More liberal church won’t win converts
His suggestion that the Church ought to move in a liberal direction, permitting contraception, abortion, etc, is not new and might appear, on the face of it, to be compassionate. It might also - though I doubt it - take the media off the Church’s back and, who knows, Suzanne Harrington might even go forward for ordination.
What it would almost certainly not do is help to keep or attract faithful members for the church - if that is what Mr McSweeney is worried about.
After all, many other Christian churches have gone the way he suggests and if he wants to see the likely outcome of his suggestions, he should have a look at them.
As for the compassion of Jesus, this is not in doubt, but it could be combined with an uncompromising firmness, eg, “neither do I condemn you; go now and sin no more”, to the woman taken in adultery, or “will you also go away?”, to the disciples after followers had left him on account of a hard saying.
Incidentally, I saw that Ms Harrington referred recently to a pro-abstention conservative (anti-abstention conservatives are a bit thin on the ground, I’d say).
I also noticed the length of Mr McSweeney’s letter.
I sent you a much shorter letter some time ago and you published less than half of it. Easy to see, I think, where your sympathies lie.
Oliver Broderick
Ashe Street
Youghal
Co Cork
