Only the truth can be pastoral

Dear Editor, “Church urged to include divorced and remarried Catholics in Eucharist” (IC 01/10/2015). This is a rubbish headline and it wouldn’t be a first in The Irish Catholic as it panders to the ‘have your cake and eat it’ brigade. No one better than Pope Benedict XVI to cut through such baloney with crystal clear advice based on Church teaching: “If at times in the past, love shone forth too little in the explanation of the truth, so today the danger is great that in the name of love, truth is either to be silenced or compromised. 

“Assuredly, the word of truth can be painful and uncomfortable. But it is the way to holiness, to peace, and to inner freedom. A pastoral approach which truly wants to help the people concerned must always be grounded in the truth. In the end, only the truth can be pastoral. ‘Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:32).”

Yours etc.,

John Reilly,

Cavan,

Co. Cavan.