Love Chooses Life
Re “A.C.L.U. v. Catholic Health Care,” by Stephanie Slade (6/12): This is an excellently researched and informative article. As a Catholic, I find it disturbing that our religious liberties continue to be eroded. Catholics who work in health care because of their religious beliefs are now being asked to ignore the very core religious beliefs that compel them? This is poor reasoning. We believe first. What we practice comes from love, and that love chooses life.
Irene DiSanto
Online Comment
Accept, Not Tolerate
Re “An Anti-gay Campaign Turns Deadly in Chechnya, and Journalists Are Also in Danger,” by Rachel Denber (6/12): Thanks for covering this! I doubt the local Catholic newspaper of Namibia, where I live, would cover it, as L.G.B.T. issues are still taboo. But I and other L.G.B.T. Catholics have begun a project to engage with church leaders in our country, where we may not have official persecution of gay and lesbian people, but parents still beat up their children for coming out. Contrary to popular belief in the church, our work is not funded by Westerners pushing an ideology of gender but from grants that we request. I want to join the faithful to pray for Russia and the whole world to finally accept and not just tolerate us.
Pancho Mulongeni
Online Comment
What Hope Is
Re “My Son’s Gift of Organ Donation Taught Me Death Is Not the Last Word,” by Eric Gregory (6/12):Eric Gregory and his wife, Grace, have taught me what hope is. I was their son Christopher’s high school principal, and in my 40 years of teaching in Catholic schools I have buried more young men and women than I could ever have imagined. Their families have all been a lesson to me. The Gregorys have taken it to a new level. They have absorbed all of the goodness in the hearts of those who loved Chris that erupted after he died, and they have transformed other lives by spreading the message of the Gospel.
Barry Fitzpatrick
Online Comment
Books of My Childhood
Re “In a New Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, Hope is Replaced by Horror,” by Haley Stewart (6/12):These books were my childhood, and I loved the film adaptations, too, but to criticize the show like this seems overly harsh. I find it a stunning adaptation, perhaps because it is just that: an adaptation. This review does not do it justice, and I’m so glad I saw the show before reading this, else I might have missed the gem of a series.
Iseabail Shaw
Online Comment
Truth and Justice
Re “In ‘The Keepers,’ the Hopes of Vatican II Crumble Amid Sex Abuse and Murder,” by Nick Ripatrazone (6/12). I was relieved to see America’s coverage of “The Keepers,” the new Netflix true crime documentary. I did not realize what I was watching until I felt it was too late. I literally had stomach pain as I heard a woman share what had happened to her. Yet, I was also amazed by Jane Doe’s faith and that she remained a prayerful person. I am grateful to Mr. Ripatrazone for examining this documentary and shedding light on it.
May we all continue to pray for those hurt by members of the church and pray for continued guidance and strength to seek truth and justice wherever we serve.
Joyce Mennona
Queens, N.Y.
Healing and Vigilance
This is a profoundly beautiful review. It is respectful of the historical etiology of this case in such an analytical but always compassionate way. I pray that not only healing but understanding leads to positive forms of vigilance that can prevent such crimes.
Aminah Yaquin Carroll
Online Comment
