Readers Respond 8-3-13

Sacred Heart roots
New Orleans
    Your piece on the Cathedral Academy in the June 22 Clarion Herald (“Cathedral Academy valedictorian strives to be a saint”) is very interesting. However, there is more to the background of the Cathedral School than your article shows, so I enclose a short history.
    In 1867, the Religious of the Sacred Heart established an Academy of the Sacred Heart on Dauphine, called Mater, for day students. (The present Academy of the Sacred Heart on St. Charles Avenue, called The Rosary, which included boarding students, began only in 1887.)
    The Day School in the French Quarter also had a Free School, which morphed into the Cathedral Parish School. When the Academy closed in 1913, the Parish School was turned over to the Teresian Sisters in 1914.
    The building fronting St. Ann was built by the RSCJs. You can see the cornerstone.
    Your paper is a delight compared with other diocesan papers I’ve seen. Alas, I’ll be leaving New Orleans in August, so I’ll have to read it online – not my favorite way to read. But I’ll be cheering from a distance – Albany, N.Y.
    SISTER MARY BLISH, R.S.C.J.

Column captured impact of service
Destrehan
    Re: Beth Donze’s June 22 column on the elementary school service project that brought her mother such happiness (“Spring-cleaning yields garden of memories”). What a beautiful piece of writing in the Clarion Herald! I was a journalism major before I transitioned to teaching, so I appreciate good writing in newspapers. Ms. Donze’s phrasing, choice of words and details were such a joy to read. I am saving the piece to read to my middle schoolers in the fall. I want them to get a new perspective on the residual effects of their service projects.
MARY SCHMIDT
PRINCIPAL, ST. CHARLES BORROMEO SCHOOL

Pro-abortion stance morally indefensible
New Orleans
    Whenever you put a bank robber in jail, you are forcing your morality on the bank robber, but not your religion. Living in a “diverse, pluralistic” society does not mean we go around killing people, born or unborn.
    Slavery was a choice Lincoln would not tolerate, so he forced his morality on the slave owners, who were forcing their immorality on the slaves.
    Abortion is not a matter of the anti-abortionist opinion versus the pro-abortionist opinion but rather a matter of the pro-abortionist opinion versus the life of another innocent human being. Nobody’s opinion outweighs the life of a baby, and that includes the opinions of federal judges.
    For information on judicial tyranny, readers can purchase “The Supremacists: The Tyranny of Judges and How to Stop It,” by Phyllis Schlafly.
CHARLES M. CARRIERE JR.