Discussion of Racism

Dear Editor: While I agree with Sister Mary McConnell, CSJ, (Invitation to Dialogue on Race, April 12) that we must share in, and listen to the pain, suffering, anger and exclusion suffered by many due to racism, I question whether Senator Obama is the better way. I always thought that actions speak louder than words.

Senator Obama has consistently voted to advance “the culture of death” and whether unintentionally or not, African-American women have been disproportionately affected. Considering that they have over a third of all abortions, I submit this is a kind of “genocide” against blacks. So why is he advancing this violence against his own race?

Furthermore, at a recent debate Sen. Obama was asked what his biggest regret was. To everyone’s surprise his answer was voting affirmative to allow the courts to intercede in the starvation and dehydration of a vulnerable disabled woman, Terri Schiavo. Was the Nazi-like solution which ensued hopeful, and does it advance love and compassion toward our vulnerable sisters and brothers?

Common ground, hope, forgiveness and conversion happen when you practice what you preach.....

Veronica Sheehan
Park Slope

Dear Editor: As an African-American, I took exception to The Tablet crediting Sen. Barack Obama for “sparking a new conversation on racial awareness.”

Sen. Obama’s speech was yet another desperate attempt, through one of his so-called inspiring but repetitively empty speeches to dodge his most recent scandal regarding his association with a church headed by a racially insensitive minister.

The phenomenon revolving around Sen. Obama for nearly four years has literally gone from the sublime to the ridiculous! So much so that we now have an overwhelmingly large segment of the population, Catholics included, mesmerized by this media-invented politician. The senator, whose claim to fame centers heavily on his racial make-up, charming smile, and speech-making skills has been given such an unnecessary boost into the political stratosphere by the mainstream media.

While the press continues to obsess over his racially diverse persona, far more qualified peers, such as Dr. Alan Keyes, Sen. Rick Santorum, and Gov. Bobby Jindal, all devout Catholic and pro-life politicians, continue to languish in obscurity.

It is truly moving to see the Catholic Church today engaging practicing African-Americans and other minorities into playing a greater role in the overall structure of the Church as opposed to years past when the laws of Jim Crow permeated within the landscape of our culture. However, it is unwise to celebrate politicians, especially Democratic ones, whose very party continues to promote failed government social policies, which unfortunately dismantle a huge area of the black community.

Gwendolyn Owens
East Flatbush

Dear Editor: I do agree with the good Sister that we should always have and need dialogue on racism; but when she says that Sen. Obama is the man who can do this because he says he can. I disagree due to the fact that Sen. Obama sat in a church for 20 years while his pastor made anti-white, anti-American statements and from his pulpit prayed to God to damn America.

Sen. Obama also stands for a woman’s right to choose and gay marriages. He should not be put on the same level as the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin who suffered much and was accused of wrong doing which proved to be lies, a man of God who forgave and prayed for all. I just don’t see the comparison, but who am I? Just a frustrated person who goes to Mass and prays. We sure could use someone like Martin L. King right about now.

Harry A. Johnson
Massapequa, L.I.

Loved the K. of C. Cartoon

Dear Editor: I just loved Bill Kresse’s cartoon in The Tablet (April 18). I felt that I connected to the caption which read, “Freddy, I know you’re excited about meeting him. But I really think he’s too busy to attend our next 4th degree.”

To begin with, my husband is named Freddy and is a member of the John Barry Fourth Degree Assembly #712. I am quite proud of his membership in the Knights of Columbus and especially the Fourth Degree which is the patriotic degree.

I would like to praise Bill Kresse’s cartoon again, for it showed a man’s dedication in the Fourth Degree and wanting our Holy Father to come to a meeting.

Eva P. Bedell
Bellerose

Boyhood Memories of Classmate

Dear Editor: Thank you for the obituary (April 25) about Msgr. Thomas Groenwold. While brief and belated, it was most important that it appear in the Brooklyn diocesan newsweekly not only because of Msgr. Groenwold’s roots but also because of his extraordinary contribution to the priestly life of the two Long Island dioceses through his work with the Immaculate Conception Seminary Priests’ Alumni Association.

