From Mr Antony Dowling SIR – While accepting Canon Burke’s point (Letter, April 9) that Mass should not be rushed, I would want to draw a quite different lesson from the report to which he refers (“Speedy Mass boosts congregation tenfold”, March 5). People come to the Mass not because it is speedy – after all, it is a weekday Mass and they are not obliged to be there at all. They come because it is celebrated early enough in the day for them to get to work afterwards.
The ubiquitous 10am weekday Mass caters almost exclusively for the retired and leaves most workers starved of spiritual nourishment. Provide an early enough Mass and the workers will come.
Yours faithfully, ANTONY DOWLING Newcastle upon Tyne