Congratulations to Fr Joseph Okere, the Longford-based priest, for speaking so clearly on the issue of same sex marriage.

A musical has been produced about a group of feminists who brought contraceptives from the North back to the South in the 1970s.

A new series of The Meaning of Life is about to be screened on RTÉ, which can mean only one thing — a succession of anti-Catholic bigots will be given permission to display their ignorance of the religion they dismiss.

Congratulations on publishing Margaret Hickey’s excellent summary on timeless Church teaching/tradition and how it relates to present events.

It seems extraordinary that a Catholic parish council would offer an invitation to an individual who has taken positions fundamentally at odds with core teachings of that Church.

While most forms of public displays of bigotry are thankfully a thing of the past, it appears from Hughie Hartigan’s contribution (Irish Examiner, Letters, August 19) that anti-Catholic bigotry is very much alive and well.

After the recent same sex marriage referendum, Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin stated that the Church needed to learn some lessons. That must go down as the understatement of the century.

Congratulations to Alan Whelan (Irish Examiner, Letters, March 25) for rightly identifying the dereliction of duty inherent in the cowardly decision by the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP0 not to preach the Church’s teaching regarding the nature of marriage.

When I was growing up, one associated thought crime or Big Brother etc with the Soviet Politburo.

Paul Doran asks why prayers are still said in state schools, and he makes a claim for a secular society. The reason is that Ireland is a sovereign republic.

Many people were rightly repulsed by Richard Dawkins primitive/less-than-enlightened views on the treatment of Down Syndrome infants. Having said that, in many ways Dawkins views are merely reflective of what emerges from a doctrinaire adherence to Darwinian theories. Not evolution, per se, but this particular deviant variant. Darwins adherents have always had a less than benign view of what their perverse ideology regards as lesser forms of life.

I welcome the appointment of former President Mary Robinson as the UN special envoy for climate change.

On Friday, Nov 29, Judge Donogh McDonagh, instructed a jury to find Sr. Mary Theresa Grogan not guilty on all charges of indecent assault brought against her by seven complainants.

Please permit me to clear up the confusion over the EU summit. Merkel stated, & “Ireland is a basket case”.

The comments by Pat Rabbitte on RTE radio in relation to Cardinal Brady represent a flagrant abuse of the correct concept of separation of Church & State.

Like many people I had never heard of Congressman Paul Ryan until he was announced as Mitt Romney’s running mate.

From a Catholic perspective, it was most gratifying to observe that Maeve Binchy died with the great satisfaction of a Catholic requiem mass.

In your article ‘More humane family courts planned’ (Jul 18) you say that “Families and children caught up in legal disputes will have a more humane, less costly, and more expert court system under proposed constitutional reforms”.

A year ago Enda Kenny stood up in the Dáil and made a grandstanding/demagogic speech lacerating the Catholic Church’s record in the area of child welfare.

There is much to be said for a country of Ireland’s size having only one embassy in Rome.

A few months ago Enda Kenny, used Dáil privilege to falsely accuse the Vatican (and by implication Pope Benedict) of obstructing investigations into abuse issues.

The recent proposals from within the Labour that “no Catholics need apply” represent a sinister development in Irish politics.

AS a believer (and recovering atheist), I am constantly bemused by the irrationalities/contradictions of my former comrades.

I AM in strong agreement with Labour TD Joanna Tuffy in regards to her decision to boycott the female-only TD and senators meeting that took place on November 9.

THE Catholic Church’s rule on celibacy for its priests is eminently sensible/reasonable, apart altogether from the profound spiritual rationale.

AS your readers may be aware, a number of Irish-trained doctors practising in Bahrain have been recently imprisoned.

RUAIRÍ QUINN wants to see half of the schools currently under church patronage moved to an alternative guardianship. If promoting pluralism is one of the reasons for this change, then that logic should operate in other spheres, especially in the political arena.

TO those who are opposed (some for understandable historical reasons) to the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland, I say — give her a chance.

In 2010 there were fewer people killed on the roads since records began. The Road Safety Authority, An Garda Síochána and in particular the Minister for Transport Mr Noel Dempsey, should be congratulated.

SINCE the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, a huge amount of media attention has been focused on the collapse of other financial institutions as well as the perilous state of the public finances in many countries.

I HAVE long admired the great contribution of the many admirable women religious who have so enhanced the stature of the Catholic Church over the centuries.

A HEARFELT plea from those of us loyal to Pope Benedict and Saint Patrick (“As you are Christians, so you shall be Romans”).

I’M sure I speak for many voters who feel Rónán Mullen has been a breath of fresh air in a political system virtually poisoned with cronyism, corruption and uncritical compliance.

ON July 9, the Competition Authority published a report into general practice and the medical card system. In doing so, it revealed an apparent culture of hierarchy and entitlement that has existed for decades in Irish medicine.

IN your editorial (June 28) you state it is a sign of the times for an Irish politician to attack the Pope. How right you are. The ignorant and ill-informed comments of Labour party leader Eamon Gilmore are perfectly in tune with the current wave of hysterical and equally ill-informed media attacks on Pope Benedict.

THE Church of Ireland community has provided this country with two excellent presidents to date.

FOR most faithful Catholics, the Easter speeches in defence of Pope Benedict were a welcome breath of fresh air and not a moment too soon.

AMID all the recent media-driven anti-Catholic hysteria, a couple of news items stood out in stark contrast.

IF there is one thing remotely comparable to the episodes of abuse outlined in the Murphy report, it’s the unending litany of anti-Catholic bigotry subsequently emerging in much of the media commentary.

IN response to Andrew Lally (‘Sexual orientation has nothing to do with abuse of children’, Letters, June 22), firstly let me say that if he was bullied at school I would have been the first to defend him. I came across the type also and despise all bullies. But that is where the common ground between us ends.

YOUR esteemed columnist Fergus Finlay has taken Fr Vincent Twomey to task over his comments on the recent Ryan report.

I’M sure most of the outrage resulting from the Ryan report on institutional child abuse is genuine.

WHEN Pope Benedict XVI speaks on issues of sexual morality sections of the media go into a feeding frenzy, which is usually very disparaging.

THE recent baying from certain sections of the media for all kinds of action against Bishop John Magee of Cloyne and the church in general is in stark contrast with the strangely muted response to recent revelations of horrific neglect of vulnerable young people in State care.