Sir, - On the closure of St Peter's College, Wexford, Paddy Shannon writes (September 14th): "The college was named after the Apostle Peter whom Christ chose as the rock upon whom to build His Church. Peter was a married man and the first Pope." ". . .thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). This utterance of Christ near Caesarea Philippi was a confirmation of Peter's reply when Christ asked: "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" (16:13). Some of the other disciples had answered that He was John the Baptist, Elias, Jeremias or one of the prophets (16:14). Peter, who had hitherto been known as Simon, answered: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (16:16).
The name Peter (Cephas) corresponds to Petras, the Greek word for "rock." Because of the suitability of his name, Christ wished to confirm Peter's answer and He therefore built His religion on the firm foundation of his chief disciple's divinely inspired recognition (16:17) - in other words, on his declaration of faith.
What became the Christian Church was built not so much on the person of the fisherman Peter but rather on his certitude; St Paul exerted a far greater influence on the doctrinal and institutional development of Christianity, notably its implicit anti-feminism (1 Timothy 2:11-12, Ephesians 5:22, 1 Corinthians 11:8-9).
The greatest rival to Christianity in the early centuries was Mithraism, whose highest level was held by the priests who were addressed as "pater", a name later corrupted to "papa" and then to "pope". In the first three centuries of Christ's faith, this pagan term was applied to any Christian bishop. The increasing participation of women in so many spheres of public endeavour marks our own period as quite different to that in which the Roman Catholic Church was established, a period when women were regarded as being inherently inferior to their male counterparts (a view nowhere even hinted at in Christ's revelation). Indeed, women appear to have made progress in spite of the anti-feminist strictures of such institutions as the Papacy.
Mr Shannon goes on to comment that the Roman Catholic Church insists on "a clergy that is male and celibate", which has partly contributed to the phenomenal decline in its vocations in Ireland.
Just how can the Christ-promised Kingdom of God on earth (Matthew 6:10) be realised by excluding half the world's population from decision-making agencies? Is this exclusion in any way consonant with the universality of Christ's commandments? Or are women valuable only insofar as they provide Catholicism with an ever-dwindling number of potential clerics? - Yours, etc., Edwin McCloughan,
High Road,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.