Bernard Law

When I saw Cardinal Law on the front page I felt nauseated, to put it nicely (NCR, Jan. 25). How could you?

CATALINA ECHEVERRI

Midland, Mich.

Just who is it in the Italian culture that misunderstands what Mr. Allen refers to as the Anglo-Saxon concept of corporate liability? He does not say. But for whomever they are to put back onto the priests what Cardinal Law himself did and did not do suggests a problem with another culture, the one having to do with the hierarchy. Mr. Allen also reports that the cardinal struggled over whether to step down or not because of his concern "to do whatever was in the best interest of the church." Let me suggest that it was his distorted notion of what was good for the church in the first instance that caused untold additional pain and suffering, so why should that decision be left to him? Finally, Mr. Allen defends the cardinal's salary and living accommodations, including a number of Mexican nuns to take care of him. This may be ordinary for a cardinal but it is certainly not ordinary for the overwhelming majority of God's people and I wouldn't equate it with penance. Maybe Mr. Allen has been in Rome too long.

EDWARD J. ATKINSON JR.

Fort Myers, Fla.

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