Madam, - Newton Emerson's sneer at Tony Blair's reception into the Catholic Church betrayed not only his lack of respect for one man's faith but also his ignorance of Catholic belief and practice. Who is ever required to "recite the homily" (Opinion & Analysis, December 28th)?
Most Catholics will find it deeply offensive. Would you dare to print something about a convert to Islam in the same vein? - Yours, etc,
DICK CREMINS SJ, Cherryfield Avenue Upper, Dublin 6.
Madam, - Having read previous letters on the above subject and listened to numerous announcements and discussions on RTÉ, I note that no one has accepted that Mr Blair has simply chosen to embrace the Roman tradition of the Catholic Church.
I presume he was a member of the Church of England; he was indeed already a catholic? All he has taken on board are the three subtle differences between the Roman tradition and that of the Church of England. - Yours, etc,
(Mrs) LYN CORRIE, Annalong, Co Down.
Madam, - Has the Vatican no sense of irony? In his Christmas message, Pope Benedict XVI called for the Child Jesus to "bestow upon political leaders the wisdom and courage to seek and find humane, just and lasting solutions" to world conflicts, including "the whole of the Middle East - especially Iraq".
He made this statement only a matter of days after the Vatican declared its "satisfaction" at the warm welcome given to Tony Blair, an architect of the conflict in Iraq, upon his conversion to Catholicism.
Aside from the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, and the resultant instability throughout the region, the decision to invade Iraq has had one other significant consequence: the decline of Christianity within Iraq.
It is estimated that there are 600,000 Christians in Iraq today, less than 3 per cent of the population, compared with over 1 million during the reign of Saddam Hussein, with hundreds of thousands being forced to flee to Turkey, Jordan and Syria to escape the anarchy that has prevailed since his ousting.
Adding insult to injury, Mr Blair has since had the audacity to imply that his decision to send British troops to Iraq had been influenced by God himself, saying that "if you have faith about these things, you realise that judgment is. . .made by God as well". One wonders whether these minor issues were put to Mr Blair before he was welcomed into the Catholic Church with open arms? I, along with many other members of the Catholic Church, and particularly younger members, have become increasingly concerned and disillusioned at the many bizarre statements which the Pontiff has made since his election in 2005.
If calling for resolution to the conflict in Iraq, while at the same time welcoming one of its unrepentant architects into the Church, is the kind of message which the Pope wants to spread "urbi et orbi" (to the city and to the world), it seems there will be little change at the Vatican during 2008. - Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH, Brooklawn, Dublin 3.