Angelus News | March 24, 2023 | Vol. 8 No. 6

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IN OTHER WORDS...
Letters to the Editor
The Bishop O’Connell that I knew
My heart is still in mourning for Bishop Dave. I knew him when I was
the director of Faith Formation at St. Andrew Church in Pasadena, and
my family has many wonderful memories of him.
What I will always remember is Bishop Dave’s great respect for all those who
serve in our ministries. He always made a point to thank us, and cheer us up with
a joke when we were weary or discouraged. He inspired our discipline, gave us
hope, and appreciated the work we do.
I will also miss seeing Bishop Dave smiling and spending time with our children,
especially teens. He always reminded them of the immense love that Mary has
for them, and how much Jesus wants to be present in their lives. He would share
personal stories of overcoming challenges, and how, through prayer, one can truly
experience the healing power and peace of Jesus.
We still pray the prayer he taught us: “Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I adore you. Jesus,
come into my heart,” on our way to school every morning!
— Isabel Spillane, Eagle, ID
Tackling Cardinal McElroy’s ‘radical’ proposal
Charles Camosy’s “Deciding Who’s In” in the March 10 issue seems to imply
that Cardinal Robert McElroy’s recent statements on “radical inclusion” extends a
welcome to some people seen as engaging in sinful behavior.
McElroy’s point, however, is to propose a reconsideration of how we think of sinful
behavior, perhaps especially of the belief that every sexual sin is a mortal sin.
As a moral theologian, Camosy should engage with the three main elements of
Catholic teaching that ground McElroy’s argument: (1) everyone is wounded by
sin and in need of God’s grace and healing; (2) priority of conscience; and (3) the
Eucharist as a profound grace in our conversion to discipleship.
Unlike Camosy’s proposed “via media,” which does not really resolve the pastoral/doctrinal
controversy, McElroy looks for resolution in the guidance of the Holy
Spirit in the coming sessions of the synodal process.
— Robert V. Caro, SJ, Loyola Marymount University
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Carrying Bishop
Dave with them
Mourners at Bishop David O’Connell’s March
3 funeral wore pins with his episcopal motto
“Jesus, I trust in you” at the March 3 funeral
Mass. | JAY L. CLENDENIN/LA TIMES
View more photos
from this gallery at
AngelusNews.com/photos-videos
Do you have photos or a story from your parish that you’d
like to share? Please send to editorial @angelusnews.com.
“We imagine anyone
who needs help to thrive
as a ‘burden’ — both on
themselves and on the
culture at large.”
~ Charles Camosy, in a Feb. 28 Religion News Service
column, “Is the consumerist West headed toward
killing those with dementia?”
“I kind of emptied myself
into it. I have this fulfillment
and joy now that it is
finished.”
~ Sister Chilee Okoko, a San Bernardino nun, to the
Inland Catholic Byte on the recent completion of a
hospital in her hometown in Nigeria.
“I don’t think we can afford
to be that ideologically fussy
at a time when the gospel
message has to get out.”
~ Bishop Robert Barron, in a March 3 Washington
Post article, “Catholic leaders turn to YouTube and
podcasts to reach new followers. Will it work?”
“We’ve lost respect for
unpaid caregiving and
we no longer treat it as a
profession.”
~ Emily Perea, a stay-at-home wife and mother, in a
March 7 Today.com article on the growing ‘tradwife’
movement.
“God certainly does not
‘want’ such things, but
he ‘allows’ them to make
man understand where his
rejection leads.”
~ Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the
Papal Household, on the sins described by St. Paul in
his Letter to the Romans in a Lenten homily March 11.
March 24, 2023 • ANGELUS • 7