More on That Front Page

Dear Editor: I cannot sit here reading these letters (Feb. 16), all attacking Sister Camille D’Arienzo for protesting that picture (Jan. 19) of G.W. Bush with the nuns. 
I agree with Sister Camille. Pope John Paul II and the then-Cardinal Ratzinger both pleaded with Bush not to start this war in Iraq. If you remember, they did not say a word when we attacked Afghanistan. I believe that it was because we were attacked by them.

Both Bush 41 and his National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft also pleaded not to go into Iraq.

Bush 41 did not go into Baghdad when the first war in Iraq was over because he knew that we would be caught in a quaqmire, which we now are in.
I am wondering if these ‘gung ho’ letter writers have any of their close relatives fighting in Iraq.

Bush says he is pro-life, only for votes. He did not commute any death sentences while governor of Texas.

The command of the Gospel to love means not only our friends, but people we know to be criminals, the difficult neighbor, people who mock what we stand for, even our enemies. 

Enzo Filippi
Whitestone

Dear Editor: I was astounded and grieved by The Tablet front page (Jan. 19). George Bush is holding hands with two nuns in front of a holy church. This man, who sanctioned the war in Iraq, deceived the American people about WMDs, and continues to lie about the necessity of this war, gets front page coverage from a Catholic newspaper. WHY? When I first saw the paper, I gasped. No politician has ever angered me more than George Bush.  

Pat Fuchs Zirkel
Dallas, Ga.

Dear Editor:  We have read the last couple of issues of The Tablet’s Readers’ Forum.

As members of Pax Christi Long Island, we’ve wept  for our countrymen. But now, seeing the letters in the Readers’ Forum, our tears are also for our fellow Catholics. 

We love both our country and our Church. How have they both managed to go so terribly, terribly wrong?  

Jesus, Prince of Peace, enlighten your people.

 Jack and Nancy Dwyer
Valley Stream

Dear Editor: As a reader of The Tablet, soon to be celebrating 100 years of stellar Catholic journalism, I was rather taken aback this week when reading the letters, all castigating Sister Camille D’Arienzo, about her letter of Feb. 2. 

As I recall, Sister Camille, a former writer for The Tablet, found a front page picture of George Bush with some nuns in the Holy Land printed in The Tablet somewhat incongruous.  Whether I agree with Sister or not, what I found incredible in your last issue was that not one letter was printed supporting her position.  Did no letters supporting your former employee arrive at your desk? It is hard to believe.

However, I’m willing to accept that no letters supporting Sister Camille came in. Let this letter then be the first!  Sister has it right; a printed photo of President Bush with nuns in the Holy Land is, in my view, out of character with Christ’s admonition to be peacemakers. Bush’s actions in bringing havoc and misery to much of the Middle East speaks volumes supporting Sister Camille’s view.

I must admit I read The New York Times and Maureen Dowd, not that I always agree with them or her. But the issue is not about the Times or Dowd, but about justice and mercy. If The Tablet means anything in this diverse Catholic mix, it should at least stand for fairness in reporting. I hope it has the guts to print the opposite view, at least sometimes.

Edward J. Thompson
Farmingdale, L.I.

Dear Editor: Reading many of the recent letters to The Tablet lionizing George Bush as a champion of life and suggesting that the Iraq war qualifies as a “just war” has led me to believe many are uninformed about the Church’s view on the war.

Pope John Paul II spoke out against the prospect of war many times before the U.S. invasion, saying in 2003, “No to war!” He described the war in Iraq as a “defeat for humanity.” Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, said in 2003, “there were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq.” He went on to say, “the concept of preventive war does not appear in the Catechism.” 

Matt Moses
New Haven, CT

Dear Editor: The Feb. 16th Readers’ Forum certainly requires a rebuttal from me. Were there no letters in agreement with the one I stated in the Feb. 2 edition? The people I know agree with me. Didn’t anyone exert him or herself to say so?

I do not read any other publication except The Tablet. I gave up listening to news reports on radio and television. Too many people tell too many lies. I did not mention the Iraq (or any other) war nor did I mention moral or immoral issues.

