Church closures

Church closures
Michael Knowles (Letters, 5 December) criticises Bishop John Arnold for threatening to close half the churches in the Salford Diocese.

The bishop has been with us now for a year.  He has spent that time visiting all parts of the diocese, listening carefully to all members of the Church. He distributed a list of 27 questions, asking people to reply stating exactly what they felt and thought, and has now published an analysis of the result. He is showing his faith in the sensus fidelium. All of us, whether reform groups such as A Call to Action, or those clergy and laity who are nervous of Pope Francis’ efforts to make the Church a more effective light to the world, can see that our views have been taken seriously and listened to with care.  

We are proud of our martyrs of penal times but understand that there must be changes to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Kevin Dean
Rishton, Lancashire

Bishop John Arnold of Salford has said that 75 of the 150 churches of Salford Diocese will have to be closed because of the shortage of priests (News from Britain and Ireland, 5 December). He really should have said that 75 Christian communities – not just church buildings – will be closed down and broken up, all for the sake of a man-made medieval law of celibacy.

How sad, and how unnecessary.

(FR) Frank Graham MHM
Formby,  Liverpool

The news that Salford is to close half of its parishes follows what has been happening elsewhere, including my own Diocese of Hallam.

A coherent plan is needed that will deal with the heritage implications of these decisions. Either the Patrimony Committee of the bishops’ conference or some new national agency should have oversight of the recording, storage and disposal of notable fixtures and contents in both listed and non-listed buildings, such as shrines, memorials, glass, etc.; otherwise, each individual diocese should make such provision.

(DR) Paul D. Walker
Eckington, Derbyshire

Year of mercy
In all the talk of “mercy”, I have yet to read one official word concerning extending mercy to the billions of fellow creatures who end their lives prematurely and in agony simply to indulge the tastes and appetites of human beings. Can Catholics not be encouraged to abstain from flesh-eating at least for the duration of this Year of Mercy?

(Dr) Deborah Jones
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

General absolution
I am grateful to Eamon Duffy for his beautiful explanation of the history and purpose of the opening of Holy Doors (“Inclusive entry, 5 December). He quotes Pope Francis in Misericordiae Vultus: the Holy Door “is a Door of Mercy, through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons and instils hope”. It is a potent symbol of the all-embracing and unconditional forgiveness of God, for which we all yearn.

The “letter of the law” makes it difficult to enable the conditions required for General Absolution to be fulfilled, but surely this is a time for the Spirit to rule, rather than the letter. If permission for General Absolution was given by our bishops, it would be a huge boost for our people’s participation in the Year of Mercy and it would play a considerable part in restoring our belief in and practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The rite was permitted – briefly – in the 1970s, and my experience then was that, far from diminishing the frequenting of the Sacrament of Reconciliation on the traditional one-to-one basis, General Absolution actually encouraged people to seek that  meeting with the Lord through the ministry of the priest.

Pastoral practice tells me that people often need to be set free from the burden and guilt of sin before they can come to the fruitful experience of that face- to-face encounter with the merciful and forgiving Lord. I would love to see the symbolism of the Holy Door understood and offered in this way; I believe it would be warmly welcomed, not as a “quick fix” or easy option, but as the beginning of a true and life-giving encounter with our loving and forgiving Lord.

To seek permission for General Absolution in this coming Year of Mercy would give a wonderful sign that the Church lives first and foremost by the Spirit and not by the sometimes dead letter of canon law.

Crispian Hollis
Bishop Emeritus of Portsmouth, Mells, Somerset

Spending review
Your leader of 28 November is provocatively entitled “George Osborne the social democrat”. While you note that the spending review might not be as sweet as it sounds, I feel duty-bound to shed further light on the small print.

This is still the biggest reduction in the size of the state in living memory, from 42 per cent of national income to 36 per cent, meaning cuts of more than 40 per cent since 2010 in some departments. Capital grants for affordable housing are to be cut. In the grip of a housing crisis, the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts 34,000 fewer homes as a result of the Government’s post-election policies. You herald the Chancellor’s change of heart on tax credits, but fail to mention his equivalent cuts to universal credit (which will replace tax credits). For all the talk of devolution, local government sees a cut in central government support of more than half in the spending review period; this will almost certainly mean areas with those on the lowest incomes doing worst. New social housing tenants will see their benefits capped at private sector rates, the impact of which will increase over time. Finally, on top of a cut in the schools budget of 7.5 per cent and a reckless cut of almost 10 per cent to sixth-form and further- education colleges, the proposed changes to the school funding formula will have profound effects on Catholic schools.

For young people, for those who cannot afford to buy a house but still need a home and for those struggling to make ends meet, this is a bad spending review and is anything but social democracy.

Jacob Quagliozzi,
St Albans, hertfordshire

Holy Hammers
I was pleased to see the marvellous work of my good friends Sisters Immaculata and Patricia extolled (Notebook, 5 December), but the Church of Our Lady of Compassion next door to the ground did not sell the land on which West Ham United’s stadium was built in 1909. The freehold of the Boleyn Ground remained in the ownership of the Westminster Diocesan Education Fund until 1959, when the football club purchased it for £33,750 (about £536,000 in today’s money). West Ham United was founded in 1895 and came to the Boleyn Ground in 1904, largely through the influence of Br Norbert, a Brother of Mercy attached to the adjacent St Edward’s Reformatory School. The site now includes the church and St Edward’s Primary School, as well as the soon-to-be-demolished stadium.

 (FR) Stewart Foster
Archivist, Diocese of Brentwood

Intercommunion
I was puzzled by Cardinal Robert Sarah’s Quote of the Week (5 December): "Intercommunion is not permitted between Catholics and non-Catholics. A non-Catholic cannot receive. That is very, very clear." It suggests that Cardinal Sarah is unaware of the Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, issued by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in 1993, which recognises that in certain circumstances access to the Sacraments of Penance, Eucharist and the Anointing of the Sick may be permitted, or even commended, for Christians of other Churches and ecclesial communities.

Elizabeth Harrington
Brisbane, Australia

Silent bishops
l What is happening to Laudato si’? There seems to be a resounding silence from the hierarchy in response to this timely and vitally important document, which links our need to care for the poor with our need to care for our finite world.

We cannot continue to poison, rape and pillage the earth, nor can we continue to endorse systems that oppress the poor. We are all party to the damage and together we could ameliorate the effects. A call to action might enthuse and invigorate the young and the disenchanted, for whom the Church seems disconnected from the real world. Only connect! Pope Francis does.

Esther Butler
Fishguard, pembrokeshire