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MAY 15, 2008
NFP-only by conscience
A great debt of gratitude is accorded to Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas for their pastoral statement, “Freedom of Conscience” (The Catholic Sun, May 1). It is both timely and very positively presented.
The Sun article included a picture of an Indiana physician who does not prescribe contraceptives. I know of only two ob-gyn physicians in the Valley who have similar practices. They are William Chavia, who practices in Phoenix, and Clint Leonard, who practices in Gilbert, and they are Natural Family Planning-only physicians.
If there are any others who are NFP-only it would be a real service to the community to get their names out to the public. If these men and women want to be identified, please submit your names to The Catholic Sun so they can list them in an upcoming issue. This would be a great service to all.
Deacon Dick Petersen, MD
Tempe
Stein exposes ‘drivel’
How interesting that you conclude that the documentary “Expelled” “muddies scientific debate” (Media/Arts, The Catholic Sun, May 1). Just because Ben Stein did not interview the two professors of biology whom you quote, does not mean that his documentary has no validity.
I think you really missed the point! Bottom line for this viewer, I tip my hat to Stein for exposing the elitist anti-God drivel so prevalent in our universities.
Christina Christian
Scottsdale
Revisiting the death penalty
Wow. I’m flattered. It’s been almost two months since I submitted my letter on the death penalty (“Catholic position is clear,” The Catholic Sun, March 6), yet you’re still publishing rebuttals from Catholics who want it both ways — a blessing on their desire to kill.
The loophole in the catechism concerning capital punishment is so narrow that even the Church admits it might never be applicable, especially in a modern state. Just because the pope had left open a narrow possibility — probably not justified here in the United States, with our developed prison system — for death penalty, does not mean the Church endorses our regular use of it.
Tom Hogan
Park City, Utah
Compassion in immigration
We all want to exercise compassion for fellow human beings; however, deliberately sneaking into a foreign country, then bitterly protesting its immigration policy to the point of demanding the right to set up residence in that nation and make use of its educational and social welfare systems, is unfair to the many millions who have patiently entered this country and acquired citizenship by following the procedures that have been put in place.
In trying to exhibit compassion for those who attempt to rush in here to work, we must also keep in mind compassion for the millions of impoverished natural-born or [other] citizens who are already here and are having to struggle.
Nobody has the right to demand they be made a citizen of any country. Can you imagine the reception an American might receive if he went without a visa into another country and literally demanded that he be allowed immediate citizenship and all the rights that go along with it?
In the revising of immigration laws, the Golden Rule should be taken into consideration and thoughtfully applied not only toward those who don’t have time to follow the present rules, so to speak; but also to the populations of U.S. poor children who daydream of escaping the existing American ghettos and who are already in need of assistance, and for those immigrants who are already in the United States with green cards, checking their mailbox day after day for that anticipated letter informing them of the date of their naturalization ceremonies.
Married to an immigrant who put up patiently with that red tape for several years, I waited in the long lines with him and quizzed him on his U.S. history knowledge for his citizenship exams as we stopped at traffic lights on the way to appointments. I think I have some right to respond to this issue.
In some situations, compassion is a two-way street.
Is immigration and citizenship best seen as a “right,” or a ”gift” granted to be gracefully received?
Charmaine French-Allaka
Phoenix
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MAY 1, 2008
Silent sanctuaries
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s column on silence should be emphasized from the pulpit at every church in the diocese (“The Eucharist and silence,” The Catholic Sun, April 17).
I like to get to church early for some spiritual reading, rosary prayer, or even just to sit there and meditate. However, it is difficult to find a place in the church that is quiet enough to prepare yourself for the holy sacrifice of the Mass which is about to take place. The murmuring and chatter is constant. Then in many parishes they begin by saying, “In order to participate more fully let us introduce ourselves to everyone around us.”
Instead of beginning with silence, we begin with chaos, people scrambling to make sure they introduce themselves to everyone in the area.
After this chaos we have really set the tone. Then during the most sacred part of the Mass, we start the exchange of peace, which has people leaving their pews to shake hands even while the Agnus Dei has begun.
It would be so refreshing if we followed the “Be still and know that I am God” theme.
D.R. DeVriese
Scottsdale
Eucharistic practices
Re: “Last Supper” (Letters, The Catholic Sun, April 3), the practice of giving the Eucharist on the tongue started centuries ago to prevent superstitious peasants (and others) from taking the host home and giving it to a sick domestic animal in the hope that thereby it would be cured miraculously.
Peter Horwath
Tempe
Editor’s note: It’s widely believed that the practice of receiving the Eucharist on the tongue had formed out of a desire to maintain a reverence and greater devotion for the eucharistic Lord.
