Sir, - Vincent Twomey (May 8th) in his ivory tower in Maynooth has obviously not realised that the Church has moved on without him.
The Church for 2,000 years believed women to be naturally inferior to men and thus not suitable for ordination. But that argument is now unacceptable and the Vatican now defends its discrimination against women by referring to 2,000 years of tradition. But the Church does not agree with the Vatican. In Ireland over 65 per cent of its members are in favour of the ordination of women (MRBI poll for RTE, February 1998). Only the Vatican's boast that it is not a democracy is stemming the tide of change within the Church.
We all know that the Church is inspired by the Holy Spirit to grow and change in the image of Christ. To quote but three examples of change in the Church:
the Pope recently confirmed that Galileo was right and the earth does go around the sun;
many Popes supported slavery before it was abolished;
the lending of money for interest was long condemned by the Vatican, but the Vatican Bank now has full Church support to earn interest.
Sitting in his ivory tower Mr Twomey may well be "amused" by Mrs Gail Grossman Freyne's words (May 4th). He is obviously blind to the fact that they reflect what is really happening in the Church. - Yours, etc., Colm Holmes,
Avoca Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.