Readers Speak Out: September 8, 2019

Repentance

The Aug. 25 photograph of the return of the cross to Nagasaki Cathedral should be the first act of setting right the wrong of the bombing of Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945. 

Readers may not know that the nuclear bomb that destroyed Nagasaki was blessed by Catholic and Lutheran chaplains as it was sent on its death mission, nor that the Roman Catholic cathedral spires were the landmark where the bomb was to be dropped, nor that the bombing destroyed the Catholic community which had been there since the 16th century.

Catholics knowingly sacrificing Catholics in a holocaust — for what? Has anything more than returning the cross been done as repentance for that crime? 

Walter Klaassen,

Saskatoon, Sask.

Left turn

As a regular reader of The Catholic Register, I am growing concerned about the left wing, socialist thinking that pervades the paper. After reading the July 28-Aug. 4 issue, I am even more concerned about the leanings of The Register on climate change.

This edition had a two-page spread featuring Laudato Si’ and Elizabeth May as your sources of information. Is The Register now endorsing the Green Party?

You include an insert titled “Climate Change Facts,” most of which are debatable. Citing Laudato Si’ in the article leaves one with the feeling that if you don’t buy into May’s ideas you are not being a good Catholic. 

Anyone who tells you the science of man-made greenhouse gases is settled is not a scientist and is not to be believed — Laudato Si’ or no Laudato Si’.

Terence Moynihan,

Collingwood, Ont.

Catholic education

I enjoy The Catholic Register very much and find all your issues to be both insightful and thought provoking. The issue of Aug. 25, with articles about Catholic education, was exceptional. 

As a retired educator, I have always believed that Catholic schools are an invaluable tool in the process of evangelization. They serve Catholics at the formative years of their lives when values, attitudes and practices are being developed.

For those who have little knowledge or even misconceptions of the role of our schools in the Church’s mission to proclaim and witness to the Good News of Jesus, I would recommend John B. Kostoff’s article on Catholic education. It is one of the clearest and most precise definitions of the role of our schools that I have read.

As a disclaimer, I must admit that John is a former pupil of mine at Neil McNeil H.S., as indeed is the editor of The Register. 

Gerald FitzGerald C.S.Sp.,

Toronto

Priceless grace

Re: There is no price to put on grace (Sept. 1):

As much as I sometimes disagree with Fr. Rolheiser, this particular article speaks volumes.

In my work with the imprisoned, I was able to witness reconciliation and grace. Sometimes it doesn’t come in the form of the confessional with the priest.

Arranging a meeting between a dying imprisoned man with his estranged daughter was no easy task. The first words out of his mouth to her were, “I am sorry.” 

He said this over and over again, and in that moment of “confession” they embraced for the first time.  

I agree with Fr. Rolheiser: There is no price to put on grace.

Rose Galbraith,

Hamilton, Ont.