System beliefs

HAVING spent my formative years in Suffolk, England, and still with an attachment to the county, I was pleased to see this letter from my old home county about the Pope's visit, also in Wednesday's Independent (London).

'PEOPLE of faith' have every right to exert their influence, using our democratic system, but they must not be allowed to invoke their beliefs to trump that system.

Patrick Smith, Beccles, Suffolk

My sentiments entirely.

Papal Bull

THIS letter appeared in Wednesday's Independent (London).

THE Pope has confirmed that he will make a state visit to our country but doesn't much like our equality legislation for gay men and women. Surely he must be familiar with the maxim "When in Rome..."

Roy Askew, Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire

The Pope: Against Equality Bill

THE Pope has set the tone for his visit to England by publicly attacking Britain's Equality Bill because it will bar the Catholic Church from discriminating against gay people (that's not how the Pope said it but that's the gist of it).

More than 4,000 people have signed a Facebook petition protesting against the Pope's visit, one of the organisers pointing out that taxpayers will be faced with a bill of £20m for a visit in which the church leader "will attack equal rights and promote discrimination".

Human rights campaigner and gay rights activist Peter Tatchell is quoted as saying that the Pope seemed to be demanding that churches should be above the law

And he's right, isn't he?

Child abuse by clergy in state homes – Reflection on a Sunday

I WAS going to wait until Monday before posting on this but the sheer horror of the child abuse that was rampant in so-called schools and state institutions run by religious orders is so overwhelming that I'll put up the link on the report itself and return to it again.

http://www.childabusecommission.ie

It's Sunday, a day when Christians are called to prayer. I'm not a Christian but I respect those who do believe. I hope the Catholic Church takes a long hard look at itself, stops hiding in the shadows and does the right thing by exposing the guilty and making whatever reparations it can to the victims.