Dear Editor, I am so fed up of hearing people say the Catholic Church needs to get their hands off ‘our schools’, as if the Church has stolen the schools in some sinister way.
The Church owns the schools because it built them, or to be more precise the Catholics of the parish built them and continue to fund them. Therefore, the Catholic parish, and parents in particular, have more right to say what should happen to their schools than anyone else, and in the majority there is no appetite among parents for the divestment of schools except in small pockets of Dublin where there is over-subscription.
As Bishop Phonsie Cullinan said in this paper (IC 24/12/2015) in practice it is extremely difficult to transfer patronage of schools because of local opposition. “Most people simply want their local parish school to remain the same.”
The Government’s removal of Rule 68 last week, which gave religious instruction a special place of importance in the school curriculum, is another example of a political agenda to remove God from public life and to silence people of faith. However the secular ‘group think’ that dominates politics and media in Irish society is really an urban bubble, and I think politicians will get an unpleasant surprise when canvassing for the upcoming election when they realise that people do not appreciate being told what to do with their schools.
I can only hope that Catholics will also be vocal on their doorsteps when it comes to the current pressure to repeal the Eighth Amendment and to offer abortions in the case of unborn children with life-limiting conditions.
I am sick of being told how I should think, as a member of a ‘mature, modern society’ and I intend to let my local candidates know this. Surely, I am not the only person who feels this way?
Yours etc.,
Sean Raleigh,
Salthill,
Galway.
Develop infrastructure to stop rural decline
Dear Editor, I read with interest the article entitled ‘Rural Decline’ by Fr Micheál MacGréil SJ (IC 21/01/16). As a young student in Maynooth University in the 1970s I can vividly recall the campaign mounted at the time to have Maynooth Railway station re-opened. Fr Micheál, along with the Maynooth branch of Friends of the Earth, argued that should the railway station be re-opened it would act as a catalyst to bring about social and economic enhancement to the area of Maynooth and its environs.
After a lengthy campaign, the railway station which had fallen into disrepair was refurbished and finally opened its doors for business in 1981.
There can be no doubt that the re-opening of the railway station brought in its wake prosperity to the town of Maynooth.
It benefited too, Maynooth’s ever growing student population. Surely, it would be prudent on the part of the ‘powers that be’ to complete the Western Rail Corridor, as a good infrastructure paves the way for positive regional economic and social development.
Yours etc.,
Patricia Fogarty,
Palmerstown, Dublin 20.
All life deserves to be protected
Dear Editor, Possibly every reasonable person in Ireland was shocked at the news of the murder of Kenneth O’Brien, when his torso was discovered in a suitcase in the Royal Canal in Co. Kildare on January 16. Also in the news was a census published during that week giving the percentage of those in favour of a termination of the life of a baby in the mother’s womb under different circumstances, i.e. life limiting conditions, as a consequence of rape and incest.
Of course this type of termination is not murder or a crime for those consulted in the census. Yet at the same time they were shocked at the crime committed on Kenneth O’Brien. It seems that we have two standards as regards life and death. To highlight even more the many standards, the Master of the National Maternity Hospital, Dr Rhona Mahony has called for a referendum on abortion in the case of life-limiting conditions according to this paper (IC 21/01/16). Of course you do not have to be a Catholic, or even religious to see the fundamental inhumanity at the heart of this proposal. All life is precious and deserves to be protected, whether it lasts for a moment or longer.
Yours etc.,
Fr José Campion,
The Presbytery,
Pro-life conversion or cynical ploy
Dear Editor, I was quite impressed by the pro-life piece by Barry Walsh in The Irish Catholic (‘If we believe that we are deserving of a right to life, how can we deny it to others?’ 21/01/2016). Mr Walsh is described at the end of the article as Vice Chair of the Fine Gael Executive Council. I would be even more impressed if I thought that it was an indication that a Pauline conversion of that party to a genuinely pro-life stance was in the offing. However past experience, together with noises emanating from the leadership give little if any grounds for hope in that direction. I would hate to think that this excellent article was an attempt to re-establish Fine Gael’s pro-life credentials with an eye to the upcoming election.
I noticed that the piece was described as Mr Walsh’s “personal view”. If that is all it was, why was it necessary to mention Fine Gael, which is certainly not a pro-life party in any meaningful sense of the term?
Yours etc.,
Oliver Broderick,
Youghal,
Co. Cork
Couples should consider adoption instead of IVF
Dear Editor, In January my husband and I visited Bethesda Home in Rosemoor, George, South Africa.
This was originally a Catholic mission founded from Germany and when vocations were no longer forthcoming, the centre was handed over to, among others, our friend, Rev. Michiel Burger (of the Dutch Reformed Church) and his co-workers. It is a flourishing centre today, still visited and partially supported by the mission fathers.
We were shown the children’s ward, where those who come from difficult backgrounds and homes are cared for.
Every effort is made to reunite children with their own families, but this is not always possible. One beautiful little girl with a smiling face has been in the home for two years and clung to my fingers, a look of dismay clouding her face when we waved goodbye.
Would couples who go down the route of IVF not consider putting that money and love into adoption, instead? The need of children worldwide is so great.
Yours etc.,
Judith Leonard,
Raheny, Dublin 5.
We need to promote Theology of the Body
Dear Editor, I wholeheartedly agree with the letter writer Geraldine Kearney (IC 07/01/2016) when she points out that St John Paul II’s Theology of the Body is not well known.
It would be marvellous if this potentially transforming resource were to be more used in homilies e.g. the recent Sunday Gospel reading on the marriage feast at Cana would be an opportunity to include it in a homily.
I recommend to those who are familiar with this catechesis that they (i) encourage their bishop and/or local priest or deacon to investigate including it in preaching and in the new evangelisation in general and (ii) “Be not afraid” to discuss this topic in everyday conversation with the people you know.
Perhaps your paper could get an expert to do a series of articles on this catechesis to help spread knowledge of its contents. It would greatly help to inform the electorate.
Yours etc.,
Patrick Gibney,
Oldcastle, Co. Meath.
Annulments are not always an option for couples
Dear Editor, In response to Christopher Keeffe (IC Letters 21/01/2016 ‘The farce around admission to Holy Communion needs to be resolved’), I would like to point out that not every couple in second relationships is in a position to even apply for an annulment. Many of us would love to have our marriages annulled but many people can get hurt. I know this from experience. Some spouses are not well, and even though these people were largely to blame for the separation, it’s not very Christian to present an unwell person with annulment papers!
Mr Keeffe is right about clearing things up but I do think Pope Francis is doing his best. It is tricky.
Yours etc.,
Brid Fitzgerald,
Listowel, Co. Kerry.