even less respect for the opinions of attorneys with conflicts of interest...
...I second your call for the Catholic bishops to commission an independent study of the problem...
...The story is the cover-up...
...But how did Cardinal Bernard Law get into the class of those who may be rashly judged, about whom we lack sufficient information to make a judgment call...
...ALEX ROMERO El Centro, Calif...
Vol. 129 • May 2002 • No. 9
