Dear Editor, I write regarding Sr Eileen Clear’s letter (IC 03/03/2016). I agree with Church teaching on capital punishment as it has developed to respect the value and dignity of human life in all contexts, including those of abortion, euthanasia, and violent crime. Bur her contention that “For Scalia, the law and constitution always came…

Dear Editor, Last week our acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny, in front of assembled Americans, stupidly insulted every Christian and embarrassed the majority of Irish people by using the expression “Be Jaysus”. This is not the kind of leadership I want for my country. Please, step aside Enda! Yours etc., Anne McGrath, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.

Dear Editor, As the debate around Catholic schools rumbles on, the Church should surely be doing more to quash unnecessary concerns? As research recently conducted by The Irish Catholic proved (IC 11/02/2016), Catholic schools are far from oversubscribed, let alone turning away children who don’t hold baptismal certificates. In fact, many Catholic schools, particularly in…

Dear Editor, With the recent awards season (Oscars, BAFTAs etc.) I propose we strike a medal and award it to The Irish Catholic TV/radio critic, Brendan O’Regan. His tireless dedication in having to listen to hours of guff, propaganda and filth that most of our broadcasters spew out on the airwaves, deserves some recognition. Recently…

Dear Editor, How wonderful to read your report that male classroom assistants are having a positive influence on the exam results achieved by boys in St Paul’s High School in Bressbrook, Co. Armagh (IC 10/03/2016 ‘Classroom ‘father figures’ behind exam results boost’). It reminded me of the phrase ‘one good adult’ and the positive influence…

Dear Editor, The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has issued proposals for a curriculum titled ‘Education about Religions & Beliefs & Ethics’ (ERBE), to be made compulsory in all primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. ERBE claims a pluralist and objective approach to the main theist, non-theist and secular beliefs. Such an…

Dear Editor, Dr Eamon Phoenix’s dismissal as “simplistic” attempts to link the Rising centenary with dissident violence in the North (IC 10/03/2016) is both reassuring and persuasive. Even in 1966, at a time when Catholics in the North were denied some basic civil rights, the Rising’s 50th anniversary provoked little republican violence, the destruction of…

Dear Editor, We are only a few months into the ‘Year of Mercy’, but I think it is already safe to say that it has been a huge success. So many other special years have passed with little effort being made in the Irish Church to publicise or mark them in anyway. This jubilee year…

Dear Editor, As Mother Teresa is to be canonised this September and with the forthcoming threat to the Eighth Amendment in Ireland, it is timely to remind people what she said in the Noble Lecture having been awarded the Noble Peace prize in 1979. “I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because…

Dear Editor, While it is right to comment and praise the good things a TD has done for his/her community, such as Mary Kenny’s praise of Jimmy Deenihan (IC 03/03/2016), given that he voted for the 2013 abortion act, does this not now undo those good works, since abortion is never good for community nor…