Sir, – I am not sure that all Irish people will welcome Pope Francis to Ireland, as President Michael D Higgins is quoted as saying (News, January 25th). The President is misreading the public mood, and the enthusiasm of the last papal visit almost 40 years ago has long since evaporated.
I’m an Irish person, and I see the Catholic Church as faulty in many respects, but especially in its treatment of women. I watched three altar girls assisting a priest on the altar recently, and I observed quietly to myself that the poor girls had already reached the pinnacle of their church career at the age of 10 or 12 years.
I regret that, as a woman, the audience won’t be swelled by my attendance when Pope Francis appears at public events during his visit. – Yours, etc,
LESLIE LAWLESS,
Dublin 4.