Sir, – In terms of change, if the Catholic Church changes its teaching intermittently, as Fr Brendan Hoban claims it does (Letters, August 23rd), does this imply that prior to these changes being made, the church was actually in error regarding the issues involved?
Taking a particular instance, are those Catholics with same-sex attraction who seek to live in a manner described as chaste by the Catholic Church in fact wasting their time given that a change in the teaching on marriage is proposed by priests, bishops and cardinals?
The church doesn’t speak in terms of change, but in terms of development.
The pastoral activity of both priests would be more gainful if they clarified what constitutes doctrinal development and the “wise discernment” spoken of by Fr Gerry O’Hanlon (Letters, August 23rd).
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Finally, what level of receptivity to liberalism must a Catholic achieve in order to attain the status of a “liberal Catholic?” – Yours, etc,
NEIL BRAY,
Cappamore,
Co Limerick.
Sir, – Breda O’Brien argued against the idea that the recent majority synodal conclusions can in no way be taken seriously as a true representative voice of the church (“Church is not a democracy so forget about radical change”, Opinion & Analysis, August 20th).
In her attempt to discredit the validity of this majority lay voice, she states that the early church would have been destroyed if the Arianism majority view on the nature of Christ was accepted.
However, such a view is contradicted by Saint John Henry Newman in his essay on Arianism.
He wrote that “taking a wide view of history, we are obliged to say that the governing body of the Church came short, and the governed were pre-eminent in faith, zeal and courage”. In other words it was not the pope and the bishops that saved the early church from Arianism but the pre-eminent voice of the laity .
Once again this “pre-eminent voice of the laity”, as expressed in the national synodal conclusions, and not the “governing body of the church” that will once again save the church from extinction. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER,
Guatemala City,
Guatemala.