Sir, - I note from the recent statement issued by the Catholic bishops on the controversy surrounding the publication of Do- minus Iesus, that they are doing so "in the interests of dialogue . . . " It seems to me that there is an inherent contradiction between this declared desire for dialogue and the content of the said document and the bishops' support for it. For how can there be genuine dialogue if the opening position of one of the parties to that dialogue is that I am right and you are wrong and that no matter what you say, it was always and will always be so? Surely if there is to be genuine dialogue, one side cannot begin by a disavowal of the validity of the stance of the other, as is the case with the Roman church visa-vis the other Christian churches, but rather that both sides, from the relative truths of their respective positions, together seek a greater, more complete truth that transcends them both?
Otherwise what is the point? If one side sincerely believes that it already has it all and that there is nowhere left to go because they have already arrived, as it were, then what is there to gain? Why enter or even desire to enter into dialogue with others? But then perhaps the Roman church has a very sui generis understanding of dialogue. One suspects from recent statements that "dialogue" is not so much what can we both learn from one another but rather: "How can I convince you, obdurate and recalcitrant you, of the error of your ways and the rightness of mine?" I am inclined to this conclusion from the record of this Pope and his relations with other world views, spiritual or secular. Read for yourself his speeches and pronouncements when addressing these alternative world views and you will come to the conclusion that he is probably constitutionally incapable of genuine dialogue along with the upper echelons of the church he leads. Because if you believe that you already possess all truth, what on earth can you possibly learn from anybody else. The fact that he is now following the same path with other Christian Churches accusing them, in effect, of being unfaithful to the wishes of Christ, is indeed a scandal of biblical proportions.
What a crying shame that the hope we all felt at the onset of the Ecumenical movement of Vatican II with its smiling face of aggiornamento turned towards the world in desire for genuine dialogue, should be hijacked and turned into the hard cold stare of those who feel most comfortable hurling anathema's from the security of their ivory towers. - Yours, etc.,
John Cleary, Redmondstown, Co Wexford.