The Philadelphia Inquirer Tue  May 29  1990

Letters to the Editor

Membership has its obligations

The anti-Catholic bigotry contained in the cartoon on May 22 was contemptible.

The cartoon also constituted a gross distortion of the truth. The bishop is portrayed as a powerful bully. The fact is that the bishops have only moral persuasion to bring to bear in defense of innocent life, while public officeholders have all the power that goes with millions of tax dollars and the full executive might of the state.

No politician has to belong to the Roman Catholic Church. But if one does, he or she is held to the same moral standards as any other Catholic. The anti-Catholic cartoonists might as well prepare to vent their spleens with all manner of calumny in the years ahead, because the defense of innocent life is one struggle the church of Christ will never back away from.

John M. Haas
Havertown