The Catholic Register - Readers Speak Out

Written by Catholic Register Readers,

Inspired by Europe

How refreshing to see almost an entire page of The Catholic Register, week of Sept. 14, dedicated to poverty and homelessness in our midst. Kudos to the St. Vincent De Paul Society for lending its voice to some of the well-recognized solutions to end poverty and homelessness. The society suggests that “it is going to take some fundamental changes in our society and to change people’s attitudes and increase awareness of the issues.”

Since we are now in an election may we look forward to an editorial in The Register, prior to the election, detailing the solutions to such critical issues as: child poverty, homelessness, increasing minimum wages, the right to unionize, protection of the environment, guaranteed annual income, etc. Instead of extolling and pandering to the traditional do nothing political parties of the Catholic elite and their antiquated notion that the mysterious market place will solve the problems by means of an equally mysterious “trickle down” process, be inspired by the northwestern European governments who have had the courage to govern recognizing the needs of their people and families.

Should The Register have difficulty finding philosophical justification for the above, may I suggest a reading of the social justice encyclicals of our popes, ignored in North America.

Herman H. Evertman
Pickering, Ont.

Teach true presence

This is the year of the Eucharistic Congress. There was no greater event possible to celebrate our faith.

But was it a success? We will never know unless all our pastors start weekly instructions on the true presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament on the altar. The lack of reverence is abysmal and can only come from ignorance. There are those who receive the sacred host and don’t even know that it is to be consumed and is not a souvenir.

We ask our bishops to implement strict teaching on this most troubling problem within the Catholic Church.

Martina de Sousa
Mississauga, Ont.

See what’s there

It astounds me that in 2008 people still think the way they do about gender and the church. It boggles the mind that the issue of gender can stir such debate. It seems very anti-Jesus and extremely regressive.

Can you imagine if women weren’t able to sit on the bench, or if they weren’t allowed to be chiefs of medicine in hospitals? I know we just got the vote, less than a hundred years ago, but hey, we’re progressing and although it has been slow, we are almost there.

A calling is a calling. What would John the Baptist have done if he didn’t follow his vocation? Courage is needed. Fear in any society creates illness, neurosis, pain and isolation.

Maybe John Bentley Mays (“Enough already with women’s ordination ,” Aug. 31) should also tackle the issue of homosexuality in the church, or of leadership within the church in which homosexuals have a voice. Now there is an issue that could use some print.

As a life drawing instructor, I teach teenagers to draw what they see, not what they want to see. Sometimes what they see is to their taste and sometimes it isn’t, but the spirit of the model and the connection the student interprets is what creates a good drawing, not the parts on the body. The spirit and soul of the artist is what is transmitted, what is depicted is in the physical world. After a while, we don’t see one part of gender, we speak in terms of form, line sensitivity — the language of art. The language of the spirit can be transmitted by anyone

A little reflection on our immaturity would help us all. Maybe all of us with biases should start drawing from life.

Adele Clarke
Toronto, Ont.

This habit is wrong

What a great article Nicole Lau wrote in the Aug. 31 issue: The dangers of cohabitation . She clearly answered every argument in favour of this all-too-common habit.

I plan to make copies and give them to relatives and friends, and I suggest that the article might be good reading for all youth counsellors.

We are in great need of people who are willing to speak out about what is right and what is wrong, especially as today’s youth hear very little about chastity and morality.

Claudine Goller
Toronto, Ont.

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