Madam, - Young Jimmy O'Brien (January 31st) must be congratulated for actually reading Humanae Vitae. However, one wonders whether he is old enough to have ever tried to practise what the encyclical preaches. I have tried it and I cannot recommend it.
Young Mr O'Brien then comments on Pope Paul VI, the encyclical's author, who predicted that artificial contraception would result in women being less respected by men than they were prior to their invention and use - by modern men and women! He believes that this prediction has come to pass. I hope he is not presuming he can speak for all men. My guess is that he has arrived at this conclusion because he himself feels that women in today's world are less deserving of respect.
No doubt Jimmy O'Brien is a well meaning young man but he had a lot to learn about women and men and about himself in particular. I wish him well in his voyage of discovery. I used to be young myself once upon a time; now I am 71 - older and, I hope, just a little bit wiser. - Yours, etc,
IRENE REDMOND, Granville Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.