Hierarchy

This is in response to Terrance A. Sweeney's article (Editorial Pages, Aug. 26), "Rome's Command Silences the Hierarchy." Sweeney has done the Roman Catholic Church, the priesthood, and the laity a big favor. He has documented in an unrivaled way the concern of the hierarchy over the lack of priests, and over many other issues. Deep malaise is shown in the Church over the draconic attempt to silence Sweeney, when he is exposing issues already well known, if not documented by a survey of the hierarchy.

MANILA - Ignoring the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' warning that "contraception corrupts the soul," the Philippine Congress on Monday passed a sweeping bill that would provide birth control to millions of poor women. The historic votes, with bishops and nuns sitting glumly in the gallery, came after the Catholic hierarchy and its political supporters had thwarted the legislation's passage for more than 14 years. The measure, which President Benigno Aquino III has pledged to sign, would override the de facto ban on contraceptives in Manila's public health clinics, make sex education mandatory in public schools and require hospitals to provide postabortion care, even though abortions will remain illegal.

The gist of Douglas Kmiec's Dec. 8 commentary, "It's a 'Get the Bishops' Law," is that the Catholic Church has now, in one fell swoop, become a victim. To the degree that the new law changes the statute of limitations for tortious civil conduct, it will not be held unconstitutional. As it relates to civil cases, the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws was designed to prevent a new definition of an act being used as a method of penalizing past behavior that was not otherwise tortious at the time.

Re "Catholic teen risks wrath of church," Dec. 4 What wonderful parents Shana and Doug Cihak must be to have raised such a thoughtful, intelligent son. Lennon Cihak took the time to carefully consider a proposed state constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage and reach a reasoned conclusion. Then he tried to influence voters. He is exactly the type of (future) voter we need in our democracy. Congratulations, Lennon! Welcome to the world of thinking adults. I look forward to seeing your name as a newly elected member of Congress in the future.

Three men alleging that a Lutheran pastor in Bell Gardens sexually abused them when they were children filed lawsuits Wednesday seeking compensation from the church. The complaints filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court for unspecified damages contend that church officials were aware of the pastor's pedophile behavior during his 18 years as head of the Lutheran Church of San Pedro y Pablo but sought to cover it up and silence the victims. The alleged abuser, Frank Brundige, turned himself in to authorities four years ago and was relieved of his ministry then, said Larry Stoterau, president of the Pacific Southwest District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

"Behind the Clergy's Closed Doors" (by David Gritten, March 19) glowingly featured the film "Priest," aptly described by Gritten as "an angry piece of invective directed against the Catholic church's hierarchy." I cannot comment on the film; but what the article alone demonstrated is that bigotry, intolerance and hatred are accepted and even applauded as long as they are aimed in the "right" direction: at the Catholic church. Director Antonia Bird and screenwriter Jimmy McGovern were almost beside themselves with self-righteousness, prejudice and hypocrisy.

What do you call an object that travels at 90 m.p.h., stays on a straight course without any movement and looks like a beachball to opposing National League batters? That's right--a Tom Niedenfuer fastball. When will the great minds of the Dodger hierarchy wake up before it's too late? LARRY N. CRAWFORD Coalinga

Re "Cardinal Mahony Kept Cleric's Abuse Secret for 16 Years," May 16: Father Michael Steven Baker went to Cardinal Roger Mahony in 1986 and confessed that he had been abusing minors. Msgr. Thomas Curry and the archdiocese's lawyer, John P. McNicholas, were present at the meeting the next day with Baker and Mahony. McNicholas asked, "Should we phone the police?" and Mahony responded, "No, no, no." Years later, both Mahony and Curry cannot recall the meeting with Baker. This must be the selective amnesia that the hierarchy of the church has been afflicted with lately.

I read with interest "Pope Warns Divorced Catholics Who Remarry Not to Take Communion" (April 18), on the Vatican's newest attempt to prevent "notorious" sinners from receiving the sacraments. I'd like to know when the Vatican intends to begin preventing notorious sinners from administering them and when the hierarchy will stop protecting the men who have done so much damage to so many children and families. The church hierarchy does a real disservice to its people and to those priests who keep their vows and serve faithfully and well when it stresses the need for moral perfection among its flock but then turns a blind eye to the evils within its own house.

