WE DON'T SEE DEAD PEOPLE
In the June 2, 2010 Scene, Liz Bly, PhD, submitted a letter describing one of her student's questions regarding the murder of Angel Bradley-Crockett and the subsequent misidentification of her body by Cleveland police. The student questioned whether or not women would have to get used to bodies being dumped in the streets, with Bly stating that the question haunted her for days.
Why this would haunt such an educated woman is beyond me. The accurate and reassuring answer she should have given was that the dumping of this woman's body was a very isolated incident here and is a rare occurrence anywhere; the nation's highways are not littered with the bodies of murdered women. She should also have told the student that the misidentification by police, while clearly an unintentional mistake, has never happened here before and is not likely to happen again.
What haunts me is a college professor apparently accepting histrionics instead of teaching the facts.
Robert Nagy
Cleveland
BOARDED-UP SLICE OF HEAVEN
I cannot thank you enough for writing "Gone, Not Forgotten" [June 2, 2010] and keeping the problem of the closing of St. Casimir's Church in the news.
Due to a set of adverse life circumstances, I was never able to drive into the old neighborhood to attend my birth parish for nearly 50 years. I prayed and prayed for St.Casimir's to stay open. Three weeks before the closing, I was so upset that an old friend and neighbor drove my disabled husband and me in for Saturday-afternoon Mass. The sight of my church immediately brought the tears on. The bishop had our church boarded up shortly afterward, and if the Vatican doesn't overturn his decision, I will never see my "home" again.
I hope that you have seen the inside of St.Casimir's — it is truly the most beautiful place this side of Heaven.
Jeanette (Zarzeczny) Hocevar
via the internet
VIABLE PARISHES SHOULD LIVE
Thank you for the beautiful and well-written article on St. Casimir's Church. I am not Polish, nor am I a parishioner. I live on the opposite side of town, and my own church is not closing. Almost every Sunday since last December, however, I have traveled from Westlake to attend the vigil and stand in solidarity with the fighting Casimiri of Sowinski Avenue. The closure of many of these churches should be a matter of concern for all Clevelanders. Anyone who has an appreciation for artwork, architecture, the history of Poland, and the history of Cleveland should object to the bishop's decision. If the parish can provide proof of sustainability, it should be allowed to remain open.
Colleen O'Shaughnessy
Westlake
A CHOIR OF BITTERNESS
How about doing some real journalism here and finding why the Cleveland Diocese is closing the old churches that have the most gold and most expensive windows and statues to sell on their version of an eBay site. Gee, what could they be doing that for? And who actually bought all that gold and elaborate furnishings? Was it the diocese, or was it the poor immigrants who donated whatever they had to build these churches?
John Thompson
Mentor
