To the Editors.

Dead fowl

I am less pessimistic about young Catholics than either James Fisher ("Young American Catholics," November 23) or Peter Steinfels ("The Next Generation: A Diagnosis," November 23), but their impressions on the subject are worth more than the book, Young Adult Catholics, because they do not pretend to social science professionalism. With the exception of the chapter on Catholic identity, the data on which the book is based are statistically worthless. One cannot make valid estimates from it to the Catholic population of young adults. Half the primary sampling units (dioceses) were chosen because they were near the homes of the researchers. Parishes within the dioceses were chosen "in consultation" with the local chancery offices. This is not professional research methodology. In the harsh language of the trade about such flawed sample designs: garbage in, garbage out. One might just as well read the entrails of dead fowl. It is time that the Lilly Endowment realize that such projects disgrace it. It is time also for Commonweal to make a policy of asking someone at Fordham or Columbia or NYU to read the technical appendix of a book and determine the adequacy of the sample design before it decides to make a gantze tsimmes out of it.

(REV.) ANDREW M. GREELEY
Chicago, Ill.

The reviewer replies:

I greatly appreciate how survey data, including Andrew M. Greeley's, can correct our otherwise subjective impressions. At the same time, I have never encountered a social science survey on a nontrivial topic that was without shortcomings. If the sample design was perfect, the wording of some important questions was debatable. If the questions were worded superbly, other crucial questions went unasked. And there were always the less visible problems of actual execution: the skill and accuracy of the telephone interviewers, the number of times people were called back, the hours and days of the phone calls, the length of the calls and number of questions that could reasonably be asked. There are always trade-offs of time, money, convenience, etc.

Among social scientists whose work I have used, again including Greeley's, the authors of Young Adult Catholics are outstanding in describing their methodology clearly and in detail, including their choice of nearby dioceses (p. 243) and need for episcopal cooperation, and in exploring the kinds and degrees of bias that may have resulted. "One cannot make valid estimates" from their data "to the Catholic population of young adults," Father Greeley declares. That merely echoes what I wrote in my essay ("the young adults of this study do not represent all current young adult Catholics") and what the authors themselves repeatedly (pp. 40, 72, 116, 242, and elsewhere) acknowledge.

I was certainly not uncritical of this study, its presentation of data, or its interpretations. Yet readers can easily recognize what its sample of traceable confirmands represents and does not represent, can take into consideration what adjustments its biases seem to call for, and can use its findings as useful approximations until something better comes along. This may not be heaven, but it is not "worthless," "garbage," "the entrails of dead fowl," or a "disgrace" either.

The tone of Greeley's letter is not exactly surprising; indeed, after all these years, it borders on the traditional. But what it adds to the clarity, usefulness, or persuasiveness of his criticism escapes me.

PETER STEINFELS

Nostalgia with flair

As always, Father Andrew Greeley addressed with flair a relevant church issue in his "A Cloak of Many Colors" (November 9). He laments the passing of sacramentals such as a proliferation of statues and praying the rosary. I question whether these practices have been completely eliminated. Nostalgia is always attractive, and restoration seems to attract a new generation of Catholic seminarians. Perhaps what has happened is that we are hearing a better theology. Some of the older sacramentals have moved to the periphery, and a practice of the faith in which "sacramentals" such as altar, ambo, Scripture, assembly, and sacramental signs of water, bread, and wine moved to the center. We have to surround these with new and appropriate "metaphors." Isn't that what renewal is about?

(REV.) TONY SCHUMACHER
Oregon, Wisc.

A joke, right?

The November 9 article by Andrew Greeley was so funny that I thought it was "tongue in cheek"!

He must be writing from the privileged point of view of a male Catholic priest. For the laity, the laws of the church made it a faith of fear, constant guilt, and a sense of never matching up to the demands of the clergy.

If Greeley thinks that as the people of God we are defined by such externals as fish on Friday, having rosary beads, and being capable of plainchant, then how far are we from being disciples of Christ? Vatican II was meant to bring us back to the simplicity of the gospel call, "love God and neighbor." The emphasis is on "love" and not on following rules. We should be seen to be Catholics by our actions.

