Madam, - We would be grateful if someone would tell us what is wrong with two Christian ministers obeying Christ's command to remember Him by breaking bread together. Whose word takes precedence - that of Christ or that of the archbishops of Armagh?
Is this a matter of real theological concern that should keep us awake at night, or an issue of power and control over two communities in which the Holy Spirit seems unexpectedly to have been let loose?
Jesus Christ lived and died not as a Catholic or a Protestant but as a Jew. In the modern world, with so many problems to face, can we stop wasting time and energy in preventing ordinary Christians loving one another and celebrating Christ together as they should have done years ago? - Yours, etc,
JEANETTE HENEHAN (Church of Ireland), ELIZABETH RODDY (Roman Catholic), Corcullen, Galway.
Madam, - It is unacceptable that Fr Iggy O'Donovan OSA should seek to undermine the dedicated efforts of many Christian women and men and sabotage the work of genuine ecumenism by attempting to substitute a vain unity of action for true unity of belief.
It is astounding that a Catholic priest should misuse the Most Holy Eucharist, and bewildering that he should consider himself, and not God, to be the author of Christian unity. - Yours, etc,
Fr JOHN M. CUNNINGHAM OP, Collegio San Clemente, Rome.
Madam, - Archbishop Diarmuid Martin is reported as quoting Pope Benedict XVI saying: "we cannot have Jesus without the church" and we cannot say "Jesus yes, Church no" (The Irish Times, April 24th).
But what is the church? The church of Jesus Christ, as Vatican II, implies and teaches, is the whole human race. Dr Martin and the Roman Catholic Hierarchy really believe that the Church is the Hierarchy and the "clerical club" leading the submissive and all-suffering laity - the so-called sheep.
I have been concelebrating the Mass with clergy of the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church and the Methodist Church for 20 years now. I believe in orthopraxy rather than orthodoxy. Actions first, theologies follow.
The real problem in the Roman Catholic Church is that a small minority, the bishops and clergy, have hijacked the church and are holding the rest of us to ransom. This "clerical club" are the new Pharisees, choking the Holy Spirit with the legalism of canon law and man-made rules and doctrines.
I, and many others in the church, quite rightly say: "Jesus yes, church yes, but Canon Law and priestly caste religious tyranny no".
And whenever I reflect on this issue I hear the words of Christ thunder: "Beware the yeast of the Pharisee". - Yours, etc,
Bishop PAT BUCKLEY, The Oratory Society, Larne, Co Antrim.
Madam, - I refer to the article by Patsy McGarry in your edition of April 20th. In the Gospels there is but one instance where Jesus looked on sadly as many of his followers parted ways with him. They had found his teaching too hard to take and they hoped that under protest he might be willing to tone it down. But they hoped in vain.
It happened when he had spoken about the Eucharist, saying he would give his flesh to eat and his blood to drink. And not only did he part company with many of his followers that day but he put it to his chosen apostles that they too might think it too much and would have to consider leaving: "Do you want to go away too?" A powerful act of trusting faith by Peter saved the day.
So for Jesus, his teaching on the Eucharist was clearly a matter of take it as it is or leave it. He was manifestly unwilling to trim it to popular demand. It was from the outset a supreme test of faith, a challenge that some of his followers could meet and others could not. "Are you able to take it just as I have taught?" is the question confronting all who would approach the Eucharist. Multiple "faiths" are not in order.
It is the evangelist John who relates the above dramatic incident in chapter six of his Gospel. It seems to me that John's Jesus is seriously at odds with the Jesus of your Religious Affairs Correspondent in his otherwise moving parable. It can be risky to put words into the mouth of Jesus where a mystery so profound is at issue. - Yours, etc,
Fr NOEL HANRAHAN, Knock, Co Mayo.
Madam, - The swift episcopal response to the grave matter of an inclusive celebration in the church of the Augustinian Order in Drogheda shows that things can change. Some years ago, when it was revealed that a Norbertine priest had been engaged in serious paedophile activities, the subsequent explanation for the limited episcopal care for the children involved was that the Premonstratensian Order did not fall within the juridical oversight of the local ordinary.
It seems that in things that really matter the norms of canon law can be set aside. - Yours, etc,
HUGO BRADY BROWN, Stratford on Slaney, Co Wicklow.