LETTERS

National Catholic Reporter, April 13, 2001

Reports of abuse

* It is unfortunately that the report in NCR on the rape of nuns by priests (NCR, March 16) was not first published in The Tablet of London, where we could have anticipated a more nuanced overview. In order to stress the importance of this report, the same information is repeatedly restated, mostly in a vague context.

The headline proclaims that priests rape young nuns in Africa and "elsewhere," implying perhaps the United States and Europe, but never affirming it, Shades of the tabloids!

This is yet another instance of how mandatory celibacy produces tragic results. If only better reporting and editing skills had been employed.

(Fr.) WILLIAM G. POOLE Ravenna, Ky.

* In the 1990s, we learned of the institutional church's protection of pedophiles. Now, we learn of another cover-up of priests' sex crimes -- this time the abuse of vulnerable women. When will we all scream, "Enough"? Evil flourishes when good people do nothing.

SALLY BUTLER Brooklyn, N. Y.

* This article points to one issue: sin. Sin is in this world. It is sin in the northern part of the globe all the way to the southern part of the globe, across to the eastern part of the globe and all the way across to the western section, too!

We are all sinners. Sin does not discriminate. It is the thief in one of his many disguises. When one member of the body of Christ suffers, we all suffer. It just goes to support how important it is to live the gospel and to "love God above all and to love your neighbor as yourself."

JOYCE COLELLA Brooklyn, N.Y.

* Another skeleton comes out of the Roman Catholic family closet. Thanks to John Allen and Pamela Schaeffer for writing and the courageous women religious for bringing this into the light. It is a shocking and tragic part of our church but certainly not surprising. Once again we are eyeball to eyeball with the reality that patriarchy -- the male-dominated church -- is incredibly sick and spiraling out of control.

The conversion that is right on our doorstep -- the call to respect all people, including women -- is knocking on the door of our male leadership. It is clear. Do we have the courage to continue to call the hierarchy to accountability? Do they have the courage to listen, repent and reform? It's another Lenten season and another call for our church's conversion. Thanks again for bringing the darkness into the light. It is our only hope.

SHARON PIKULA Rio Rancho, N.M.

Straight spouses

* Good news about Peter Luizzi's Los Angeles Ministry with Gay and Lesbian Catholics (NCR, Feb. 16). Even better news is that he plans to address the needs of Catholic spouses who come out as gay or lesbian and their straight husbands' or wives. Mixed-orientation couples are often forgotten souls in a parish, even as they struggle with the dilemma of preserving their faith in church teachings about homosexuality or following Christ's message of love and truth.

In my role as director of the Straight Spouse Network and in my research since 1986, I have heard thousands of spouses voice their torment in facing such questions. Many have been Catholic, and most reported that their churches ignored them when they sought healing and guidance. A number left the church.

All told, an estimated 2 million married persons have or may come out as gay or lesbian. Their spouses struggle with similar questions of sexuality, marriage commitment, integrity and belief system. Because outsiders do not acknowledge their concerns, however, straight spouses usually cope in isolation. To fill this gap, the Straight Spouse Network provides personal support for spouses. We would welcome helping any parish that might wish to launch a support group (www.ssnetwk.org).

AMITY PIERCE BUXTON El Cerrito, Calif.

Women in ministry

* I was moved by Jeannette Batz's article "How women cope with the church's ban on women priests" in the March 9 issue. I'm an ordained United Methodist, and I was raised Roman Catholic. I happen to belong to a lectionary study group loosely organized by geography rather than denominational affiliation. There are currently three Unitarian-Universalists, one American Baptist and three Methodists. Two of the Unitarian-Universalist pastors and two of the Methodist pastors are women who were raised in the Roman Catholic tradition. I suspect that no denomination keeps the sort of record you would need to examine this question more thoroughly, but the impression from the field, as it were, is that there are a great many former Catholics in the ordained Protestant ministry.

(The Rev.) BARBARA KSZYSTYNIAK West Boylston, Mass.

* I am a 24-year-old Catholic woman. During my second year in college I decided to study theology and philosophy, for the purposes of understanding my faith better, so that I could in turn love God as fully as I have been made to love him. After reading Jeannette Batz's article, I feel baffled at the ignorance of some people who have been blessed with great gifts of knowledge far beyond my capacities. What seems so clear to me seems to be a grand problem for others.