Dear Editor, The recently issued Vatican directive “that the ashes of loved ones, after cremation, must be buried, stored or scattered, only, in sacred, consecrated communal places” was a timely and welcome one.   It brings to mind a little story related by the late Liam Clancy, youngest of the famous singing Clancy Brothers.  While…

Dear Editor, Having had the experience and privilege of teaching in a faith-based Christian Brothers school with a rich tradition of catering for students from a variety of social background and some from the Jewish faith, the recent education conference on faith-based schools was timely.  It is inevitable that pressure for a more secular and…

Dear Editor, Your letters’ page (IC 27/10/2016) has yet again raised the worthy idea of having a national day to remember those who lives have been cut short by the abortion industry. May I suggest that the Friday following the solemnity of Christ the King – falling between November 25 and December 1 inclusive –…

Dear Editor, I was at Mass this morning and picked up the bishops’ postcard for Ireland’s Day for Life. I was dismayed to find Mary Robinson pictured on the postcard.  Mary Robinson was for the legalisation of abortion as early as 1998. How in God’s holy name could our bishops use her as a symbol…

Dear Editor, Since I am named in a recent letter in your paper, under the heading, ‘Some priests are openly at odds with Church teaching’, ( letter from C.D.C. Armstrong, Belfast, IC 20/10/2016.) I hope you might allow me a small space to reply.  Indeed your correspondent expresses the hope that I will be censured…

Dear Editor, One of the most peculiar details in your troubling analysis of Veritas’ financial position (‘Veritas: kept afloat by the bishops’ IC 3/11/2016) is a passing reference to how 2014’s closing inventory was revalued after the submission of the 2014 accounts. If 2014’s closing stock was really worth almost €400,000 less than previously estimated,…

Dear Editor, I would like to thank Mary Kenny for her excellent article of October 20, 2016, ‘Is Katherine Zappone fit for her government job?’ As a grandparent who minds our grandchildren weekly, I so appreciate her sensitivity. The sheer arrogance of Minister Zappone is startling. Her refusal to give young mothers the choice of…

Dear Editor, In her opinion piece of October 20, Mary Kenny asks whether Katherine Zappone is fit for the job. While it is legitimate to question her competency for the office, I think in fairness one should question the office itself as fulfilled by her and her predecessors. After all, the education of children is…

Dear Editor, I attended your splendid Conference on the subject of Faith-based Schools in a pluralist society and was struck by the high calibre of many of the contributions, especially those of Francis Campbell and Baroness Nuala O’Loan. However, I was also impressed by the letter of Julie Connolly (‘A tendency towards pantheism’ IC 20/10/2016)…

Dear Editor, It was interesting to see the Pope in Sweden this week to mark 499 years since an Augustinian monk from a small town in Germany nailed a set of heretical theses to the town bulletin board, in hope of starting a conversation about his new ideas. People with less education and training than…