[paterfamilias]

Here’s my letter:

I am a Catholic Infectious Diseases specialist in New York who has been caring for HIV/AIDS patients since before we knew that AIDS was caused by a virus.

Saint Vincent’s Hospital, a Catholic hospital, opened the first AIDS Unit in New York City. Saint Vincent’s doctors, nurses, nuns and priests were at the forefront of caring for patients stricken with HIV-AIDS, and at the time, these were primarily gay men.

Maybe this artist should learn some history before insulting the people who cared for AIDS patients when many others shunned or vilified them.

It is very easy to pick the low-hanging fruit when you want to “initiate a dialog” by producing and displaying a crass and insulting work of art. After all, Catholics are not known for beheading artists who depict Christ, His saints, or His Church in an offensive manner.

Some Moslem countries execute homosexuals just for being homosexuals, all in the name of Islam. Now, there’s a dialog worth having.

Let’s see if the artist and your museum are willing to display a condom portrait of Mohammed...

Respectfully,

Mario F. Romagnoli, M.D.

[massgopguy]

Good one Mario. San Rocco would be proud.

[NYer]

Excellent .. thank you so much! You are no doubt aware about the work of Cardinal O'Connor. In the quiet of the night, he was known to visit AIDS patients at an archdiocesan hospital and could be found listening to them, cleaning their sores and changing their bedpans.

Of course that didn't stop the militant gays from protesting when Pres. Reagan named O'Connor to serve on the national commission charged with stemming AIDS. One protester held aloft a sign that read ''Cardinal O'Connor Loves Gay People . . . If They Are Dying of AIDS.''

Thank you for your testimony!

[ELS]

Bravo!