The changes made many of us reassess our faith to see whether our actions were in line with what the gospel demanded, not with the rules of the church. Many of us have seen Mary as the example to follow, because she loved so much--not because she is a pale submissive creature, but because she is a magnificent woman. She took on the pain and suffering implicit in the human condition because she loved and accepted; but she is fully human, not quasi-divine. We revere her greatly for those qualities. She isn't remote, up on pillars and clouds.

By including this article, you made my day. I haven't laughed so much in years.

BARBARA GREEN
Prince Edward Island, Canada

Thumbs down

Your November 23 cover was not only tasteless but offensive. It is beyond anything I could possibly expect from Commonweal. Please maintain your standards of art as well as of writing.

CORA MCLAUGHLIN
Albany, N.Y.

Those young Catholics

The set of articles on young Catholics in the November 23 issue was impressive and rewarding. Last year I sent fifteen subscriptions to Catholic college students via Commonweal's college subscription program, and after reading these articles, I can see that you are paying attention to these folks. Thank you.

TERRY DOSH
Minneapolis, Minn.

Inadequate answers

It is painful to see the September 11 tragedy reduced to tautology, and that is what you are doing in your response to Colacino, et al. (Correspondence, November 23). No one excuses terrorism, but in seeking to understand the causes, hopefully we can avoid future tragedies. And the causes that Archbishop Martino ennumerates are not being solved by our war in Afghanistan, our near hysterical police-state mentality at home, our continued docility toward Israel, our policies that starve Iraqis and kill their children, our support of totalitarian regimes in the Arab world, or our miserly financial assistance to some of the world's most abused and wretched people.

What is most depressing is that our political leaders know this and I suspect so do most of the intellectual leaders of this country. But we all seem paralyzed by the enormity of the hatred of us and we can react only in killing spasms.

JOSEPH D. POLICANO
East Hampton, N.Y.

Winter's visitor

It is clear that E. F. Roberts's perspective ("Florida Facades," November 23) is that of a "winter inhabitant," including a lack of understanding of the area that can be acquired by a real, year-round commitment to the community. This is exemplified by:

1. His reference to "the local church," ignoring the fact that six other churches exist within the area. He did not comment on the extraordinary vitality of the parish life of Saint John the Evangelist parish (clearly described), including twenty-five plus new Catholics each year through their RCIA program, their youth program, youth liturgies, or many other exhibitions of Catholic community involvement.

2. His uninformed (because of non-permanent status) position on the results of the community Masses with the migrant workers in Immokalee. He did not mention that after the hunger strike of 1999, there was an almost 25 percent increase in wages paid. The migrants were looking for a 50 percent increase, and it was justified; but to suggest that the hunger strike was ignored is incorrect.

JOHN T. CONROY JR.
Naples, Fla.

When rich move in

E. F. Roberts refers to the cathedral in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as a "mission cathedral." Ecclesiastically, New Mexico was probably considered to be a mission country in 1869 when, under John Baptist Lamy, the cornerstone for the present cathedral was laid. But the architectural style of the cathedral was and is Romanesque, reminiscent of the architecture of ArchbishopLamy's Auvergne birthplace and childhood home.

Otherwise, Roberts's account of the plight of Naples, Florida, sadly reflects the similar plight of the city of Santa Fe, where wealth has moved in, huge homes, apartment complexes, and condominiums have been built, boutiques beyond number have overtaken the core of the city, and a glop of peudo-Southwestern culture has been spread over the entire city to attract the credulous tourist dollar. Sunt lacrimae rerum!

(REV.) GEORGE F. WERNER
Edgewood, N.M.

Christ or Herod

Thanks for your fine coverage of September 11 and its appalling aftermath. The monks of Gethsemani were encouraged by the abbot to drop their usual monastic work on the afternoon of the eleventh, and go to church and pray for God's mercy, peace, and forgiveness.

One of the most sensible reflections I read since then was Paul Elie's "The Innocents" (October 12). It certainly helped to make sense of the whole tragic affair by recalling the slaughter of the holy innocents in Matthew 2. Elie asks the right question of us all: "Will we be more like Christ, or more like Herod?" Everything depends on our choice.

(BRO.) PATRICK HART
Trappist, Ky.