Letters: Mistaken belief in rigid Catholic teaching

Your readers are entitled to know that, contra M Duncan (Letters, 15 February), the Catholic Church does not teach by "edict", but bishops do have the right and responsibility to indicate to those who are happy to call themselves Catholics what that entails in terms of their relationships to the "magisterium", that complex organism that is the teaching authority of the Church.

Without being specific, M Duncan refers to "critical" medical and social programmes. These are easily identified as abortion on demand, contraception and, and most especially, a condoms free-for-all as an anti-HIV/Aids tactic. For the record, abortion on demand does not improve maternal mortality rates at birth (see the latest figures from Chile); contraception is not well regarded by native populations across the developing world, who (rightly) regard it as an instrument of imperialism; and condoms have been shown not only to have failed in the control of HIV/Aids but also to have evidently (pace Papa Ratzinger) made it worse in many, if not most, places.

Also for the record, the Catholic Church manages 26 per cent of all healthcare facilities in the world. This amounts to some 117,000 bodies, including hospitals, clinics, orphanages, 18,000 pharmacies and 512 centres for the care of those with leprosy. Nowhere in the world are there as many HIV-infected people per head of population as in South Africa, and in that country the worst affected area is the very heart of Zululand. Just last week the Catholic Church in South Africa took over responsibility for all the care and treatment in Zululand of 60,000 patients, including 20,000 on anti-retroviral drugs.

M Duncan's other remarks were so puerile as to be unworthy of serious consideration.

HUGH McLOUGHLIN

Russell Street

Mossend,

North Lanarkshire

How droll to see M Duncan attacking the Roman Catholic Church because it has no "democracy" to it. It has the same "democracy" that the National Secular Society and other middle-class psuedo-intelligensia cliques do. So secularists have no cause to be holier-than-thou than the "superstitionists" they seek to detract.

Attacking the Congregation Of The Doctrine Of The Faith (the old Inquisition) for its track record 500 years ago is a cheap shot. By the same token, should we despise all scientists and doctors because, historically, they grave-robbed and carried out crude, painful experiments on prisoners and slaves "for the greater good"?

Indeed, perhaps M Duncan should be applauding them for taking a stance against Pope Benedict's wishes in banning Catholic parishes from providing parish records for Mormon churches until they cease the distasteful practice of "baptising" long-dead non-Mormon family members into the faith to maintain spiritual "purity" of lineage. At least they've the guts others haven't – and that includes secularists as much as other faiths – in refusing to turn a blind eye to bureaucratic necromancy simply because it's carried out by those with friends in the US government.

MARK BOYLE

Linn Park Gardens

Johnstone,

Renfrewshire