Sir, - The fact that the early stage of this debate centred on the misuse of the word "sham" gave the mistaken impression that the main issue was one of language: it seems to me that the real issue in this debate is the much deeper one of Christian faith.
I agree with Dr Connell that the Eucharist is central to the Christian faith and that when I receive Communion I say "yes" to the deepest part of my Christian faith. But what is Christian faith? Here lies the problem. Different understandings of what Christian faith is exist, not only between different Churches, but within the Roman Catholic Church itself, where authoritarian structures don't allow for dialogue. For me, faith is not just content. It is primarily a dynamic relationship with God, in which content plays only a small part. I was, therefore, very shocked to read what Dr Connell had to say in The Irish Times of December 19th and Monday 22nd about Christian faith in the context of inter-church Communion.
Not only was it discourteous to the Church of Ireland but, in my opinion, it expressed a very impoverished view of Christian faith from within my own Catholic Church. It was narrow, authoritarian, and worst of all, almost Godless. The Church Hierarchy seemed to be replacing God! It exuded a pre-Vatican II understanding of Church. It equated faith in God with time-bound doctrines, formulated by small groups of priestly prelates and handed down to passive people on a plate. Is this communal faith?
I, personally, do not believe in transubstantiation. But, if I pick and choose doctrines on the basis of what I believe to be authentic in the presence of God, should I then be called an "a la carte Catholic"? I think I would be a foolish virgin in the extreme if I were to base such a precious possession as faith in, and a relationship with, God on the doctrines of these male, priestly prelates who, as often as not, are jostling and jockeying for spiritual power. I might arrive at the Gate of Heaven with no oil in my lamp!
A major pastoral question arises from the Dr Connell'sarticle of December 19th in The Irish Times. Do I have the right to receive Communion any longer in my own Church given the differences that exist between Dr Connell's faith and mine? I hope that Dr Connell will urgently clarify this question. Many Catholics, like me, reject several doctrines of the Catholic Church, on spiritual grounds. What now is our status? - Yours, etc.,
Seapoint Ave, Blackrock, Co Dublin.