Sir, – I, an Anglican priest, have the greatest sympathy with the sentiments expressed by Father Thomas SR O Flynn in his letter concerning St Patrick’s cathedral (November 16th). The forced alienation of sacred places from one community to another leaves lasting scars not only in our own land.
The Serbian longing for an Orthodox Kosovo sounds a parallel resonance; the deserted churches of Cappadocia and elsewhere since the compulsory deportation of 1.5 million Orthodox Christians from and 500,000 Greek Muslims to Turkey in 1923 likewise. They and we have to accept that while we are not responsible for our history we are charged by God to learn from it. I believe it was only in this spirit that the dean of the cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Patrick made his suggestion. In our common baptism both saints belong to us all and like Our Lady we are called to listen, face unusual challenges and manifest the Incarnate Word. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – Fr Thomas O Flynn’s dismissal (November 16th) of Dean Robert McCarthy’s attempts at promoting ecumenism between the Catholic and Protestant traditions suggests that any lack of progress to this end has far more to do with who owns the cathedrals than theological differences, thus reinforcing the view that the Catholic Church is primarily a business, pastoral care is incidental, not fundamental. – Is mise,