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Denver Catholic Register

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Catholic Pastoral Center

July 17, 2002

 

Letters

• Abolish capital punishment

  Although a significant portion of Colorado citizens are opposed to the death penalty, the Legislature hasn't entertained a thorough debate in recent memory over whether Colorado should even have a death penalty. In light of the recent Supreme Court decision, it is now time to reopen the dialogue. We call for the Legislature to conduct full and fair hearings into the propriety of the death penalty in Colorado and to sincerely consider the abolition of the death penalty. Here is just a sampling of the issues to consider:

  •No study has ever demonstrated that capital punishment serves as a deterrent for others about to commit a heinous act such as taking a life.

  •History shows that the death penalty is disproportionately used against the poor and disadvantaged.

  •The death penalty has been proven to be administered in a manner which is not racially neutral.

  •Science is just beginning to have an impact in the area of capital punishment in the form of increasingly sophisticated DNA testing. Over 100 men and women on death row have been released in recent years due, in part, to new DNA evidence, which has exonerated them.

  •The cost to the state (meaning the individual taxpayer) is vastly greater than a sentence of life imprisonment and those costs are passed on in reduced programs in other worthy areas.

  •If a person is opposed to the death penalty they cannot sit on a jury and, thus, the voice of many conscientious people goes unheard. The Supreme Court recently decided that a panel of three judges cannot decide the fate of another person. This decision was based on constitutional right to a trial by a jury of your peers. Our position would be that 12 people can make a mistake as easily as three. An alternative answer, and the answer supported by a majority of Americans nationally, is to simply put a person convicted of the worst of all crimes in jail for life without parole. Colorado currently allows for such a sentence.

  American Civil Liberties Union

  American Friends Service Committee

  Amnesty International

  Archdiocese of Denver

  Coloradans Against the Death Penalty

  Colorado Criminal Defense Bar

  Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Committee

• Irreverent Mass behavior

  Irreverence in church is not limited to children's Masses. As a visitor to a mountain parish I was among those privileged to hear that "the celebrant of today's liturgy is Father ..., our lame-duck priest." The congregation rewarded this inappropriate introduction with hilarious laughter. That simple sentence not only set the tone for the entire Mass, but also demeaned and belittled this ordained minister of God's holy sacraments.

  I may be lacking a sense of humor at Mass, but I am not amused by the casualness with which many of today's Catholics approach the most sacred moments of worship. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not a time for entertaining the faithful, but a time to place us in the presence of the Son of God. Reverent behavior both before and during Mass helps us do this.

  Marie Laurall

  Steamboat Springs

• Catholics are forgetting the faith

  As a born Catholic — thanks to God —of many, many years, I cannot understand today what has happened to our Catholic Church, the true church of Jesus and his apostles. Why have many Catholics forgotten that to receive Jesus at holy Mass they must be in the state of grace? Where is confession today? Week after week, so many people baptized in the Catholic faith go to receive Jesus with gum and candy in their mouths and hands not folded but in their pockets or at their sides. How can some forget that they go to receive almighty God! Why do we see only a few praying the Stations of the Cross? It is not just for Easter. Mary continues to say, "Promote and pray the rosary." Only a few listen. No wonder, no wonder the Catholic Church has troubles within.

  Jack Higney

Fort Collins

• Mass participation good for children's faith

  Don Riemann's letter in the June 26 Register asked if it is necessary for children to learn the Catholic faith by standing and sitting around the altar, and by doing the readings and the prayers of the faithful. I am the mother of four children, 5 to 11 years. My oldest is an altar server and does readings during Mass. My second oldest assists with taking up the collection and bringing the offertory gifts. My two younger children accept Father's invitation to join him on the altar. I was raised Catholic by two faith-filled parents and attended Catholic schools grades one through 12. I knew my prayers and when to kneel, sit and stand, but it was more out of habit than reverence. After graduation I strayed from my Catholic faith.

  Because of my children I see God, my faith and my Church with a brand new sense of understanding and awe. Mass is to be a celebration of God and his wondrous works: What could be more wondrous than a child bringing God's word to us? Children should be respectful in church but where is it stated that respect equals silence? I strongly believe that participation enhances the individual's knowledge of their faith. This will give them the confidence of truly knowing and practicing their faith and of being able to share that faith with others from their heart. Do not discourage children's participation in Mass. What may be a distraction to you could be a chance for someone else to see God through the eyes of a child.

  Trish Snyder Craig

 

 

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