Hypocrites love a feeding frenzy

NOT so long ago, many of us were clamouring vehemently for the separation of Church and State, resenting the perceived stranglehold of the Church over our lives.

Those of us who did so slated the interference of cardinals and bishops, questioning their right to moralise and tell us what to do.

How strange then is the feeding frenzy which has developed now that a handful of Church leaders face some difficult questions.

The same people who once wished to be rid of the Church and its influence seem to be extraordinarily vocal about who leads and leaves it.

Likewise, we are still amazingly keen on the Church when it comes to christenings, weddings and funerals.

For a nation that has traded the Church and its saints for the TV set and its celebrities, while making full and free use of its services, we are hardly in a position to make judgement calls of hypocrisy.

Those who are dedicated to the Church live for the most part unselfish, frugal lives.

If our concern is really for justice and not some form of bitter, opportunistic stone-throwing then we might consider Christ's attitude to the casting of first stones.

Seamus Lynch,

Seaview Park,

Portrane,

Co Dublin.