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Contents © 1997
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

October 1997 LETTERS

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I would like to thank you for presenting in its entirety Marie Finn's letter that had been drastically censored when printed in the Southern Cross ("Little Notes," September). I respectfully admonish the Southern Cross for its hack job on a letter that was clearly intended to stand up for Christ.

It was an inspired letter and every word is true. Jesus wants and needs to be put in the center of his home as well as being in the center of every Christian's life.

-- Cathy Miller
Escondido


WE ARE TAKING PIXEL PEOPLE TOO SERIOUSLY

I clipped "Eighty-Eight Channels of Temptation" (September) and think it is a great story. I'm writing to introduce an extraordinary media study by Samuel A. Nigro, M.D. And Satan Turned into an Angel of Light is the title. It has 56 pages, including a "12-step" program on how to deal with TV addiction. The booklet is available for $5 (includes S&H) from Social Justice Review, Central Bureau, CCVA, 3835 Westminster Place, St. Louis, MO 63108.

We are all taking these pixel people and celluloid celebrities much too seriously. It's time to break away and get back to the real world of what Dr. Nigro calls the "Transcendentals."

-- Patrick Flynn
Yorba Linda


MILWAUKEE IS MISSION COUNTRY

Even though I have been corresponding for 12 years with Bart Brewer ("Little Notes," September), I pray that the grace of God may someday teach his heart to return to the Faith. The trouble with Bart is that he doesn't realize that just because the Catholic Church may have bad members, including even priests, does not mean that it ceases to be the true Church of Christ. The human element will always need reformation.

We all have much work to do in Catholic evangelism. Credit should be given to my friend Karl Keating of Catholic Answers in San Diego in bringing to truth of the Church to those endangered by fundamentalism.

I was ordained late in life, three months from my 73rd birthday, and am now 86. I have returned from Riverside to my native state of Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Archdiocese is really mission country because of the liberalism of Archbishop Rembert Weakland, the ordinary. We orthodox priests here need prayers.

-- Reverend Joseph Margola
Milwaukee


ALMOST BEATEN UP BY ROMAN CATHOLICS

Your account of us distributing tracts July 12th at Mission San Diego de Alcala ("Little Notes," September) was not honest. In the name of charity and justice, you need to make some corrections. After all, there were two male witnesses with me and Patricia Short was alone.

The above lady was anxious to take my tract, but became quite hostile, reactionary, defensive. In fact, she was willing to exchange ideas but with a lot of fury. Per contra, I was most polite, although my message might have been a little heavy for a relatively new convert to the Roman institution.

I absolutely never said: "We don't believe in water baptism. Nowhere in the Bible does it talk about water baptism." That is a complete fabrication. Here is what I said: "Baptismal regeneration or water salvation is not in the Bible. Not even in John 3:1-21." She became even more incensed. After asking me what religion we represent, I told her that we were Christians -- Baptists. How could she not hear me?

When we were there last July 12th, because of literature evangelism, three of us were almost beaten up by Roman Catholics, thugs -- male & female, who attended the Roman mass and then became energized because of rock music and drinking at the above parish. Maybe you would like to make a report of the above regarding the so-called "Blessing of the Bells."

Concerning Jason Evert. He attended a meeting at Lighthouse Baptist Church where another converted priest and I delivered messages. He was most polite. That's the only time I met Jason in person. I did converse with him several times over the telephone; our telephone conversations were enjoyable. I learned a few things. Why call them "run-ins?"

-- Bartholomew F. Brewer
Converted Discalced Carmelite friar & priest


NEARLY ALWAYS DEROGATORY

I have been reading News Notes for several years and heartily agree with most of it.

One problem I have with it is: Why do you waste space on the "critiques," or whatever you want to call them, of the design and architecture of our churches? [See Pews And Pilasters.]The articles are nearly always derogatory. What is the purpose of this feature?

Doesn't beauty lie in the eye of the beholder any more?

-- Margaret L. Johnson
La Mesa


SACRIFICIAL LAMB...AGAIN?

As a political candidate for U.S. Congress in November 1996 opposing Brian Bilbray in the 49th District, I was a 100 percent pro-life candidate representing the Libertarian Party. While I finished a distant third to Bilbray and [Democrat] Peter Navarro, your recent article ("Not as Pro-Life as My Mom," September) got my "political juices" started again, anticipating the coming 1998 Congressional race.

Unless the Libertarians get another "sacrificial lamb" to represent them for the next run at this office, I very well may be their candidate once again. The shortcoming of the Libertarians, as I see it, is that they do not extend the right to life far enough. As Robert Bork clearly stated in his recent book, Slouching Toward Gomorrah, the only creature on our planet that has 46 chromosomes from the moment of its conception is a human. Not a primate, not a vegetable, but a human.

This is how I feel. Partial-birth abortions are murder. Funding for those who wish to use such a monstrous medical procedure should not come from the taxpayers' pockets. For those who believe in abortion, I would suggest that private agencies be set up, agencies which receive no tax support and could be designated as legal recipients of pro-abortion backers' financial contributions. It removes the burden for pro-lifers who abhor this practice having their money used for such ends while giving pro-abortion financial supporters a legitimate tax deduction. It also eliminates the waste of yet another inefficient governmental bureaucracy set up to administer such funds.

