Vatican and sex abuse settlements, health care, multilingual voters, helping people with disabilities

Vatican should pay abuse settlement

As a lifelong Catholic who’s 76, I am incensed by the Church assessing Long Island parishes for monies to pay the survivors of clergy sex abuse [“LI’s parishes required to pay into settlement,” News, Dec. 3].

The Vatican is essentially responsible for not taking these abusive priests to task, pressing charges and getting rid of them instead of passing them from parish to parish. Reports were provided but ignored. The widespread abuse reports went high up in the Church hierarchy.

The Vatican’s riches have been estimated at several billions of dollars. The Vatican should use some of those riches to pay the $323 million sex abuse settlement with the Diocese of Rockville Centre. The people of the parishes should not be made to pay for the blindness of the pope, bishops and clergy in power who knew what was happening to the innocent.

As a weekly churchgoer, I will no longer contribute my weekly stipend to my parish. It is a shame, but I absolutely refuse to be taxed there.

— Barbara Hansen, Smithtown

Let our government handle health care

Health care should be in the hands of the federal government, not in the hands of private industry “Tragedy exposes crisis in health care,” Opinion, Dec. 11]. This would take the profit motive out of health care decisions being made for the insured. As a former government accountant, I know that the top priority of corporate America is to maximize its profits at the expense of quality care for patients.

— Robert M. Martin, Mineola

If you don’t like this, then do something

I am happy that Yilin Wang had the privilege to vote in this year’s election “At voting site, we speak a different language,” Musings, Dec. 9]. It is one of the most sacred traditions we hold as Americans.

As a retired supervisor at the Nassau County Board of Elections, I was struck that Wang was expecting a Chinese interpreter on site. All her points regarding the John Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York are on target.

Knowing that 13.4% of the voting public is Asian, though, why not consider becoming a poll worker at a voting site? Or how about volunteering to help others in the Asian community at any polling site? Another way to help is to teach English as a second language at a local library.

The men and women at the Board of Elections work hard to help voters. I hope Wang and others from other communities consider using their language gifts so all will feel free to vote in the next election.

— Tom McCormick, St. James

A reader complains that no Mandarin interpreter was available when she went to vote, despite Nassau County’s population having more than 4,000 Mandarin-speaking voters limited in English proficiency.

Therefore, shouldn’t other qualifying groups also have interpreters at every polling location? Imagine the expense and logistics of this approach. Except for propositions, all a voter needs to know is a candidate’s name.

By the way, I’d like to thank the Nassau County party bosses for giving voters no different choices of judicial candidates. It sped up the voting process for me. Those 30 seconds I saved came in handy later in the day.

— Rudy Rosenberg, Carle Place

I thought to become a citizen, a person is tested, and most must be able to read, speak and understand English. The law, as the reader cited, speaks of 4,000 citizens belonging to a single-language minority group. If a person becomes a U.S. citizen, doesn’t that mean that the person no longer is a member of a single-language group?

— Andrew Ross, Kings Park

If a person is unable to communicate in English at a polling site, why not bring a friend or family member who could?

— Anthony Burke, East Meadow

Vets deserve benefitsthat Congress enjoys

I agree that veterans are entitled to and need more “Disabled vets deserve more,” Musings, Dec. 9]. I would like to see members of Congess treat veterans as they treat themselves — with great benefits and medical coverage.

— Howard Knepple, Lynbrook

People should care more about disabled

The article “Suit alleges ADA violation” [Our Towns, Nov. 29] is a sad commentary on how little public venues care about the needs of those with a disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act has existed for almost 35 years, and yet too many places have done little, or nothing, to accommodate those with a disability.

Many people seem to not care about these things because they apparently think that it doesn’t affect them. People need to realize that one day it could affect them, too, and they will need an accommodation.

— Roberta Rosenberg, East Northport

The writer is director of Destination Accessible US.