Sir, - I agree with Archbishop Empey that it is sad that the Angelus should be the subject of controversy. Archbishop Eames should surely know that the Angelus is a meditation on the Incarnation of Christ into our world. As The Irish Times of February 25th has illustrated, the meditation is scriptural, as is the first part of the Hail Mary. Irish Anglicans may be unfamiliar with the Angelus meditation but the Angelus bell rings out from many Anglican Churches in England and elsewhere.
The millennium celebrates 2,000 years since the Incarnation. What better way to do so than for all Christians to use the Angelus bell to meditate upon this mystery, using whatever prayers they may choose?
In the 16 years I spent in Asia I did not object to the Muslim call to prayer. I used the opportunity to praise God in my own Catholic way. - Yours, etc., C. H. R. Bailey,
Killiney, Co Dublin.