Church has taken many wrong roads

Dear Editor, Taking up on the recent comment made by Archbishop Michael Neary “Church has ‘lost the battle’ with secularism” (IC 13/11/2014), I wish to say that in certain ways he is correct. But he speaks about “bewildering crossroads” and the “inevitable struggle” in these modern times, with words like “death rattle” meaning the end.

This sounds very negative but he also fails to look at some of the reasons why we are where we are: forty years of the wrong catechesis in national schools, embracing false religions and ideals, sacrificing the truth to please the crowd and more.

Bishops, priests, parents and others have stood idly by and allowed programmes such as Alive O put forward deceptive catechesis in our national schools.

Since Vatican II the Church argues that we have to reach out to other religions. This must be done with caution and respect without giving away our own beliefs and ideals. Here again we have failed miserably. Also there is the desecration of holy places, turning the house of God into a concert hall with secular music and song.

“One of those necessities of the human mind is a belief in objective truth,” said G.K. Chesterton. Why can we not tell it as it is today?

Is it not the test of the mettle to stand up and be counted when the chips are down, is it not a requirement of our Catholic faith? Again we have failed the test here. When it comes to the end of our lives and we are standing before God our judge and we are asked have we succeeded in passing on the Faith, having lived through the past 40 years, can we honestly say yes?

So it is no wonder we are at a crossroads. My belief is we have taken the wrong road at too many crossroads over the years. People sometimes foolishly ask where did the whole thing go wrong.

To conclude, I say we will have to go back before we can go forward.

Yours etc.,

Michael Walsh,

Woodford,

Co. Galway.