I wish to respond to Dennis Walker's letter (Dec. 6 Coloradoan). In it, he denigrates the Catholic Church on two issues.
One is to condemn "pedophile priests who have destroyed countless boys’ lives." I have no answer to this. Clearly, these actions were a tragic period in the history of the Catholic Church. Hopefully, the steps taken by the Church to eliminate this tragedy in the future will be successful.
Secondly, Walker states that "a woman should have control over her own body." Perhaps I'm misunderstanding Walker, but that phrase is often used to support abortion rights.
Virtually all abortion language is euphemistic in order to make abortion sound harmless (e.g., "terminating a pregnancy" or "emptying the uterus of its contents").
But the phrase "a woman's right to control her own body" goes beyond euphemistic language to being factually incorrect. The unborn child is certainly within and takes nourishment from the woman's body but is never a part thereof. This is amply demonstrated if the child is allowed to be born (and even before that with sonogram technology).
So a woman's right to control her own body does not include aborting her child's body.
I find it sadly ironic that Walker mourns the damage done to victims of pedophilia and yets supports the ultimate example of child abuse (the killing of the unborn child through abortion).
I hope that Walker will reconsider his plan to leave the Catholic Church but will instead learn more about the why of the Church's teachings.
Richard A. Grimler, Fort Collins