Sir, - Ms Eadaoin Ni Chuill (May 6th) accuses Trocaire of failing to circulate its annual report or to inform the public of its administration costs and other expenditure. She also expressed her disapproval of Trocaire's "political activity" and the use of Trocaire's funds to support those who oppose corrupt and oppressive regimes in the developing world.
In relation to Trocaire's public accountability, while Ms Ni Chuill complains of being "bombarded with Trocaire boxes" she has clearly never opened the envelope in which it is delivered. If she did, she would find a leaflet, sent to over one million homes throughout the country each year, which sets out Troaire's income and expenditure for the previous year including the administration costs. These costs are always less than 10 per cent of our total income and for the past year were 6.45 per cent. In addition Trocaire publishes 3,000 copies of its extended annual report which sets out each project which has been funded in the previous year. This report is circulated widely to interested parties, donors and others and is available on request from our office.
In relation to Trocaire's work in the developing world, Ms Ni Chuill is suffering from a grave misunderstanding of Trocaire and its mandate, given to it by the bishops of Ireland on its foundation twenty-five years ago. From the outset, Trocaire's work was to be the work of justice. The mandate stated that Trocaire "would make us all more aware of the needs of (developing) countries and our duties towards them. These duties are no longer a matter of charity but of simple justice".
In making this statement the bishops were reflecting the view of the Synod of Bishops held in Rome in 1971 which in its document Justice in the World declared "Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the gospel".
There has been a reluctance on the part of some to accept that a church agency should take on such a prophetic role. Aware of this reluctance, Cardinal Cahal Daly reaffirmed this mandate when he spoke at Trocaire's 10th Anniversary Conference in Galway in June 1983. He said: "If Trocaire were to be criticised for concerning itself with political issues in Third World countries in cases where political policies and institutions manifestly violated justice and human rights, then Trocaire can and must take its stand on the principles prescribed for it by the bishops of Ireland". These sentiments were reiterated by Archbishop Sean Brady in his Trocaire Lecture given in Maynooth in 1995.
It has frequently been the habit of those who disagree with Trocaire's work to drop the name of Karl Marx, or some derivative of it, into the discussion of the work of the organisation. I can only conclude by recalling the words of Dom Helder Camara, retired Archbishop of Recife in Brazil, "When I give food to the hungry they call me a saint, when I ask why they are hungry they call me a communist". Perhaps Ms Ni Chuill might ponder that one! - Yours, etc., Justin Kilcullen, Director,
Trocaire, Booterstown Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.