Madam, - Tony Allwright (June 2nd) accuses Rev David Fraser (May 31st) of being "hysterical" when he said most Catholics were appalled at the way Fr Iggy O'Donovan and his colleagues were bullied into making an apology for the Easter Mass in Drogheda. Mr Allwright is delighted that an apology was extracted from these men. The Catholic Church, is like a golf club where the rules must be kept, he asserts.
He further challenges Rev Fraser for his comment that "morality has changed" and asks: "Is non-marital sex no longer immoral because more people do it? How about robbery and murder?" Mr Allwright's golf club - oops, church - may have a rule about non-marital sex, but that does not mean that non-marital sex is immoral, only that it breaks the rules of his church/club. To speak of non-marital sex as if it were comparable to to robbery or murder is as hysterical as anything of which he accuses Rev Fraser. How can consensual sex have anything in common with robbery or murder?
It is noteworthy, too, that Mr Allwright first thought of something sexual (and a benign act at that) when wishing to condemn an act as irretrievably immoral: robbery and murder came second and third on his list. This must be Catholicism at its best! Mr Allwright should know that even golf clubs are sometimes forced to change their rules. Blacks were not allowed to play at Augusta a few years ago. Clubs that bar women from membership, such as Portmarnock, will not get away with it for too much longer. - Yours, etc.,
DECLAN KELLY, Davis Court, Christchurch, Dublin 8.
Madam, - A few weeks ago my husband and I and many others attended the baptism of our grandnephew. Present were Catholics, Protestants, atheists and agnostics. To some was a sacrament, to others a naming ceremony, to all a welcoming party for the baby and I am sure to none a cause of confusion. So I can't see what harm could have come from the celebration of a sacrament in Drogheda by Protestants and Catholics.
I take issue with Tony Allwright when he writes that the Catholic Church "has no unwilling practitioners".
I "consented" to be a Catholic when I was one day old and the catechism was beaten into me in school. So I was an unwilling practitioner for many years - and I was far from alone.
He is right, of course, when he writes: "Just like a golf club, the RC Church has certain rules which you have to obey if you want to remain a member".
Yes indeed, like golf clubs the church has full member privileges for male members, restricted membership for females and the right to leave the club. - Yours, etc,
MARY McELENEY, Rochestown Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.