Validity of orders
Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger were both happy to confirm the validity of a Mass in which the words of Consecration are not spoken “‘ad litteram’, but rather in a dispersed euchological way”.

Corbyn and defence
­None of your correspondents (Letters, 13 May) refer to Bruce Kent’s claim that Jeremy Corbyn would not “press the button” and would spend the saved billions on the NHS, housing and pensions, ensuring security is “not primarily a military matter, anyway” (Letters, 6 May).

Priestly shortage
­We are all too familiar with the attitude that God always sends priestly vocations but it is our fault for not responding (Letters, 13 May).

Michael Knowles raises a vital issue on the acute shortage of priests. It is pathetic that the only solution offered by the hierarchy is to close down churches or demand that aged and overworked clergy should now look after a cluster of parishes.

Losing our voice
I was quite appalled at the lack of singing by the congregation when I attended the first Holy Communion of my nephew at Our Lady of Lourdes RC Church in Thames Ditton last weekend – though it was a fine service led by an excellently enthusiastic priest.
The church was packed, yet just a handful of people followed the words in their order of service. Those who did sing were inhibited by doing so and sang softly rather than loudly. The majority just looked blank.

Gibberd’s way
Frank Cottrell-Boyce (“The people’s cathedral”, 13 May) mentions how Sir Frederick Gibberd was the winner of the architectural competition for Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral opened by Archbishop John Heenan and which ran from October 1959 to August 1960.

At home with Father
Patricia Lockwood’s then very unusual experience in the mid-1980s (“At home with Father”, 6 May) has been replicated more recently with the sizeable influx of Anglican priests, accompanied by their wives and children, supposedly “welcomed” into the Church over the past 20 or more years.

Yellowhammer call
Thank you, thank you, thank you for that glorious gem from Jonathan Tulloch’s Glimpses of Eden (13 May), and its wonderful affirmation of life. It shone sunshine into my day.