Sir, - The response to Enda McDonagh's article in The Furrow on "One Bread, One Body" by three clergymen (January 14) will not allay the disappointment felt by the many people who, like Dr McDonagh, found a contradiction between the ecumenical note struck by the document's title and its negative practical prescriptions.
If the authors and defenders of the document are serious about dialogue, they might have shown this by consulting Dr McDonagh himself when composing it. If they did not do so, I wonder why. He is one of Ireland's leading ecumenical theologians and peacemakers, and his participation might have prevented the offence and perhaps scandal which the document has occasioned.
Along with Dr McDonagh's contribution, this month's Furrow contains an article presenting the IRA as agents of biblical justice, and another lauding John Paul II as a prophet, a genius, and a theologian comparable with the greatest Fathers of the Church. Isn't it time for Roman Catholics to exchange such chauvinism and sycophancy for the attitudes McDonagh stands for: humility, repentence, charity? - Yours, etc., Rev Joseph S. O'Leary, D.D.,
Suginami-ku, Tokyo, Japan.