Sir, - It is with great regret that I beg to differ with what my friend and neighbour Donal Donnelly says (August 18th). I do not wish to comment on the well publicised sexual and physical abuse of some of their charges by a minority of Christian Brothers and other clergy. I want to draw attention to a widely propagated myth which is often invoked in defence of the Christian Brothers in general - that is, that they provided education to young Irish people for many generations when there was nobody else to do it.
What many fail to realise is that, although they did equip their pupils with skills and competencies, they did not provide them with education - i.e., they did not attempt to nurture their individual potential, enabling them to become free spirits with independent, inquiring and questioning minds. Rather did they concentrate on shaping their minds and attitudes to conform to the precepts of the Catholic Church and to a concept of society elaborated and imposed by that same Church. This was indoctrination, not education - which suggests that, although sexual and physical abuse was perpetrated by a minority of Christian Brothers and other teaching orders, mental and spiritual abuse was perpetrated by all. - Yours, etc.,
Eoghan O'Loingsigh,
Acorn Road, Dundrum, Dublin 16.