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Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien called on Maryland Democratic Congressman John Sarbanes to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals as he and other lawmakers consider health care reform.

GLASGOW, Scotland – Catholics furious with the Glasgow City Council for funding an art exhibition that encouraged people to deface the Bible have called for the removal of the offending work.

WASHINGTON – Thousands of Catholics marched on Vietnamese streets July 26 to protest the beating of two Catholic priests and the detainment of seven Catholics after a violent police raid at a disputed church site.

Thank you for “Patron of handgunners?” (CR, July 23). I wholeheartedly agree with John Snyder’s position on our fundamental rights under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A firearm is an inanimate object. It is neither intrinsically good nor evil. Those that believe that confiscatory gun laws, which deprive law abiding citizens of their means of self defense, will reduce violent crime rates are wrong. In fact, it is undeniable that the cities with the most stringent handgun laws also have the highest murder rates. Legal gun ownership discourages criminal behavior. Robbers or burglars are unlikely to choose victims with the means to defend themselves. The story of the courageous St. Possenti proves the point. His use of a handgun effectively discouraged the marauders and saved the woman. During World War II, the Japanese did not try to invade the U.S. mainland because they believed there was, “a rifle behind every blade of grass.” As Snyder put it, our constitutional right to bear arms is “the prime supporter of the right to life.”

Tony Magliano’s “Genuine patriotism for the Fourth of July” (CR, July 2) was off base in a number of ways. Perhaps most flawed is Magliano’s statement that we as Americans are obsessed with our military. We honor the armed forces (as well as police and firefighters and other emergency personnel) in a special way because they do something unlike any others in our community who serve us. In their chosen line of work, they place the value of their families and all of us and our families above their own bodily safety. This is a very Christ-like way of living life, though we are all sinners. In the same vein, preparation for war and significant military spending is always necessary if we are to remain a free people and a nation that is allowed to worship God. No matter what our level of spending or our military preparation, there will always be those who go to great lengths to do us harm. Thus we must match and exceed the might of those evils to ensure our basic liberties. Magliano insists that lessening military spending could help eliminate poverty, but this is very often not the case. Many world hunger situations are in fact primarily caused by unchecked warlords and dictators who abuse and restrain their people.