Sin of omission

James Davidson and Dean Hoge's survey of Catholic beliefs and attitudes in the wake of the sexual-abuse scandal ("Catholics after the Scandal," November 19, 2004) contained some fine insights, but there was one glaring omission. In their list of the "most serious issues facing the church," they included "the shortage of priests and sisters"--failing to mention religious brothers. Jesuits, Dominicans, and Franciscans all include such nonclerical members. My order, the De La Salle Christian Brothers, serves a million people in eighty-plus countries; we have more than eighty schools and social-service agencies in the United States alone.

EUGENE LAPPIN, FSC

Narragansett, R.I.

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