Priest must accept responsibility

I can't really believe anyone would want an individual who was slapped by a priest to just let the incident pass with only forgiveness ("Driver should forgive priest in incident," Dec. 4).

A slap in the face is demeaning and a downright assault on the individual. I have a hard time accepting that stress factors caused this attack at a simple traffic incident. His actions go against his position in life - not just with what he did, but the fact that he should accept his wrongdoing and be held accountable, as any other citizen would be.

District Attorney Danny Craig calling on his behalf really irks me. He is a public official. I know we all want to help those we know, but in his position he should not have.

We should all be willing to forgive. Carrying around anger or hatred is more damaging to one's soul and self than any harm it could do to the one we are holding a grudge against. God tells us to forgive. He also makes a provision for our governing authorities to act on our behalf where punishment is concerned, so we as individuals don't act out of vengeance.

I know his parishioners love him and support him, but wrong is wrong. How can we teach our young people to be accountable for their wrongdoings when one of our own spiritual leaders can't?

Teresa Glackin Callahan, Harlem