Sir, – People are perfectly within their rights to object to or register their disgust at Martyn Turner’s cartoon on priests and the seal of the confession.
But there is no right not to be offended and being offended by the cartoon does not nullify the right of an individual to satirise the church’s attitude to mandatory reporting. Church rules regarding the sanctity of the confessional should not trump the laws of the State. No institution should be above those laws; we have seen before that having two parallel legal systems is not an acceptable arrangement.
Fr Colm Kenny (April 17th) bemoans the alleged use of “the sins of the past as a stick to continue to beat the church”. His use of the word “sins” speaks volumes. These were not merely sins, but crimes. How many times are we going to have to explain this? Yours, etc,
ROB SADLIER,
Stocking Avenue,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16
Sir, – As a priest who works with children, I was not too surprised by the comment in Martyn Turner’s cartoon to the effect that all priests should keep away from all children.
The clerical sexual abuse crisis has given some people a licence to speak of all things Catholic with gloating contempt – an attitude which serves nothing but bigotry. I was disappointed, however, by the verbose, self-serving tone of the formal editorial apology which appeared three days later. Yours, etc,
EDMOND GRACE SJ,
Jesuit Community,
Lr Leeson Street,
Dublin 2
Sir, – Your leader (“An editorial lapse”, April 19th) brought me back many, many years to an expression that my wise mother had. “It takes a lot of self-confidence to be humble.” Congratulations. Yours, etc.
OLIVER DUFFY,
Fremont Drive,
Bishopstown,
Cork
Sir, – Offensive depictions and remarks are often defended on grounds of “free speech”. Yet it does not follow that such free speech is free from bigotry, bitterness, cynicism, hypocrisy, malevolence or prejudice,
As someone who has to pay for newspapers and a TV licence, might I suggest that such vitriolic stuff be dispensed with or only be disseminated free of charge by whoever wants to express it and that the paying public should be treated to speech that is marked by consideration, respect, dignity, good intentions, humour and truth? Yours, etc,
SEAMUS O’CALLAGHAN,
Bullock Park,
Carlow