The sad truth is that these redundancies in Brentwood (The Tablet, Blogs, 3 July), are the inevitable result of over 30 years of producing an unmanageable number of commissions requiring salaried staff which seem to bear little relationship with the needs of ordinary parishioners.
The answer to the growing deficit some fifteen years ago was a petulant demand from HQ that the parishioners must pay more. Thankfully there now seems to be the realisation that many parishioners are struggling to hold onto jobs themselves and cannot afford to bankroll what frankly can appear to be profligacy.
The full absurdity of the situation is that tiny outlying parishes that are solvent are being asked to fund the far more affluent Brentwood Cathedral. When Pope Francis spoke of a Church for the poor, I don't think he had in mind one that becomes poor by its own irresponsible spending!
Denis Collins, Wivenhoe, Essex
The restructuring that Brentwood diocese recently announced (The Tablet, News, 4 July) is a further example that whilst Pope Francis may talk the talk on social justice, the institution he leads does not walk the walk. Why is it whenever a diocese seeks to restructure it is those working in social justice who are first to be shown the exit?
Wrexham, Shrewsbury, Leeds and now Brentwood have all done away with their Justice and Peace workers. It says much about the priorities of a Church which are clearly those of maintenance rather than mission. There is certainly a serious disconnect between this conduct and the participatory social justice based model of Church outlined in the Pope's most recent encyclical Laudato si’.
Paul Donovan, London
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