Dear Editor,I write this email with great frustration, sadness, and disappointment, yet I feel compelled to express my feelings publicly in the hope that those in positions of authority, the media, politicians, bishops, and doctors, will act. I am living in Dundrum, County Dublin, a suburb of the capital. In recent days our community has…

Dear Editor, I was interested to read in Niamh Uí Bhriain’s article [IC 29/10/2020] that it is likely that euthanasia will kill the same number of people as coronavirus in the Netherlands this year. This is a shocking statistic, and I fear for the introduction of the ‘Dying with Dignity’ bill in Ireland. I noticed…

Dear Editor, I was astounded to read in The Irish Catholic about a priest in Cork who was allegedly threatened by gardaí with punitive action for celebrating public Mass [IC 12/11/2020]. The Department of Health and the Minister of Justice have both said that if a priest celebrated public Mass they were not making a…

Dear Editor, Gerard Gallagher placed the spotlight on a very important challenge and presented a great opportunity for our Catholic Church to address in Ireland 2020 [IC 22/10/2020], how to reach out and evangelise our young people in an effective way? Young people will identify with the Church’s commitment to social justice and works of…

Dear Editor, I was dismayed to read that NPHET’s reason for their recommendation that public worship should not continue [during level 3 restrictions], accepted by our government, was to decrease contacts in areas that, as a society, are relatively speaking in the context of a pandemic, less important. As a Catholic, I most strongly disagree…

Dear Editor, It is ironic that the so-called Dying with Dignity bill was introduced into the Dáil during palliative care week. Several professionals from the hospice and palliative care sector have warned that this bill is a ‘Trojan horse’ which will ruin our current gold standard of end of life care, where the patient, family…

Dear Editor, I would like to congratulate you on the publication of the article [IC 25/06/2020] by Dr Noel Keating. Dr Keating begins his study by making a brief reference to Thomas Merton or Fr Louis, which was the name given to him in ordination as a Trappist monk in Gethsemani, Kentucky, US.  Merton was…

Dear Editor, I was getting a little bit concerned about our former president Mary McAleese. It had been several weeks since I had heard her quoted predicting the demise of the Catholic Church. She was clearly keeping her powder dry for a few weeks to maximise publicity for a new book. Her training as a…

Dear Editor, I was very saddened to learn that there will be no public Masses for the next three weeks. As a daily communicant, I was upset to hear that I, along with many other practising Catholics, will not be able to receive the Holy Eucharist for a minimum of three weeks. The Eucharist is…

Dear Editor, As someone Irish now living in the United States I feel the call to enter the debate over the US Presidential election that has been raised recently in your columns. If indeed abortion was the only issue at stake in the election, a Catholic would have no option but to vote Republican and…