I UNDERSTAND that the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales intends to issue a joint Pastoral Letter on the current ethical climate and that they want to know from Catholic organisations what the laity regard as important ethical subjects on which they should give clear guidance.
I hope, however, that this does not merely mean, as it could be taken to tnean, that the bishops wish the laity to tell them subjects upon which something ought to be said . . and then the bishops say it without reference to what Iay thinking on that matter is.
I hope that when societies say what subjects they feel deserve a hierarchical pronouncement they will adequately reflect their members' views on those subjects. Otherwise the bishops may well be speaking in a vacuum.
A. F. Brookes Wigan, Lancs.
Indifference I ATTENDED two election campaign meetings in Leeds, one of which was announced from the pulpit. Parishioners were also provided with a list of questions on religious education which could be asked of any candidate. Catholics at these meetings c o u Id be counted on the fingers of one hand, including my wife, and myself.
No one would expect halls full of Catholics demanding to be heard, but given the lessons of abortion and divorce laws, it would seem reasonable to expect slightly more reaction from both clergy and laity, at such a critical time.
The conclusion I draw from this is that Catholics are not really concerned about the legislation of the next Parkament, which might include euthanasia, abortion law reform, education, obscene publications.
T. V. Brimelow Leeds.
Women's protest
MANY complaints have reached this office concerning a passage introduced into the new ritual of the Catholic Church in England. In a reading for the Easter Vigil the following words are put into the mouth of the Creator: "and I said you are as unclean as a woman's menstruation."
We should like all who have been offended by the public reading of this passage to know that St. Joan's Alliance have protested to the Liturgical Commission. We believe that the inclusion of this passage constitutes an offence against good manners, as would any slighting reference to the sexual psychology of either mate or female.
We also affirm that no religious, benign, or useful purpose is served by it, and that anyone, child or adult, who has received a proper sex education would realise that allusion to uncleanness in this connection is based on superstition.
C. M. Cheke Editor, Catholic Citizen London, W.1.