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April 2001
LettersCWL, D&P are pro-life
I am dismayed and disheartened by the tone of your recent articles in regard to the Catholic Women's League, Development and Peace, and their connection with the World March of Women. I have participated in the Ottawa March for Life, am very active in my parish CWL, and have supported D&P financially for over 20 years. To in any way imply that these two organizations are pro-abortion or at least not solidly pro-life is not only absurd but hurtful.
The CWL is pro-life to its very core. Over the decades its members have raised awareness and thousands of dollars for pro-life causes, have initiated, funded and staffed many Birthright and Right-to-Life chapters, and have presented various pro-life resolutions to governments.
In my estimation, a pro-life person respects and honours human life from the moment of conception to natural death and all the years in between. There are families living in abject poverty with little hope for proper food, education or work, and women and children living in abusive situations. These are also legitimate and necessary concerns for pro-life people.
Since 1967, D&P, through Canadian Catholic donations, has sent $100 million to famine, flood, and war-ravaged areas, has purchased seeds, tools, and books, and has promoted self-help cooperatives. All these initiatives have brought hope and dignity to many forgotten people
The main focus of the March of Women, the eradication of poverty and violence against women, was what D&P and the CWL agreed with, not any pro-abortion stance. We, as pro-life people, should be using our energy to fight the real enemies of the culture of life - ignorance, apathy, poverty, and the "me-first" philosophy.
Rosemary Danayka
Waterloo, Ont.
Only CHP is pro-life
Re: "Abortion not the only issue" (Letters, January 2001): There are far too many so-called pro-lifers who, like some politicians, ministers, etc. claim: "I am myself pro-life, but..." The writer claims to support the pro-life movement and votes for a pro-choice candidate!
The "single-issue" idea came from the opposition. Abortion is THE issue, uppermost between many others. As long as we allow the cruel inhuman killing of unborn children, other problems will pile up. Pro-choice (pro-death) politicians keep their jobs by the likes of your letter writer; they just love such pro-lifers.
I am pro-life. Maybe I don't agree with all the principles of Christian Heritage Party, but I support them financially and propagate them. Only the CHP is really pro-life and pro-family. The Canadian Alliance is to me like the golden calf built by despairing Jews when tramping through the desert.
Some real pro-lifers banded together, and formed the Christian Heritage Party. I admire their courage, as they see so many so-called pro-lifers lost on the sidelines. Some candidates in other parties claim to be pro-life. What are they doing there? Don Quixotes fighting windmills. The CHP canŐt do miracles. I don't know how well prepared they are to govern, but, for sure, they cannot do worse than the others. They save lives, and have fine programs for families, the building blocks of any country.
To your letter writer, I say: Leave your pro-death candidate, and dare to join a pro-life party. Come to the front where it counts, for your sake, your family, your country. DonŐt keep watering the garden while your house is burning.
When my time comes, I will hear the voices of all those little ones: "Lord, have mercy on him. He fought for us!" Woe to those who will be met by an awful silence!
Joe Cober
Guelph, Ont.
Sacred art I
Re: "A Quiet Moment": It is upsetting to us as traditional Catholics who have been taught from the cradle the purity and chastity of both the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. The picture suggests an intimacy and conjugal relationship that is misleading to our Catholics who are weak in the faith, and our brothers and sisters in the Protestant faith. Our Blessed Mother would never have tempted Joseph in such a close embrace.
Mrs. Mary Evelyn Brennan
Crediton, Ont.
Sacred art II
I am an evangelical Christian, deferring to no one in my abhorrence of abortion, and an admirer of the Roman Catholic Church for its leadership in the fight to halt the destruction of the unborn, and, being a regular reader, I would like to comment on an astonishing letter in the February Interim, in which a reader objected to the picture, "A Quiet Moment."
She displayed total unawareness of Holy Scripture in her comments about the Holy Family. The Bible tells us, in Matthew 13:55, that Jesus had brothers, named as James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. The same verse refers to "all his sisters," implying that there were at least three, since otherwise it would have read "both his sisters". It is generally acknowledged that the first and last of the brothers named were the authors of the Bible's Epistles of James and Jude respectively, and that James was a leader of the post-Ascension church.
None of this should surprise us, since Matthew had earlier reported, in 1:25, that Joseph "had no union with her until after she gave birth to a son." If words have any meaning this clearly means that there was sexual union after the Son was born. This does not infer lack of purity, since the Bible elsewhere makes it absolutely clear that our sexuality and the concept of marriage are both gifts from our loving Father; sexual union within the confines of a loving marriage, therefore, cannot be impure, having been decreed from above.
All of which means that Mrs. Ferreira is free to admire the lovely artwork which accompanied the advertisement placed by St. Clement's Church.
Bob Parry
Kanata, Ont.
Sacred art III
This is my response to two letters published in the February Interim, regarding the picture of the Holy Family, "A Quiet Moment." While I personally would have chosen a more traditional illustration, the depiction showed Joseph as a protector of the two persons dearest to him.
In regard to the apparitions of Ven. Mary of Agreda, I cannot understand how a woman could live in a family home as Mary did, never looking at, nor speaking to, nor touching her husband or her son. That sounds very scrupulous. If that is what chastity is all about, then living as a hermit would be far more appropriate than living in a family home.
Rose Marie Gross
Kitchener, Ont.
Sacred art IV
I am bemused that people would complain about the beautiful picture that accompanied the St. Clement's Church ad. "A Quiet Moment" stands out precisely because it portrays the Holy Family not as three separate icons, but as a loving family unit. In fact, I believe this contemporary art helps reveal the bond of humanity we share with the Holy Family.
It is worth noting that Jesus was often criticized for behaving like a common man. The traditional religious caste felt it was inappropriate for Jesus to eat with gentiles and sinners. "How could a man who behaved so commonly be sacred?" they must have asked. Jesus shocked others by touching the untouchables of his day and was the constant object of touching by others.
No one sexualizes Jesus' ministry because he carried it out in an intimate way. To sexualize an image of Joseph cradling Mary with the baby in her arms, is, I submit, an exceptional and disturbing interpretation, worthy of reconsideration.
Ray Scott
Scarborough, Ont.
Sacred art V
Regarding the controversy over the picture of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, "A Quiet Moment," printed in The Interim, in the pro-life movement men and women from different walks of life join together in a common purpose. This requires grace of all, allowing differences to exist, not taking offense where no offense is given. It may help to realize that to some supporters much of what is in The Interim could be taken as offensive, but is not.
Cor Labots
Edmonton
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