Sir - It has been revealed that the Vatican's secretary of state sent a letter to Mr Tony Blair calling for the release of General Augusto Pinochet. It was reported to be a "humanitarian request". As the facts of the Pinochet regime have been well documented and highlighted in recent months, I ask one question: have personnel in the Vatican entirely lost the plot? Their job is to defend human rights, not defend the violators of those rights. - Yours, etc., Deirdre Ni Chuanachain,
Charlotte Place, Glenbrook, Cork.