National Catholic Reporter

Following are NCR reader responses to recent news articles, opinion columns and theological essays with letters that have been edited for length and clarity.

America Media's Gloria Purvis moderates a conversation on polarization with Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego; Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas; and Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota. (NCR screenshot)

Not only is the Catholic trad wife minority growing, it's mobilizing a group of conservative Catholic voters who see the return to life before the Vatican II as both a religious and political issue.

A man prays near a statue of Mary on Apparition Hill in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in this Oct., 8, 2010, file photo. Pope Francis has decided to allow parishes and dioceses to organize official pilgrimages to Medjugorje; no decision has been made on the authenticity of the apparitions. (CNS photo/Matko Biljak, Reuters)

Pope Francis prays after walking through the Holy Door to inaugurate the Jubilee Year of Mercy in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in this Dec. 8, 2015, file photo. In the background at left is retired Pope Benedict XVI, who walked through the Holy Door after Pope Francis. The pope has approved the theme, "Pilgrims of Hope," to be the motto for the Holy Year 2025. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Our Liturgy of the Word for the Vigil of Pentecost begins by restating the Genesis myth of the Fall in a different context. This time, instead of an uppity couple ruining the tranquility of a garden, Genesis 11 portrays the paradise of a united humanity that knows no divisions of geography, language or anything else. Then they decide that they'll "make a name" for themselves. (Before whom? They were one people — until some took the lead, expecting others to obey.)

I was a scrawny college kid toting suitcases at the Delmonico Hotel one winter in Miami Beach. Smitty, a wily 62-year-old lifelong bellhop, was mentoring me.

Aubrey Gordon is a self-proclaimed "fact acceptance activist" and the subject of a new documentary, "Your Fat Friend." Her philosophy, says reviewer Liz Charlotte Grant, aligns with the words of Scripture.

Liz Charlotte Grant

Matthew Cressler's vision for an accessible throughway to the nation's thorny history of race and religion has resulted in a uniquely modern initiative.