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Letters to the Editor

An outdated assessment

Kenneth Lewis • Jun 15, 2026
The lavish praise of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin in Father Ron Rolheiser’s column in the June 12 issue, “Science and Christian faith: Friends not foes,” felt like a rehash of so many bad pieces written in the ’70s and ’80s. Rolheiser makes no reference to how Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) rehabilitated Teilhard’s reputation and how Pope Francis practically elevated him to Doctor of the Church status. If this were written today, it would have seized on those validations. The column’s opening line reads like a tired boomer Catholic stereotype, and is easily falsifiable: “During most of the 2,000 years that Christianity has existed, it has not been friends with science, and science has not been friends with it.” His presentation of Teilhard’s thought goes beyond what Ratzinger’s cautious, prudent rehabilitation would permit us to accept as Catholics. This is a delusional boomer tripe and confusing to readers. — Kenneth Lewis, San Diego

A unique vocation story

Marilyn Boussaid • Jun 01, 2026
Thank you for the beautiful story of “e.l.f. Cosmetics” founder Scott Borba’s journey to the Catholic priesthood on AngelusNews.com via EWTN News.  Nothing is more uplifting and inspiring than the testimony of someone who has been radically changed by surrendering to the Lord. We can all learn from these stories, or be reminded, that God’s plan for our lives is better than our own plan. We can also be amazed at the fascinating ways the Lord calls men to the priesthood, and what a wonderful gift the priesthood is. God bless all the generous men who have given up everything to follow Jesus. — Marilyn Boussaid, St. James Parish, Redondo Beach

Don’t forget Msgr. Barry

Msgr. David Sork • Jun 01, 2026
Your article about Congress left out a key figure in the growth of the Religious Education Congress: Msgr. John F. Barry, the director from 1973-1983. During his time, Congress experienced its greatest growth and the most changes. He offered the first workshops and liturgies in Spanish. He also introduced liturgies that represented various ethnic groups. The greatest changes in Congress occurred during his directorship. In 1983, he left the Office of Religious Education to become pastor of American Martyrs Church in Manhattan Beach, where he is still serving. — Msgr. David Sork, Long Beach

‘Just war’ and Iran

Steve Serra • May 18, 2026
In your timeline and its cited sources on the debate about the American/Israeli war against Iran (“Americans at odds,” May 1 issue of Angelus), Church officials offer generalities about peace and dialogue and assert the “thousand-year tradition” of warfare being moral only “in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed.” They make no specific application of the “just war” doctrine’s criteria (CCC 2309) to the governments’ asserted rationale. Is this ancient doctrine, so conceived, adequate for the nuclear age? The two allies seek primarily “to eliminate the imminent nuclear threat” of a terrorist regime bent on “death to America” and “death to Israel.” They seek also to stifle its long-range missile capabilities and its proxy terrorism and wars. These goals seem consistent with the Church’s “principle of non-proliferation of nuclear arms” and its absolute “condemnation of terrorism.” In a Vatican II-era moral theology manual (“The Law of Christ”), Father Bernard Häring said: “Every offensive war in the strict sense of that term must be characterized as unlawful and immoral. However, to anticipate an unjust attack of a hostile power which has been certainly agreed upon, prepared, and organized, is not aggressive war, for the hostile purpose and plan is thwarted by a preventive but clearly defensive act.” Thus, the Church has contemplated the legitimacy of pre-emptive self-defense.  Please tell us: Can nations justly wage a last-practical-resort, preventive-defensive war to deny nuclear arms (for extortion or use) to a 47-year terrorist adversary that has been able to enrich uranium to near weapons-grade levels? — Steve Serra, Mission Viejo

A ‘soudarion’ expert responds

Gilbert Lavoie, M.D. • Mar 30, 2026
Bishop Slawomir Szkredka’s spiritual thoughts on the “soudarion” in the April 3 issue beautifully brought together the connection between Moses, Jesus, and the glory of God.  It is the bishop’s reference to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska’s painting that brought to mind a memory of a study regarding the crucifixion. First, “in Faustina’s image, the Risen Lord looks downward.” Then the words of Jesus follow, which she recorded: “My gaze from this image is like My gaze from the cross.” The image of the man of the Shroud of Turin which has been compared to the Divine Mercy shows the same tilt of the head. In doing a study of the effect on the body position in crucifixion I noted the following: “During the day, after a volunteer accumulated well over two hours of being on the cross, it was observed that he could bend his head forward only slightly due to the muscle tightness of his upper back and neck.” Like a bow of the head, the volunteer’s tilted position was what we see on the Divine Mercy and the Shroud image. Indeed, the glory of God is also reflected in the face, in the gaze, of the Shroud image of the Risen Lord, which is a work of God.  — Gilbert Lavoie, M.D., Author of “The Shroud of Jesus: And the Sign John Ingeniously Concealed”

Surprise from a Catholic scientist

Vivian Macallin • Mar 23, 2026
Kudos to Angelus and Mike Aquilina for the essay on Nicholas Steno that ran in the March 6 Angelus. In elementary school, high school, and college, I received varying but pretty consistent versions of the legend of Galileo Galilei: how the Catholic Church’s opposition to science and truth tried to suppress people like him, and tried to drag the world back into the Dark Ages. Stories like Steno’s challenge that narrative. He was a scientist who put everything in God’s hands … including his own achievements and intellect. And then amazing things happened, for which we should still be grateful today. The Church’s commitment to science and reason made so many of his achievements possible. I also really appreciated the part about Steno’s conversion from Lutheranism, and his background in mathematics. — Vivian Macalline, Los Angeles

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