Dear Editor, The call for a referendum, presumably to legislate in favour of abortion and to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, is based on a flaw. The Republic of Ireland despite its constitutional provisions of equality between the unborn and (with due regard) the mother, does in fact permit abortion. Abortion is permitted…

Dear Editor, I had a delayed reaction to the article ‘Baptism: A golden opportunity’ (IC 02/06/2016). The article makes good points about connecting anew with those present at the ceremony who may or may not be practicing. Its primary view of baptism is that it initiates a life-long process of “obtaining the image of Jesus”.…

Dear Editor, The letter you published from Henry Quirke (IC 16/06/2016)) is very unfair to Mary Stewart. She did not “demonise” Ken Curtin, or accuse him of “condoning murder”. She simply pointed out that Mr Curtin should not have been surprised at the Church’s reaction (removing him from the rota of readers at Mass) to…

Dear Editor, Greg Daly’s report on the findings of the survey The Future of Ireland II:Belonging and Community (‘One-third of Irish adults active in local church’ IC 16/06/2016) is a surprisingly good news story for our Church, even if the survey highlights that there is a significant variation in the responses of younger and older…

Dear Editor, Shane Lehane goes too far in ‘Mass is not a performance that requires applause’ (IC 23/06/2016) when he says applause in Mass is both unacceptable and undignified. Clapping can get out of hand, but a po-faced determination to quash expressions of gratitude for our choirs and folk groups is hardly the way to…