Sir, – Frank Browne (November 19th) writes that "The future Catholic Church will no doubt be different – smaller, more humble, and with fewer priests. But if Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin's vision is to be realised, it may also be a more vibrant church led by parish teams of priest, lay ministers, permanent deacons and committed lay parishioners."
I doubt if “smaller” is synonymous with being “more humble”. Small institutions can be very arrogant, in order to compensate for their smallness.
As for smaller being “more vibrant” – as long as this institution is vibrant with sexist and homophobic doctrines, it will continue to get smaller and become more irrelevant to today’s Christians, many of whom are women and LGBT people.
If the “fewer priests” cannot stand up to their bishops and refuse to be silenced, this organisation will inevitably keep shrinking in size, and deservedly so. What a shame that in the refusal of its leaders to embrace the evolution of our species, its effectiveness in bringing the message of Jesus Christ to humanity must shrink with it. – Yours, etc,
DECLAN KELLY,
Dingle,
Co Kerry.