L.A.’s Shepherd Loses His Staff

Re “All Alone at the Marble Altar,” by Steve Lopez, Nov. 1: Thank goodness for a voice of rationality and compassion!

During the Middle Ages, when the grand cathedrals of Europe were constructed with golden altars and stained-glass windows, the common people starved and died of terrible diseases in their hovels. Now we build a $189-million Rog Mahal while people lie homeless in the streets and others search for work.

Significantly, Lopez is able to say what we need to hear without being considered a heretic and burned at the stake.

Larry Kosberg

Los Angeles

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Recently I mailed a letter to Cardinal Roger Mahony, quoting Vatican II saying that “the sacred pastors ... should recognize and promote the dignity and responsibilities of the laity in the church.” The resignation of Mahony’s five top advisors, four religious and one lay person, is certainly representative of an archaic and potentially destructive management style.

In my view, the new cathedral is a magnificent and necessary structure, but for Mahony to have raised $189 million for its construction and then cut essential church ministries -- saving less than $5 million -- is reprehensible.

Ralph Sariego

Woodland Hills