Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Washington

From the

Official News Magazine of the Diocese of Spokane

The Inland Register welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be no longer than 500 words. Letters must be signed, with address and phone number for contact, but names will be withheld upon request. Remember to be charitable.

Send letters to:
Inland Register
P.O. Box 48
Spokane, WA 99210-0048
E-mail: inlandregister@dioceseofspokane.org
Fax: (509) 358-7302

(From the Dec. 15, 2005 edition of the Inland Register)

Editor:

I read in the Spokesman-Review (Spokane’s daily newspaper) that there was a meeting at St. Aloysius (Parish, in Spokane) about the abuse scandals. Someone there said we have to punish the hierarchy by withholding contributions.

What nonsense! The hierarchy will continue to receive their salaries. They may feel disappointed, but materially they won’t be affected. It is our money and the Catholics sitting in the pews are the ones being punished. When our churches can’t go on functioning, when our schools have to close, when the humanitarian services provided by the church no longer exist, who is being punished and is hurting?

We need to get away from the “us” and “them” concept. It is all “us.” We’re in it together, bishops, priests and congregations.

We all feel bad about what happened to the young people abused. Many of us have suffered sexual abuse as children. No amount of money can ever erase those bad memories. Counseling may help, and it has been offered to (the victims), but the lawyers won’t get rich that way.

Dorothy E. Carter, Spokane