Papal qualities
Re “What we need in a pope,” Opinion, March 3
Tby Roman Catholics collected and published by The Times on the hoped-for qualities of the next pope encompass a wide spectrum. But reading these short Op-Ed pieces, one cannot escape a certain irony. There are calls for “courage,” “humility,” “incisiveness,” “flexibility, “honesty” and “simplicity,” qualities that are tied to contradictory goals. It can only be concluded that the next pope would be a failure to some writers while a success to others.
It would be hypocritical for me to disavow my inclination to give the new pope advice on what he should be doing. But my better self tells me that the next Holy Father can do nothing other than listen to the quiet voice of his conscience and take “advice” only from the one he represents.
he several different opinions
While it was interesting to read various perspectives on what we need in a new pope, and despite the reality that technology today enables everyone to gain access to information, I have my doubts that any voices outside Rome will make a difference in how the cardinals vote.
Probably the most influential voices in their experience are from their advisors, attorneys and major donors.
What we need in a pope, as several writers point out, is someone who has the willingness and the capacity to listen to the needs of the church and the world, and to have the courage to initiate reform and renewal, as Pope John XXIII did in convening Vatican II. Lenore Navarro
Dowling
Los Angeles
Asking Catholics alone about the next pope is shortsighted. Through the ages, non-Catholics have suffered from that church’s acts and omissions. So here is a nonbeliever’s answer:
We need a pope who will recognize the church’s murderous wars, the Inquisition, science-bashing, blatant anti-Semitism, its AIDS death sentences given to countless African children through its latest papal non-contraception stance, and Pope Benedict XVI’s view that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.”
There is also the church’s time-tested sexism based on the silly tenet that Jesus named only males as his closest disciples (the logical extension being to confine the priesthood to Jewish males), its coverup of sexual abuse by priests and the blackballing of Catholic politicians who support women’s reproductive rights.
Any pope-elect who can’t tick off those failings and promise to work tirelessly for their redress won’t be worthy of the name.
Richard Craigo
Los Angeles
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Jack Kaczorowski, Los Angeles
Of the 11 Catholics who offered their opinions on picking the next pope, only one wrote about priest sex abuse as if it were a priority for the church. How is it that the protection of children is less important than religious energy and women in the clergy?
Something is out of order, and ignoring it will not make it go away.
Joyce Stacy
Long Beach
Thank you for presenting on last Sunday’s Op-Ed page a variety of perspectives regarding the departure of Pope Benedict XVI and the challenges facing his prospective successor.
Not being of the Catholic faith, I feel somewhat uncomfortable when other non-Catholics criticize the church and set forth prescriptions as to what the modern church and its leaders should do and how they should respond to the crucial issues confronting them.
Presenting a variety of intelligent yet differing opinions from practicing Catholics (with an array of professional and lay backgrounds) was most helpful in understanding the difficult challenges the church and Catholics are facing.
Stu Bernstein
Santa Monica
Arguing about Obamacare
Re “Stuck in a healthcare quagmire,” Opinion, March 5
Jonah Goldberg tells us that the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is projected to add $6.2 trillion to our deficit over 75 years. For this “fact,” he cites a January study by the Government Accountability Office.
Goldberg either failed to understand or misled readers on the point that the GAO report was a hypothetical study on what would happen to the deficit if “the fall 2010 assumed costcontainment mechanisms specified in [Obamacare] were phased out over time.” There are no plans to remove the cost-containment mechanisms, and citing the $6.2-trillion projection as a fact when it was based on a “what if ” scenario is misleading.
Unmentioned by Goldberg was an updated report by the Congressional Budget Office from July 2012, which considered what would happen if Obamacare were repealed. It found that the deficit would increase.
Rich Brock
Laguna Niguel
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Goldberg would have a better chance of accomplishing something from a discussion “about how we got stuck in the Obamacare quagmire” if that discussion took place between two sides: one for it, and another side that is not marooned inside a bubble that includes no knowledge that most of the civilized world has universal healthcare, and why.
Benni Korzen
Los Angeles
Where Detroit went wrong
Re “Motor City blues,” Opinion, March 5
Scott Martelle is wrong when he says the “problem in Detroit is not the people in charge.” In fact, that is exactly the problem.
As one who was born, went to college and then worked in Detroit, I can tell you the city’s key problem is not jobs, the auto industry, crime or “white flight.” Rather, these are symptoms of a citizenry that for two generations elected an uncaring, bellicose, antibusiness, foul-mouthed mayor (Coleman Young for five terms), a well-meaning but incompetent mayor (Dennis Archer) and perhaps the most crooked mayor in recent American history, Kwame Kilpatrick.
If my beloved hometown must serve as a cautionary tale, it is for us to look at our own elections and vote with our heads.
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Ted Raimi
Toluca Lake
Detroit was a wonderful place to grow up. We had no qualms about taking the streetcar to downtown.
Then came World War II and the influx of workers from other parts of the country to work in automobile factories that were converted to defense factories. After the war, they stayed and hoped to blend in to our neighborhoods.
Over the years, my hometown has become the epitome of urban decay. There is no tax base to rebuild Detroit. How sad to say, “God bless you Detroit, may you rest in peace.”
Donna Bassin
Westlake Village
Chavez’s gift
Re “Hugo Chavez’s legacy,” Editorial, March 7
The Times leaves out one of Hugo Chavez’s greatest achievements. When the late Venezuelan president took office 14 years ago, he enthusiastically continued his country’s costly El Sistema, which provides free musical instruments and instruction to all young students in Venezuela. No other country in the world does this.
Gustavo Dudamel, the young music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, was trained in El Sistema, just like all Venezuelan children who choose to enter the program. Los Angeles likely would never have heard of Dudamel were it not for Chavez’s continuation of El Sistema.
Last year, Dudamel conducted the L.A. Philharmonic in Venezuela in conjunction with the nation’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.
Yes, Chavez acted like a dictator, but give him credit for giving Venezuela’s children and thousands more around the world the gift of music.
Patrick James
Silver Lake