Opinion – Page 55 – Madison Catholic Herald

Ever since I was a child, reading has been one of my favorite things to do.

Perhaps I was fortunate that my parents didn’t buy a television until I was in the fifth grade. We spent our free time playing games of all kinds and doing a lot of reading.
In the summers, we visited the public library every week. I must have read almost every book in the library. I loved books of all kinds!

That love of reading continues to this day. I read several books every week, usually taking time to read during lunch and in the evening after my work is done. Now I’m able to access books through a Kindle, although I still like holding a “real” book in my hands.

Reading is good for health

Besides being something that’s fun to do, I’ve recently learned that reading is actually good for your health. How about that! Something that’s enjoyable and healthy, too!

On August 20, 2015February 15, 2022

Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Learn lessons from history

We’ve all heard the saying that if we don’t learn lessons from history, we are in danger of repeating it.

This is especially true for the bad things we’ve experienced. And it seems especially true about our history of violence and war.

This year in August the world marked the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. The United States dropped bombs on these cities during World War II.

On August 6, 2015February 15, 2022

Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Abolish the death penalty

When I hear about someone being murdered, I say a prayer for the victim — and for the perpetrator.

Someone might question my praying for someone who has committed a crime. However, there are many circumstances that lead to that act of violence against another person.

We don’t know everything involved in that person’s life. Sometimes there may have been a lifetime of abuse he or she endured. There may have been mental illness leading to that act of violence.

Although we may be tempted to call only for justice for the victim — an “eye for an eye” — we also have to consider the possibility of forgiveness and healing for the murderer.

On July 23, 2015

Colleen Sonderberg

Expose horrors of selling aborted baby organs

To the editor:

On July 14, a shocking video came out exposing Planned Parenthood in the selling of baby organs for profit. Planned Parenthood Federation Senior Director of Medical Services Dr. Deborah Nucatola talked about the business of selling baby human organs to two undercover actors from the Center For Medical Progress posing as buyers.

She told of instructing abortionists to deliver live, intact, late term babies breech so organs (heads, livers, lungs, and hearts) are not damaged and can be sold (usually, aborted babies are ripped apart in pieces while still alive and inside the womb). This requires killing live babies even after they are born — when it is illegal to kill babies.

On July 23, 2015

Fr. Donald Lange

Improve social, physical environment, says pope

To the editor:

I enjoyed the July 2 Catholic Herald articles about Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.

Since becoming pope, Francis has continued the concern for the environment that St. Francis of Assisi, St. John Paul II, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI shared.

He has connected the physical environment crisis with the social environment crisis. Improving the physical environment begins by improving the social environment.

On July 23, 2015February 15, 2022

Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Enough is enough!

Abortion has been legal in the United States since 1973, but that doesn’t mean most Americans approve of abortion.

According to a national Marist University survey released this year, the vast majority of Americans are very uncomfortable with abortion. Eighty-four percent said that laws should protect both the well-being of a woman and the life of the unborn child. The poll revealed that a majority of Americans say abortion is morally wrong (60 percent).

Want abortion restrictions

The survey also found support for abortion restrictions among both “pro-life” and “pro-choice” supporters, according to an article on www.lifenews.com

On July 16, 2015February 15, 2022

Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Pope Francis inspires us to care for prisoners

Since he has been our Holy Father, Pope Francis has been spending time in prisons.

Not only does he visit prisoners in Rome, but he also puts visits to prisons on his itinerary for trips outside of Rome. When he comes to the United States in September, he will stop at a prison in Philadelphia.

When he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires, he made a point of spending time with prisoners. Even as pope, he continues to make a phone call every other Saturday to inmates he used to visit in Buenos Aires.

On July 2, 2015

Laura Green

Pope ties ecological justice to social justice

To the editor:

In reading through Pope Francis’ most recent encyclical, he reminds us that by hurting God’s creation, we are also hurting ourselves. We are causing pain to the poor and most vulnerable among us. We are damaging all life on this planet, including our own.

I was struck by the ways Pope Francis ties ecological justice to social justice, urging us “to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” These cries are inextricably linked, though some try to frame them in opposition to one another.

On July 2, 2015

Trudi Jenny

Will we answer pope’s call to action?

To the editor:

I would like to express my gratitude to Pope Francis for writing his encyclical, Laudato Si’. He inspires us all to act on our calling to care for the gifts of God’s creation.

In 2001, the U.S. Catholic bishops said, “global climate change is not about . . . partisan advantage or interest group pressures. It is about the future of God’s creation and the one human family. . . ” Pope Francis’ encyclical endorses this and moves the climate change conversation beyond politics to the moral realm where it belongs.

On July 2, 2015February 15, 2022

Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Let’s respond to Pope Francis’ challenge!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I’m hoping this is true, because instead of writing a long “Editor’s View” this week, I’m publishing a picture. I hope it tells the story better than many words!

It was perhaps providential that I paid a visit to Niagara Falls close to the time when Pope Francis issued his encyclical, Laudato Si’: on Care for Our Common Home.