SIR – Professor John Charmley’s “Britain’s latter-day Reformation” (Comment, July 29) is at best a “Remoaner’s” rhetorical exercise, at worst a grotesquely misleading piece of remain propaganda when he states that “the old Protestant suspicion of Catholic Europe has simply been replaced by dislike of the EU and Brussels”.
Yet Henry VIII rejected the spiritual authority of the Catholic Church and the Bishop of Rome; Brexit rejects the social and political predominance of authoritarian bureaucrats and unelected and irresponsible judges. Henry pursued serial monogamy contrary to the teachings of the Church; Brexiteers reject the power of an unChristian European Union which lusts (literally) to promote, here as everywhere, more sexual licence of every flavour. Despite the intentions of its Catholic founders, the Union now stands – as its Charter proclaims – for a European civilisation without Christianity.
Henry promoted a centralised despotism; Brexit gives us the chance to pursue subsidiarity in our social and political life. Freeing us from an anti-Catholic European superstructure, it effectively enables us, should we wish, to deepen our spiritual links with world-wide Catholicism, in Europe and elsewhere – to our great benefit and that of others. From the strictly British point of view, it allows for the possibility of freeing ourselves from Charmley’s “secular successor” to the “Anglican confessional state”, thus undoing some of the damage inaugurated by Henry and institutionalised by his daughter Elizabeth.
It is sad that a prominent Catholic educationist fails to recognise the reality of our new situation and its spiritual and religious opportunities.
Yours faithfully,
John Rist (Professor)
Cambridge
SIR – One of my roles as a religious Sister is to be on our vocations promotion team. In that capacity I have taken part in a number of secondary school vocation days for year groups and been present at a number of Masses celebrating Our Lord’s call to the young, at which all the young people involved in the day are present.
As a result of this experience in secondary schools, I am led to ask: is it wise to bring large numbers of young people to Mass, whether they will or no, and despite the fact that very many of them never go to Mass on Sundays?
The Sacrifice of the Mass is the very great and central treasure of our Faith, the “pearl of great price”. Not a “pearl” easy to recognise as such, and therefore requiring great care and protection on our part who have faith and believe.
We are not doing the children any favour by allowing them to treat the Mass as I am afraid many of them do. They are from non-practising families; they don’t “know the Lord” and we adults put them in a position to behave badly; even sometimes, while so behaving, to receive Holy Communion. Nor does it seem any better that the teachers, instead of giving their minds to the Mystery, must be on the alert and watching for bad behaviour.
Surely the Mass, even in schools, should be for those whose Faith is important to them, who want to go and who love the Lord.
Yours faithfully,
Sister M Valery Walker OP
St Dominic’s Convent, Stone, Staffordshire
SIR – I must take issue with Mary Kenny’s remarks on Prince Harry (Comment, July 29).
Prince Harry and his brother were robbed of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, when Prince Harry was 12 years old. As well as having to cope with the loss of such a special person in his life, and at such an impressionable age, he had to cope in the full glare of the global media because of the circumstances of her death and because she was such a special person.
To have the temerity to criticise Prince Harry for alignment of mental health and bereavement is amazing. He and his brother have kept their grief private and hidden all these years and at last the Prince feels that he can talk about it, as he works at promoting Heads Together. No doubt, because of his Army experiences, he has seen plenty of cases where soldiers have been mentally affected by the deaths and injuries of their comrades. Grief can lead to mental illness; one has to be especially strong to combat it.
Prince Harry is to be admired for the effort that he puts into helping people that need it; the Invictus Games were a fine example of the way he puts his influence to good use. Diana would have been very proud of both her sons, who have carried on her interest in helping others, as, I am sure, is Prince Charles.
Yours faithfully,
Ellen Sandy (Mrs)
London SE17
SIR – In his comment piece (August 5), Fr Raymond de Souza criticises Pope Francis’s remarks in Kraków about Islamic jihadism. But I am confused by Fr de Souza’s failure to distinguish between “Islamist” and “Islamic”. The Islamists of ISIS are striving to establish a caliphate by force, killing all those who get in their way. The vast majority of their victims are Muslims (Islamic), both Sunni and Shia. This is not “Islam waging war on Christianity”.
The Holy Father is trying to build bridges with Muslim communities and leaders. Surely this is the right path. The more we get to know and respect our Muslim neighbours, the less traction ISIS will have among them.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Pellegrinetti
London NW5
SIR – Dan Hitchens, in his article on whether Fr Hamel died a martyr’s death (News focus, August 5), asks the obligatory question: “Did he voluntarily accept death?” He seems doubtful about this as it was reported that Fr Hamel resisted his attackers.
I think it is a natural reaction to resist unexpected attacks, and I do not suppose he was able to do more than put his hands up to shield his face.
Blessed Margaret Pole, who was executed aged 67 (with an hour’s warning) on the orders of Henry VIII, famously resisted her martyrdom and refused to lie down on the very low block. She had to be forced there and it took 11 badly aimed blows to decapitate her. The reason she refused to submit is seen in her last speech: “So should traitors do and I am none. I have committed no crime. I have had no trial. My head never committed treason. If you must have it, you must take it as you can.”
Yet Margaret Pole was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886 as a martyr of the Catholic Church. However, she has not been canonised. Fr Hamel deserves no less – and maybe more.
Yours faithfully,
Julia Ashenden (Mrs)
London SW6
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