Keep up the good work by writing such articles regarding the "flip-flop" nature of the politicians who can't be trusted to vote the way their constituents thought they would. If there is one issue on which I won't vacillate, it is abortion. This is why I'm here and Bilbray is in Washington. Well, can't blame a guy for trying.

-- Dr. Ernie Lippe
Middletown


THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE SAN DIEGO DIOCESE

The September 11 issue of the Southern Cross, our diocese's public relations mouthpiece, featured a positive review of the new ABC-TV show Nothing Sacred by James Brieg. Brieg insists that Nothing Sacred presents the Catholic Church in a "positive light" despite a few "drawbacks." Brieg seems unable to discern just how lurid the media's light is. To reduce to "drawbacks" the blasphemy and lies that keep the uninformed perpetually suspicious of the One True Church is like calling pornography "alternative literature."

First, the series shows a priest telling a young, pregnant teenager to follow her conscience. This perfectly illustrates the anti-life atmosphere of the San Diego diocese. Almost none of our parish priests bother even to pay lip service to the holocaust of abortion. When was the last time you heard a homily in San Diego where the priest reminded parishioners that artificial birth control is a grave sin against marriage? Father Dennis Mikulanis went so far as to lose his temper in public when he ran pro-life volunteers off of church property for distributing literature. Our own bishop went back on his word to pray the rosary in front of an abortion clinic with concerned young adults.

In Nothing Sacred the young woman penitent tapes her confession and later it is played for his bishop. If the producers of the series seriously wanted to be realistic, they could depict what we see in our local churches on Saturdays when priests hear confessions: Empty churches and no lines. Or for real dramatic impact, they should consult with Father Paul Palmitessa, who has reportedly told penitents that there is no need to go to confession since "God already forgave you before you came here." They could even interview the young people who will make sacrilegious communions because of such advice.

In fact, sacramental distortion could be a regular feature and the San Diego diocese could collect a fee as special consultant. Sacred Heart parish in Coronado could help with baptism, by showing the same video to the show's writers that is shown to parents and godparents, wherein baptism is reduced to a "welcoming into the community" and almost no mention is made of original sin, the soul, or salvation.

Our local parishes could let the writers know how it is never mentioned to first communicants how important it is to receive reverently, in a state of grace, or how the Pope discourages communion in the hand -- in fact, they're told not to take it on the tongue. We could show how our priests in the Charismatic Renewal movement stretch the use of the anointing of the sick, calling virtually anything a serious illness. We can demonstrate how weak religious education programs have reduced Confirmation to an exit sacrament that "celebrates" the last time young people will attend mass.

Fortunately, the show emphasizes the church's call for social justice. Great! Now, for an authentic depiction, they could show a bishop who blesses AIDS quilts while remaining silent about the sinful lifestyle that spreads this horrible disease. They could show bureaucrats at the chancery insuring the "gay and lesbian ministries" remain funded regardless of the church's teachings.

Any Catholic with a brain cannot help but find it disingenuous when our bishop expresses concern in his own newspaper that not enough people know what the church teaches about the Eucharist, yet allows a review which applauds this sort of Catholic distortion to appear in a subsequent issue -- an issue that also has a half-page ad for Disney's World on Ice. I pray that I am wrong, but the message seems to be: "Give us the advertising dollars and don't worry about the truth."

If this letter suggests I am "intolerant" and "agenda-driven," I can only ask: When were Catholics asked to tolerate sin and stop defending the truth of their faith? What agenda is more important than spreading the truth about the Catholic Church to mankind for its salvation? Nothing Sacred offers lies, insults, and does a tremendous disservice to the Catholic Church -- as does any publication which prints an endorsement of this shameful program.

-- Robert Kumpel
Middletown


OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE WIDESPREAD PRESS SCANDALS

It is appropriate that a large judgment was entered against the Diocese of Dallas, Texas, for allowing a practicing homosexual-pedophile to remain in the Church as a priest ("To Do Nothing Is Not a Solution," September). The Church was certainly on notice of homosexual infiltration of the priesthood.

Bobby Jones, a former militant "gay" rights activist, stated recently that because the Church is an impediment to full acceptance of the "gay" lifestyle, certain homosexuals are making a concerted effort to subvert and discredit the Church, both from outside and within. Part of this subversion involves the entry of practicing homosexuals, including pedophiles, into religious orders. These agents provocateurs continue their "lifestyle" while in the priesthood, and wait for the opportunity to create widespread press scandals.

Apparently, the Church is reluctant to admit the existence of a problem, however small, for fear of bad publicity. Additionally, the Church appears reluctant to remedy the problem for fear of inciting open warfare with "gay" rights groups. The Dallas judgment should put the Church on notice, however, that whatever the publicity ramifications, in order to protect young boys and prevent future scandals, it must actively screen candidates and root out from its ranks practicing homosexuals.

-- Richard Vattuone
La Jolla

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