Dear Editor, There are two interesting points raised by Syl Doyne’s letter ‘Canonisations raise questions’ (IC 8/5/14). Firstly, it was Saint John Paul II himself who ordered the investigation into the case against Fr Marcial Maciel which was not concluded until after his death during the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI who then responded to…

Dear Editor, With reference to David Quinn’s ‘Is Hell really real?’ (IC 8/5/14), Catholic theology has always maintained that after death there are two locations ultimately where the souls of the dead continue to exist, namely Heaven and Hell. Hell has never been defined and the mode of existence there is unknown to us. Let…

Dear Editor, People who go irregularly to Church don’t know whether to sit, kneel or stand at a funeral Mass. Those who attend Church regularly, sitting behind and to their side, copy them.   It is lacking in respect for the celebrant and regrettable that he is compelled to go to the microphone and request…

Dear Editor, I note with interest – and outrage –  that the then Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, last year changed, without notice to other interested parties, the format of the annual commemoration of the 1916 Rising as reported, ‘1916 families appeal for Mass ban to be lifted’ (IC 1/5/14). I understand that the reason…

Dear Editor, Am I the only one unsettled by the proposal to sell personal letters penned to Irish priest Fr Joseph Leonard by the late Jacqueline Kennedy? (IC 15/5/14) As detailed in your own article, Mrs Kennedy died without leaving any record of her life as US First Lady, demonstrating clearly how she valued what…