Dear Editor, We regularly hear biblical references to the ‘goodness’ of wheat, but for coeliacs wheat is not all it is cracked up to be. What are the chances of ‘no gluten’ or ‘low gluten’ breads being used for Mass? I have had challenging encounters both in Ireland and abroad as my teenage daughter and…

Dear Editor, Politicians that suggest schools are not appropriate places for teaching religious education are not worthy of their positions. To maintain more time be spent on science, maths and languages, just to respond to economic demand, at the expense of their spiritual needs, is a very naïve mode of thought. Between the age of…

Dear Editor, Archbishop Michael Neary has been the subject of some unwarranted criticism regarding his homily to the Association of Papal Orders in Ireland (IC 13/11/2014). He spoke not of the death rattle of Catholicism or of Christianity in Ireland, but the death rattle of Christendom in Ireland. The end of that “shared set of…

Dear Editor, I think it is the unspoken pain of Archbishop Michael Neary’s recent homily to the association of Papal Knights that prompted me to write this letter (IC 13/11/2014). I would like to draw his attention to the heavenly message given to the Irish people at Knock, Co. Mayo in 1879 during a time…

Dear Editor, Archbishop Michael Neary’s sermon (IC 13/11/2014) that we are seeing the death rattle of the Church in Ireland is incorrect. The Church is the Body of Christ and so will never die. His sermon is one of despair, and despair comes from Satan. Our bishops as successors of the apostles are our teachers…

Dear Editor, I am an Irish Research Council-funded PhD student in NUI Galway, in my second year. My PhD topic is ‘Irish Catholic Anti-Communism in the era of John Charles McQuaid, 1940-1971’. I have already contacted the various diocesan archives and a number of archives held by Catholic Action organisations and religious orders regarding archival…

Dear Editor, Congratulations to Bishop Brendan Leahy and all those in the Diocese of Limerick for taking the initiative to hold a diocesan synod (‘Limerick synod delegates gear up for the main event’ IC 04/12/2014). I hope the delegates can arrive at some conclusions in their attempt to lay out a path to enable the…

Dear Editor, RTÉ has a blind spot where religious faith is concerned. This was evident in the very minimal report RTÉĖ gave to the powerful address by Pope Francis in the European Parliament. In contrast the BBC, ITV and Sky News gave extensive coverage and good analysis of the event. I am sure the media…

Dear Editor, Cathal Barry’s interesting article on Christ’s life (IC 06/11/2014) exemplifies some of the problems in the Church today. Similar to most of the sermons in today’s homilies, in his lengthy article Cathal does not once mention the word repentance. Did Christ die unconditionally for everyone? After reading Cathal’s article the thought crossed my…

Dear Editor, When Archbishop Michael Neary says that we are hearing the “death rattle” of Christendom (IC 13/11/2014), he is clearly not saying that disbelieving secularism has defeated the Church. Dr Neary describes Christendom as a “shared set of assumptions about life and its purpose, reflected in use of language, in culture and in the…