Madam, - Reading with interest a report in your edition of June 5th about the arrival in Dublin of St Anthony's relics, I was surprised to see him described as an "Italian Franciscan monk". It is true that, by his works and preaching, he is now an universal figure, belonging to us all, and popular everywhere in the Catholic world. But the fact remains that - as your paper rightly says - he was born in Lisbon, of Portuguese parents.
Furthermore, he was educated in Portugal, where he took his religious vows, and remained Portuguese for the rest of his life. Living and dying in Italy did not "miraculously" alter his nationality. It only made him better known by posterity as St Anthony of Padua, and not as St Anthony of Lisbon, as we Portuguese call him. - Yours, etc.,
LUIS QUARTIN GRAÇA, Deputy Head of Mission, Portuguese Embassy, Foxrock, Dublin 18.