Letters to the Editor: Church's gravitational shift reflects its 'old footholds' getting too 'comfortable'

<br><strong>Growth and hop</strong>e Sir – It is true that the Church’s traditional centre of gravity is shifting, as John Allen noted in the June edition, but this is nothing new. As the summer approaches, memories of two Assumption Masses spring to mind from the last couple of decades. Neither congregation was what would now be called “diverse” – the first was in a hill village not far from Siena in Italy and the second was just outside Llandovery in Wales. The old missionary boot seemed to be firmly on the other foot: the Italian congregation was ministered to by an African, and the Welsh congregation by a Filipino. Meanwhile (in the light of your Rome Special Report last month), think of the faces of the young nuns that one sees on the streets of Rome. In my own experience they seem to be mainly African and Asian – and where there are nuns praying for vocations, there are vocations. Not only that, but some of the most inspirational Church leaders we have come from Africa and Asia – Cardinals Sarah, Arinze, Ranjith and Zen, to name just a few. Why should this be? I can only think that in its old footholds the Church has become rather too comfortable within established institutional structures, as demonstrated by the disastrous German Synodal Way. Where things have been less comfortable – even to the point of persecution – there is growth. And where there is growth, there is surely hope. <br><br>Mary McKinnell <br>Manchester, UK <strong>Matters of conscience</strong> Sir – I much enjoyed <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/diary-by-daniel-johnson/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Daniel Johnson’s Diary</mark></a> in the May number, upholding the true greatness of St John Paul II, and his light-hearted (although penetrating) criticism of Professor Richard Dawkins. I’m not sure, however, that his understanding of the relationship between infallible doctrine and a Catholic’s individual conscience is quite correct. St John Henry Newman prioritised conscience as the process whereby we take Church teaching to ourselves and, with grace, accept it. Assisted suicide is a topical example. While it is acceptable for doctors to act to reduce pain, the Church is infallibly correct to say that it is not morally possible if there is an actual intention to kill. <br><br>Stephen de la Bédoyère<br>London, UK<br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-general-election-god-calls-us-all-to-get-involved-in-the-exercise-of-our-franchise/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">UK General Election: God calls us all to get involved in the exercise of our franchise</mark></a></strong> <strong>Emancipation in America</strong> Sir – Ken Craycraft’s <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/free-but-far-from-equal-juneteenth-jim-crow-and-the-legacy-of-race-in-america/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">column on Juneteenth</mark></a> in the June edition – “Free, but far from equal” – stated that emancipation in the United States was complete by 19 June, 1865. Abraham Lincoln’s original Emancipation Proclamation applied only to areas in rebellion against the United States; four states with legal enslavement never seceded and thus were not covered. Two of these, Maryland and Missouri, abolished slavery on their own before the Civil War ended; Kentucky and Delaware, however, did not. On 6 December, 1865, Georgia became the 27th state to ratify the 13th Amendment – thus gaining the necessary majority for its successful addition to the Constitution, as officially noted by William Seward, the Secretary of State, two days later. (Emeritus Professor) Lawson Bowling<br> Purchase, NY <strong>Use it or lose it?</strong> Sir – With a UK general election approaching, it is very worrying how Western democracies are failing to inspire their electorates to vote; we must use our vote, or we may one day lose it. Polling turnouts are as low as 30 per cent, which is dreadful. We must try to find out about the candidates, and vote for the best person, not necessarily their party. Even turning up and spoiling the ballot paper with “none of the above” is better than not bothering at all. <br><br>Dr Steve Brennan <br>Hope Valley, UK <strong>Ethical distinctions</strong> Sir – I read Flora Watkins’s June column, in which she discussed issues surrounding IVF, with concern. Very often when people engage with this subject they are unable to make fundamental ethical distinctions. Caesarean births are not on the same moral plane as IVF; the objectives and content of the moral acts are vastly different. One is a stop-gap measure to save a life in the biological act of birth, the other an uncalled-for creation of life outside the act of love in which God intended human life to begin. Nor is IVF only problematic to those who may be squeamish about masturbation. The idea that countless discarded embryos will automatically go to heaven is only a theological opinion and not a dogmatic truth; it is dangerous because a similar position, such as a guarantee of heaven for foetuses not carried to term, might be used to justify abortion under difficult circumstances. The Church’s moral theology is coherent and convincing, and needs to be better understood. Julian Kwasniewski <br>Lander, WY <br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/church-teaching-and-ivf-its-all-about-human-dignity-buttressed-by-love-support-and-information/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">IVF is no panacea and Church teaching reflects that for the sake of human dignity</mark></a></strong> Letters and emails should be sent to the relevant address below and include the sender’s name, postal address and email contact (please limit correspondence to 250 words):<br>8 Cromwell Place, London, SW72JN<br>letters@catholicherald.co.uk <em>Photo: Cardinal Robert Sarah at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Victories in Dakar, Senegal, 4 December 2023. (Photo by GUY PETERSON/AFP via Getty Image.s)</em> <strong><strong>This Letters page appears in the Summer Special July/August 2024 issue of the <em>Catholic Herald</em>. To subscribe to our award-winning, thought-provoking magazine and have independent and high-calibre counter-cultural Catholic journalism delivered to your door anywhere in the world click <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/subscribe/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">HERE</mark></a></strong></strong>.