Sir, – Roman Catholic ascendancy and in particular the Ne Temere marriage decree were largely responsible for the narrow parochialism of the Church of Ireland in Dublin and elsewhere during most of the last century. There was the constant fear that the loss of children to the Roman Catholic faith as the result of a mixed marriage would eventually lead to the annihilation of Protestantism in the South of Ireland. Therefore "circle the wagons", avoid any social or political involvement which might lead to a mixed marriage or branded as an enemy of Holy Catholic Ireland, Irish and Catholic being synonymous.
I well remember my mother’s warning: “Keep off religion and politics or you’ll get us all burnt out”. Thankfully things have now changed and we should welcome and seize the opportunity to have done with religious segregation and participate fully in public and political life, North and South, as Archbishop Jackson rightly emphasised at the Dublin Synod. – Yours, etc,
Very Revd VICTOR G
GRIFFIN,
(Dean of St Patrick’s
1969-1991),
Tyler Road,
Limavady,
Co Derry.
Sir, – The recent comments by Dr Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough, raise many pertinent issues for all churches in Ireland. While the comments were delivered in a specific denominational and geographic context I suggest that all Christian traditions in Ireland need to reflect on how we have welcomed the stranger in our midst.
The comments challenge all parish communities to reflect on how we, the Irish churches, extend a céad míle fáilte to newcomers in our particular communities, whether the newcomers be immigrants or those finding a space consonant with their pilgrimage of faith. – Yours, etc,
HUGH DURNIN,
The Paddocks,
Naas,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – So refreshing, on a recent visit to Sri Lanka, to see shrines in houses and shops where images of the Buddha, Jesus and Mary were clustered together with those of Shiva and Ganesh: a few simple tea lights and a stick of incense burning in honour of, and in gratitude for, each one’s unique glimpse of the infinite and the immanent. They are meant to unite us, not divide us. – Yours, etc,
MAEVE HALPIN,
Ranelagh
Dublin 6.
Sir, – I return from two weeks’ holiday in the US to find that “sex and sectarianism” seems to have become the strapline for the Church of Ireland. It makes a change from just sex, anyway. – Yours, etc,
The Revd Dr STANLEY
MONKHOUSE,
Rector of Portlaoise,
The Rock and Ballyfin,
Coote Street,
Portlaoise,
Co Laois.