Culture of Life

I was completely appalled when I read Ms. Rosenwinkel’s recent letter (“Roe overturned, now what?” July 28) bashing “pro-lifers” with wild accusations that they don’t care about a whole slew of issues. I care about a host of social issues and work hard on changing them. However, I absolutely must put a priority on the issue of abortion. What I have seen and heard from women throughout my 32 years as a nurse at a pregnancy resource center breaks my heart. Abortion doesn’t liberate women or promote the common good. It ends the life of a baby that I clearly see while doing ultrasounds. It wounds ever so deeply both the mother and father in countless ways. The staggering number of abortions with their life altering consequences should make it a priority for all Christians. We can help create a Culture of Life by understanding and promoting God’s beautiful plan for our sexuality to our young people.

Mary Stolz
St. Peter, Forest Lake

Defending Pope Francis

I was attending Mass with friends at a different church. They had a substitute priest presiding. His homily centered on St. Paul telling St. Peter he had changed and that this was not right. This priest then went on to tell us our job is to do the same. Well, my thought is to let some of the U.S. bishops know that their job is to treat Pope Francis with more respect and reverence. Pope Francis hasn’t changed. He has always loved the poor and tried to help them. He was criticized for saying that laws should be established to allow same sex unions so these people could benefit from government programs. Nope, he won’t bless their civil marriage as it is not a sacramental marriage. This has been and still is his opinion. He feels God is the judge of everyone. I still like the Gospel where he says whoever is free of sin should cast the first stone upon the woman caught committing adultery. So, I guess my job according to this priest is to comment on priests and bishops who are in the news for speaking against Pope Francis. We all know he chose the name Francis as he feels called to rebuild God’s Church. Personally, I feel he is trying very hard and the bumps in the road are people under him who promised to obey and follow him.

Esther Lenartz
St. John Neumann, Eagan