Letters to the Editor

Your article on St. Martin of Tours surviving the Getty fire was interesting. But the real miracle, and I mean miracle, was that neither Mount Saint Mary's University nor Carondelet Center burned. The fire came to the base of the buildings and stopped.

My most heartfelt and prayerful congratulations to our Archbishop José Gomez upon his election by his peers to become the President of the USCCB, an honor for him and the local church as well as the West Coast as well as Latino peoples especially those of Mexican descent. I was most pleased to recently concelebrate a beautiful outdoor Mass at Calvary Cemetery on November 2 that coincided with my mother's 50th Anniversary of her passing over from death to life. ¡Qué viva Monseñor Gomez!

The California legislature and governor have just ended the stature of limitations on old abuse cases. This action violates the cause of justice. In most cases the alleged perpetrator is dead. How is any defense possible? Though rarely reported in the secular press, priestly abuse is now virtually non-existent. And who has been forced to pay? Not the perpetrators of the crimes. "The Church", meaning innocent Catholics have footed the bill. While great evil has been done, I am suspicious when almost all who allege a crime are after the money. It is also interesting that our legislators are lawyers, and they never pass bills that hurt their potential income. When former Tonight show host Johnny Carson was asked what to call a group of whales, he said "pod". When asked what to call a group of lawyers, he replied "a Greed" of lawyers. Amen!

After reading about Gary Jansen's article about our Guardian Angels in the Sept. 10 issue of Angelus, I wrote this poem offering gratitude for all the great content Angelus provides to Catholics in L.A and around the world. Angels Among Us ANGELUS, Angels are among us delivering; A…Affirmation N… News G…God’s work E…Experience L…Love U…Unity S…Sympathy ANGELUS, Angels are among Us….

Thank you so much for Robert Brennan’s article looking back on the spiritual gifts given to the Brennan family by their parents, especially their father. As a young man nearing marriage and also struggling with my own retail business, this story hit home. He beautifully described the simple but powerful faith and traditions passed along from one generation to the next. It recalls my own upbringing. Sadly, I suspect far too few Catholics nowadays are blessed with such fine examples. We need more stories like this — inspiring, uplifting, and yes, emotional — I was crying.

I have just finished reading “California v. Common Sense” in the May 24th edition and feel an urgent need to convey my disgust at the article and the arguments against the church being legally required to report confessions of probable abuse. The article is insensitive, as well as a dismissive distortion of the facts of recent history. There certainly were plenty of confessions and the church did not police itself well. It did not stop child abuse from within its own ranks — not through confession, not through reassignment. Please do not ignore the lessons of history. The Church is better than this!