Embryonic ensoulment
Re: “Do embryos have souls?” (The Catholic Sun, March 20), I have heard Fr. Tad Pacholczyk speak on occasion.
First, I treasure his priestly office and the common battle we Catholics share against the culture of death. After the first talk, I questioned his semantics, particularly the use of the word “entity” when referring to the precious gift of God — the embryo.
As a sidewalk counselor, I often hear that the little one being aborted does not yet have a soul, so it is OK to kill it. I was concerned that the word “entity” connotes a clear disconnection/detachment/severance from the continuum of the human being’s natural development which Fr. Pacholczyk defends, as does “menstrual extraction” or “blob of tissue” used by the pro-death agents to confuse and cover up the humanity of the embryo or fetus in an abortion.
Additionally, if a human embryo “might” not have a soul and it does not matter, as stated, we cannot be talking about a “stage of development” of the human being. A human being is by definition an “ensouled body” or an “embodied soul”!
Also, Fr. Pacholczyk’s astounding assertion that it is the gravest evil, worse than murder, to kill an embryo without a soul, implies that unensouled embryos cannot go to heaven but ensouled ones without baptism do. Are not ensouled embryos affected by original sin?
Finally, man cannot “derail the entire eternal design of God” as He is omnipotent and omniscient. I think man derails himself in God’s divine plan. After all, He was the Creator of free will. Did He not know its consequences? He makes no mistakes.
Luz Fuenzalida
Phoenix
Papal visit reflections
I was able to watch the entire papal visit on EWTN, beginning with Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival in Washington, D.C., until his departure from New York City.
Those present were attentive to his every word. His message to them was to carry on the work of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
I was deeply impressed with the calm and firmness with which he spoke. He emphasized the importance of protecting the right to religious freedom among nations and tolerance between people of every race and culture. He also mentioned the axiom, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” the key to harmony in living.
In his address to the young people, he emphasized the importance of resisting the “popular” temptations of using drugs, participating in illegal sex and pornography. Mainly, I was impressed with the love he demonstrated to the youth who came up to greet him, and there were many. I was especially impressed with his individual attention to all the handicapped youth present in the assembly.
He is the true shepherd and will have a lasting impression on all those in attendance.
I applaud the many persons involved in the preparations for Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the United States. Our sincerest thanks to the security officers in charge. They did a great job!
Mary Brank Yost
Mesa
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APRIL 17, 2008
Faithful citizenship
In a recent primary, commentators stated that Hillary Clinton “narrowly got the Catholic vote.” It seems that the Catholic population would rather watch their bishop praying before an abortion clinic or doing a march on the Capitol than using the ballot box.
Helen Loftus
Mesa
Not so cut and dry
Re: “Catholic position is clear” (The Catholic Sun, March 6), the letter writer stated: “The Catholic position on life is unimpeachable: No abortion, no death penalty. If you can’t hang with that, go worship elsewhere.”
I’d like to point out that before he became pope, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote a letter to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick stating: “There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not, however, with regard to abortion and euthanasia.”
Clearly, Pope Benedict XVI does not totally eliminate the death penalty as an option. Neither does the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The letter writer can have his convictions on issues but he cannot be free to corrupt the teaching of the Church.
George Garbell
Phoenix
Global warming hoax?
Thank God for global warming. It is planting time in food-growing countries around the world. That is God’s way of looking after His creatures.
It may upset some polar bears but it is good for animals and people who like to eat regularly. Global warming is followed by global freezing with higher fuel bills.
Global warming is a cyclical phenomenon caused by ocean waves, earthquakes, winds, tides, rotation of the sun and greenhouse gas effect.
On our Kansas farm in the 1940s, I uncovered layers of sea shells in a ravine around our corn field. I told our agricultural instructor in high school. He simply remarked, “Oh yeah! This part of the earth was once under water… an ocean. I grew up about 100 miles west of here. We have round rocks made by the tumbling and melting of glaziers years ago.” It’s in your history books. Unfortunately history isn’t being taught in many of our schools today.
Nobody talked about “global warming” and “greenhouse gases” until it became fashionable. This tiny bit of effect is not enough to be measured when compared to the warm Gulf Stream that flows up the east coast of America into the Artic area and Greenland. The heat of the sun is the major source of heat provided for God’s creations. Putting the blame and cost on one generation is not right. It is a hoax and a scheme to make money.
The greenhouse effect is trans-evaporation — the rising of methane gas and water vapor after a shower or a damp morning — and always has been. Compared to other phenomena, it is very small.
