Madam, - My dictionary defines "to practise" as to pursue actively the teaching and duties of a religion; to carry out an action (as opposed to believing, professing, etc). Therefore, I am slightly puzzled by the assertion of the Rev Martin Clarke, Director of the Catholic Communications Office in Maynooth, that whereas 96.6 per cent of respondents in the Diocese of Killaloe described themselves as practising Catholics, only 61.6 per cent attended Mass regularly.
As one of the duties of a practising Roman Catholic is to attend Mass every Sunday (or, latterly, Saturday evening), I fail to see how Rev Clarke can account for the 35 per cent who do not attend to their religious obligations in full. Surely to call these à la carte members of the faith "practising" is an insult to those who take their religious obligations a little more seriously? - Yours, etc.,
D.K. HENDERSON, Castle Avenue, Dublin 3.