Sir, - Following controversy in your paper regarding Domi- nus Iesus, I should think that no Church wants to water down its teachings in order to achieve a sort of hybrid oneness.
My difficulty is that at a certain academic level all this discussion rolls on, while at another level so very many Catholics are impoverished by not knowing the current teachings of their Church on issues of faith and morals.
We seldom hear sermons that are clear and understandable statements of the teachings that Dominus Iesus so robustly supports. How are ordinary people to understand their faith and, consequently live it with conviction and courage, if they are in a foreverness of infancy regarding its teachings?
Perhaps the real problem is one of clear evangelisation before adding twists and turns and changes that compound ignorance and cause frustration or apathy amongst potentially fine followers? I think that the learned must be careful not to engage in academic one-upmanship at the expense of those who need down-to-earth shepherding. - Yours, etc.,
Angela MacNamara, Lower Kilmacud Road, Dublin 14.