Brunett has ‘warm personality’ and ‘courteous demeanor’
I read the article in The Seattle Times “Brunett leaving behind a ‘vibrant’ archdiocese,” [page one, March 13]. I have many relatives in Washington state and consequently I take a genuine interest in Seattle-area topics.
I have been privileged to speak to Archbishop Alex Brunett on 21 separate occasions. He has always offered his time and expertise. By conversing with me on a wide array of subject matter, I have a renewed faith. I learned a lot from Archbishop Brunett’s unique point of view.
Although I am Roman Catholic myself, I have found some other bishops cold and aloof. In contrast, Archbishop Brunett has the warm personality, the courteous demeanor and, more importantly, the sincere willingness to reach out and interact with people on their level. For this, I salute him.
As long as he is still physically able and eager to continue, I hope The Vatican will permit Archbishop Brunett to stay on a long while longer.
— James A. Marples, Longview, Texas
Good riddance archbishop
All modern Seattle Catholics should rejoice at Archbishop Brunett’s retirement because he has always thought he could move the Catholic Church forward by moving it backward. He disenfranchises the gay and lesbian Catholics, ignores the impulse toward [hiring] female clergy and noncelibate priests — even as he reinstalls the Latin Catholic Mass.
Conservative Catholics have loved him because his basic philosophy is truly old school: The church is right in all things. I speak for the church, therefore, I am always right — even when I adhere to fourth-century Augustinian philosophies that cannot possibly allow for any development in modern learning or thought.
The real problem is simple: The modern Catholic Church has no legitimate way to integrate any of the learning since the Enlightenment which would truly make it modern. With leaders like Archbishop Brunett, the modern Catholic Church will always remain an oxymoron.
— John Scannell, Sammamish