It’s now known that atom-bombing the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 was totally unnecessary. Japan was essentially defeated prior to the bombings and had been trying to surrender for months. Most American military leaders opposed using atom bombs but were overruled by politicians wanting to show the power of this new weapon to the Soviet Union.

In a Sept. 8 letter to  The Catholic Register, Walter Klaassen writes that in the Nagasaki attack “the Roman Catholic cathedral spires were the landmark where the bomb was to be dropped” and “that the bombing destroyed the Catholic community.” Nagasaki was known as Japan’s Vatican City, with about 50,000 Christians, mostly Catholics. 

Claudio Ceolin,

Toronto

Happy memories

Re: Memories of grandma and a healing heart (Dec. 1):

Leah Perrault’s article about her grandmother was both heart-warming and inspirational. 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone could have such memories of a relative or two? And wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be the kind of relative her grandmother was?

Wishing everyone happy and warm memories.

Claudine Goller,

Scarborough, Ont.

Election lamentations

The articles that appeared in The Catholic Register immediately following the federal election read as if they were excerpted from the Book of Lamentations expressing the community’s disappointment at the results. This is certainly a “sack cloth and ashes” moment for Canada’s Catholic community, which represents 35 per cent of the population.

To add to our disappointment was a recent news item that Andrew Scheer lost the election because of his Catholic faith. This doesn’t augur well for the future of the Catholic Church in Canada and we have a duty to examine why this falling away is occurring.

Our virulent secular culture is partially to blame but we should remember that the Liberal Party could have never won the election without garnering a huge slice of the Catholic vote. This is what needs careful analysis.

The problem as I see it is that the Catholic Church has very little meaning for the young generation immersed as they are in this secular culture. 

Christianity for them is all about guilt, sin, punishment and reparation which appears to be in direct conflict with today’s emphasis on human rights. The Church’s obsession with human sexuality is at the heart of this conflict.

Cardinal Thomas Collins made an inspiring speech at the annual Cardinal’s Dinner expressing the Church’s need for courage to face the wind of political change that confront us. I hope we heed his call.

J.E Sequeira,

Pointe Claire, Que.

Mailbag letdown

The Nov. 24 issue featured four letters. Two condemned the Toronto Catholic District School Board for its decision to include gender terms and “anti-Catholic” terminology, one was against Bob Brehl for comments regarding refusal of communion to Joe Biden, and the fourth criticized the Canadian Religious Conference’s stated priorities and rationale. 

After reading the letters, my immediate thought was, “Gee, I wish people would stop telling God what the rules are.”

Patrick Davis,

Calgary, Alta.