Dear Editor,  I fully agree with Fr Hilliard’s words (IC 03/09/2015) that Europe has been latent in working to negotiate peace settlements and programmes to be put in place to help people return to rebuild life in their countries of birth. When is Europe going to wake up and face up to its responsibilities? I…

Dear Editor, I was delighted to hear that Pope Francis has announced that the next World Meeting of Families is to be held in Dublin. Will this mean that the Pope himself shall visit, perhaps including Northern Ireland while he is here, and Knock too? Either way, the decision to host the World Meeting of…

Dear Editor, The standard of reporting on religion in the media is appalling (your own newspaper is, thankfully, an honourable exception). I find myself time-and-again having to go to the original source of a story to get beyond the silly media spin to the truth. Pope Francis is a case in point. Repeatedly, he is…

Dear Editor, Michael Healy (Letters, September 17, 2015) isn’t the only person who thinks that the priest greeting everyone twice at Mass is superfluous. In the sacristy of Clonskeagh church in Dublin, I once greeted the late curate, Fr Arthur Larkin, with “Good evening Father” and then, after a short pause, “Good evening Father” again. …

Dear Editor, As we approach next month’s Synod of Bishops on the family, one needs to be careful which side one chooses to take in all this. In relation to the Kasper proposal, Cardinal Kasper and others are putting forward a proposal for changes to allow divorced and ‘remarried’ Catholics to receive Holy Communion and…

Dear Editor, The news that there is an increase in the sale of abortion pills in Ireland was followed immediately by yet another demand for widening the provisions for legalised abortion here.  Unfortunately, however, just as with the GAA and the amateur status, we cannot have ‘a little’ payment of players; and no country has…

Dear Editor, Mary Kenny seems at sea with the details of the displacement of Germans from eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War and its aftermath (IC 17/9/15). Whereas many Germans and people of other nationalities fled red army advances towards the war’s end and immediately afterwards, the Allies decided to resettle…

Dear Editor, Thank you for your report on visitors to Longford Cathedral by Mags Gargan (IC 10/09/15), but I was disappointed that there was no mention of the ‘miraculous’ picture of the Holy Family which survived the devastating fire. At this time of satanic attacks on Catholic families, how heartening to know that The Holy…

Dear Editor,  For a long time, prior to the referendum on same-sex marriage, the media, for the greater part, engaged in a thoroughly biased promotional exercise. Time and again it was stated that some 80% of the Irish people would vote in favour. Not once did I hear these statistics questioned, but they should have…

Dear Editor, I note Msgr Denis O’Callaghan laments the lack of hotel accommodation near Knock. He is probably unaware of the excellent Park Hotel, Kiltimagh, and the McWilliams Hotel in Claremorris, both less than 10 minutes drive from the Shrine. There are also many good bed and breakfast houses there. Hopefully, people will not be…