Dear Editor, Breda O’Brien and Greg Daly’s articles on Pope Francis’ ruling that henceforth Catholics should regard the death penalty as ‘inadmissible’ (IC 9/8/2018) show just how natural a development this is in Catholic teaching, and show too how absurd it is that a handful of vociferous Catholics are complaining about this.
Absurd? What other word is there for people who have been crying the last few years that the Pope is ‘confusing’ and who should react to the word ‘inadmissible’ by wailing “what does this mean?”. It means, as any dictionary would tell them, that it is not allowed, that the Church will not permit it. Does this mean that it was inadmissible in the past? No, of course not: perhaps the Church should not have permitted – or even encouraged – it in days gone by, but it certainly did permit it. It no longer does so.
Isn’t this a breach with Church teaching? Hardly: the Church’s teaching on the death penalty has always been an application of other teachings, rather than something that stood on its own two feet, and what’s happened in recent decades is that the Church has recognised that the logic of its constant teaching on the sanctity of human life entails recognising that made as we are in God’s image, it’s for God and God alone to choose when our lives should end.
It’s not as if the Church’s understanding of how to honour the sanctity and dignity of human life hasn’t developed before, after all.
There have been saints back in the day who thought with the society they lived in that torture could sometimes be acceptable, and there was once a time when slavery, now recognised as an infamy that poisons society, was not merely permitted, but could even be required.
The Third Lateran Council, after all, ruled that Christians who assisted or served with Saracen raiding ships should be enslaved if captured.
Sometimes our eyes open slowly.
Yours etc.,
Gabriel Kelly,
Drogheda, Co. Louth.
Trump benefits from good timing, not good leadership
Dear Editor, Mary Kenny (IC 02/08/18) is way off the mark with regard to Donald Trump. First, she makes the mistake of assuming that because of an upturn in the US economy during Trump’s time at the White House, it is his actions that have brought this about. There are plenty of people more expert than Ms Kenny and I who would comprehensively demolish that simplistic hypothesis. At the time that Trump came to office, many economies were coming out of recession. It is no more than good timing.
In terms of the economy, it is a well-established economic fact that protectionist policies create a lot of harm. Perhaps he has limited the amount of Chinese steel coming into America and this might be good for American steelworkers. However, turn the corner and ask his own soya bean farmers what they think of Trump’s actions. They risk being wiped out. Where will those families now earn their living?
Let’s be clear. Trump’s hate-filled, misogynistic and xenophobic rhetoric is a blight on the world. Yes, maybe he will have a second term but all that will do is continue the huge damage. In the meantime, the fact that steel workers in Pennsylvania have more money will be of little comfort to the children sitting in warehouse jails, without their parents, because of the actions of Trump.
Yours etc.,
Gerard Bennett,
Kilpatrick,
Co. Westmeath.
Convivial way to celebrate Pope’s visit!
Dear Editor, Pope Francis’ visit in a few weeks will mean a lot to Catholics across the island, but given the difficulties in getting to the Phoenix Park, I suspect many elderly people won’t be attending the event. Given that, I would encourage anyone who owns a local pub or townhall to publicise an event for bringing people together who can watch the Pope on TV, interact with fellow believers, all while enjoying some food and drink!
Yours etc.,
James McMahon,
Armagh City,
Armagh.
Accord must reconsider its Gospel attitude
Dear Editor, I was appalled at the heading ‘State forces Accord to counsel same sex couples’ (IC 2/8/18 ).
That the hierarchical leadership of Accord, a Catholic organisation, feel obliged to ditch Catholic teaching on marriage in order to facilitate a secular approach to a sacred covenant relationship for the sake of a few pieces of silver leaves one in no doubt that we are now in the great apostasy.
The idea that helping people in same-sex marriages who have relationship problems is “in keeping with the Gospel” is a misconstrued understanding of the obligation to practise charity and of the sacred covenant of marriage.
Many years ago in Garabandal Our Lady said: “Many cardinals, bishops and priests are on the road to perdition and are taking a large number of of the faithful with them.” Garabandal has not been approved by the Church – I wonder why? Is it because those who were aware of the scandals in the Church felt the heat?
By relinquishing Catholic teaching in order to fund itself Accord is publically saying that same sex marriage is the same as Christian/Catholic marriage which it is not.
One would imagine that those in charge of Accord had never read the Scriptures nor the Ten Commandments. Our shepherds need to be aware that of those to whom much is given much is to be expected.
Is it any wonder that people are leaving the church when such confusion reigns? If the final schism is not already upon us it is not far off.
Yours etc.,
Loretto Browne,
Ashbourne, Co. Meath.
Tusla needs to broaden its outlook
Dear Editor, I note that Tusla are allegedly thinking of withdrawing funding from Accord. As I understand the position, the organisation now known as Accord was set up by the Irish Catholic bishops in 1962 to give advice on marriage preparation. Marriage and its synonym matrimony are both concerned with the fact that the woman is likely to become a mother, a state that is an absolute impossibility for a same-sex couple.
While I would be surprised if a homosexual couple wished to learn about Catholic marriage from going to Accord, surely there is no reason why they should not be instructed in the Catholic and evolutionary view as to what marriage is about.
Yours etc.,
Gerald Murphy,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.
Bishops must stick to Catholic ethos
Dear Editor, I read with dismay, frustration and a certain amount of anger your news report (IC 02/08/18) that Accord is now opening its counselling services to same-sex couples, in order to obtain funding from our anti-Catholic government, (the vast portion of that funding is collected from Catholic taxpayers). The bishops of Ireland have once again let down the faithful Catholics. Their duty is to be true to the Catholic ethos and the teachings of God as expressed in the Old and the New Testament.
They had the option of refusing to accept the money, restructuring Accord to run on a lower budget, and giving marriage counselling that reflects the teachings of Christ and His Church.
Yours etc.,
Eilis McNamara,
Killeaney, Co. Limerick.
Homeless isn’t Pope’s fault
Dear Editor, We are all painfully aware that the homeless situation in Ireland is horrendous. It is particularily bad in Dublin and needs to be resolved as soon as possible. Pope Francis is visiting Ireland for 36 hours. To see newspaper headlines this week stating that his visit will worsen the situation for our capital’s homeless is a lame excuse for the root core of the problem that has been affecting our country for the last several years. It is a lazy attack yet again on the Catholic Church.
For those of us, and there are thousands of us of all ages, that have a genuine interest in welcoming Pope Francis, I feel it is unfair, misguided and misleading to attribute the blame on his visit to our ever worsening homeless situation. Yes it certainly demands an expedited solution, however the Pope’s brief visit will not impact on the crisis that needs to be remedied and it shouldn’t be disguised as such.
Yours etc.,
Aisling Bastible,
Clontarf, Dublin 3.