Some environmentalists and a few polar bear lovers will be saddened, but a lot of starving people will survive when the hoax is disavowed and the cycle continues on time.
Ray Wyatt
Tempe
If only they will hear
I have been greatly encouraged by recent articles and teachings by our own Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and the publishing of Archbishop Charles Chaput’s Red Mass homily (www.catholicsun.org/2008/feb7/local/redmass-homily.html). Both offer the faithful clear teachings, exposing the poisonous secular relativism that has been foisted upon us by both network and print media. And the late Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have referred to the harm that secularism does to our societies. Many poorly catechized Catholics are largely influenced by what they see on TV or what the media put out as “fact.”
Bishop Olmsted’s “Rebutting the ‘Catholic but…’” (The Catholic Sun, April 3) makes clear the responsibility we all have in seeking to form our consciences more fully, especially in making decisions when we enter the voting booth. (And re-reading “Catholics in the Public Square,” authored by Bishop Olmsted, is certainly a must.)
The bishop’s March 20 column, “Instructing the Ignorant,” prepares us individually to perform spiritual works of mercy with those around us who may not understand fully what the Church’s position is in so many areas of our lives. Practicing both corporal and spiritual works of mercy is an expected part of our faith and our bishop’s column makes clear how to approach these gifts.
Archbishop Chaput’s “10 Points for Catholic Citizens to Remember,” was the central theme in his Jan. 23 address to Arizona lawyers and lawmakers. Point eight: “So can a Catholic in good conscience support a ‘pro-choice’ candidate?” The answer is “I can’t and I won’t.”
The archbishop explains using the compelling “proportionate reasoning alibi,” when it comes to the abortion issue: “the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them in the next life — which we most certainly will. If we’re confident that these victims will accept our motives as something more than an alibi, then we can proceed.”
The Catholic “swing vote” has greatly determined recent elections and I encourage Church leaders to continue teaching the faithful. May we have “ears to hear.”
Richard Anderson
Phoenix
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APRIL 3, 2008
Souls matter
Re: Do embryos have souls? (“Making sense out of bioethics,” The Catholic Sun, March 20), the short answer is that human embryos must have rational, immortal souls, otherwise they would not be human. The Council of Vienne (1311-1312) declared the rational soul to be the form of the human body. Form is the determining principle of a material body, that by virtue of which it is precisely what it is. Anything corporeal is already a composite of form and prime matter. The form of a living body is called a soul, the principle of life. The form of a living human body is the rational, immortal soul; accordingly, without a rational soul, there is no human body.
Rational ensoulment entails substantial change; after desoulment (death) what remains is a corpse, a completely different substance. We are only on a continuum with embryos if they have souls as we do, otherwise it would only be a material continuum, not a formal one. A soulless embryo would not be alive, much less human. Our souls make us human, not lifeless DNA. A “human” body prior to ensoulment is only potentially human. You can’t murder a pre-human or non-human, a fact which has been exploited by the Culture of Death. Is it really worse to destroy the marble that may become the Pieta than the Pieta itself?
Was Christ’s human soul not present at the Incarnation? If the Blessed Mother did not have a human soul and was not a person at the first instant of her conception, why talk of her preservation from original sin? Only persons can have sin — original or actual.
Thomas K. Nelson, M.D.
Scottsdale
Dr. Nelson is president of the Catholic Physicians Guild of Phoenix.
‘Spiritual, reverent, humble’
As a parishioner of St. John Vianney in Goodyear, I was thrilled to see the book review on “The Cross, Our Only Hope” (The Catholic Sun, March 20). This book is a true source of inspiration for all of us who use it daily. The Holy Cross priests are so spiritual, so reverent, so humble.
I only wish that the reviewer would have dug a little deeper prior to the review. Yes, there is a nice local connection above and beyond what is mentioned in the article: Andrew Gawrych, a deacon who was to be ordained a priest at the end of March. We know him as Deacon Drew and soon to be Fr. Drew.
Please pray for him during his final preparation for the priesthood.
Cynthia Robles
Goodyear
Last Supper
It seems everyone is missing something: When Jesus broke bread at the Last Supper, He didn’t give it to everyone on the tongue!
Ray Youngers
Sun City West
Way to go, Seton
Congratulations go out to the Seton Catholic High School marching band and director Tim Smith. They won for “best high school band” in the Phoenix St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
As an alumna of Seton, it was so exciting to see a band in the parade. I was choked up when I realized the band marching was from Seton and saw the children of friends and former classmates marching. Tim Smith is making his mark on the music of Phoenix as well as the next generation of musicians in this diocese. If we have a “most valuable” designation it needs to go to him.
