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Letters to the Editor

Of wars and men

Keith Jayawickrama • Jul 26, 2022
I found the July 1 issue cover article to have interesting and valid ideas, but a couple of wrong messages, too. I work at a large public university, and contrary to the article, do not see “typical college males” to be “paralyzed by insecurity and guilt.” Also, when did “harming the earth, and starting wars” become virtues to be recommended in a Catholic diocesan magazine? Every pope I have known has been a peacemaker trying to end wars, not start them. Claiming that to have happiness and energy men need to start wars and harm the earth, is completely against centuries of Catholic teaching (and basic logic).  — Keith Jayawickrama

Realizing the wreckage of porn 

Patrick Erlandson • Jul 26, 2022
As someone who works to engage men and specifically fathers in the prevention of human trafficking, I really appreciated the insights in Elise Ureneck’s July 1 cover article, “How to save men.”  I have been doing trainings on the link between pornography and trafficking for years now. The article references the 2,000 hours a year 7 million men spend on their screens, and too much of that is spent on porn, which is dismembering families and castrating faith at an alarming rate.  Men are losing their identity as God’s children, their moral authority, and their credibility in ways that are leaving children vulnerable to social media predators and traffickers.  — Patrick Erlandson, Rancho Palos Verdes 

Guy problems on campus

Lucia Morales • Jul 02, 2022
I appreciated the detailed treatment given by Elise Ureneck’s “Men in Question” cover story in the July 1 issue to the current crisis in manhood. Having recently graduated college, I noticed many of the same problems described in the article during my four years on campus. While my female circle of friends seemed focused and dedicated when it came to exploring career opportunities and looking for a future husband, the “guys” we encountered (most of them Catholic) seemed less interested and, as the article puts it, “distracted” by things like video games and sports. I think that there should be more research done on this phenomenon, especially on how it’s affecting young families. It’s important that we know the generation we are called to evangelize! — Lucia Morales, Santa Clarita

Two bishops with different approaches on abortion and Communion

John DeLaney • Jun 21, 2022
The June 17 issue of Angelus reported on Pope Francis’ nomination of San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego as a cardinal, and his belief that denying Communion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is “weaponizing” the holy Eucharist.  I strongly disagree with the cardinal-elect. What an offensive term to use in making a comparison with the Sacrament of Peace! I will continue to applaud Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco for showing the courage (rare, nowadays) to publicly take Speaker Pelosi to task for the sin of scandal, as Jesus did with the Pharisees. Bishops like cardinal-elect McElroy seem to want to downplay abortion, the No. 1 moral issue facing the Church in recent years. And we know our enemy in this is strong — witness the pro-choice beliefs of our “good Catholic” President Biden, and the threat of the governor of California, to make our state an abortion “haven” post Roe v. Wade. But we must not stand passively aside. Men like Archbishop Cordileone deserve our prayers and active support. — John DeLaney, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Downey

The Catholic press versus the ‘regime’

Teresa M. White • Jun 07, 2022
In his analysis of the state of Catholic journalism in the June 3 issue (“A question of distance?”), John Allen is absolutely correct in noting that similarly to St. Titus Brandsma during Nazism, “Catholic journalists face the challenge of resisting a different sort of ideological regime, one that not-so-subtly seeks to turn reporting into an extension of politics by other means.” I would add that this problem exists on both ends of the ideological spectrum in the Church today. Some conservative Catholic media outlets seem to be profiting from their constant criticisms of the Holy Father, including for his attempts to promote the liturgical renewal of the Second Vatican Council. Meanwhile, progressive Catholic media sources often push an agenda that downplays the importance of opposing sins like abortion, and appear to be campaigning for a reversal of the Church’s magisterial teaching on marriage. That said, I am grateful to Angelus for its faithful and respectful coverage of some of the most sensitive issues in the Church right now. — Teresa M. White, West LA

Heaven in Walt Disney Concert Hall

Gregory Orfalea • May 10, 2022
As someone who attended the LA Philharmonic’s recent performance of Mozart’s “Great Mass in C Minor” at the Disney Concert Hall, I found Stefano Rebeggiani’s review (“Music to move the soul,” April 22 issue) to be a proper and inspired response to voices and musicians who touched the heavens that night.  The “Kyrie” especially fascinated me. I once sang in Haydn’s Mass, and the “Kyrie” in it feels angry, even tortured. The first syllable is almost spat out: “Ku!” (ryie). With Mozart, the “Kyrie,” which was sung at the piece’s premiere in Salzburg by the composer’s new wife, Constanze, climbs ecstatically like a fountain. The soprano’s solo climbs, too, delicately and pure, so much so that the “mercy” seems to have wings, taking over the Lord himself. Then women in the choir enter, and then the men answer, as both sides are joined in a complicated and gorgeous interweaving until the two words, “Lord” and “Mercy,” elide: kyri-eh/eh-lison. In the ear they become one. When we hear the great plea of Mozart’s “Credo,” we feel inside how desperate we were the times we didn’t believe, how near we have come to losing it all, and how precious it is. And that is exactly why the “Sanctus” proclaimed with great voices of the giant choir that night is an utter, tears-inducing rescue — incomplete or not.  The unfinished Mass was dedicated to Mozart’s new wife, whose home in Vienna was called “God’s eye.” Perhaps Mozart knew marriage is holy, no matter how it progresses or ends. (Constanze died nine years after they were married, four of their six children gone as infants.) Incidentally, my own wedding day was Wolfgang and Constanze’s: Aug. 4. — Gregory Orfalea, Tarzana

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