Madam, - Lara Marlowe's whimsically entertaining account of President Sarkozy's excursions into the domain of matters religious (March 10th) includes a judgment with which I would cavil. She writes: "Sarkozy admires the US deeply and his attitude towards faith is doubtless influenced by US neo-conservatives."
"Doubtless"? There are very many non-Americans who admire the US deeply while not being impressed by the neo-conservative school. I believe that Sarkozy's continental religious mindset has little in common with so-called neo-conservatives. His French understanding of Catholicism would be significantly different from the fundamentalist-inclined approach to faith that informs the evangelical culture of George Bush and his political coterie.
It is extremely doubtful that neo-conservatism, at least in its religious expression, could be that which attracts the French president to the US. - Yours, etc,
Fr TOM STACK, Maple Hall, Milltown, Dublin 6.