Sir, – Ian Kavanagh’s letter (April 4th) brought me back to about 1959, when I was out walking with a friend on Good Friday. I was a Catholic, and my friend was Anglican. We passed a clock tower as the clock struck three. My friend remarked: “Christ is dying on the cross.” I was thunderstruck. Strange as it may seem now, I had no idea that Protestants held the same beliefs as we did. Our priests and teachers emphasised the differences between us, rather than those things we held in common.
To return to pubs closing on Good Friday, it seems a pity if, regardless of what we believe, we can’t manage without a drink for a little while, given the day that’s in it – and its significance to the overwhelming majority of people in the country, regardless of their religious denomination. – Yours, etc,