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Letters

Holy Smoke

Every Roman Catholic in America should read Leslie Bennetts's article on John Cardinal O'Connor ["God's Man in New York," August]. Cardinal O'Connor has no right to tamper with the political processes in America. His threat to excommunicate Catholic politicians who waver on issues such as abortion proves that he is quite interested in gaining power outside his realm as a religious leader. I worry about the hardworking and intelligent politicians who may be scared away by these threats. If O'Connor truly believes that the decline in the American Catholic Church will eventually end with a resurgence toward the faith as a result of his efforts, then he better start trying to catch up with the rest of us.

TIMOTHY LAWSON Louisville, Kentucky

Leslie Bennetts's article is a concoction of lies, half-truths, and innuendos. She includes vitriolic statements from more than a dozen antagonists and quotes only three or four supporters of Cardinal O'Connor's. If that is not a case of outright bias, what is? She liberally quotes the editor of Outweek, a gay activist publication, and Dr. Stephen Joseph, the former New York City health commissioner, while berating the cardinal for doing his job of preaching what the church teaches. Dr. Joseph even refers to former mayor Edward Koch, who insisted that he stress abstinence in the city's campaign against AIDS. Why didn't she ask Koch about this and also about his relationship with the cardinal and the archdiocese in this regard? Koch is not exactly known as a timid bugler. Perhaps she could have contacted former admiral James Watkins, the current secretary of energy, with whom Cardinal O'Connor served on the Presidential Commission on AIDS during President Reagan's term in office. Since Bennetts states in her article that Cardinal O'Connor presides over an empire that brings in $1.5 billion per year (a mere figment of her imagination), maybe she could answer this very simple question: Is there any other nongovernmental agency that spends more on AIDS victims than the archdiocese of New York?

Perhaps Bennetts is not aware of the fact that whenever any Catholic institution is established within any diocese the local ordinary exercises certain authority. Besides, in the case of Covenant House, the directors requested the assistance of the archdiocese, which stepped in only when it was deemed necessary.

Although Joseph Zwilling, the director of communications for the archdiocese of New York, made it categorically clear to Bennetts that it was as a result of repeated requests from Mrs. Ivana Trump —who sought the cardinal's counsel— that the cardinal met with her, Bennetts persisted in stating otherwise.

Installing a better sound system is essential for any church, in order for the faithful to participate fully in the Holy Mass or for any other liturgical purpose. She refers to a phalanx of television crews and reporters that "crowds into the aisle to await the cardinal, jockeying for position." And even quotes a "veteran reporter," who states, "He's totally shameless. ... He doesn't even wait for questions—he just starts to talk." Cardinal O'Connor, I believe, doesn't have the power to force the media to listen to him. Why would this unidentified veteran reporter bother to be there jockeying for a position in the first place? Is the cardinal shameless? Or is this reporter foolish? As to what goes on the television news, it is not determined by the archdiocese.

The story abounds in statements from unidentified sources—"one veteran reporter,'' "one prominent monsignor,'' "another admiral.'' If Bennetts had problems finding some honest, identifiable people to talk to concerning the cardinal, why didn't she give us a call? She ought to recall an hour-long interview she had with me in 1985 when she was a reporter for The New York Times.

JOHN P. PUTHENVEETIL Executive Director, Greater New York Chapter, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights New York, New York

LESLIE BENNETTS REPLIES:

Although my story was carefully reported and factually accurate, Mr. Puthenveetil's letter is riddled with "lies, half-truths, and innuendos." I interviewed scores of priests and nuns; the quotes used were their words, not mine, and the balance of negative to positive reflects the institutional turmoil my reporting revealed, whether Catholic officials want to deal with it or not. Some sources asked for anonymity because of the church's increasingly punitive attitude toward dissent, but that doesn't negate the validity of their views as individual opinions. For the record: l did not say the archdiocese "brings in $1.5 billion a year." That figure was the operating budget, as given to me by the chancellor of the archdiocese. Nor did / state that Cardinal O'Connor sought out Ivana Trump; / merely said he went to counsel her and somehow turned up in the tabloids. It's a good thing Mr. Puthenveetil isn't a reporter. He wouldn't last a week.

As a twenty-six-year-old Catholic, I'm tired of reporters' seemingly reflexive recourse to embarrassing old quotemongers like Father Richard McBrien and Father Andrew Greeley whenever things Catholic are at issue. Father Greeley laments Cardinal O'Connor's lack of "complexity.. .nuance, and... sensitivity" and then, in his next breath, dishes out a catty caricature of the cardinal devoid of complexity, nuance, or sensitivity. The inimitable Father McBrien spews slogans about progress, new ideas, innovation, and Galileo (his simplistic grasp of that story would make a sixth-grader blush) to support his rather desperate assertion that "history" is on his side. Well, we shall see, but the hysterical tenor of his remarks suggests a growing sense that history has already passed him by. He wants to turn back the clock to 1970, when he was in the vanguard of change in the church. My guess is that the "history" which preoccupies Father McBrien will show the "reactionary" John Paul II to be a towering genius of epochal importance. Having already received his reward of "fame" here and now, Father McBrien will be fortunate to make the footnotes.

JOHN WAUCK Princeton, New Jersey

Both France and Italy, which are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic countries, allow legal abortion. In addition, the Netherlands and West Germany, which are respectively 36 percent and around 40 percent Catholic, also allow legal abortion. In none of these countries has the national Catholic Church excommunicated or threatened to excommunicate Catholic public officials who are supportive of abortion rights. Catholics in the United States should ask Cardinal O'Connor and other bishops how the socalled universal church can condone such a double standard!

JORDAN CAROL Woodside, California

In her references to the abortion issue, Leslie Bennetts uses slanted references to support an obvious position. Instead of referring to those who believe in protecting the unborn's right to life as prolifers, she calls them anti-abortionists. On the flip side, she refers to the proabortion position as abortion rights. She quotes a New York Daily News survey stating that 62 percent of Catholics approve of abortion on demand. She does not cite polls showing a different view, which are readily available from the National Right to Life Committee.

MICHAEL GIFFORD Mansfield, Massachusetts

With his splendid medieval dress and his uncompromising view of women, gays, and AIDS, John Cardinal O'Connor possesses one of the finest minds of the twelfth century.

MARSHAL ALAN PHILLIPS Los Angeles, California

Hurrah for God's man! It sounds as if Cardinal O'Connor is doing his job— that is, teaching God's law, not appeasing the multitudes who disagree. As a single woman in her mid-forties, I do not feel angry, alienated, or disgusted by the church. We need more Cardinal O'Connors in our society.

SUSAN JASKEVICH Jacksonville, Florida

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