Sir, - Fintan O'Toole was right when he stated in his column (August 22nd) that "Catholicism in Ireland or elsewhere is not one thing". The sooner we begin to realise this obvious truth the less confusion there will be all round.
Rightly or wrongly, the international and national image of the Roman Catholic Church is of a powerful, conservative, patriarchal, authoritarian, traditional organisation aligned to right-wing, sometimes fundamentalist, religious groups. Yet we all know that there are millions of liberal Roman Catholics across the world, including Ireland, who believe in an inclusive, pluralist society and who would have nothing in common with the antiquated conservative image of the Catholic Church. If the truth be known, they are in the majority. Many of these would be antiabortion and still, correctly, describe themselves as liberal.
But while the traditionalism of the Catholic Church is more than well represented across the Catholic world, unfortunately there are now few if any Church leaders prepared to express the liberal perspective. They seem to have all gone silent or vanished into thin air. Hence, the unrealistic, reactionary, unfair, unbalanced image of the Roman Church at national and international level. I wonder is this why a young Irish Catholic attending the World Youth Days in Paris said that "being a Catholic is considered uncool these days in Ireland" (Irish Times, August 22nd). - Yours, etc., JACKIE ROBINSON PP,
Clough/Ballacolla, Co Laois.