My Letter to the Pope

The following is a copy of the message I sent by e-mail to the Pope at his public e-mail address.

Your Holiness,

I am a citizen of the state of Arizona and a believing christian. I take great exception to the recent pronouncements of a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, posted at his blog http://cardinalrogermahonyblogsla.blogspot.com/ . His comments are not only ridiculous and hateful, but are in my view are thoroughly and utterly insulting to all Christians and his statements also bring shame on Christians on account of having been publicly posted by a high-official of the Church.

I ask that you clarify the Church's position on these pronouncements. To that end I pose these questions:

1. Does the church affirm the Cardinal Mahony's apparent contention that a free people have no moral right to democratically enact and subsequently enforce laws intended to defend themselves against acts of violence committed against them by outlaws who are also foreign nationals? Where in the scriptures will I find validation for this contention?

2. Is it the position of the Catholic church that the enforcement of democratically-enacted laws by a sovereign people is, as Cardinal Mahony maintains, morally or functionally equivalent to the establishment of a police state in the model of Nazi Germany or of the Soviet Union?

3. If these are not the positions of the church, in what way are Cardinal Mahony's public statements on this matter to be understood to have any basis in the scriptures?

4. What is your official opinion on the appropriateness of a Cardinal of the Catholic church characterizing a broad spectrum American citizens as Nazis? Would you not agree with me that there is no justification for throwing around the word "Nazi" so lightly? Is it a policy of the Catholic Church to brand those with whom it disagrees on matters of politic with the epithet "Nazi"?

5. Does the Church or the Cardinal maintain that murders committed by criminal gangs within the sovereign territory of the State of Arizona are morally justified? Does the Church or the Cardinal maintain that such murders must be tolerated by the lawful citizens of the State rather than prosecuted? If murder is insufficient justification for prosecution what act must a foreign national commit before the Catholic Church would allow the law-abiding citizens of Arizona the right to seek, apprehend, try and punish through the lawful authority of the State? Exactly which scriptural teaching would establish that moral principle?

6. Since the Cardinal feels justified in characterizing his fellow citizens of a democratic country with whom he disagrees as being the equivalent of Nazis and Bolsheviks, would I not be justified in asserting that Cardinal Mahony is himself an aspiring autocrat who would prefer for our state to be run by himself personally as our monarch, dictator-prophet and/or god-emperor? Where in the scriptures will I find justification for the imposition of rule by such an autocrat? Does the Catholic Church prefer autocracy to democracy?

7. How does a man whose supposed life's work is to spread the word of Jesus justify speaking of his fellow citizens in such derogatory terms as the Cardinal does? What is the scriptural justification for that behavior?

8. When a high official of the Catholic Church speaks in such a hateful way, he harms all Christians everywhere. Can we expect the you to denounce your subordinate's postings, or do you plan to affirm them by silence?

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,


Any errors are original. This is exactly as I sent it. Didn't spend a lot of time proofreading it.

If I don't receive a reply [don't really expect to] I believe I will write it out by hand and send it to him by conventional mail.