I, myself, was fortunate enough to have known Tom all through Brooklyn Prep and remember well the merciless teasing he took in his very first semester when word quickly spread that he was the younger brother of the freshman Latin teacher. Little did he or I know at the time that the kid being picked on in freshman year would later become the outstanding teacher at the Long Island equivalent of Brooklyn Prep, Chaminade H.S.

Tom and I were “friends” at Brooklyn Prep but not close enough to tell each other that we both felt called to priesthood at the time. It was our parents who found out from each other the good news on graduation day: “David,” my father asked, “did you know who’s going to Cathedral College with you — Tom Groenwold?”

Years later, we both left different major seminaries around the same time. While we didn’t talk about it much, the impact of our mothers’ health on us physically and emotionally had much to do with the departures.

Tom began teaching at Christ the King R.H.S. and I am sure that his own fulfillment in Catholic school teaching had much to do with my own eventual entry into that field.

Tom proved himself in a very quiet unassuming way to be a quintessential combination of competence and compassion as a teacher and as a priest. Interestingly enough, his delayed “re-vocation” 20 years later was of course not that at all. His vocation to priesthood was simply a continuation of his early seminary vocation. At the peak of his teaching career at Chaminade, Tom left the world of education but priesthood was never a break from that world but rather a deeper plunging into it.

He found the right fit at St. Catherine of Siena in Franklin Square where his combination of spiritual depth, personal warmth, educational breadth, and administrative expertise were deeply appreciated by a very sophisticated faith community.

In this era of delayed vocations, much I believe can be learned from the life of Msgr. Thomas Groenwold who was able to use all the talents he earned in the world of education to help him become the wonderful priest and pastor/administrator that he was.

David Powell
Glendale

Loved Our Easter Cover

Dear Editor: On a recent trip to Ireland, I visited the beautiful St. Mary Cathedral in Killarney. I had the privilege of viewing the stained glass windows and particularly was moved by the Resurrection window, which graced the Easter issue of The Tablet.

Contrary to the comments of a Tablet letter writer, I found the depiction of the Resurrected Lord to be a gentle and compassionate image.

Thank you for this beautiful Easter cover.

Blessings and congratulations on the occasion of The Tablet’s 100th Anniversary.

Margaret Vincent
Brooklyn

Innocence of Childhood?

Dear Editor: Whatever happened to the innocence of childhood? Television, movies, and songs are corrupting America’s youth, and turning the culture into a cesspool that glorifies the demonic.

What happened to the days when parents could punish their children in a physical way? If Britney Spears were disciplined properly when she was younger, she would not be getting 24-hour coverage of her messed up life in the media.

For those who think I am being an alarmist, take a walk into some of the city’s schools. Many of the kids are “unteachable” because they imitate what they see on television.

Say what you want about the 1950s, but back then, students wore jackets and ties to class, and there was prayer in the schools. Today, there is no prayer in the schools, and the kids are uncontrollable! Satan and his minions must be ecstatic about what is happening in America.

Barack Obama and other liberals can slam people who cling to their religion, but, when I drive by an abortion clinic, I don’t see Obama, Hillary, or Teddy Kennedy standing outside. I see Catholic priests and nuns standing outside these “death centers” in the freezing cold, or the stifling hot weather. These men and women are heroes, and deserve much praise!

Michael Mullaney
Bayside

Hit Them in Pocketbooks

Dear Editor: The first thing I did when I got up on Friday morning was to pick up the phone and called Time Warner Cable and cancelled my HBO.I hope there are some other people out there who are just as disgusted and offended by Bill Maher and the cable company that airs him.

Can you imagine if he had said those things about Mohammed or the Muslim religion? There would have been rioting in the streets and threats against his life. He knows that Catholics and Christians in general are civilized and he would not be in danger so he can spew his vile vitriol against the pope and our Church without fear.

Is there anyone out there that will join me in letting the cable companies know that we have had enough and show them in their pocketbooks!!!!!

 Anne Butcher
Queens