Dear Editor, Countries express horror at how the Nazis killed millions of innocent people in the gas chambers of concentration camps, yet these very same countries sanction the killing of millions of unborn human beings by abortion today. Why? The evil of slavery was tolerated in the 19th Century and, until recent years, the cruelty…

Dear Editor, When Sr Mary McGlynn talks about women deacons and the Orthodox Church (Letters, IC 25/09/2014), she is talking through her wimple (if she wears one). She says: “The Orthodox Church restored the office of deacon for women in 2005.” The Orthodox Churches, not having a Pope like the Latin-rite Church, make up their…

Dear Editor, It seems from both the pronouncements of Pope Francis and the submissions made to him and the bishops’ synod on defending traditional marriage and family, that there is a real sense that a new dispensation of mercy is on the agenda of this pontificate. Clerical celibacy might be described as the low-hanging fruit…

Dear Editor, The Irish Catholic of Sept 18 carried an interesting feature titled “Faith formation is key”, about Archbishop William Slattery in regard to the South African Church’s approach to evangelisation. The quote that interested me was: “We can lose people to the other (‘6,000 independent Churches in South Africa’) unless we put a tremendous effort into the…

Dear Editor, Is it believable that the St Vincent de Paul donor funds to support a gay centre is directing scarce resources to the most needy and deserving cases? For a Catholic charity to support an organisation that is promoting gay marriage, which the Church is opposing, is unacceptable. The only answers to restore the…

Dear Editor, I refer to an article in The Irish Catholic of September 11, regarding the Mrs Jackie Kennedy letters (Mary Kenny, ‘Jackie Kennedy’s letters: they also belong to future history’). The article refers to the Vincentian Fathers as “planning to sell Jackie Kennedy letters”.  I wish to state that the Vincentians Fathers were never…

Dear Editor, A lot of the reaction to the resignation of Bishop Kieran Conry in Britain has tended towards the conclusion that he ought to be looked at sympathetically because of the burdensome vow of celibacy. Bishop Conry has admitted that he was unfaithful to his vow of celibacy. It’s hard not to be sympathetic…

Dear Editor, We should never give up hope on religion or vocations. The Church always had its high and low phases and survived to tell the Christian tale. We are aware of the weakness that pertains in the Irish Church over the past two decades and the more obvious reasons for this. I recently spoke…

Dear Editor, The forthcoming Synod on the Family called by Pope Francis, which is mandated to come to terms with the challenges facing contemporary families, is dominated by bishops and cardinals with a few lay people included as observers.  However, Ireland’s representation at this important gathering consists of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and an ‘observer’ sister of the…

Dear Editor, In the light of current media concerns with education in the State, some elementary facts need to be outlined. 1. Most Catholic schools were built on land donated by Catholics; the capital costs of building these schools were borne by Catholics  2. The maintenance and running costs of these schools is partly met…