Church irreverence is not defensible

I have read Barbara Zaha's March 30 letter. I don't know if she or any of the so-called Holy Name Six are Catholic.

I would say if they are Catholic, then they are not very good Catholics or maybe poorly taught in the Catholic faith.

Their protest in the cathedral and during the Easter Sunday mass was sacrilegious.

You see, Catholics believe that Jesus Christ, through the Eucharist, is present in the tabernacle of every Catholic church 24 hours, seven days a week.

For that reason, a church is a holy place deserving of reverential behavior.

Paragraph 2120 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things or places consecrated to God. Sacrilege is a grave (mortal) sin especially when committed against the Eucharist...".

These young people are entitled to their opinion that the U.S. Catholic Church has been hypocritical through its silence on the war.

Pope John Paul II did denounce the war.

However, other Catholics will point to the "Just War Doctrine" (CCC 2309) as justification for the war.

But in this incident, hypocrisy doesn't matter, opinions don't matter and damaged clothing from fake blood doesn't matter.

What matters is that their behavior inside the church was irreverent.

Next time, they should take their protest outside of the church.

Mike Smith

St. Charles