Madam, - Do the majority of ordinary people who claim to be practising Catholics know the teachings of the contemporary Church? I don't think so, because we are not being taught.
We have reached a point where to be "a good person" in one's subjective estimation is adequate criterion for being a member of the Church. That wouldn't suit a football club.
It is no good asking lay people to "evangelise" others if they do not know the answers to the questions that many people are asking. In addition, many others don't want to listen and they may consider that bringing up the subject is an invasion of their "space".
Many elderly people, including elderly priests, feel fulfilled by habits of faith they have had from their early years. Yet few are able to teach or are prepared to explore faith for today. Happily, some read scripture and have the gift of prayer and relationship with God through Christ.
Where, then, will the middle-aged and young "meet Christ", learn about the Catholic Church in a meaningful way in time to give a heartfelt greeting to the coming Eucharistic Congress, and begin excitedly to "renew the face of the earth"? - Yours, etc,
ANGELA MACNAMARA, Kilmacud Road, Dublin 14.