Dear Editor, It would appear that Fianna Fáil are trying to round up disillusioned deputies from other parties who courageously voted against the recently enacted Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act. This is somewhat ironic as the Fianna Fáil party in effect voted for the legislation. Micheál Martin will of course contest this and state that a…
Category: Letters
Ireland’s folly on abortion
Dear Editor, Once again we see Ireland behind the curve in its rush to impose an abortion regime on this country. Even as the tide continues to turn against the devastation wrought by terminations in the United States, I read (IC 12/12/13) of Europe’s rejection – for a second time – of a call to…
Well done, The Irish Catholic
Dear Editor, Thank you for your detailed coverage of the latest audits of dioceses and congregations (IC 12/12/13). The calm and ordered detailing of progress achieved, and the work yet to be done, was in contrast to the predictable search for grim reading so obvious in other areas of the media who remain apparently reluctant…
The cost of all-English education
Dear Editor, The article ‘Pre-Famine bishops sparked hi-tech revolution’ (IC 12/12/13) appears lop-sided. The report praises Irish religious leaders for mandating in 1836 all education of Catholic children through the English language – albeit at the expense of our own Irish tongue. Talk of turkeys voting for Christmas! Why overlook the cultural cost? The whole…
Silencing discussion on women priests
Dear Editor, An article (IC 28/11/13), regarding women priests, read: “The reservation of priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion, but it can prove especially divisive if sacramental power is too closely identified with power in general.” I am…
Unity must not be confused with uniformity
Dear Editor, We have only to read the New Testament to see that its teaching never justifies the gratuitous exclusion of people from membership of the gathering of believers that we call the Christian Church. That is not the way in which Jesus behaved; nor should his followers. Cardinal William Levada had no right to…
Study the Gospels
Dear Editor, After reading last year that Pope Benedict XVI (now Emeritus) was encouraging everyone to read the Catechism during the Year of Faith, I saw an article in The Irish Catholic giving details of a website where people could sign up to receive daily emails with a question from the Catechism with commentary. For…
People await a renewed Church
Dear Editor, Regarding Andrew O’Connell’s remark concerning the Year of Faith (IC 28/11/13), I do not agree with him that “many people have lost faith in the possibility of God”. Many people have left the institutional Church but they still have a strong faith – they know God has not failed them and won’t. They…
Catholic institutions must be authentic
Dear Editor, In The Irish Catholic (Letters 14/11/13) Dr Ciarán Ó Coigligh wrote a very courageous letter regarding the lack of a real Catholic ethos in our third level institutions. Many faithful are hoping for renewal in the Church but I simply cannot see it happening if our theological faculties and teacher training colleges are…
One-sidedness in the gay marriage ‘debate’
Dear Editor, It was interesting to read recent letters published in national newspapers regarding same-sex-marriage. In one such letter the writer made reference to ‘logic’. This prompted me, as part of a letter I wrote to the relevant newspaper, to pose the following question: “Logically, can a union which doesn’t include sexual complementarity be identical…