A Catholic voice

Editor:

Father Robert Gregorio in the Feb. 11 (“More outbreaks of gun violence are sure to come”) and many past issues of the Star Herald gives us the gift of a truly Catholic voice in our cultural battles over public policy: issues which are inevitably controversial, since they involve fervently held concepts about the proper role of government in those of our activities which affect the common good. About such issues, as it is rightly said, persons of good will can disagree, and it is to everyone’s advantage that we learn to do so with civility, mutual respect and sincere effort to find common ground wherever possible.

Having said this, it happens to be true that, on the delicate issues which Father Gregorio addresses, there is a considerable and growing body of Catholic teaching, including eloquent exhortations by recent popes, statements by national conferences of bishops, and profound study and exegesis of those parts of our Scriptures, for example passages of Isaiah, Matthew, Luke and James, which relate directly to the values of our common life and the institutions by which we realize them.

It is to Father Gregorio’s credit that he consistently draws from these sources, reminds us of them, and always strives to align his thought to their spirit and content. Conversely, it is sometimes disheartening to see his critics dismiss these sources and his reasonings, while drawing their counterarguments from other sources, with viewpoints resembling those of the multimillionaire pundits of our conservative talk shows — popular prophets of the well-to-do, whose spirit and message are so different from those of our popes, bishops, and those Scriptural passages which should be normative to us.

Michael Cashore

Audubon