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Letters to the Editor

On moral steadiness 

Kim Hoelting • Oct 06, 2025
Father Ronald Rolheiser’s, OMI, father, (Oct. 3, Angelus) knew the correct political answer all along. It doesn’t take a Gallup poll to know that moral steadiness is what Jesus taught us long ago. Think back, the disciples were arguing along the way to Capernaum, “which one of them is the greatest,” and it looks like we are still arguing about that very same topic today. Each of us can find a way to model moral steadiness, just like Father Rolheiser’s dad did.  — Kim Hoelting, Salina, Kansas

Pray, but end gun culture

Gregory Orfalea • Oct 06, 2025
Although one certainly shares the grief and prayers with the families of the two students who were shot and killed at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis (“A Time to Cling to Jesus,” Sept. 19 issue), and although one understands the sense of helplessness and the force of prayer in the midst of the unspeakable (“Minneapolis and the Mystery of Suffering”), isn’t there something missing? It’s the guns, children. And we are hopeless children until we realize that. Pope Leo did. Just after the shootings, he spoke to the crowd at St. Peter’s Square and shifted to English from Italian when he decried “the countless children killed and injured worldwide, please God stop this pandemic of arms large and small.” In 1996, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops spoke in favor of the assault weapons ban that held for 10 years and took the number of mass shootings way down. It’s part of our sickness that the ban was lifted in 2006, and the killing went back up again.  You will never legislate anger out of human existence. Neither will you pry away mental illness. But you can legislate against the hardware of death. You pray, of course, but the Gospels tell us you must act, too.  — Gregory Orfalea, Santa Barbara

In search of a saint movie that triumphs

Alvaro Mendez • Sep 22, 2025
Kudos to Amy Welborn for one heck of an article in the Sept. 17 issue of Angelus. Her review of “Triumph of the Heart,” the new film about St. Maximillian Kolbe, is honest, generous, and critical all at the same time. For me, her analysis of the movie (which I haven’t seen yet) addresses the deeper problem with saint films over the years: that most of them are lackluster, B-movie quality creations that don’t have the same kind of production value as the standard Hollywood movie. It seems that films like “A Hidden Life,” “Triumph of the Heart,” and the success of “The Chosen” suggest this genre is headed in the right direction. But for my part, I’m still here waiting for the perfect saint movie. — Alvaro Mendez, San Diego

A granddaughter’s gratitude

Margo Precht Speciale • Sep 22, 2025
I wanted to thank Robert Brennan for his thoughtful review Sept. 10 of the Netflix documentary “Sunday Best” on AngelusNews.com. I am the producer of “Sunday Best” and Ed Sullivan’s granddaughter.  You captured not only the impact my grandfather had on American culture but also the decency and values that guided him throughout his life. His Irish Catholic heritage was such a steady force for him, and it means a lot to see that recognized in your piece. — Margo Precht Speciale

A refreshing discussion of adultery

Thomas Rocco • Sep 08, 2025
I appreciated Msgr. Richard Antall’s essay “The Church of Second Chances” for its unusually honest and thoughtful approach to marital infidelity, especially coming from a priest! I haven’t read Anne Tyler’s “Three Days in June,” so I can’t offer an opinion on the book that Father read. But I know firsthand the wounds that the evil of infidelity causes in marriages. And that damage only gets worse when you can’t acknowledge or talk about it as a real problem, especially in church.  Human weakness is an opportunity to experience God’s grace and forgiveness, as the adulterous woman in the Gospels discovered. Human effort always falls short. Thank you, Msgr. Antall, for not falling back on the standard moralistic approach to sin. With Christ, healing and conversion are indeed possible.  — Thomas Rocco, Yorba Linda

Don’t fall for the Ozzy media narrative

Ryan Anderson • Aug 25, 2025
In Robert Brennan’s Aug. 14 column on AngelusNews.com, “Praise Ozzy Osbourne, but not the Satanic showmanship,” I can understand as an outsider and nonfan, the heavy tones of the music itself, the artwork, some song titles, the band name, and most especially the portrayal of Ozzy by the media as a satanist desiring the ruin of souls had captured your attention and possibly awe. From the outside looking in it can appear to be mischievous evil being done in the name of Satan. However, I’d like to take an opportunity to invite you to explore the truth and explore facts, both of which the Church deeply asks us to do. Were you aware that all members of the band grew up Catholic and that Ozzy’s father gave them all cross necklaces before they departed for America so that God would keep them safe? Were you aware that Ozzy was in recovery from alcoholism and wrote a multitude of songs about his addiction, the ills, and destruction it can cause and in warning against it? Please see “Demon Alcohol,” “Road To Nowhere,” and “Suicide Solution.” I believe you’ll find not a man participating in the occult, but a deeply introspective man struggling with faith, life, recovery and a desire to seek good. So all this is to say please take time to at least dig into the words of the songs, dig into the real story of the music and the humans behind it, take time to seek truth, not just write articles to dissuade about a subject you admit you aren’t an expert in. I’ll listen to Black Sabbath, say my prayers, participate in my faith and recovery, and know in good conscience I have not only not done anything wrong, but I’ll have found more peace and joy in my life, two things God desperately desires we seek.  — Ryan Anderson

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