Dear Editor, I was very surprised to read that the Vatican has ordered Catholics to replace hugs and kisses with handshakes when they are offering the Sign of Peace.Pope Francis is banning hugs and kisses at Mass, and he has told bishops to draw up strict guidelines. The circular said churchgoers should be offered “practical…

Dear Editor, Next spring Irish voters will be asked in this Government’s referendum to legalise same-sex marriage – marketed as ‘marriage-equality’. For Irish society and for future Irish generations this means men marrying men and women marrying women, with children being raised in same-sex marriage unions. Irish voters of all faiths and none need to…

Dear Editor, Your reference to Esperanto in the July 24 issue brought back many very happy memories. For many years going back decades, I was immersed in La Internacia Llingvo, i.e. the international language, and I could speak it as fluently as English or Irish. I am a bit rusty now, as my vocabulary has…

Dear Editor, Well done to Marie Collins (IC, July 24) for calling out the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) for their denial about the Murphy Report.There is a worrying tendency in certain (mostly clerical) circles in the Church to engage in a process of trying to unpick the comprehensive reports that have shone light on…

Dear Editor, There is no doubt that the provision of hospital chaplaincy staff is a priority and as having ministered in a hospital, this service is needed as never before.I find that what patients need is the reassurance of the sacraments, especially with regards to Confession.  For a person who may be close to death…

Dear Editor, I’m finding the rise in attacks on churches in this country deeply disturbing. Last week’s paper reported an attack on a church in Limerick – Our Lady of Lourdes – and in previous weeks I remember there had been another church attack in Kilkeel, Co. Down followed by a synagogue that was attacked…

Dear Editor, Using a ‘Cross of Sacrifice’ as a war memorial in Glasnevin Cemetery is at first glance appropriate. It links the combatant’s heroism and sacrificial living and dying with Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. There is one enormous difference however. Jesus suffered and died loving and praying for his enemies: “Father forgive…

Dear Editor, I have been following with interest the debate about the new translation of the Ordinary Form of the Mass, particularly the concern that words such as “consubstantiation” would not be understood by ordinary Massgoers. Today I attended the English Mass and noticed that the reference to the “remission of sins” by baptism in the…

Dear Editor, Paul Keenan’s warning about the threat to the seal of confession is timely indeed, ‘Breaking the seal’ (IC 17/7/14). Sacerdotal privilege has traditionally been recognised by the courts of the Republic of Ireland – though the Supreme Court, in a 2001 appeal by the ‘Church of Scientology’ against a judgment which refused privilege…

Dear Editor,When we confess our sins it is to reconcile ourselves to God. The priest acts for God and only he can forgive our sins. We are taught from a young age that it is a grievous sin for the confessor to break the trust of the penitent and therefore I find it an insult…