Christians’ intolerance of each other is not new

TOM COOPER (Letters, February 14) refers to the the intolerance that has poisoned relations between Christians on this island for generations and polluted the good name of Protestantism.

Of course there is tension between Protestants and Catholics, as there has been since the Reformation.

It is perhaps unfortunate from Mr Cooper’s point of view that his letter was published below Diarmaid Ferriter’s column on Cardinal Connell in which reference is made to the cardinal’s denigrating remarks about Archbishop Empey. Cardinal Connell also made well-chronicled and insulting remarks about the Church of Ireland when President Marey McAleese partook of the Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral. I think it would be fair to say the cardinal occupied a rather more lofty position within the Catholic Church than does Wallace Thompson within Protestant ranks. Cardinal Connell’s remarks must therefore be regarded as more representative of his church’s position than those of Mr Thompson.