Readers Speak Out: March 13, 2022

Huzzahs for Sr. Burns

Kudos to Sr. Helena Burns for her defence of faith and morals.  The Church is constantly under attack from outside and within. 

High-ranking prelates get attention for their views, leaning heavily on the world’s view instead of Jesus’ view of love and sin. We sometimes quote principles too easily. Praying for the wellbeing of all would be more in keeping with how Jesus would look at things. Jesus is the strengthener of our inconstancy and the repairer of our faults.

Sandra Antonello

Hamilton Ont.

I have not been a regular reader of The Catholic Register print edition until recently, but a week ago I stumbled across Sr. Helena Burns’ Feb. 27 column “Ignoring an earthquake in the Church.” Thank you for having the courage to run that piece. It was a needed and fair analysis of a matter of great concern and crucial as we enter into this Synod on Synodality.

I think she wrote about it perfectly and can stand in peace before the Cardinal himself. Knowing that what she submitted will stir up waters — critique and even complaint — I thank you for including it. It has motivated me to search out her earlier pieces. Now I will become a regular reader.

Fr. David Linder

Director of Priests

Madonna House Apostolate

Convoy counterpoint

I think a significant point was missed in Luke Stocking’s Feb. 28 column “Truckers needed a lesson in civics.” I attended the trucker’s Freedom Convoy because I felt like God was calling me there. The general outcry of the Ottawa protest was this: Individuals have the right to decide what medical procedures our bodies undergo and should not be forced to receive a vaccine our conscience deems immoral in principle (e.g. link to aborted fetal cell line used in testing) or that is potentially harmful to our bodies, which is a risk of every medical procedure.

With their livelihoods at stake, the truckers deemed this protest a necessary response to a mandate that violated their God-given right of bodily autonomy and self-preservation.

The common good should always be weighed with the individual good, with the individual good taking precedence according to the teachings of the Catholic Church. After all, we enter Heaven as individuals, not as collectives.

Douglas Naus

Scarborough, Ont.

Fie on ‘philanthropist’

Regarding Rabbi David Seed’s Feb. 27th guest column “Free speech still needs prudent words,” I find the term “philanthropist” to be one of the most disingenuously applied words today. The difference between an activist and a philanthropist is that an activist puts thousands of dollars towards the political causes he or she is passionate about — a philanthropist puts millions.

George Soros may not be the Bond villain some claim him to be, but the term philanthropist, whether applied to him or others, is chiefly used to shield wealthy political actors from criticism.

Alex Martin

Toronto