Sir, - I was surprised to find Fintan O'Toole writing (August 22nd) that an essential feature of Catholic orthodoxy is "the belief that the State should be run according to the rules for the time being of one particular church", and that "if you don't favour theocratic rule, you are anti-Catholic". I must say I have never come across such Catholics among either the clergy or the laity. Mr O'Toole seems to have constructed a bogey man for himself, and is warning us all against it. Thus, an article which is designed to refute the charge of anti-Catholic bias in fact confirms it. No surprise to those of us who are devoted to Mr O'Toole.
He attributes to Dana the view that the government of the State is not sovereign but subject to the law of God, and he describes this view as Iranian. He might look at Bunreacht na hEireann, preamble and article 6, which recognises that all authority comes from God and is exercised under God. In spite of his best intentions, Mr O'Toole's rather sneering article may have done something to help Dana's rather unlikely bid for the presidency. - Yours, etc.,
The Abbey, Galway.