Madam - Your Letters page provides a valuable service in enabling people to air their views, and anyone with an open mind can always learn something. But the variety of views expressed about the new Pope must be very confusing for people with little knowledge of theology and church history. A daily newspaper is not the ideal place for serious study of these subjects, but I would like to congratulate The Irish Times on publishing the magnificent article by Fr Jim Corkery SJ ("Benedict's theological approach may limit his pastoral outreach", Opinion & Analysis, April 26th).
Unlike many documents (even official ones on "church teaching") it has a gentleness about it that echoes the gospel and has the ring of truth. Fr Corkery draws attention to two "traditions" in the history of the Christian church: the pessimistic Augustinian approach which sees the world negatively as the place of selfishness and sin, with all the "isms" that need to be condemned, and the healthier Thomistic approach which sees the same world as the world that God so loved.
This latter vision is a central teaching of the Second Vatican Council: that God is at work in our world, and our Christian faith enables us to discover the seeds of goodness and grace in all of reality, beyond the boundaries of our institutional church, but most of all in our human nature. It enables us to see all members of our human family as children of God, infinitely and equally precious in his eyes. It should trouble our conscience that our church can still stigmatise so many of God's holy people simply because they are women, homosexuals or couples living in second marriages.
Preachers could add depth and beauty to their ministry if they would read and re-read Jim Corkery's words of wisdom, calling us to open our minds and hearts to the wonderful vision of Vatican II in its document The Church in the Modern World. - Yours, etc,
SEAN FAGAN SM, Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2.