By Lynn Saternow

HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS from a guy who believes in the separation of church and state, even though many people apparently don’t — including the bishop of the Erie Diocese.

I read with interest a letter from Jay Senko of Hermitage criticizing The Herald for not running a news release that Bishop Donald Trautman would not attend the graduation ceremonies of Mercyhurst College.

Supposedly Bishop Trautman is protesting the fact that Mercyhurst administration invited Hillary Clinton to speak at the school. Since Hillary is pro-choice and the Catholic Church is against abortion, he apparently felt he would raise a protest of his own by not attending the graduation ceremonies.

I don’t know anything about the release, but since the story is apparently true I would say only one thing — it’s time for the Erie Diocese to get a new bishop.

A bishop is supposed to be concerned with his “flock.”

To turn his back on all the Catholic kids who are going to graduate from a Catholic-based school because he didn’t like a political speaker, speaks volumes about the kind of leadership the church has.

This is a time when the church is facing real challenges, especially in light of damaging accusations of priests having sex with altar boys.

While that obviously isn’t the norm, it still taints the church. Most of us who were altar boys had truly rewarding experiences. I was an altar boy for several years for Msgr. Robert Schriefer at Notre Dame Church. He was a great priest and I learned the importance of a religious upbringing.

But attending the ceremonies would be the perfect time for the leader of the diocese to speak about how the new graduates should remember their religious base as they venture into a world that will challenge those beliefs.

He should be telling these young men and women that in life they will face many opinions that differ from what the church teaches, but they should remember their roots and core beliefs.

The bishop needs to give these students a lot more credit that he’s giving them. Does he think that just because they hear a political figure speak, it will change all that was drummed into them since the time they started going to religion classes?

Bishop Trautman needs to change his mind and ask to speak at the graduation. Or at least he should be there to personally congratulate every student who is heading out into the real world to make his or her way.

Instead, he is turning his back on these young Catholics when he could make a serious impact. So he shouldn’t wonder in a few years when these same young people turn their backs on the church.