Sir, – I have long had a soft spot for conspiracy theories – if only for their entertainment value. I have been reading Vincent Twomey’s article on conscience and the Abortion Bill (“Conscience, a last bulwark against totalitarianism”, Opinion & Analysis, July 24th) and am amazed to find that the failure of many priests and bishops to speak out on the matter was due either to their support for the Fine Gael party or to the fact that they had been taught heretical moral theology in the seminary (or perhaps a bit of both). Influential politicians had, it seems, been similarly theologically brainwashed and “legislators . . . were forced to act against their conscience”.
Conscience, Prof Twomey tells us, is not a personal belief or a private conviction but is “our capacity to recognise what we ought to do”. From the tone and content of the article, I suspect that he really means “our capacity to recognise what Vincent Twomey thinks we ought to do”. – Yours, etc,
TONY BURKE,
Abbey Park,
Baldoyle,
Dublin 13.