May I attempt to assuage Fr Galletly's fears as expressed in his letter October I 1 by reminding him:
1— It has never been claimed, to my knowledge, that "The Church 2000" represents — as he says — "the attitudes and ideas of the majority of Catholics of this country.' The document itself makes no such claim. The Working Party responsible for it has made no such claim.
On the contrary, both the Working Party and the document are looking to the future and trying to show "in general terms where the Church should be going and what it should be attempting to achieve." (''The Church 2000," page 2.) If what Fr Galletly says were true, there would be little point in produc
ing the document at all.
2 —On the outside cover of "The Church 2000" there is printed, in quite large letters, An Interim Report . . . . for study and consultation." Does this really smack of the dictatorship implied by Fr Galletly's reference to 1984?
Finally, it might have been fairer, and possibly more helpful, if Fr Galletly had quoted all that Fr Kearney said in this context from the Official Report. But perhaps that might not have given the support for his argument for which he was looking.
(Mgr) C. Philip Cronin Chairman, National Conference of Priests of England and Wales. St Bernadette's Presbytery, Station Road North, Wallsend on Tyne, Northumberland.