Following are NCR reader responses to recent news articles, opinion columns and theological essays with letters that have been edited for length and clarity.
Guadalupe and politics
I want to thank Mr. Castro Padilla for his article, "Trump campaign's co-opting of Guadalupe disregards sacred values she embodies" (ncronline.org, Oct. 29, 2024). It made me feel like part of the Catholic community again. I am among the Catholics who feel disenfranchised by our Mother Church, offended and disillusioned by the hypocrisy and lack of Christian integrity of many leaders of our Church including bishops, priests, religious, and laity.
I feel disgusted with their silence or open complicity with politicians that use religion as a political lever; who, in real life, ignore the needs of the poor, struggling, and marginalized; who dare to use the Bible, the sacred teachings of Jesus our Lord, and the image of His Mother for their political gain.
I also want to invite your Catholic readers to heed Pope Francis’ appeal to us, to look for the candidates that better portray the main commandment of Jesus: “Love one another as I have loved you”, and vote for the ones who look for real “respect for life” implying ALL life; all of God’s creation, not just the human unborn.
MARILU DUNCAN
Riverton, Wyoming
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Money in the Church
Concerning your October 31, 2024 story "Catholic dioceses, organizations bankroll state anti-abortion initiatives" (ncronline.org, Oct. 31, 2024): it is abundantly clear from the multitude of large donations from Catholic dioceses, parishes, organizations, and individuals, that the Catholic Church in the U.S. is more akin to the corrupt Avignon papacy and Italian Renaissance Church than Pope Francis' vision of a poor church for the poor.
As a result, the institutional reforms envisioned by Cardinals Cupich and McElroy in Christopher White's interview "Cardinals Cupich and McElroy call on US bishops' conference to be more synodal" will never be achieved because wealthy Catholics will always play an outsized role in the U.S. Church (ncronline.org, Oct. 27, 2024).
KEVIN BECK
Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Preeminence of abortion
How can thinking Catholics accept the highly compromised US Bishops' contention that abortion is the Church's "preeminent issue" (ncronline.org, Oct. 29, 2024)? Much more endangered is our attitude to clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and so on, especially when it comes to migrants. Our Catholic VP candidate brazenly admits he lied about the Haitian migrants merely to get media attention, thus whipping up anti-Christian "hate thy neighbor" sentiments!
As for abortion, surely those so virtuously opposing it must be doing so on the grounds that "Thou Shalt Not Kill." But then, how have our good bishops decided that killing the unborn is more sinful than killing those already born? Where were and are the voices of these bishops — and those who unthinkingly follow them — on George Floyd's murder by a policeman in the open street, on the dozens of school massacres over the years, or on the open genocide in Gaza?
The most blatant opposition to this commandment comes from the horrendous, gigantic US weapons-industry. At a domestic retail level, this industry promotes the proliferation of guns, lobbying even to remove commonsense safeguards. Have our bishops ever stood up to them? At a wholesale international level, this industry instigates Congress to promote and prolong war all around the globe. Has our Bishops' Conference EVER shown moral courage in opposing this elephant in the room? Instead, our morally compromised shepherds pick out an easy target — all women who undergo abortion, even if for compelling medical reasons.
KURIEN JOSEPH
Los Angeles, California
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Catholic voters ignore Palestine
My main takeaway from "Catholics, abortion and the election: It's complicated" and the rest of NCR's coverage of Catholic voters is that if I want to read about a religious demographic who will be influenced by the livestreamed US taxpayer-funded Palestinian genocide when they cast their votes next month, I'll have to go to a Muslim website because Catholic voters couldn't care less (ncronline.org, Oct. 29, 2024). Camillo Barone reported as much in his article "Pax Christi conference urges Catholic action amid polarization and global crises" (ncronline.org, Sept. 11, 2024):
In reflecting on the relationship between Catholics and Muslims in the U.S. amid the ongoing violence in Gaza and the West Bank, Duffner told NCR that there are frustrations among Muslim partners over what they see as Catholic apathy toward the issue.
Remember that? What "they see as Catholic apathy toward the issue", as if Muslims somehow got the wrong impression?
JEFFREY JONES
Hamburg, New York
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