Letters to the editor for Thursday, March 20

Having received permission by Pope Benedict to return to using a 1962 version of the Roman Catholic liturgy, an extremely small number of ultratraditionalist Catholics will pray in Latin for the "conversion of the Jews" during the upcoming Good Friday solemn liturgy.

The history of this prayer clearly reflects the attitude of Catholics toward Jews during the past two millennia. In its "Tridentine" version dating back to 1570, it called for the conversion of the "perfidious Jews." Pope John XXIII struck the offensive adjective from the prayer in 1962. Responding to the theological advancements of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), his successor Pope Paul VI removed all references to conversion from the prayer in 1970. This version, which has been used ever since, acknowledges that the Jewish people were "the first to hear the Word of God" and asks that they "may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant" and that they "may arrive at the fullness of redemption."

John XXIII, Paul VI, as well as John Paul II (the Polish pope who lost friends in the Nazi Holocaust) were keenly aware that more than 6 million Jews were murdered during their own lifetimes. These same popes also knew that 2,000 years of Christian teaching of contempt against Jews didn't necessarily cause the Holocaust, but clearly enabled it. As a result they made great efforts to encourage reform in church theology about the Jewish people. This culminated in John Paul II asking forgiveness for Catholic teachings and actions that dishonored Jews and caused Jewish persecution during the past 2,000 years. In addition to these popes, many respected Catholic theologians have defended the legitimacy of Jewish faith to stand on its own without Catholics seeking their conversion.

I pray that our Jewish friends will see the progress in Catholic teaching since the Second Vatican Council and understand that our church moves very slowly, sometimes taking a few steps back, but ultimately moving toward the light.

Thank God millions and millions of Catholics will pray this Good Friday, not for the conversion of the Jews, but that "they may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant."

THE REV. MICHAEL J. O'CONNELL,

RECTOR, BASILICA OF ST. MARY, MINNEAPOLIS

It's silly to blame abstinence programs for the rise in STDs. Federal funding of such programs began in 1998. Does anyone really believe that STDs among teens did not increase from, say, 1968 to 1998, when biology-based sex education was the norm and formal abstinence programs did not exist? Even the well-known Mathematica study prepared for the Department of Health and Human Services released in April 2007 admitted that teens who went through "abstinence only" programs were no more likely to contract STDs than teens who had gone through "comprehensive" programs. And a 2002 study published in the British Medical Journal evaluated the effects of 26 different sex education programs (including abstinence and comprehensive programs) and found no real differences in effectiveness among them. Translation: "Abstinence only" programs don't work well, but "comprehensive" ones aren't any better.

What does work? Prof. Jennifer Roback Morse reports that community-based service learning, and/or faith-based after-school programs, combined with a traditional two-parent family, offer promising ways to combat the rise in teen STDs because they fulfill adolescent needs for human connectedness.

WILLIAM HARRY, MAPLE GROVE

It's always interesting to note where our taxpayer money goes in budget crunch time. As much as $500,000 or more is going to be spent by the state Department of Transportation for public relations relating to the Interstate 35W bridge project and untarnishing the department's reputation? Well, I hope there's some money left over to fix the Hastings bridge before it collapses.

JOHN OLDENDORF, LAKE ELMO

Whatever the challenge, Jack will work to find a creative, collaborative solution. As a teacher, activist and organizer he has spent his lifetime working with others in the business of changing this world for the better. The DFL needs a candidate who can match people power with dollar power, and we have this with Jack.