Sir, – The statement by Bishop Boyce of Raphoe that the Catholic Church is enduring a difficult time makes no reference to the contribution made by the bishops themselves (Home News, August 25th).
At least as citizens of this country we were able to hold Fianna Fáil to account for destroying the fabric of our society and our economy. But as practising Catholics we have no facility to hold these current members of hierarchy to account. These are the men (with exception of Archbishop Martin) who have destroyed the fabric of our church.
The difficulties of the church are not due to the “sins and crimes of priests” but to the completely inadequate response of the hierarchy to these crimes. As long as these men continue to hold positions of responsibility within the Catholic organisation, our church will never recover. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – With reference to the statement of the Bishop of Raphoe and the attack on the church from a Godless society (Home News, August 25th), would he not look within the same church, which is perceived by many to be Godless, Christless, and wholly unChristian in its behaviour? It would not be the first citadel to fall from within. – Yours, etc,