Should the synod be looking outwards as well as inwards?
Dear Editor, Like the editor of The Irish Catholic, I feel concerned about the list of topics chosen for discussion at the forthcoming synodal gathering. But my concern is that practically all of the topics proposed, and also the list of topics which the editor of The Irish Catholic would wish to be discussed, seem to be mainly issues about the Church itself. What about the huge issues in the wider world which have been major concerns for Pope Francis and Pope Leo? Should not the synod follow the lead of the popes in looking outwards toward the world as well as looking inward?
Both Pope Francis and Pope Leo have shown that they are deeply concerned about peace-making, care for the Earth, protecting of young people from the addictive features of social media, pornography, the concentration of power in the hands of a few tycoons, the undermining of human rights, the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor, the massive exploitation of both the resources and the people of poorer countries, the new forms of slavery such as trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation and the forced employment of children in mining for rare-earth minerals, the discrimination against women in the wider society where women are penalised for taking time at home with their young children.
I would have loved to see some of these topics given more prominence of the agenda for the synod meeting. However, when I see the names of the people appointed to some of the groups in the forthcoming synodal meeting I feel hopeful that they will do their best to address the kind of issues I have just mentioned. I hope and pray that their voices will be heard and acted on.
Yours etc,
Fr Donal Dorr
Kiltegan, Co. Wicklow
Our responsibility to the universal Church
Dear Editor, Like many of your readers, I grew up in the 1980s reading stories of heroic and saintly Irish missionaries in The Irish Catholic and publications like The Far East and Africa.
Irish Catholics can be rightly proud that our land produced thousands of missionaries over the centuries, most famously during two major periods: the early medieval ‘saints and scholars’ era (6th–8th centuries) and the modern 20th-century missionary movement.
At its peak in the early 1980s, around 8,000 Irish missionaries were active across about 80 countries, supported largely by donations from home. There is hardly a parish in Ireland that cannot name dozens of local men and women who went to the ends of the earth to live their lives with the most vulnerable of people. Wherever I am blessed to travel in my work with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) from Argentina to Pakistan, I hear cherished memories of long dead but never forgotten Irish missionaries who brought the gift of faith in difficult times.
Given our history, it’s hard to comprehend – for me at least – that of the seven priorities identified by Irish Catholics to discern as part of the synodal pathway, the missionary and suffering Church did not warrant a mention.
According to the most recent Religious Freedom in the World Report from ACN, some 413 million Christians live in countries where religious freedom is severely violated – that’s 18% or about one in five Christians.
The numbers are as sobering as they are a call to action for a country that once evangelised the known world. Our Church will only be truly ‘Catholic’ when we can look beyond our own local concerns and see that we have a responsibility for the universal Church – particularly where fellow Christians are suffering or persecuted for their Faith in Jesus Christ.
Yours etc,
Michael Kelly
Aid to the Church in Need
Uncomfortable home truths with deadly consequences
Dear Editor, In the course of his address to the Spanish Parliament, Pope Leo outlined some uncomfortable home truths for society.
In relation to abortion he stated “if life ceases to be recognised as a fundamental value, what future can our societies have? Can a community that casts into the shadows the unborn child….be called fully just? The defence of human life is neither a partisan issue nor a confessional interest: it is a goal of civilisation.”
One is reminded of the similar sentiments of the great Irish philosopher and parliamentarian, Edmund Burke, who declared “society is a contract between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are yet to be born.”
Tragically, this wise advice has been ignored by most of the West, not least by the Irish, who chose to tear up this unwritten societal contract, with deadly consequences.
Yours etc,
Eric Conway
Navan, Co. Meath
GDPR law avoids transparency and doesn’t protect public interest
Dear Editor, When Ireland transposed this directive into Irish law, it tipped the scales in such a way that it protects civil servants, hinders the right for the public interest and puts a blindfold over the Freedom of Information laws which were already in place.
This means that the public has to pay expensive fees to solicitors for information which should already be accessible through the public domain. This is not the case in other EU countries.