Although President Bush is a staunch supporter of the right to life for the unborn, he is no supporter of the living. And as far as this war is concerned, it is an unjust war. He and his cronies decided the Iraqis were our enemy and he would do something about it. So he invaded Iraq.

Never mind that he lied and sent both U.S.A. people and Iraqis to horrible deaths! Innocent Iraqi people were slaughtered as well as our soldiers. We had no business being there in the first place and now we have no way of getting out. This is a repeat of the Vietnam and Korean wars. Both were fiascos and our soldiers paid the price. And I don’t believe many are proud to serve their country in this war either. Where is the honor here?

And where are our patriotic leaders? This ridiculous campaign for the coveted position of president of our beloved U.S.A. is another fiasco. It’s all about money and personalities.

I don’t see any way for our country to recapture the prestige and honor we once had. We need a few good people to represent and lead us. Where are they? People around the world hate us. They look on us as a ravenous giant, ready to take over the world.

Elizabeth Kollmeier
College Point

Dear Editor: I am writing first and foremost in support of Sister Camille D’Arienzo and Elizabeth Kollmeier who expressed grief over The Tablet’s cover photo (Jan. 19) showing President Bush at the Church of the Beatitudes and quoting “Blessed are the Peacemakers.”  I am also writing in response to the two pages of the Readers’ Forum that The Tablet devoted to eight letters criticizing Sister Camille and Ms. Kollmeier and commending the photo. Two points from those letters stand out for me which I would like to address.

First was the repeated mention of pro-life as if to imply that neither Sister Camille nor Ms. Kollmeier are pro-life or, more to the point, anti-abortion. I simply ask on what basis such an implication can be made? Furthermore, struggle to understand how one can profess to be pro-life while supporting a war that has killed between 81,000 and 89,000 Iraqi civilians (by a conservative estimate), including unknown numbers of pregnant women and innocent children. I cannot understand what it means to be pro-life while abortions in the U.S. have increased since the Bush administration began. Explanations include policies that have increased poverty and reduced health coverage. I am befuddled by the meaning of pro-life when the current administration has manipulated the definition of torture in such a way as to defy not only international law, but also Catholic social teaching on the dignity of the human person. I fail to understand pro-life under a government that is sacrificing our life-sustaining environment for corporate profits.

The other point that stands out for me is reference to just war. I encourage all who see President Bush’s war in Iraq as just to read our U.S. bishops’ pastoral letters, “The Challenge of Peace” and “The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace,” both of which outline just war theory simply yet thoroughly. Important to note is that all the criteria for just war theory must be met for a war to be considered just. I then encourage those who would call the current war in Iraq just to contemplate the following quote from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, stated on May 2, 2003: “There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a ‘just war’.”

Finally, I invite everyone to pray the Beatitudes, to open one’s heart, mind, and soul to their deepest meaning as Jesus meant it. Yes, “Blessed are the Peacemakers.” May we grow to be true peacemakers who are truly pro-life.

 Rosemarie Pace
Middle Village

Dear Editor: In response to the back and forth regarding Sister Camille D’Arienzo’s letter regarding the picture of President Bush and the consecrated religious at the Church of the Beatitudes, I must say that Sister is absolutely right on with her opinion.

Let us call this as what it is — a photo op. President Bush is very good at photo opportunities. I call your attention to his picture in Louisiana weeks after the Katrina debacle. There he is with a hammer and a nail looking like he really cared.

It seems to me that this administration is one of conflict of interests and bold-faced lies. I believe we all know what the biggest lie was (see weapons of mass destruction). I applaud Sister Camille as she called this for what it really was.

Yes, we were attacked on Sept 11 and retaliation was certainly in order. However, the retaliation was aimed at the wrong target. We should have finished the job in Afghanistan and captured those who masterminded this horrible crime.

Instead, we chose to to let others capture Bin Laden when we had him cornered. We took our eye off the real objective and tried to settle a “personal grievance” in Iraq.

I feel very sorry for the next president as the job he or she inherits will not be easy.

James Bisciello
Howard Beach