Readers keep commenting on Archbishop O'Brien's dismissal of Father Ray Martin as pastor of the three South Baltimore Catholic churches. Here's more:

I am saddened by your article about Archbishop O'Brien, a faithful and orthodox Shepherd. Are you Catholic? If so, you should be ashamed of your flippant way of speaking of the Church and its Shepherd. If not, then you should research stories before you write them. With all due respect to your job, allowing anyone who is not a priest or a deacon of the Catholic Church is not a small offense. Your statement that " apparently a priest can get in big trouble for seemingly small offenses" is completely incorrect. It is not a small offense. Your statement "and let that be a warning to anyone else who might have ideas about tinkering with sacred rites" show how little you respect the Mass which is the re-presentation of Jesus Christ's suffering, passion, and death on Calvary. Do you take the death of Jesus to save us lightly? Even if you do, Jesus still died to save you. How shameful that you make fun of this. Then to bring up sex offenders is really despicable. Perhaps you are a lapsed Catholic and want to try to hurt the Church. But in fact, you are doing this to Jesus. He founded the Catholic Church and prayed that all may be one - as He and the Father are one.  . . . You are so confused. Ecumenical talks do not mean the watering down of the Truths of the Catholic faith. And you do not even understand what the word scandal means in this context. . . .  I just think you have an ax to grind. An agenda perhaps which is to tear down the Catholic Church. If so you can stop now because Jesus himself told us that the gates of hell will not prevail. Many have tried but none will be able to destroy the church. It is just sad that you would write an article when you don't understand the Catholic faith.  . . . I will pray for you daily. How sad I am at the pain you cause my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
God bless you,
Maryanne Linkes

My husband and I are practicing Catholics.  There is a hymn that we sing in our church  that is called, "All are Welcome".  The Archbishop has never read the words to this hymn or he would not be acting as he is.  My husband and I are ashamed of him.  What is going on with the Catholic church?  Father Bernard Law in Massachusetts moved pedifile priests from place to place and he got a promotion to Rome.  Father Martin seems like he is really trying to do the right thing and he is being sacked.  We do not know Father Martin nor do we live near Federal Hill.  My mother was 86 when she died.  She was Methodist and I am Catholic.  Right before she died, I took her to my church for mass.  When I started up the aisle to receive communion, I saw my mother out of the corner of my eye, in line to receive communion.  What was I suppose to say to her?  Hey this is not allowed.  This was God's house and he was happy she was there. Edwin O'Brien is wrong.

I am so glad you took the time to note the "bigger picture" in the demoting of Father Ray Martin.  The fact he held services in three different parishes says a lot about the man.  I am not Catholic and do not know all the rules affecting a diocease, but I do know a little about humanity and it's affects on people.  According the your paper's Friday's article, he was asked by the son to have a person who happened to be Episcopalian participate in the service.  Requests by family mourners are usually permitted.  I myself have partaken of the Catholic communion and thought nothing of it. (I am Episcopal.)  Neither the priest who offered the communion nor the person with whom I had attended the church seemed to see anything untoward about it.  Perhaps we were all wrong. It has been many years ago.  This man seemed to be doing Jesus' teaching when he hired a maintainance man with a criminal background ----only he (Fr Martin) knew why he chose this man for the job.  I would assume he had checked into the man's background and found him needing a job to stay out of trouble.  Perhaps the man was a parishioner at one time--or perhaps the man had come to him as a last resort when no one else would take a chance on him.   My husband and I are  "oldsters" he is 81 and I just turned 79 the 4th of this month. You've heard enough from me.  I just wanted you to know I felt your article was needed and appreciated. 

I think your Sunday editorial was pretty darned good, and quite accurate as
far as the Church goes.  As often happens in the corporate world, the person
at the top doesn't necessarily have experience actually performing the job
of his/her subordinates.  Therefore, he/she often makes decisions that go
against the grain.  You have to wonder, "Do they ask for input from anyone
before making a decision like that?"  I mean, it's not like we have priests
out there just waiting to fill the vacancy.  So, the Catholic Church is no
different than any corporation.  But, I do challenge your closing paragraph.
I have to take issue with your statements: "But in the realm of the
mysterious and powerful, what you say or think doesn't matter. Your country
is a democracy. Your church isn't."  I know our country was founded as a
democracy, but I think that form of government was abandoned in Maryland
about a year ago.  Maryland does not have a democratic government; it has an
oligarchy headed by Messrs. O'Malley, Bush and Miller.  Otherwise, why are
our "representatives" (and I use the term loosely, since they are not
representing the views of the people) being held hostage in Annapolis? 
What we say or think does not matter to most members of our state
government. Many of the elected representatives in the Maryland State House
are obviously not paying attention to the calls, emails and cries of their
constituents.  But, beyond that, it seems that they are being held captive
in a "special session" with the threat of missing Thanksgiving (unless, of
course, they vote in favor of increasing taxes).  The voting sessions are
being held on weekends and at night, while daylight hours are being wasted.
They are voting on bills that haven't even been written. The entire fiasco
smells of collusion, coercion and deceit, and we are powerless to change it.
That's not quite how a democracy works. No, I don't think Maryland can be called a democracy anymore.  And that fact diluted an otherwise fine editorial.   -- Jeanine Smetana

My hat is off to Father Ray Martin. He did nothing disgraceful in the eyes
of God. But as a result of his kindly gesture, he suffered a humiliation
from his new bishop who, it seems, is little more than a mean spirited
ecclesiastic. People, like O'Brien, who use totalitarian tactics to assert
their questionable claim to be spiritual leaders, are an absurdity. The
people of Baltimore deserve much better. O'Brien is just one of the many brutes that populate the episcopacy of the Church. There is nothing wrong with the Catholic faith; it is only the
leadership of the Catholic Church that is bankrupt. As long as parishioners
want to remain docile in the face of reprehensible conduct on the part of
its leadership, then they will continue to be abused by these charlatans who
claim to be a representative of the loving Christ. What the Church needs today is another Martin Luther. What we have are far too many Torquemada like mentalities running around in their fancy attire trying to act like very important people. --Bob Hertz

A lot of my family is in that neighborhood and parish.  I can't
imagine how this occured. It is unbelievable that one Christian would treat
another Christian in this manner as you are saying Good By to a family
member and friend.  The Catholic Church needs to see the humanity of the
service, not the ritual, and welcome each other to worship and pray
together.  The Catholic Church is in turmoil, and this is not the way to
have God send his blessing to us who call ourselves Christians.
I grew up a Catholic Christian, spent years in a Catholic elementary school,
high school and college, and now in my adult years, I have had to also ask
questions about how this can continue while the church suffers attendance,
vocations and sex offenses that God has to deal with.
Since when is it inappropriate for an Episcopal priest not to be worthy to
read the Gospel, or for that matter anyone who God wrote the Gospels for.
Anyone is welcome to read the Bible. You are correct in saying that it is the parish people who suffer when something like this happens.  -- Sue Bents