Sir, - Mr Reardon from Leavenworth, Kansas needs a serious wake-up call! In his comments (July 4th) on Patsy McGarry's Irishman's Diary of June 18th about "the Dublin priest", he derides Vatican II as "secular humanism's Trojan Horse in the City of God" and says: `It is to the Catholic tradition what the iceberg was to the Titanic." He should know that in so doing he projects himself as an active sales rep for the same secular humanism he would have us think he abhors.
Apparently, he would have us all retreat to the Pharisee-esque pre-Council times when everything was OK as long as it was on the right side of the law, regardless of conscience. Ah yes, and "they" did away with the old order of the Mass which appears to have been the foundation of his faith. The old order, that is. He doesn't have much time for the new order despite the fact that there was very little change aside from the Latin and the positioning of the celebrant.
Mr Reardon presents himself as a believing Catholic, but one who seems to know better than God, and God knows he should know better. Remember Lucifer! Our religion is based on faith and we need to demonstrate that faith by acknowledging that the Holy Spirit is the force which guides The Church, not the people who run it.
Who knows what the Catholic Church might have been had Vatican II never happened. What we do know is that about 2,000 years ago Jesus came to the people with a message of renewal which was too much for them to accept, and they got rid of him. But the message lives on. Vatican 11 was simply another significant step on the never-ending road of renewal.
Vatican II was intended to highlight the Church's apostolic and pastoral mission and, by making the truth of the Gospel shine forth, to lead all people to seek and receive Christ's love which surpasses all knowledge. Wake up Mr R, negativity and cynicism are the work of Satan and have no place in this plan of renewal. - Yours, etc.,
John Loftus,
West Belmont Avenue, Chicago, USA.