Madam, - Your Weekend Review of April 9th asked several well-known people what they would look for in a new Pope. While the qualities mentioned were admirable and indeed desirable it struck me that these qualities were not uniquely Christian. For example, it would be great to have a Pope who took up the fight to combat poverty. But this is a desire shared by leaders of many different faiths and none.
What we need in the new Pope (I myself am a Methodist) is a man who makes Jesus his priority: a man who knows Christ and desires to make him known in the cities, towns and villages around the world. For in the face of both joy and suffering, in the face of happiness and sadness, the greatest thing any human can have is a personal relationship with Jesus. Surely this is the most desirable quality the Christian world and beyond needs in the next Pope: To know Christ and make Him known. - Yours, etc.,
HEIDI GOOD, Comer Road, Kilkenny.
Madam, - I remember being told at Mass regularly that the Bible is the word of God. I believed it too, but I'm not so sure that the cardinals going into the consistory do because in the New Testament there is a very clear account of how an election of this nature was conducted.
We were told in the Acts of the Apostles that Peter stood up before about a 120 of Christ's disciples and said they should elect an apostle to replace Judas. The meeting named two of them: Joseph and Mathias. "And they offered this prayer: 'Lord who knowest the hearts of all men, show us which of these two thou has chosen.' They gave them lots and the lot fell upon Mathias." (Acts 1, 24ff ; Ronald Knox translation.)
Could anything be clearer than this? It's difficult to understand then why the cardinals don't follow it. Is it because they don't believe that the Scripture is in fact the Word of God? Or is it because they feel that God can't really be trusted to make the right choice? - Yours, etc.,
JOHN BARRETT, Saval Park Gardens, Dalkey, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Given the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of the word catholic as "all embracing", one wonders if the next Pope might be catholic. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN LYNCH, Arranmore Avenue, Phibsboro, Dublin 7.
Madam, - I am a regular churchgoer and a supporter and admirer of the work that John Paul II did for the Catholic Church. Despite my youth (I am 20), I feel I have a true understanding of what it is to be a devout Catholic.
I regularly read and enjoy Rosin Ingle's column in your weekend Magazine, but I have to say that her column last Saturday left me dumbfounded. To say that the funeral of one of the most dynamic leaders of the 20th and 21st century could be compared to a circus is quite preposterous. Slandering a man who brought hope to a nation and gave a supposedly diminishing religion a chance for the future is neither ethical nor admirable.
I hope that when Ms Ingle wants to use the shock factor in future she researches her topic with a bit more conviction. - Yours, etc.,
STEPHEN FITZGERALD, Knochnashee, Goatstown, Dublin 14.
Madam, - We have followed with increasing interest the articles of your journalist, John Waters, in recent weeks (April 4th and 11th). His analysis of the thinking of the late Pope, John Paul II, is both perceptive and striking. Perhaps still more remarkable, however, is his capacity to address the Irish scenario in the light of the Pope's insights into the human condition.
We should be grateful if you would tender him our warmest congratulations. - Yours, etc.,
Rev THOMAS NORRIS, Lecturer in Systematic Theology, Rev MAURICE HOGAN, SSC, Professor of Sacred Scripture, Saint Patrick's College, Maynooth, Co Kildare.