Sir, - The Pope and the bishops are the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church - not any other individual or group of individuals, lay or clerical, no matter how learned they may be.
President McAleese, in receiving Communion in the Church of another denomination, chose to disregard the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church on a matter which that Church rightly regards as being of fundamental importance. It seems quite clear that she did so, not through mistake or ignorance on her part, but as a deliberate act of defiance towards the teaching the Church to which she claims to belong in relation to this part of its teaching.
When - no doubt to her surprise - the Irish Hierarchy made known its disapproval of her action so that it might not be taken as an example for others to follow, the President found herself at the centre of controversy in the very early stages of her Presidency.
Since then The Irish Times has, in my opinion, been engaged in a damage limitation exercise. Attack is sometimes regarded as the best form of defence, and public attention is being diverted away from the real issue in the case to an attack on Archbishop Connell for the manner in which he responded to what had taken place.
The Catholic faith does not consist of counting heads and deciding what course of action is most popular for the time being. Its teaching does not consist of doctrine expounded by individual theologians, missionary priests, learned nuns, or members of the public generally. When Our Lord said, "Go ye, therefore, teach all nations, and behold I am with you even to the close of time"; and when He said, "He who hears you, hears Me, and he who hears Me hears Him who sent Me", he was speaking to His chosen Apostles and to those who were to fulfil their role in every century which followed. His words were not addressed to presidents, professors, readers of The Irish Times or writers of editorial columns.
It is a matter for each of the Christian denominations to decide who are the true successors of the first Apostles. - Yours, etc.,
Kilternan, Co Dublin.