Sir, - The letters from Mr Sean Fox and Mr Rory O'Hanlon (January 3rd) attribute respectively base motives and an unworthy attitude to President McAleese. These represent unfounded assaults on the integrity and character of the President of Ireland. They are more than deplorable: they are unjust. Furthermore, the attributions, particularly those of Mr Fox, breach Canon 220 of the Code of Canon Law which states that "no one may unlawfully harm the good reputation which a person enjoys".
Some years before Prof Mary McAleese was elected President of Ireland, I heard her speak and was deeply impressed by her obvious and sincere commitment to Christ, to the Roman Catholic Church and to family. Very recently, I read her book Reconciled Being, Love in Chaos, which represents a collection of talks given by her in 1997 at a religious seminar named after the contemplative Benedictine monk Dom John Main.
It is evident from this book that President McAleese is a spiritual and deeply reflective person committed to daily meditation and prayer. In her book she reiterates her conviction that peace in Northern Ireland will be permanent only if it is accompanied by the sincerely lived Gospel imperative of love. She sees this as requiring a process and principle which she terms "inclusiveness" - an appropriate embracing of all neighbours and all enemies in love to dispel prejudice, fear, misunderstandings and ghettoised mindsets with resultant respect by each for the true dignity of the other.
Now it is possible to go to the kernel of confusion in this debate. The Roman Catholic Church teaches (sic) unequivocally and with certainty that a person is obliged (sic) to act in accordance with her or his conscience when properly formed following a diligent process of discernment. The person "must obey" this conscience. This obligation to "obey" conscience overrides Canon Law. The relevant references merit careful study: they are: Vatican II, Guadium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) No 16; and Catechism of the Catholic Church Article 6 (Moral Conscience).
The Apostolic Constitution which is at the start of the Code of Canon Law states: "The Code is regarded as a complement to the authentic teaching proposed by the Second Vatican Council"; and "the Code is not in any way to replace faith, grace, charisms and above all charity"; and "the Code rather looks towards the achievement of order in the ecclesial society." The Apostolic Constitution injuncts those in authority (bishops, etc.) to ensure that the Code is observed. The code most certainly is binding on all members of the Latin Church subject only to the teaching of the Church on the sanctity of conscience and on the supremacy of the discernment in a properly formed conscience, which discernment must prayerfully give due weight and consideration to the content and purposes of Canon Law. We may not blindly follow any "leader".
Canon 225.2 of the Code of Canon Law would have a special relevance for our President, especially in the context of the political difficulties in Northern Ireland. This canon imposes an "obligation to permeate and perfect the temporal order of things with the spirit of the Gospel". President McAleese appears to be endeavouring to do this. Committed Christians should assist her in prayer and with goodwill.
It is uplifting to know that President Mary McAleese has reinstated the Blessed Sacrament in the church at Aras An Uachtarain. This action speaks loudly. - Yours, etc., John Clifford,
Dundela Avenue,
Sandycove,
Co Dublin.