The purpose of the EU Data Protection Law is to protect individual citizens’ private information from misuse by malicious actors. This is understandable in a time of growing money scams, identity fraud and mainstream media’s pursuit of sensational headlines, not to mention social media trolls. GDPR was never meant to prevent the public from finding out information which would have been previously in the public domain, such as the right of the public to inspect the electoral register and having a transparent social housing list.
Taxpayers should have the right to know the contact details for owners of property. They should also have details of contracts that involve public money without having to spend money on solicitors. The Galway public should have known how the initial contract was made in the decision to move Galway City Hall from City Centre to Crown Plaza, Mervue, which will inconvenience many of its service users. Our representatives, the city councillors, should have been consulted first before any talks were held with the developers.
All initial meetings between higher civil servants, developers and contractors involving large sums of public monies should be recorded and open to the public scrutiny when contracts are finalised. GDPR laws should not override the public interest and were never meant to be employed in this way.
Yours etc,
Nuala Nolan
Bowling Green, Co. Galway
The inherent dignity of every person
Dear Editor, Pope Leo XIV cites in his recent Encyclical Letter Magnifica Humanitas from Church documents what he calls the ontological dignity of every person: “the dignity that belongs to every human being simply by the virtue of existing, of having been willed, created and loved by God” (p. 59).
This immediately reminded me of an experience during my training as a young nurse in the Netherlands. I was placed in an institute for mentally frail children.
There I got to know a little girl, called Cathy of about 5 years old, who nevertheless appeared as a full grown baby. Cathy’s head was bigger in size due to encephalitis since birth. Her parents had rejected her.
As Cathy needed to be fed by artificial means, I was told that a while ago, a long discussion had unfolded among the medical personnel along these lines: “Is it ethically a right decision to keep Cathy alive by artificial means, if she has no one else in the world, except her carers?” “What is she getting out of life?”
After much deliberation, with pros and cons, the medical team of this Catholic institute decided to withhold artificial feeding from Cathy, thinking this would be the right ethical choice. And of course, this would probably mean death in three days’ time.
Unexpectedly, after five days little Cathy was still alive and well. The medical team was so stunned that they decided to immediately resume feeding her artificially for the rest of her life.
This occurred 50 years ago, but I have never forgotten Cathy: this little deaf and visually impaired girl, who used to giggle when people would take care of her.
Yours etc,
Myriam MacCionnaith
Co. Donegal
Synodality must celebrate the treasure of the Catholic faith
Dear Editor, I wish to commend Fr Andrew McMahon for his article of June 4 2026 on the synodal process.
I should say at the outset that I am not opposed to synodality in itself. Properly understood, it can be a valuable means of listening, discernment, and participation within the life of the Church. However, the manner in which it unfolded in Ireland has, for many, left important questions unanswered.
It seems to me that the difficulty was not simply that some people were unaware of the process or chose not to attend. Rather, there was also a perception among many faithful Catholics that certain viewpoints were more readily welcomed than others.
The Catholic faith is a great treasure, and any process of renewal or consultation ought surely to begin by drawing attention to the beauty and richness of the Church’s teaching, rather than appearing to place it under suspicion. If synodality is to bear fruit, it must help the Church to deepen her mission, strengthen her witness, and serve the work of evangelisation. However, a Church that seems uncertain of her identity, or too ready to set aside her own treasures, will not attract souls.
As a woman in my early forties who is a wife, a mother of five, a professional in my career, I have never personally felt that the Church regards me as a second-class citizen, as some voices seemed to say during this process. At the same time, I strongly believe that women, including wives and mothers, have much to contribute to the life of the Church.
What many of us long for is a process in which the faithful can genuinely come together, listen to one another, and discern how best to serve the Church’s mission, but always in fidelity to her identity and without the impression of predetermined outcomes or hidden agendas.
Yours etc,
Lana Wilson
Drumkeen, Co. Donegal