Madam, - While people are shocked at the extent and nature of clerical sexual abuse, the craven quality of the leadership of the Catholic Church should come as no surprise.
For a shining moment in the 1960s, Vatican II promised a new era of openness, involvement and high hope, defining church as the people of God and holding out the prospect that the people, after all the centuries, would have a say in decisions about their church.
Sadly, the retrenchment of the past 30 years, in particular of the Polish pontificate, has given us, with few exceptions, a church leadership all over the world of right-wing, conservative yesmen whose qualifying characteristics over more charismatic and, frequently, much more able candidates have been theological conformity with the traditionalist Roman curia and loyalty to church as institution.
In those 30 years committed, practising Catholics have time and again been disappointed and exasperated to witness good, enlightened priests being passed over for promotion; honest, inspiring men, being demoted because they took "the wrong side" as in Maynooth's McGrath affair in the 1970s; decent men who left the priesthood being disregarded and abandoned without means of support because they dared break rank; Maynooth, which was a very interesting place in the early 1970s, being cleared of theologically liberal or challenging teachers; and outstanding, idealistic priests being obliged to live lives of loneliness and sometimes despair because of the refusal of the ageing powers that be to address the anachronism of compulsory celibacy for all priests.
Abuse apart, what right-thinking father or mother would wish to see a son offer his life in the service of such a narrow, chauvinistic, power-obsessed and unjust human institution?
In this age of rapid change for authoritarian regimes all over the world, can the church leadership any longer afford go on like the Bourbons of old, learning nothing and forgetting nothing?
Even now is there a hope that Rome, beset by crisis, will listen to the many good priests and good people who have real and radical gospel values at heart? Or is another reformation the only way forward? - Yours, etc,
DONAL LYNCH, Termonfeckin, Co Louth.
Madam, - I would suggest that rather than throwing our hands in the air and merely blaming others for child abuse, we should look to that which facilitated it in a culture of cover-up and anonymity. I would call the offending attitude and posture "clericalism", which I would suggest is not exclusively a church problem, no more than is child abuse.
Forty years ago Vatican II proposed structures to renew the church and effectively to combat clericalism. It did not happen. Why? - I would respectfully suggest that it was because clericalism was never named as the offender.
Its anonymity was protected and as with child abuse or any other evil, anonymity provides the fertile ground in which such an invisible force will always continue to thrive and carry on its destructive work.
There is huge goodwill and commitment within our church today towards renewal.
However, one can sense the invisible, silent enemy of clericalism taking control of the renewal process and sabotaging it.
Please remember that I am not using the concept of clericalism, as I explained above, as pertaining to the clergy.
I have found in my own experience with church renewal that the propensity for clericalism of some of us laity is much greater than that by many of our clergy.
We will of course, in any event, see the setting-up of pastoral councils and much greater participation by the laity but unless clericalism is thwarted, pastoral councils will be token and the participating laity will, very often, become clericalised. - Yours, etc,
JOHN J LUPTON, Rosemary St, Roscrea, Co Tipperary.
Madam, - Dermot Harte writes (Letters, Oct 29th) that Bishop Eamonn Walsh is "a saintly and honourable man".
Why? Because he did not ignore the life-destroying abuse carried out by his subordinates?
Because he did what would be expected of any non-depraved human being? Only in the Catholic Church would this a saint make!
When will the kow-towing to the clergy end? What will it take?! - Yours, etc,
IAN KELLEHER, Captain's Boreen, Carrigaline, Co Cork.