The Catholic Register - Readers Speak Out

Written by Catholic Register Readers,

Column distorted truth

I am writing to you to express my profound regret regarding an opinion in the Feb. 17 column by John Bentley Mays entitled, “Follow Christ’s sacrificial example.” The author of this article posed a question: “How could nominally Christian nations, such as Germany and Romania and Poland, have willingly colluded with the Nazis in their attempted destruction of the Jewish people?”

This opinion illustrates a sorrowful misunderstanding of our recent, tragic history and sadly distorts the truth of cruel terror unleashed by Nazi Germany on occupied Poland, which cost the lives of one-sixth of the Polish population — half of them of Jewish origin. This misunderstanding is sadly disturbing to Poles — both those living in Poland and those who live in numerous countries in the world including a large diaspora in Canada.

Poland was the first country that faced the military aggression of Nazi Germany and fought back, defending its territory and continuing to battle on western and eastern fronts, as well as in the underground (including the special organization Zegota, created exclusively to rescue Jews) throughout the whole Second World War. Moreover, while Romania, mentioned in the article, was at that time Germany’s ally, Poland never established or practised any institutional form of collaboration with Nazi Germany.

During the war, many Poles risked their lives in order to shelter and rescue the Jewish people living in Nazi-occupied Poland. Once the Nazis discovered that help of that kind was rendered, not only the heroic Poles but also their whole families faced the death penalty. Numerous historical examples, e.g. the life and work of the Nobel Prize nominee Irena Sendler, some of them commemorated in the Yad Vashem Museum (The Righteous among the Nations), proved the heroism of many Poles in their attempts to save the lives of the Jewish people.

Moreover, it should be noted that some Catholic monasteries in Poland served as shelters for Jewish children and the church itself had been the anchor of spiritual support for all the Nazi victims and those who bravely opposed the German aggressor. The tragic fact that some Poles betrayed their co-citizens of Jewish origin can’t be used as a base to express general opinion. This is precisely how harmful stereotypes are created.

I sincerely hope that by careful studies of our recent tragic history, frequent exchange of opinions and fraternal respect, we will be able to avoid in the future similar sad misunderstandings.

Piotr Ogrodzinski
Ambassador of Poland in Canada
Ottawa, Ont.

Lord’s Prayer revisited

I, too, oppose putting the kibosh on the Lord’s Prayer (“Lord’s Prayer least of Ontario’s worries,” March 2). Yet, isn’t it ironic, in our age of orthodox secularism, that members of the Ontario legislature will probably continue the traditional bowing toward the speaker’s chair before leaving the House, without realizing to whom and where it all started — Westminister Abbey.

G.K. Chesterton said it best: “These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own” (Illustrated London News, Aug. 11, 1928).

Ricardo Di Cecca
Burlington, Ont.

Kneeling isn’t biblical

In his letter (Catholic Register, March 2) regarding kneeling when one communicates at Mass, Paul Kokoski avers that “kneeling comes from the Bible.” I suspect he takes a translation of the Bible, an English one, to be absolutely reliable. One must never do this. Translators interpret, and at times, do so badly. Mr. Kokoski suggests the Greek verb proskynein means “to kneel.” It simply does not. The word occurs in the New Testament 60, not 59, times and is a general term for worship.

It originally meant to throw a kiss to a god; kynein means to kiss. The Latin Vulgate always translates proskynein with adorare (adore, worship) or with procidere (fall on one’s face or prostrate).

For Romans, a sign of respect was to kneel. The matrix of the Bible is ancient Middle-Eastern cultures. In those traditions, to revere a god or a high personage one prostrated the self.

Most likely, kneeling comes into the Western church from pagan Roman culture. Kneeling to God or when one receives Holy Communion does not come from the Bible.

Fr. Frank Carpinelli
Pastor, St. Leo’s parish
Professor
St. Augustine’s Seminary
Toronto, Ont.

It’s independent

We have received several queries concerning the statement in your March 2 article, “Movement seeks to make Our Lady co-redemptrix,” that the movement for a fifth Marian doctrine, “gets a lot of its theological muscle from the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, which has provided staff and resources to Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici.”

While theology Prof. Mark Miravalle is an outstanding member of our faculty, the apostolate that he founded, Vox Populi, receives no funding or support from Franciscan University. Vox Populi is an independent, non-profit organization with no ties, formal or informal, with Franciscan University.

Tom Sofio
Associate Director of
Public Relations
Franciscan University of
Steubenville
Steubenville, Ohio

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