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Letters to the Editor for Monday, December 1, 2008

Many thanks to you for your unbiased and truth based news reporting.  Reading your articles has been such an educational and eye-opening experience.  May God bless all of you working for this pro-life news service.  You are the Drudge Report of the pro-life network.
 
Mary Twomey - Mount Laurel, New Jersey, USA
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RE: The Broken Windows in the US Catholic Church
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/081128a.html

I believe that part of the reason for the Catholic Church‘s failure to lead is a direct result of the bad publicity the church has received in recent years by the revelation of all the charges of molestation and homosexuality that have permeated mainstream media.

It would appear that in an effort to downplay all the bad press, the church has chosen to keep a non-confrontational, politically correct profile. This in turn has resulted in congregations getting mixed messages as to leadership responsibility, which has allowed the infection of a greater level of secularity within the clergy, and the church at large. Free will is rewriting the Judeo-Christian bible, with the clergy green-lighting the changes.

I applaud your willingness to speak of the truth, and offering solutions, identifying not only the broken windows, but also the wicked shards of glass that are cutting the church, and our nation, to the core.
 
Pablo Sanchez, Director, ProLifeJoes - Tucson, Arizona
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BRAVO!!

Lise Anglin - Ontario, Canada
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I am overwhelmed as usual by the insight, the guts, the absolute "rightness" of all that you say about our Church and what has gone wrong (Broken Windows).

Tracey Kelly - Connecticut, USA
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Just had to let you know how great I thought your commentary was and how wise I thought the “Broken Windows Strategy” was.  The whole thing is rather "common-sensical", isn’t it – especially when you’ve had the experience of bringing up (or trying to!!!) children.  If children get away with small acts of disrespect towards parents or little acts of uncharity towards their siblings, these inevitably end up escalating into greater and greater acts of disrespect and uncharity.  I think the same thing holds true in “ big people” society – we must demand respect in small matters or we can’t hope to have it in big matters.  The whole liturgical thing has demonstrated that quite well – priests who ignored or defied the Church’s rubrical laws soon fell easily enough into doubting Her doctrines......

These are pretty dark times – and perhaps getting darker – but there is hope in places we never hoped to find it (at least in our lifetime).  It is wonderful to hear some of the bishops speaking out clearly and to see young priests and seminarians who are truly faithful.  Please God, we will all be given the courage to do the same.   Thanks for the work you do – it is invaluable. 

Anne M. - Nebraska, USA
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Hmmmmm, I have been Catholic all my life and never have I seen the Church criticized like this in a an anti-abortion group.  Why would you spend so much time and effort dealing with the Catholic Church like this on your website.  I have found the Catholic Church to be my stronghold, especially on the abortion issue.  Please unsubscribe me so you don't put your opinionated ideas on an anti-abortion site.

Pauline A - Michigan, USA
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Upon my return to the Catholic Church, and having read all of the Vatican II documents, I have observed anything but what was written in those pages. However, to return to the broken window strategy, I am quite concerned about our clergy not living as Christ did, especially since they are His representatives here on earth.

For example, in North America, I have seen more obesity in the priesthood (and religious) than what I remembered as a child.

I was also quite surprised to see the difference between how priests live here in comparison to England and Africa. In England, a priest friend of mine has an old TV and other than his merger salary, lives off divine providence as did Jesus and I now find myself doing.

I think that the taking of the Vow of Poverty is greatly needed for our priests (all Bishops included) in our culture today. I have also witnessed women young and old alike dressed for the bedroom and not Church, putting the moves on the priest. If our priests do not need the vow of Chastity as part of their armour then, I do not know who does.

Priests should live lives of poverty, chastity and obedience. I am in full belief that if we do not repair this window, the rest of the building will continue to be in disrepair.

Della O’Malley - St. Louis, Montana, USA
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I value your call on shepherds to reassert their teaching mandate, for the demise of moral education in schools is more of a caved-in roof and crumbled walls than a broken window.

Doctoring select texts in endless debate with publishers will be like straining at gnats, when the teacher certification in Catholic schools for instance needs wholesale deliverence. The failure of such education (thanks for instance in Ontario to the Ontario English Teachers Association.) is why we have Liberal MPs and an Ontario premier who applaud the muzzling of doctors' consciences: a direct result of bishops surrendering their teaching role to those posing as sophisticated Christian pedagogues. It will take more than a generation for us in prayer with our our shepherds to repair the inestimable damage wreaked by these minions of secular humanism. To that end I invite readers to join me in daily prayer fro our shepherds, aiming to mark it with a pilgrimage to St. Joseph's Oratory March 19 and or May 1.

Gary D. Knight - Ottawa, Canada
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Excellent 4-part series--should email the series to Priests for Life, CatholicVote, Catholics United for Life, Catholic League, HeadlineBistro (Knights of Columbus daily newsletter) and finally to EWTN as we need to mobilize and connect our efforts with others. 
 
"What is urgently called for is a general mobilization of consciences and a united ethical effort to activate a great campaign in support of life.  All together, we must build a culture of life." Gospel of Life #95
 
Marilyn Kinzel - New Hampshire, USA
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