Dear Editor, Sabina Higgins is not a private citizen, she is the wife of the President of Ireland and therefore everything she does and says must be viewed as a reflection on the office of the president. To express an opinion which falls on either side of an issue that will most likely be the…

Dear Editor, I was relieved to read about the intervention by the North’s Attorney General, John Larkin in the Ashers’ Bakery appeal case in Belfast (‘Appeal court is urged to overturn gay cake case’ IC 12/05/2016). Finally somebody is speaking sense! Mr Larkin said that if the Christian bakers were guilty of discrimination for refusing…

Dear Editor, I am utterly appalled at Sabina Higgins’ public comments that lack of access to abortion in Ireland in situations where the unborn child has a life limiting condition is an outrage against women, the world and nature. Mrs Higgins’ intervention is completely inappropriate and an abuse of the fact that the public elected…

Dear Editor, In Kieron Wood’s letter (IC 28/04/2016), he plucks a line from the Bible (Timothy 2.12) to support his argument against women deacons. St Paul, a great orator of his time can only (I think) be read in context with the times, customs and practices he lived in and also the unfortunate standing/treatment of females and…

Dear Editor, When I read the page 1 banner of last week’s The Irish Catholic (05/05/2016) ‘Just War Theory – Pacifism only works when everyone adopts it’, I said to myself “Here we go again!” That has the same faith logic as “Thou shall not steal/commit adultery” only works when everyone adopts the same standard!…

Dear Editor, I write as we mark Coeliac Awareness Week. Five years on from diagnosis, I could recount several episodes where I have returned from Mass exasperated and wondering how more complicated sharing in Holy Communion can get. Many queries and letters later, I am perplexed as to why there cannot be agreement and clarity…

Dear Editor, In her article on Amnesty International’s stance on prostitution (IC 05/05/2016) Breda O’Brien mentions the Swedish prostitution law of 1999 which has been copied in certain other jurisdictions including our own. The key features of the Swedish law are, first, that it criminalises the purchase of sex but, second, it effectively liberalises its sale…

Dear Editor, I may be wrong on this but my recollection is that two years or so ago, the Theological Institute of the Jesuits in Milltown, Dublin was transferred to Trinity College. Inevitably, the college authorities required that the governance of the new faculty should rest in the hands of the college. That seems fair…

Dear Editor, What an interesting suggestion from former gangster John Pridmore to use the Confirmation programme to show children “how they can use their gifts to help others rather than hurt people” (IC 21/04/2016).  I have heard Mr Pridmore’s incredible story at a parish mission where he described his life of drugs, organised crime, power…

Dear Editor, It is annoying to see the current attack by politicians on the Junior Cert syllabus constantly being referred to as a “reform”. It is nothing of the sort. I hope the new Dáil will commit to suspend the brainless forcing through of coursework into the Junior Cert curriculum, whether marked by the classroom…