Sir, - Your report on the consecration of Bishop Paul Colton in Christ Church Cathedral (The Irish Times, March 26th) made for distasteful reading. The consecration of every bishop is set within the context of the Eucharist - the supreme act of worship for Christians when they believe they share in the very life of their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. It is a public moment of commitment, but it is also a very private and personal act.
For your correspondent Patsy McGarry to name individual Roman Catholics who, in the exercise of conscience, chose to receive the sacrament was an act of gross intrusion and of questionable journalism. He also chose to ignore the many Roman Catholics I witnessed who, again according to conscience, followed the rubrics of the service and simply opted to come forward for a blessing. They obviously were not newsworthy.
Is it now to be the policy of The Irish Times that its journalists are to act as a type of ecclesiastical thought police at every church service? - Yours, etc.,
John Paterson, Dean of Christ Church, Chapter House, Dublin 8.