Madam, - Through the Letters page I would like to thank Fr Sean Fagan sincerely for his letter of July 10th. I for one have struggled for years to reconcile the claim that "the church is the people" with the Catholic Church I have experienced since coming to this country many years ago.
Maybe there is a glimmer of hope of some real change, in a not-too-distant future. - Yours, etc,
KAREN HIGGINS,
Mallow,
Co Cork.
Madam, - Declan Kelly (July 9th) prompts me to raise a related a question. Archbishop Martin remarked last weekend that "we see very few young people in our churches" and also that many non-churchgoing young people are "good, idealistic and generous".
Mr Kelly wonders if our Archbishop is jealous of that being so without their being members of "[Catholic] Eucharistic communities".
My question is: What is the point in asking the few of us still "in our churches" to get involved in an expensive, time-consuming evangelisation crusade beamed at people who are deemed to be "good, idealistic and generous"? Surely such a crusade would be justified only if the opposite were deemed to be the case. — Yours, etc,
JOSEPH F. FOYLE, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.
Madam, - May I submit that the cause of the fall in clerical vocations to the Catholic Church is the refreshing reality that comes with education and prosperity?
For years the church brainwashed people and infiltrated every element of this society to the detriment of everyone. Unfortunately, the Church, while diminishing in the West, is now expanding in places such as Africa, where it has ample opportunity to prey on the poor and uneducated. - Yours, etc,
LIAM MEEHAN, La Vista Avenue, Killester, Dublin 5.