Madam, – As a member of the Church of Ireland, part of the world-wide Anglican Communion, I wish to completely disassociate myself with the disgraceful remarks made by the Archbishop of Canterbury when he stated that the Catholic Church in Ireland had lost all credibility over the child abuse scandal (Home News, April 5th).
The Catholic Church is the entire people of that faith – to make such a sweeping and condemnatory statement is outrageous and unjust. How discouraging for the vast majority of sincere member of the Catholic faith who are our brothers and sisters in the Christian faith. I think Rowan Williams is a disconnected intellectual who should think a little more and speak a little less. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – Ann Marie Hourihane writes (Opinion, April 5th) in an almost gleeful way, as many “expert” commentators do, that the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has lost all credibility. She further asserts that the vast majority of believing, Mass-attending Catholics believe it to be true. How does she know? In our parish of Star of the Sea, Sandymount, we have had a terrific Eastertide, with large congregations attending the many ceremonies. We are the Catholic Church in Sandymount, as local parish communities across the country are. We have credibility; we have a future, despite the “experts” in the media. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The Archbishop of Canterbury has articulated, at last, what many of my fellow non-Roman Catholics are saying in private about the firestorm that is enveloping our separated brethren. Dr Williams might have gone further to a logical conclusion. Reading and listening to much of the views of ordinary Roman Catholics, I am struck by a yearning among many for an episcopally-based Christianity that offers them what their institutional church apparently cannot. As no more than a lay member, can I diffidently suggest that they would find a welcome in Anglicanism generally, and in the Church of Ireland in particular?
This is a truly national Christian church, beholden to no foreign power. Its clergy is elected, answerable, accountable and only celibate if it wants to be. It is participatory for its members. Its doctrine, while informed by tradition, is scripturally-based. The only infallibility it admits is that of Christ.
On the whole, the church is liberal and charitable, recognising the real world as it is, understanding in its approach to modern problems and the often messy foibles of real human beings. The church works with the grain of humanity, not against it. It welcomes Christians of all denominations, and none, to its eucharist with no sanction or test.
The Church of Ireland is by no means perfect – no human institution can ever be – but it is a home in which many Roman Catholics, possibly to their surprise, might find considerable comfort. – Yours, etc,