Letters to the Editor

Thank you a thousand times for publishing Archbishop Gomez’s column on immigration in the June 27 issue.  Every word of this article is perfect. He has covered everything, beautifully expressing the teachings of the Catholic Church. There is nothing more I can add except to say how grateful I am to God for Archbishop Gomez and my Catholic faith. And for Angelus — don’t let me forget that! — Marilyn Boussaid, St. James Church, Redondo Beach

Thank you to the Angelus team for your sensitive coverage of our recent immigration turmoil here in Los Angeles. The way in which ICE has been conducting immigration raids is truly stomach-turning. It is clear that the goal is to create fear, divide our communities, and pander to political extremists. I know that immigration is not always a black-and-white issue, and that there are legal problems that need to be addressed. But I was consoled to read your reporting in the June 27 issue on the steps priests are taking to make Catholics feel safer and advocate for immigrants. I don’t hear about that anywhere else. — Mike Muñoz, Van Nuys

Joseph Joyce is a good movie reviewer. But his review of “The Ritual” in the June 13 issue was next-level good. He takes what seems to be a tired genre and writes about it in a fresh way, attending both to this particular movie as well as its greater meaning. Well done!

One of the cheapest forms of praise is the denigration of one person to elevate another. John Allen’s article in the June 13 issue contrasting the current pope with his immediate predecessor is one such example. Allen, typically unbiased, imputes gravity to a series of stylistic, unimportant differences between the two popes during the initial weeks of their papacies. Instead, should we not celebrate the unique gifts of two remarkable pontiffs?

Mary FioRito’s article “The Story of a Suburb” in the May 29 issue raises some questions. What does “good times” mean? Does it take a special background or community to raise a pope? I lived on the south side of Chicago in the mid-’50s when many young married couples bought affordable houses in a new community, Dolton. None of my friends worked in “factories.” Why did the author have to dig up all the current dirt on the scandals of the community? This article doesn't belong with all the great articles on our new pope in the May 30 issue of Angelus.

I understand the call in Heather King’s May 30 column “The Undeserving Poor” to push past discomfort and see Christ in the suffering of the poor. But in Los Angeles, poverty is not an abstraction. It’s the family whose home was destroyed in wildfires, or can no longer afford rent. But it’s also the man screaming threats wielding a tree branch outside of Mass. It’s the woman spitting on cars and defecating in the church parking lot. The article asks us to imagine the face of Christ, but how do I do that when I feel my own safety, and the safety of my children, is at risk? My corporal works of mercy end where my corpus is in danger. The Bible doesn’t tell us what to do with an angry meth addict. While the Church does heroic work, the spiritual tools we’re given often don’t equip us to face the volatile mix of violence, madness, and addiction. Meditating on Christ’s passion doesn’t prepare you for someone whose mind has been so ravaged you fear they no longer recognize your humanity. I don’t want to harden my heart. But the enemy has found a terrifying weapon in modern addiction, one that turns compassion into potential collateral damage, and I don’t know how to solve that.