Cardinal sin

I FEEL I must respond to Ross Chmiel (Letters, 12 July) in which he makes the repeated error of comparing the role of a Cardinal (in relation to lay Catholics) with the democratic relation of voters and elected democrats.

The leadership roles are obviously not the same. When an airplane is coming in to land the captain does not take a vote on whether the crew thinks putting down the undercarriage is a good idea; he gives the order.

So, the analogy of the role of the Cardinal with democratic roles is a mistake. He uses the figure of 64 per cent from an Ipsos-Mori poll as though this was conclusive proof for his argument that the majority of the “flock” are in favour of “gay-marriage”; therefore, the Cardinal is out-of-touch and wrong in the action he is planning and in the motivation behind the comments he has made in the media.

I would suggest that all this figure illustrates is the normal role of the Church leadership with ordinary Church members. The leadership role of the clergy is a “shepherding” one of leading and guiding the “flock”. The clergy is educated and trained in that role. So, if a random poll is done on any subject and we discover a gap in understanding there is no surprise there.

In the end, we cannot use numbers to decide whether an issue is right or wrong.

Brian McDermott

Jane Rae Gardens,

Clydebank