The following letters to the editor appear in the edition of Dec. 4, 2003. Letters appearing in this space do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arlington Catholic Herald or the Catholic Diocese of Arlington. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as necessary. There is no guarantee of publication. Send letters to: letters@catholicherald.com.

Loving the Victims

I applaud Bishop Loverde and Editor Michael Flach (ACH 11/27/03) for emphasizing the need of our Church and our diocese to continue its vigilance to protect children from the scourge of sexual abuse by clergy and others in society. Bishop Loverde’s insistence on implementing appropriate educational programs (e.g., such as "Good Touch, Bad Touch") for both children and adults in our parish communities is a critical step against the wish by some to put the clergy sexual abuse scandal behind us and get back to normal. For the thousands of survivors of sexual abuse, getting back to normal is not predictable. Settlements and apologies are not the end but the beginning of healing. I pray that our Church and our diocese will build upon this important step and reach out to those survivors in our midst whose recovery is a lifetime journey. We cannot console ourselves that reports of abuse by diocesan or religious order clergy in our diocese are few. Both clergy and laity alike owe the survivors in our midst, regardless of where they were abused, the Gospel model of charity shown by the Good Samaritan.

Bill Casey
Co-leader
N.Va. Voice of the Faithful

The Ultimate Penalty

I want to applaud Michael Flach's editorial "Broken Justice" (ACH, 11/20/03, page 4). He provides strong evidence to question not only the underlying rationale for the death penalty but also the arbitrary nature of its application in the Old Dominion.

Our diocese advocates each year with the Virginia Assembly on life and justice questions. Our advocacy for the pre-born is strengthened, not weakened, when we advocate for other issues where human life is at stake. As our Holy Father teaches, "A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary." (Jan 27, 1999, Papal Mass at St. Louis, MO.)

Many clergy and laity point out that the pope's teaching on the death penalty allows for prudential judgment. This seems to permit them to summarily disregard the evidence offered by recent studies such as your editorial reports and the underlying values and reasoning that our official teaching promotes.

Given our strong emphasis on a consistent ethic of life, as Catholics we should be the first to join the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and other Muslems, Christians and Jews across our state as we call for our General Assembly to eliminate the 21-day rule, which limits the admission of evidence of innocence, and to join the vast majority of other states in excluding juveniles from the ultimate penalty.

For more information on advocacy call 804/643-2474 or check the website: www.vicpp.org

Rev. Gerry Creedon
Chair, Diocesan Peace and Justice Commission
President, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

The Church in Ethiopia

I was interested to read the article about our American bishops deciding to help out needy dioceses in Africa.

Recently, I have been in contact with Bishop Abune Tesfaselassie Medhin of Adigrat in northern Ethiopia, about the problems he faces in his diocese caused by poverty, war and HIV-Aids.

He sees education — academic and catechetical —as the main solution to the problems he is addressing in his diocese. He only has one high school which has room for under 400 children and almost non-existent toilet facilities.

It was built in the 19th century by St. Justin di Jacobis, the great Catholic missionary to Ethiopia. There is also a government-run high school. Between them, they have places for under 1,000 children. About 5000 or more students are looking to go to high school each year.

Because of the lack of high school education in his diocese, children from outlying villages and those who have been displaced by the recent war between Ethiopia and Eritrea are unable to get anything but the poorest paying jobs. The girls end up in prostitution and fall victims to HIV-Aids.

This summation, Bishop Tesfaselassie tells me, is stating the case mildly. He describes his diocese as being in a state of crisis. My mind sort of blanks out when I am told that the population group most affected by HIV-Aids is eighth-graders.

At the moment, Bishop Tesfaselassie is trying to raise money to build a new school near the Cathedral in Adigrat. It is going to cost him $2 million. Then he has to equip the school. This includes stocking a library. And he would like to have a modern science laboratory.

Ethiopia is one of the poorest nations in Africa so the bishop cannot turn to his parishioners. He has to look for help from outside.

If anyone has any ideas of how to help Bishop Tesfaselassie, please call me at 703/751-9626.

Judith Child
Alexandria

A Real Christmas Message

May I use your newspaper to thank Father John Rausch for reminding us of "The Cost of Cheap Goods" (ACH, 11/20/03). At this time of year, we do become consumed by sales, sales, sales. "Giving" is the spirit of the season, but, doing so for the cheapest price is "our mission", as we scrutinize the papers for special coupons and bargain prices.

As Father Rausch so clearly emphasized, goods are "cheap" because manufacturers and so-called discount stores like Wal-Mart have used and abused our fellow human beings. A child asked his grandmother if "Santa lives in China?" He saw "Made in China" on so many of his toys.

Should not the question be: "What would Jesus do?" Let us "cleanse our temples" of the temptations of those who choose to exploit the poor, so we can answer that child with a clear conscience: "No, Santa lives in our hearts." Thank you, Father Rausch, for a real Christmas message.

Barbara O'Keefe
Fairfax

Disservice to Victims

The Arlington Catholic Herald issue for 11-20-03 contains a lead editorial entitled "Broken Justice" which addresses itself in large part to a study conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), "Broken Justice: The Death Penalty in Virginia". The wording of the title of the study itself may be highly accurate, but in the case of ACLU activities and concerns, seriously misapplied.

For decades, the ACLU has been in the vanguard of those organizations successfully promoting a type of "death penalty" for those "unwanted" human beings inside, and, even partially, outside the womb. To measure the ACLU success we need only imagine the number of residents of the cities of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, including large portions of their suburbs, completely eliminated prior to birth by the "death penalty" which the ACLU has vigorously promoted.

The morality of the death penalty as applied against those convicted of murder is certainly a moral issue to which the Herald, through its writers, can and should address itself. In doing so, it would be appropriate to utilize sources which are capable of speaking on moral issues. Clearly, the ACLU is not. To lionize the organization, as was done implicitly in the "Broken Justice" editorial, is a disservice to the 30 million or more human beings who have suffered death by legalized abortion.

Hubert J.Treacy
Locust Grove

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