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Letters to the Editor

A blurrier line between pot and alcohol?

Paul C. Fox, M.D. • Mar 09, 2026
I agree with Patrick Brown in his Feb. 20 issue cover story that neither the Church nor society are ready for the coming marijuana boom. Commercial interests who stand to gain from the boom sell the myth that marijuana is a safer alternative to alcohol. It is not, and we will witness the consequences.  But I take issue with Brown’s attempt to draw a sharp line between alcohol and marijuana. I have seen the devastating effect that addiction and abuse of both alcohol and marijuana have on individuals and their families. The public health and safety costs of alcohol abuse far outweigh those of marijuana abuse (this may change as pot use becomes more prevalent). Both are mind-altering substances. Both can be used recreationally in social settings, in moderate doses, in a way that can enhance enjoyment and relaxation, without losing one’s “grasp on reality and rationality.” Both present the risk of crossing the threshold between relaxation and impairment. But I fully agree that the Church, as Brown said, can “speak to the ennui young people feel” and help all people make decisions about alcohol, marijuana, and much else.  — Paul C. Fox, M.D., Latrobe, Pennsylvania

Aware of an anchoress

Marisela Camberos • Feb 23, 2026
Even after purchasing greeting cards with St. Julian of Norwich quotes annually at RECongress, I only learned last year that she was an anchoress. Thank you, Angelus, for including Shemaiah Gonzalez’s article, “A Window into the Eternal” (Feb. 20 issue). I had recently purchased Cadwallader’s “The Anchoress” to read during Lent, only because I wasn’t aware of other books on the subject. Keep up the great work.  — Marisela Camberos, Gardena

Two Catholic journalists who made a difference

Jesse Atienza • Feb 09, 2026
How appropriate that, as reflected in your tributes in the Feb. 6 issue, Catholic writers Russell Shaw and John L. Allen Jr. both passed from this life just days apart.  Both men were so important for modern American Catholicism, influencing how the Church was perceived and understood ... especially by Catholics themselves!  For example, Allen’s book about Opus Dei helped me reconsider some of the prejudices I had about the movement. Later, Shaw’s “Eight Popes and the Crisis of Modernity” actually helped me understand the pontificate of Pope Francis (even though he wasn’t one of the eight popes discussed).  Kudos to Angelus for featuring both of these giants in your pages over the years. Not many publications can boast that. — Jesse Atienza, Miami, Florida

Comforted by Leo’s spiritual role model

Marilyn Boussaid • Jan 26, 2026
Despite its somewhat cannibalistic-sounding title, the article “The cook who prepared a pope” in the Jan. 9 issue on our Holy Father’s attraction to Brother Lawrence’s spirituality, as expressed in “The Practice of the Presence of God,” was more like comfort food. The article endeared Pope Leo XIV to me even more than before. It’s somehow very comforting to imagine our pope having interior conversations with the Lord throughout the day, in the manner of Brother Lawrence.  As a Jewish convert to the Catholic faith, this spirituality seems to me to have its roots in Judaism. I’m sure that Jesus is entirely comfortable with this kind of relationship, listening to us as we commune with him like Tevye chatting with God in “Fiddler on the Roof.”  — Marilyn Boussaid, St. James Church, Redondo Beach

My experience fighting assisted suicide

Keith Rothfus • Jan 12, 2026
The interview on assisted suicide in the Dec. 26 issue was a timely commentary on a series of new laws that give in to the belief that there are lives not worth living.  How many times do we hear news that a friend or an acquaintance died by suicide? Our hearts break. “Oh no,” we whisper, “if only I had known how bad it was, could I have made a difference?” Would we feel any better if that person had died by suicide with the help of a physician? In my final term in Congress, I and several other members tried to encourage the House to use its legal authority to block Washington, D.C.’s assisted suicide law that became effective in 2017. However, the institutional pro-life lobby was not asking Congress to act. There were concerns that if the vote did not pass, it would set a bad precedent.   The lesson learned from this experience: Legislators need to hear the voices of those opposed to assisted suicide legislation. Americans have the freedom to speak and petition their government.   — Keith Rothfus, Sewickley, Pennsylvania, former U.S. Representative, Pennsylvania’s Twelfth Congressional District, 2013-2019

Naming assisted suicide for what it is

Jacqueline M. Nolan-Haley • Jan 12, 2026
The interview on the future of assisted suicide (“Devalued to Death,” Dec. 26 issue) asks whether it is inevitable that assisted suicide will become common and legal in this country. The answer may depend upon the success of marketing techniques that separate the idea of assisted suicide from the idea of killing.  What the California Medicine Journal wrote about abortion in 1970 is relevant today with suicide: “Since the old ethic has not yet been fully displaced it has been necessary to separate the idea of abortion from the idea of killing which continues to be socially abhorrent…” Today, the new ethic associates assisted suicide with autonomy and compassionate care. Like abortion, it is put forth under “socially impeccable auspices.” But the back story needs to be told — the targeting of people with disabilities, the elderly, and inconvenient others. Assisted suicide needs to be recognized for what it is — a threat to vulnerable populations, an affront to human dignity, and a violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. — Jacqueline M. Nolan-Haley, New York

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