Important Parallels

In his article, Some Forgotten Lessons (4/25), Jason R. Rowe illustrated some important parallels between American military attitudes now, as seen in Afghanistan and Iraq, and those that were operative in El Salvador during the 1980’s. The Salvador Option is truly an insidious concept, when one remembers what the government-sponsored death squads did in the name of fighting Communism in El Salvador during those years. (One such death squad took a friend of mine captive, poured acid on his arms and left him for dead simply because they could not find his brother, whom they suspected of being a guerrilla sympathizer.) But as much as I agreed with Rowe’s analysis, I felt it was torpedoed at the end of the article when he misidentified (twice) the Frente Farabundo Marti de Liberacion Nacional (F.M.L.N) as the Frente Sandanista (sic) de Liberaci6n Nacional (F.S.L.N.). Wrong country (Nicaragua). Wrong year (1979). Wrong spelling (Sandinista).

Dick Howard

A Very Simple Message

Much of the world stood still recently, at least for a few moments, to observe the passing of Pope John Paul II. Television coverage of the crowds of pilgrims making their way to view the body one last time was extraordinary. In a world often deemed indifferent to religion, who would have guessed a humble Polish priest would become a pope the whole world would mourn (4/18)?

I am a Catholic by birth and an editor at a Catholic publishing house by profession. Even among those of us who might be called professional Catholics, there has been a sense of awe and wonderment at the life and accomplishments of John Paul II. In August 2002 I watched television coverage of a visibly ailing, 82-year-old pontiff saying Mass in a field outside Krakow. The crowd was immensean estimated three million people. Everywhere John Paul II went there were crowdsseven million in the Philippines. His general audiences in Rome were attended by 14 million people. It’s difficult to imagine a person living or dead who has seen or been seen by more people than John Paul II. Why?

I decided to search for an answer by immersing myself in John Paul’s writings. He is perhaps the papacy’s most prolific writerauthor of 14 encyclicals, 42 apostolic letters, 15 apostolic exhortations, 10 apostolic constitutions, hundreds of public addresses, numerous poems, five books and a number of playsall this in addition to being the most traveled and most influential pope of the modern age.

What really amazed me, though, was the fact that the magnitude of John Paul II’s accomplishmentsas world statesman, theologian, philosopher and church leaderhad perhaps obscured his greatest role: that of a humble pastor. He knew something about how men and women can find God. He understood how the power of God can be released in our lives. His supreme desire was that we come to embrace a faith that transforms the way we work, the way we relate to other people and the way we live in the world.

John Paul returned again and again to a few basic themes in all his writings and talks: faith, prayer, family, suffering, the church, Mary and, most passionately, ChristChrist as the answer to all life’s mysteries. He traveled the world bringing this very simple message.

Though the papacy of John Paul II has ended, his legacy lies tangibly before us in his writings. We can touch his books, hold his pages in our hands, take his words into our hearts. We should do this. He wanted us to. In so doing we may discover that the secret to John Paul II’s immense popularity was that he really believed in a faith that could change the world for the better. His words will bear eloquent witness to this hope for many years to come.

Joseph Durepos

Toward Reconciliation

Catholicism, Death and Modern Medicine (4/25) was a splendid article by Lisa Sowle Cahill. Waiting until the dust settled on this traumatic event was wise and effective. We know that timing in such matters is of great importance. The crux of her argument lies in her statement it would seem, the rejection of the means of life-prolongation is not tantamount to directly desiring that the patient be dead, but rather to acceptance of death as now timely and a part of the human condition. It was determined after the autopsy that Terri Schiavo suffered no abuse or neglect, so we should assume Terri’s husband did not desire her dead. It also seems that her parents, who loved her very much, had a hard time accepting death as part of the human condition. With the help of thoughtful writings such as Ms. Cahill’s, one hopes reconciliation between parents and husband can go forward.

Howard Grandjean

Time for Reflection

After reading Of Many Things, by James Martin, S.J., (3/14), I am saddened that any of my fellow America readers would write in nasty or vituperative terms. I would have hoped that people who subscribe to such a publication as yours would have outgrown such tricks. It is possible to express deep anger and disagreement without resorting to that sort of language, especially in any activity that allows as much time for reflection as does composing and mailing a letter.

Phyllis Ann Karr

Part of Community

Thank you for Bishop Emil A. Wcela’s insightful article on the similarities between the church in the Czech Republic and the church in the United States (A Dangerous Common Enemy, 2/21). The challenges common to both countries are considerable. Add to that the compromised position of the Catholic Church in the United States in the light of the sexual abuse scandal, and the task of renewing our faith communities becomes all the more difficult.

What I found most heartening was the bishop’s account of how he goes out to parishes regularly and listens to what active Catholics have to say. This type of episcopal outreach can be of great benefit to the pastoral mission of the church. It would be helpful for bishops occasionally to seek out and listen to disaffected and marginalized Catholics as well. They, too, are part of the community called to join in worship and to witness to God’s kingdom of peace and justice in the world.

Raymond Maher, O.Carm.

Archbishop Replies

An advertisement placed by Voice of the Faithful in the March 14 issue of America erroneously stated that I had dismissed a lay board responsible for reviewing cases of clergy child sexual abuse.

Our Case Review Board was not dismissed. It had concluded its work according to guidelines set out in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and the Essential Norms approved in Dallas in 2002 by the U.S. bishops and the Vatican.

I appointed the Case Review Board following approval of the Dallas charter to review 13 allegations of child sexual abuse against clergy. Concurrent with this, we have had a Policy Review Board in place to review archdiocesan policies for prevention of abuse and protection of children.

Once the Case Review Board concluded its work last year, no further cases remained, and I determined the time was right to bring our review process into conformity with the national model by consolidating the two existing boards into a single board. I took this step to improve efficiency and make the process more cost-effective.

The Case Review Board and the Policy Review Board are currently being reorganized into a single Archdiocesan Review Board. This reorganized board, which will include former members of the Case Review Board and the Policy Review Board, will be responsible for advising me on policies and, when needed, reviewing any new cases that come forward.

If those who purchased the advertisement in your magazine had taken the time to contact local representatives of Voice of the Faithful, they could have corrected this error themselves prior to publication.

(Most Rev.) Alexander J. Brunett