Catholic Doctrine

Pope John Paul's scrutiny of possible departures from Catholic traditional belief and practice by American Catholics has some of the incongruity of applying Newton's laws of motion to high-energy physics (Part I, March 9-12). Catholics don't think much about church doctrines these days except when they bear on sensitive areas like sexuality, divorce and remarriage, birth control and even abortion. In those areas, however, they frequently look for guidance elsewhere than to Rome. What the Catholic Church really needs to address is not so much the attitudes of bishops and laity towards its doctrinal tradition, but the content and relevancy of the tradition itself.

Few people might be surprised that most Quakers believe that there are times when it is morally justifiable to break the law, but a Catholic priest told an interfaith panel Thursday night that many Catholics do not know that Catholic doctrine also approves of law-breaking under some conditions.

Re "'Loyalty Oath' Divides Catholic Theologians," July 15: As a Catholic and former student of professor John Connolly's at Loyola Marymount University, I applaud his courage in publicly opposing the Vatican's loyalty oath. Picture for a moment the quality of professor-led exchanges among students in my science, English and philosophy classes, where all legitimate theories were discussed in detail. Can you imagine a university theology class so anemic it never rises above grade-school catechism?

A group of Orange County parishioners and parents angered that a gay couple have been allowed to enroll their two boys in a Roman Catholic diocese school have appealed to Bishop Tod D. Brown, requesting that he clarify the diocese's stance on homosexuality and domestic partnership. In a letter sent Thursday, Michael J.

Pope John Paul II celebrated the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace on Thursday and proclaimed a special year honoring the Virgin Mary to be observed by Catholics all over the world. The pontiff, leading prayers for suffering people worldwide, also appealed to kidnapers to free their victims and allow the captives to return to their families. John Paul, dressed in glittering gold vestments, celebrated a solemn high Mass in St.

If Father John-Paul Hopping (Letters, Feb. 20) prepares his homilies and teaches doctrine with the same muddle-headed logic and faulty theology evidenced in his letter, the bishop should remove him for incompetence. His espousal of the National Rifle Assn.'s familiar canard--"Guns don't kill; people do," may qualify him for the post of chaplain of that noxious organization rather than associate pastor of a Roman Catholic church. His letter asserts that, unless we first reform all criminals, nothing will be accomplished by banning guns, because the urepentant criminals will continue to kill people with "metal rods" and knives!

Although its population never exceeded 5,000, the Jewish community of Venice achieved an importance far greater than these numbers would suggest. It was Venice, after all, that created the first ghetto in 1516 when it designated a specific district for the Jews in a neighborhood known as the "foundry" or, in Venetian dialect, getto or ghetto.

President Bush could hardly have picked a better private liberal arts college to find a welcoming audience for a commencement address than St. Vincent, a Catholic school run by a loyal former White House aide in a conservative region. Yet consider what has taken place here since Bush was invited for today's speech: Students vigorously debated the invitation at a town-hall meeting last month. A former St.

In the first such statement from a high-ranking American Roman Catholic prelate, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said this past week that NATO bombing of Serbia and Kosovo qualifies as a "just war." Mahony noted that the bombing began only after extensive diplomatic efforts had failed to bring an end to the killing and persecution by Serbs of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. "There were incredible negotiations and efforts to halt this. All the time Albanian Kosovan people were suffering greatly.

Parishioners at Our Lady of the Snows reacted with sadness and pride Tuesday to the announcement that their bishop, the Most Rev. Norman F. McFarland, will be leaving the Reno-Las Vegas Diocese to head the Diocese of Orange. Although priests began discussing the appointment at midday Masses on Monday, and the change had been reported by the local news media, Msgr. Leo McFadden's remarks after the 8 a.m. Mass on Tuesday were the first that some regular worshipers heard of the move.