Don’t Throw the Church Out With the Sins

Once again, Steve Lopez jumped on his Times-sanctioned soapbox to launch another hateful diatribe against the Catholic Church (“Simple Suggestions for Mahony,” March 13).

It cannot be understated that the current crisis involving pedophile priests must be cleared up in an open, legal way by the church. However, to imply that the pope is party to the legalities of this situation--Lopez says, “It’s as if the pope himself wrote these laws”--is an outrageous statement to make.

Insults like these have no place in this problem. Yes, the church must rid the clergy of those found guilty of wrongdoing and help heal those hurt. However, this does not legitimize those who would use these tragic circumstances to heap hate and scorn on the religion of 1billion people.

Andrew Decker

Whittier

*

Oh, boy, another expose! It seems to come as a total surprise that priests, just like mothers, fathers, men, women and other mere mortals, are capable of age-old sex exploitation and that Catholic dioceses, like other institutions, are capable of cover-ups. I guess we’re all human, after all. Or are we?

A witch hunt accomplishes nothing but feeds an insatiable desire to expose the profane. For in our fervent desire to root out the “evil perpetrators” and expose them for public display, we seem to be forgetting that we too are mere mortals, that our own transgressions, past or present, are not what define us. And, there is more to each victim than this crime.

Those who are without sin, those who stand above humanity, let them cast the first stones. We are all mere mortals, not gods. But there is still more to all of us than this.

Glenn Haugen

Los Angeles