False labeling by Bruskewitz

* It would seem to be evidence of a poverty of thought when one of our bishops resorts to name-calling and false labeling in an attempt to silence members of his flock (NCR, Dec. 22). When Lincoln, Neb., Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz says his Call to Action members are "closely linked to and cooperate with abortion providers and virulent abortion supporters," he stoops to a new level of untruth. Since he has no solid reasons for opposing their call for women priests and for married men as priests and for the people of God being able to choose their own bishops, he strives to discredit them by characterizing them with names that good Catholic people abhor. Shame on him.

JOHN W. McNALLY

Estero, Fla.

What is wrong with Bishop Bruskewitz and the Vatican as well? Sr. Joan Chittister would call the bishop's action the use of exploitative power, directing with absolute authority, bringing down the weight of the system on the group without responding to them in dialogue. If the group is burdened, a Jesuslike shepherd would try to lift the burden. The Vatican, rejecting the thrust of Pope John XXIII's Vatican II, further condemned them for their complaint. Since when has penance become a "public renunciation"? This sounds political to me and a more brutal than benign treatment of the faithful.

J.M. ZATLUKAL

Fern Park, Fla.

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