‘Dolorous Episode’

There is no need for Robert Scheer “to feel sorrow and pity for the Catholic Church” (“Flicking Fallen Angels Off the Head of a Pin,” Commentary, June 18).

The scandal notwithstanding, the Catholic Church is alive and well in this country. By the latest count, the offending priests are some 250--on the average, five per state and fewer than two per each of the 194 dioceses, and just over half of 1% (0.54%) of some 46,000 priests. As to the bishops involved, their generous resignations would put an immediate end to this dolorous episode in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States.

The Rev. Alfredo Becerra

Los Angeles