Sir, - Fr David O'Hanlon asks: "If Anglicans want to be Catholic, why do they simply not convert?" (October 23rd). The simple answer to his question is that they do not need to convert because they already are Catholic, i.e., members of the body of Christ, the universal fellowship of all believers.
It continues to be a source of upset to many Anglicans that those who are in communion with the Bishop of Rome try to claim ownership of the term "Catholic" and refer to those who are not members of their denomination as non-Catholics. Every Sunday, in Church of Ireland churches throughout the length and breadth of the country, sincere Christian people affirm that they believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church and they will not allow Fr O'Hanlon or anyone else deny them their right to belong to the Catholic church.
If Fr O'Hanlon means "If Anglicans want to be Roman Catholic, why do they simply not convert?" I have no problem with this question. Indeed, I would say to anyone who feels called to move in that direction that they are entirely free to do so. No one will stand in their way.
Just as I have no problem with those from an Anglican background finding their spiritual home in the Roman Catholic church, if that is where God is calling them to be, I also have no difficulty in accepting into the Church of Ireland those who feel the Holy Spirit directing them that way. The inclusive, broad church of Anglicanism has a place within its ranks for those who have no time for the rigid, authoritarian and dogmatic religion espoused by Fr O'Hanlon on the one hand and certain fundamentalist sects on the other. -Yours, etc., David Frazer,
St Michael's Rectory, Sallins, Co Kildare.