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, 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…

Dear Editor, In his address to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 2014, President Michael D. Higgins, talking on the shortcomings of the economic theories of our times, had this to say:  “The notion that capitalist markets are systems set apart from human ethics, is even shared by many who reject capitalism. “The writings of…

Dear Editor, Regarding chaplaincy support services (IC 14/04/2016 ‘Mass attendance a crude measure of chaplaincy support services’), Texas A&M State University (Aggieland) is of interest. In 2011 Aggieland had 52,775 students. St Mary’s Catholic Centre housed the Catholic campus ministry. Daily Mass attendance averaged 175; Sunday Masses drew between 4,000 and 5,000 worshippers. There were…

Dear Editor, In reference to Isabella Corr’s letter of 21/04/2016, I second her proposal that the Letters Page warrants expansion, albeit at the expense of advertisements. Your short format is appropriate and your items present pleasant and interesting topics in contrast to the mainstream media ‘rubbish’. Yours etc., Elizabeth McCluskey, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh.

Dear Editor, Please let me add my congratulations to Presentation Secondary School in Kilkenny on their incredible performance on Britain’s Got Talent. I missed the original broadcast but after reading your news story (IC 28/04/2016) I looked up the clip on YouTube and was blown away, just as much as the judges and the audience,…

Dear Editor, Interesting that Mary Kenny (IC 21/04/2016) empathised with that Kentish priest’s ‘lesbian’ dilemma. I think it shouldn’t have embarrassed him to have to say, “The Lesbians…” However, lesbians (small ‘l’) are not confined to Lesbos (now Lesvos), as we all know.   Lesvos, apart from being the birthplace of the poet Sappho in the…

Dear Editor, In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, is it time for the Irish Church to revise its treatment of Bishop Eamon Casey? Yours etc., Pat Conneely,  Dublin 11.