Sir, - God knows (if the vernacular might be forgiven in such explosive circumstances) the Catholic Church can defend itself more than adequately and needs no third-party assistance, least of all from a Protestant. However, in the midst of this vast range of emotions, hurled like hand-grenades at the Hierarchy, it seems to me there is a fundamental issue. The topic under discussion was surely intended to be of a deep philosophical nature, open only to keen intellects capable of understanding and debating fine distinctions.
It was so obvious listening to Father Vincent Twomey (on Marion Finucane's radio programme) that the intellectual who tries to express finer points of philosophy to a largely uninterested and antagonised public does not stand a chance. The two positions are mutually exclusive. No matter what the general public might think, churches (irrespective of category) have a duty to explore social developments and direction. Perhaps it was a pity that, in this case, it was not done in private.
The other side of this coin is equally contentious. The Catholic Church is also a trans-national political organisation. The power base is dependent upon large numbers of (frequently disenfranchised) acquiescent persons, who are committed to maintaining (albeit involuntarily) the stock. For this reason alone, ignoring any ideological position, contraception is inevitably anathema. - Yours, etc.,
J.C.S. Foster, Rathkevin, Annamoe,
Co Wicklow.