I certainly agree with your editorial (“Wanted: New kinds of priests”, 19 September) about the need to consider extending the priesthood in the Catholic Church to married people, whether male or female. But the stress of Cardinal Sarah on the Eucharist flows from a notion that the celebration of and attendance at the Eucharist is “the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed; and …
the font from which all her power flows”.

The activity of church members, exemplified in the life and death of Christ, is to treat with respect, love and help all others and the rest of creation. This desirable attitude, exhibited in Jesus, is not what “being religious” commonly means, and is certainly not limited to attendance at Mass.