Sir, - Does RTE have a list of anti Catholic persons and organisations on which to call when opportunity offers of criticising the Catholic Church and her teaching? It seems so. On the Today at Five programme on August 30th, Dick Spicer of the Campaign to Separate Church and State was called upon to comment at length, and unopposed, on a recent statement of the Pope on the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
His comments were purely anti Catholic, intended to insult the faith of listeners. But in fact, Mr. Spicer was so ignorant of the origin of the New Testament that he asserted it was written in the time of Constantine - that is, the Fourth Century AD. The Gospel of St Mark was written in 47 AD and the Gospel of St. John, the last of the Four Gospels, between 95 and 100 AD.
Surprisingly, the interviewer, Myles Dungan, seemed to be ignorant of the subject, which is unusual given that he always presses his guests to defend their position. We hear a lot of talk, particularly in the media of communication, of the need to respect the beliefs and traditions of others, but here we had a deliberate attempt to be little Catholic belief. - Yours, etc.,
Belgrove Lawn,
Chapelizod,
Dublin 20.