Dear Editor, I was glad to see you give prominence to the selflessness of missionaries on last week’s front page (Nun Vows: ‘They’ll have to shoot us’ IC 18/05/2017).
The words of Sr Margaret Sheehan FCJ that she would only be driven out of her work in South Sudan at gunpoint is typical of the hard-working and tenacious Irish missionaries who have chosen to live their lives side-by-side with the most vulnerable around the world.
We found another example of this great missionary spirit when Fr Shay Cullen told TDs and senators in Leinster House last week he has received a number of death threats in recent months during his work helping children in the Philippines escape from sex traffickers.
It’s sad to think that this great era in Irish history is coming to an end, now that our missionaries are getting older and we don’t have the vocations to replace them.
Lay missionaries and volunteers are of course continuing the legacy and local religious are taking ownership of projects, as they should, but I hope we will not forget the bravery of the pioneering missionaries who set sail from this little island before globalisation and made such an incredibly positive impact all over the world.
Yours etc.,
Joan Donnelly
Tallaght, Dublin 24
Teaching on contraception little understood
Dear Editor, The subject of contraception continues to create controversy both within and outside the Church. However the Church’s teaching is the least understood part of the controversy. Consequently it has been catastrophically rejected out of hand by the majority.
As Mary Kenny (IC 20/04/2017) so rightly pointed out in her article there are many benefits to Natural Family Planning (NFP). It is 100% natural and therefore has no side effects. Many couples find through co-operation that their relationship improves with its use. It is free and there are no risks to the environment. NFP honours our dignity as persons by respecting the natural cycles of the body and can be used by a couple if there is a ‘just’ reason to postpone a pregnancy (Catechism of the Catholic Church). It is not used as a method of contraception and does not interfere with either the unitive or procreative aspect of the marital embrace.
There are known health risks associated with various forms of contraception including nausea, blood clots, strokes and depression. It also attempts to make the marital act fruitless. The Church in her wisdom teaches that marital acts are to be open to life whereas the contracepted act says ‘I don’t want the life that may be the fruit of this union’. ‘Failed contraception’ often leads to abortion, which in its turn often leads to despair. Many couples using contraception are often surprised to learn of the abortifacient nature of many methods. The ban on contraception is often viewed as negative, but when one understands that contraception renders the marital act sterile and is a counter-sign of God’s mystery, then it can be viewed as a great blessing.
Yours etc.,
Geraldine Kearney,
Downpatrick, Co. Down.
People see enough of hell in their lives
Dear Editor, David Quinn (IC 18/05/2017) admonishes priests for not preaching more often about hell. I think that is a silly suggestion. People see enough of hell every day. Anyway preaching about hell is a fear tactic. The Gospel is about love, not fear and not hell. There are many more important issues to preach about. What about Limbo?
Yours etc.,
Fr Joe McVeigh,
Enniskillen,
Co. Fermanagh.
Elitist sniggering at the mention of God
Dear Editor, I realise that the fashionable pressures of secularity and modernism are encouraging members of Dáil Éireann to omit reference to God from their daily deliberations.
The ridiculing and defaming of all religions is presented to the public in the guise of ‘tolerance’ for all. The much vaunted ‘separation of Church and State’ is really a pathetic way of getting rid of God. The sensibilities of most of the ordinary public are ignored.
The elitist sniggering at the mention of God is manifest in our media, our Government and the ‘education’ fraternity. Most of the wordy support of this stand has no ethical basis. This is a sad and destructive pointer to a fundamental ignorance and to the vanity of those in positions of responsibility for the true wellbeing of society.
Ireland, and indeed Europe, needs to display tolerance of authentic religious beliefs and deference to the Mystery of the Godhead. A touch of humility among the so-called ‘elite’ would not go astray as they bow their heads for a rare moment of reflection.
Yours etc.,
Angela Macnamara,
Churchtown,
Dublin 14.
Enda Kenny’s abortion legacy
Dear Editor, Enda Kenny has been paid many tributes on his retirement as Taoiseach, but he will always have the distinction of being the first Taoiseach to successfully legalise abortion in the Republic.
Section 22 of the new act reads as follows: “It shall be an offence to intentionally destroy unborn human life.” Contrast that with the enabling legislation introducing State approval of the intentional destruction of unborn human life in sections 7,8 & 9 of the Act: “It shall be lawful to carry out a medical procedure….as a result of which an unborn human life is ended…”
The grounds for medical procedures are: (1) Risk of loss of life from physical illness, (2) Risk of loss of life from physical illness in an emergency, (3) Risk of loss of life from suicide.
Whether you call abortion the intentional destruction of unborn human life or a medical procedure, God’s law has something to say about innocent human life.
The final insult by Enda Kenny, both moral and legal, is to call an act legalising abortion in this country the ‘Protection of Life During Pregnancy’.
Yours etc.,
Gerry Glennon,
Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.
Majority want faith ethos in schools
Dear Editor, The 90% faith community of Ireland, and in particular the 78% Catholic community, is once again under attack by the strident and vocal 10%. I listened with interest to Ruth Coppinger explaining her bill on Morning Ireland, May 16. She now wants the faith ethos to be removed totally from all schools. She sees no problem with 10% or even less, dictating to the 90%, or the fact that the rights of the majority can be trampled on at will, in the brave new Ireland.
However, 90% faith community, all is not lost! Rejoice, rejoice! Ruth will allow you to use the school buildings after school for whatever you may want to do. Well, for the time being anyway, until she and her merry gang think up new ways and means to inflict more psychological persecution on you.
Yours etc.,
Eilis McNamara,
Glin, Co. Limerick
Every action must be judged in context
Dear Editor, Daily we are bombarded with stories, weird and woeful, of the immense harm that was done to society in the past, both distant and recent, by the Catholic Church and its members.
We are told of the maltreatment by nuns and brothers of helpless young pregnant mothers to be and of orphans. The narrative never tells of the abysmal failure of families and civil society who drove these ladies from home and community. No one on behalf of the State or of the chattering classes offered shelter.
It makes me think of the lines from Hard Times by Charles Dickens where he wrote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” I do so because every action has to be judged in the context of its time and not with the self-righteous and very questionable wisdom of hindsight.
Yours etc.,
Michael Gleeson,
Killarney, Co. Kerry.