A chara, - Father Leonard Taylor (August 21st) takes me to task for my understanding of God as being "one of love, forgiveness, understanding and tolerance" and argues that I am following some "secular bible" with missing pages.
I would be very grateful if he would clarify from his reading of the Bible which pages I seem to be missing and as to how my core understanding of what it means to be Christian is flawed.
I would also appreciate it if he would tell me if we are to interpret everything literally from the bible and which interpretation should be placed on it - that of the Catholic Church 2,000 years ago, 1,000 years ago or today or some other interpretation? Does he also believe that a cardinal in the Vatican can sometimes be incorrect in his interpretation?
I strive to live as Christian a life as possible, following what I see as the core elements of Christ's teachings. I have great respect for a lot of the work of the Catholic Church, in education, in community and youth work, in tackling poverty; but why do I feel increasingly alienated from a Church leadership that seems to lack the qualities of love, forgiveness, understanding and tolerance that were at the heart of Christ's message? - Is Mise,
Cllr MALCOLM BYRNE,
(Fianna Fáil),
Ramsfort Avenue,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.