To the Editor:

Daniel Koffler’s attack on Pope Benedict XVI is nothing more than an inane rant (“Worshiping a lead calf: Passing judgment, finally, on the pope,” 9/28). Koffler touts baseless conspiracy theories and calls them “inarguable.” He shows a willful ignorance of human sexuality by claiming that the orientation of the priests responsible for the sex-abuse crisis has no bearing. (The majority of victims were post-pubescent males. Does Koffler actually believe that a gay man is no more likely to be attracted to a teenage boy than is a straight man?) He even disparages the media for treating the election of the pope with a sense of decorum.

Koffler’s views are of little concern. What is troubling is that the newspaper of a reputable university would stoop to airing them.

Kiera M. McCaffrey

Sept. 29, 2005

The writer is director of communications for The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.