Madam, - Bishop Pat Buckley's proposed Catholic Church reforms (October 6th) rest on dubious assumptions and assertions.
For one thing, he is dismissive of "poor Pope John Paul" as "only a shadow of his former self". True, he suffers physically. Spiritually, however, he is as strong as ever. And he remains an indomitable leader who prophetically proclaims the whole truth. Hence his unpopularity in certain circles.
Next your correspondent sees "nothing but decay, despair" etc. Yet the "Barque of Peter" has one billion passengers. Such an aggregate membership scarcely suggests "utter helplessness". Islam alone is comparable.
He hyperbolically points to "a crisis of hurricane proportions". The Barque of Peter, he writes, lacks an "engine", a "rudder", a "captain", a "compass", a "crew", a "map", a "cargo". These are all unsupported assertions.
The bishop's recommendations, if fully implemented, would leave the Catholic Church indistinguishable from non-Catholic denominations. It would simply cease to exist after 2,000 years.
Some specifics. He favours the election of popes by the whole church. The mobilisation of one billion voters worldwide would be next to impossible. Why does he not trust the Holy Spirit to continue guiding the time-honoured traditional process?
He also advocates abandoning the Code of Canon Law in favour of the Bible. Yet these are by no means mutually exclusive options. They can co-exist. But his oddest idea is the "total replacement of religion". By common agreement, the Catholic Church is a religion. Renewal or replacement? - Yours, etc.,
J.A. BARNWELL, St Patrick's Road, Dublin 9.