Congrats, Seton!
Theresa Ratti
Mesa
Ratti graduated from Seton in 1979.
Faith first
It is very sad to hear a Catholic claim that the laws of our country should override human rights and the God-given dignity that belongs to all humans.
It is true that citizenship is both custom and law. That does not make either the custom or law just. The laws of immigration are also custom and law, but it is equally true that it does not make custom or the laws just.
A child born in a country normally takes on the citizenship of that country by custom and law. A child born abroad usually takes on the citizenship of that country and the citizenship of the country that his parents retain. That also is not necessarily just. I know in Japan there are thousands who, generations after their parents went there, are still not citizens because one drop of foreign blood makes them non-citizens.
We are members of the Church traceable through history to its creation by Christ. That such an un-Christian statement labeling people desperate to give themselves and their children a decent chance at life should come from the mouth or pen of any one claiming to be Catholic is disheartening. We, as Catholics, must not throw the virtues given us by the Holy Spirit out the window.
Margaret Leafe
Phoenix
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MARCH 20, 2008
Communion in hand indult
Re: “Communion in the hand is not the problem” (The Catholic Sun, Feb. 21) and “Receiving Communion” (The Catholic Sun, March 6), it should be noted lest we forget that:
a. Communion in the hand came about through an “indult” (permission or privilege granted by competent Church authority) given by Pope Paul VI and was officially allowed as an option in the United States on June 17, 1977.
b. The time-honored tradition and preferred way of receiving our Lord has always been on the tongue.
Nowhere does the esteemed Cardinal-Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments imply a restriction of Jesus’ coming to the communicant whether on the tongue or in the hand (The Catholic Sun, Feb. 7). He simply said there have been abuses and often a noticeable lack of reverence since the indult; therefore, it might be preferable to return to Communion on the tongue to avoid sacrilege.
However, I must disagree with the letter writer when he writes “who… has the right to tell Jesus whom He can or cannot call to His supper?” The Church (Petrine Authority) most definitely has the right and the duty and the power to proclaim who may or may not receive the sacred species. And Jesus will honor what the Church binds and loosens. (Mat 16:19)
Jane Kosco
Prescott
Need for the death penalty ‘rare, if practically non-existent’
Re: “Catholic position is clear” (The Catholic Sun, March 6):
While I fully accept paragraph 2267 of the Catechism of the Church, I believe clarification is necessary when comparing abortion and capital punishment. The letter writer summarizes his opposition to the death penalty as follows: “The Catholic position on life is unimpeachable: No abortion, no death penalty. If you can’t hang with that, go worship elsewhere.”
Strong words and good intentions, but, I believe, a little misleading. The Church has always condemned direct abortion (abortion willed either as an end or a means) as gravely contrary to the moral law. There are no exceptions for a direct abortion allowed or suggested by the Church. While paragraph 2267 in the Catechism condemns almost all capital punishment in modern society, it does in fact, suggest that under certain unforeseen and very rare circumstances there could be exceptions.
Tom Takash
Phoenix
CDA unites community
Jesus told us that when two or more are gathered together, He will be with us. The Samaritan woman at the well learned about Jesus when she gave water to Him.
It struck me recently that these thoughts are what our bishop’s push for the Charity and Development Appeal is all about. Our diocese is looking to gather us all together and raise $10.5 million to give away in the name of Jesus. All alone, my reach is limited, but joined with the thousands of other Catholics in our diocese we become one of the most powerful charitable organizations in the state.
I find tremendous pride in this as a Catholic and hope that our communal generosity will inspire others to give away the gifts they have been given. Joyful giving inspires curiosity and imitation; shared love and peace can spread like a plague. We should strive to live a life like Jesus; we are called to join together in prayer and thanksgiving. The bishop’s appeal gives us the opportunity to achieve all this and more every year. What a gift!
Mark Carlile
Cottonwood
Kudos on Mesa film festival
Thank you, Rebecca Bostic, for your coverage of the recent Mesa Community College Film Festival (The Catholic Sun, Feb. 7 and March 6). Her first story is how I discovered this event, which, having attended four evenings, I consider to be one of the most significant cultural events in the Valley during my half-century’s residence here.
Krzystoff Zanussi is clearly a genius. His films are thought-provoking and feature interesting and simple stories and development of characters not seen in American movies. His personal comments and answers to questions demonstrate his remarkable life and the strength of his character, nourished by the unique Polish Catholic culture.
I also salute Dr. Don Castro who organized this event, and benefactor Dan Harkins who provided the venue.
Barzo Dobre!
Mike Richard
Mesa
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