Sir, - May I endorse the views expressed by Professor Max Ryan last week? On behalf of my late father, Claude V. Clery of Limerick and Dublin, I should like to accept the most Christian apology of Dr Willie Walsh regarding the enforcement of the Ne Temere decree. As the children of a less usual mixed marriage in Ireland my brother and I were brought up as members of the Church of Ireland, or Anglican Community of the Catholic Church. During our school days in the Thirties it was most distressful for us to see the mental stress of our father after visits from local priests, members of Catholic Action, a most infamous pressure group. Please do not let us regress to militant pressure groups when we see the horrors of Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Algeria and others. Surely all religions should adhere to the basic beliefs of "Love God and love your neighbour" - Islam, Christianity, etc.
Due to the recurring use of the term "non Catholic" by the media and some clergy, could I ask for a definition of this description? Surely in these days of ecumenism the majority of Roman Catholics hear members of the Church of Ireland Presbyterian and Methodist Churches say either the Apostles' or Nicene creeds, expressing their belief in a "Catholic and Apostolic Church?" - Yours, etc.,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.