Madam, - Is amnesia contagious? Could it be that Vincent Browne may be afflicted with the ailment? He has, after all, been spending some time at the Mahon tribunal where that complaint seems to be at epidemic levels.
In his column of October 10th he responds to the Catholic bishops' message marking the Church's "Day for Life" by accusing them of flawed reasoning. He asserts the Catholic Church has no credibility in speaking about the sacredness of human life since it is not consistent in doing so. In particular, he claims that the Church is silent when "the US bombs countries such as Iraq to bits".
Oh dear. Has Mr Browne forgotten the spring of 2003 when an ailing Pope John Paul repeatedly lobbied for peace with a dramatis personae of the Iraq conflict - Tony Blair, Colin Powell, Jose Maria Aznar, Dominique de Villepin, Kofi Annan, Tariq Aziz, and a special envoy of Iran's President Mohammed Khatami? Has he forgotten the Irish bishops' statement released before St Patrick's Day 2003 which called the war "a defeat for humanity"? Can he really have forgotten the almost daily statements, messages and initiatives from Catholic bishops' conferences all over the world trying to prevent the conflict? The reality is that few voices were louder in defending life in Iraq than that of the Church.
I hope that Mr Browne is in fact suffering from amnesia. After all, it would be unthinkable for a professional of his stature in the Irish media to ignore the truth purposefully while commenting on the Catholic Church.
Now, can anyone remember that happening before? - Yours, etc,
Dr ANDREW O'CONNELL, Mount Andrew Grove, Lucan, Co Dublin.