Your paper was very quick to jump on the Al Campanis story. But you really dropped the ball by not telling the entire story of discrimination. Why don't you do a story on the absence of women and Latins in the hierarchy of the Dodgers? Do you suppose they also "lack the necessities?" MARY LEE RIVERS Pomona Van Nuys

In its landmark $660-million settlement with victims of sexual abuse five years ago, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to make public the confidential personnel records of all priests accused of molesting children. Victims said the release of the files would provide accountability for church leaders who let pedophiles remain in ministry, and law enforcement officials suggested that the documents could lead to criminal cases against those in charge. After years of delays and legal wrangling, the files are set to become public in coming weeks.

Valley native and four-time ice hockey Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero - one gold, two silvers, one bronze - was elected in 2010 by her fellow Olympians to the Athletes Commission of the International Olympic Committee. She's one of 12 athletes designated to speak for the wrestlers, runners, swimmers, skaters and all the other competitors in the hierarchy that governs the Games. Next week's London Olympics are her first as a member of the IOC, but she's already working far ahead: on the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, on the 2016 youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and on her MBA at Harvard, her alma mater.

If we've learned one thing from the housing downturn, it's that making the monthly mortgage payment is no longer a sacred concept in many American households. In recent years, when facing financial pressure, homeowners have been more likely to let the mortgage slide before they would fall behind on their credit card bills, researchers have found. But it turns out that the mortgage is even less sacred than we thought: When times are tight, consumers put paying for their cars first. Then the credit cards will be paid.

In charging the bishop of Kansas City with failure to report child abuse, prosecutors in Missouri have done something unprecedented in the long, troubling saga of the sexual abuse scandal in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church: hold a member of the church hierarchy criminally accountable for the alleged crimes of a priest. What remains to be seen is whether the indictment of Bishop Robert Finn will be an isolated event or will encourage prosecutors elsewhere to investigate allegations of coverup against members of the church leadership.

Three men alleging that a Lutheran pastor in Bell Gardens sexually abused them when they were children filed lawsuits Wednesday seeking compensation from the church. The complaints filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court for unspecified damages contend that church officials were aware of the pastor's pedophile behavior during his 18 years as head of the Lutheran Church of San Pedro y Pablo but sought to cover it up and silence the victims. The alleged abuser, Frank Brundige, turned himself in to authorities four years ago and was relieved of his ministry then, said Larry Stoterau, president of the Pacific Southwest District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

Crystal Cathedral Ministries' church and 40-acre campus will be sold to an Orange County real estate developer for $46 million but leased back by the church in hopes of recovering the landmark venue for its "Hour of Power" broadcasts, federal bankruptcy court filings disclosed Friday. Greenlaw Partners of Newport Beach will lease the cathedral and other core elements of the property to the church administration for $212,000 a month and guarantee exclusive lease rights for 15 years, according to the Chapter 11 exit plan filed in Santa Ana. The successors to founder Robert H. Schuller also retain the option of buying it back for $30 million within the next four years, although a major financial turnaround in the church's fortunes would be necessary to afford repurchase.

Make no mistake about it, a "yes" vote on Measure K is a vote of confidence for the L.A. Unified School District. As an inner-city teacher, I am acutely aware of our need for more schools as well as improving the ones we have. This, however, is secondary to our need for an administration and school board that value education. They need Measure K to pass so they can do business as usual, which puts them first and the students and teachers a distant second. If the hierarchy were reversed, there would not be such a desperate need for Measure K. Those in the current hierarchy allow the money to come in at the "top" and to be spent on their salaries, benefits, offices, amenities, consultants, political back-scratching, etc. By the time they take what they "need," it is no wonder that schools, students and teachers must do without.

Why does the archbishop defend his acceptance of a helicopter by telling us his priest advisers approved (Metro, March 1)? Those of us in the church know he surrounds himself with priests who have a vested interest in using the chopper one day. Perhaps if he asked working women, unemployed fathers, or the struggling cemetery workers, all members of his flock, he might have received different advice. This is another example of the church hierarchy preaching justice for the poor and living like the rich.

The church bells rang all afternoon. Archbishop Rafael Romo Muñoz was on his way to say a Mass marking the transfer of Father Raymundo Figueroa, the beloved priest at Santisimo Sacramento parish. Hundreds of men, women and children answered the call of the bells. But they weren't there to greet the bishop. They chained the gates and locked the doors. They hung signs. "This church belongs to the people; not the church," read one. When Romo stepped out of his SUV, 20 robed priests from the Tijuana diocese tried to form a procession, but burly men blocked their way. The archbishop tried to say a prayer, but the crowd drowned him out with bullhorns and bells.

In 2004, Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, proclaimed that after two years of relentless investigations into priests who sexually abused children and the bishops who protected them, "the scandal is history." For reporters weary of the scandal's emotionally draining subject matter, Gregory's sound bite invited a retreat.