Sir, – If a man walked out on his wife and family, most readers of The Irish Timeswould, no doubt, suspend judgment, respecting the essentially private nature of his decision. If the same man, however, then proceeded to publicly criticise his wife, ad nauseam, ad infinitum, and insisted on telling all and sundry how badly she handled the raising of their children, these same readers would not be too impressed. To use an old-fashioned word, such behaviour would be regarded as caddish.
Surely the same standards should apply to lapsed Catholics, of which your newspaper seems to have more than its share, both columnists and readers? Your reasons for deserting us are your own business, and those of us who still practise do not stand in judgment on you; so please, please, stop moaning about us and telling us how we might do things better. – Yours, etc,