Madam, - Thank you for your coverage of the election of Benedict XVI. It was very apparent, however, that the writers of articles and letters came from two different worlds. Of the two ends of the scale I would say it was the liberals, lamenting the election of such a "conservative", who were the more entrenched in their views.
But then, when you think about it, it is Christians who are constitutionally more used to considering that truth is something other than their own personal possession and liberals who have the more vested interest in the "right" of their personal opinion.
Thank you, dear Irish Times for making this so apparent. After all, if truth really hurts, maybe it is just because it is not "ours"! - Yours, etc,
PATRICK PYE,
Piperstown,
Tallaght,
Dublin 24.
Madam, - In 1987 Pope John Paul II wrote the Encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis. This draws attention to the needs of the poor and recommends that "all people of good will" should be mindful of these needs. I quote from paragraph 31: "Faced by cases of need, one cannot ignore them (the poor) in favour of superfluous church ornaments and costly furnishings for divine worship; on the contrary it could be obligatory to sell these goods in order to provide food, drink, clothing and shelter for those who lack these things".
To my knowledge this teaching of Pope John Paul II has not been acted upon, though I would love to be informed to the contrary.
Benedict XVI in the midst of very costly ornaments and furnishings and attired in, (in my opinion) superfluous and costly vestments, said one of the objectives of his papacy was to help the poor. I'm hopeful that Pope Benedict, who was such a close associate and adviser to Pope John Paul, will put this teaching visibly into practice. - Yours, etc,
CLARE DAWSON,
Prosperous Road,
Kilmeague,
Naas,
Co Kildare.