Madam, – Further to Sr Anne Lyons’s letter (September 7th) in which she suggests sending postcards to Cardinal Brady, we would like to share the following information.
In the mid 1990s Basic (Brothers and Sisters in Christ) collected some 20,000 signatures on a petition in relation to the exclusion of women from ordination. Because the petition was signed in locations all over Ireland, signatures were sent to every bishop, including the then Cardinal Cahal Daly. Only a handful of bishops acknowledged receipt of the signatures while Cardinal Daly absolutely refused to accept them.
More recently, this year, Basic wrote to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin about the exclusion of women from ordination as permanent deacons. He has not replied to this letter.
From this we conclude that where the status of women is concerned, nothing has changed, the practice in the Roman Catholic Church of ignoring the voices of the people is the same now as it ever was. This being so, we suggest that, as well as writing postcards, other methods of protest should be used, in particular one that even the hierarchy cannot ignore: refusing to pay any further contributions to church funds. There should be no tax without representation, so it is time for the hierarchy to start listening in earnest. – Yours, etc,