Sir, - I'd like to thank you most sincerely for the exquisite sensitivity with which you covered the death of Mother Teresa and the funeral of Princess Diana (September 6th).
One of the things most of us learn as we go through life is the value of friendship. A friend is someone who knows the song in our hearts and can sing it back to us when we've forgotten how it goes. Princess Diana and Mother Teresa reminded us how to sing our human song of love in a world which is a confusing mixture of joy and sorrow, wealth and poverty, generosity and greed. In doing so they have truly been our friends.
The front-page picture of the two of them holding hands said more than thousands of words ever could. It speaks to me of the kindness, tenderness, generosity and common humanity of both. Above all, it showed how both communicated with people by the simplest of gestures - in this case the clasping of hands as a bond of unity.
The extraordinary expressions of sympathy and compassion which we have experienced in the past week tell us more about ourselves than the petty crimes and vicious thuggery which all too frequently have to be highlighted by honest journalists. It tells us that deep down the majority of human beings are good; that we are more ready to reach out a helping hand than raise an angry fist; and that, in spite of our faults and failings, we generally do the best we can to respect and care for each other on our way through life.
I think it is also significant that it is two women who have brought this home to us in such a powerful way. Diana, with her humanity and vulnerability, was able to touch our hearts and remind us of our fragility and our need for love. Mother Teresa, with her dedication to the poor and her unquenchable faith, was able to remind us that every human life is precious and that our value is infinitely greater than we ever imagined.
May they both now experience the love and peace which is beyond all our understanding, which transcends time and space, and which they so eloquently highlighted in their separate ways. - Yours, etc.,
(Rev) Eddie Fitzgerald,
St Teresa's Road, Dublin 12.