Madam, - Roma locuta est. They have recanted. Torquemada lives! - Yours, etc,
ANN CHAPMAN, Ulverton Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Like Galileo, the three Augustinian priests who concelebrated Mass with a Church of Ireland rector have been forced to recant.
Like Galileo, sometimes the pressures to recant can not be resisted.
Like Galileo, we know where the real truth is.
Like Galileo, they will eventually be "rehabilitated" by the Vatican - except this time it won't take over 300 years.
A new church is growing from the seeds of Vatican II and change is happening in spite of our unelected leaders. I give thanks to the three Augustinians and Rev Michael Graham for having had the courage to follow the Holy Spirit in them. - Yours, etc,
COLM HOLMES, Avoca Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Madam, - To use the sentiments expressed in the official apology by the three Augustinian priests, I deeply regret the pain, confusion and damage caused by this coerced apology in the Ireland of 2006, where a 15-year-old boy is beaten to death because of his religion by boys of his own age.
I despair of the lack of leadership by the very institution which should be leading by example through tolerance rather than issuing empty condemnations of this barbarous act. - Yours, etc,
MARY O'CARROLL, Castle Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3.
Madam, - I note with abhorrence that the Roman Catholic Church has brow-beaten into submission the three Augustinian priests at the centre of the Easter Sunday Mass at Drogheda.
This is totally consistent with its actions towards "dissenters" throughout the centuries, as evidenced in the early days of Christianity, in the Crusades and the Reformation. What is particularly sad is that the gentleness, table-fellowship and love espoused by Jesus has been replaced by the bullying, divisiveness and threats of retribution that now characterise the hierarchical Church.
On a personal level, as a minister of music within the Augustinian church, and as a student of theology, I cannot castigate the Hierarchy strongly enough for their actions. - Yours, etc,
Dr FINTAN SHEERIN, Five Oaks, Drogheda, Co Louth.