Dear Editor, Catherine Connolly views seem to subvert the very constitution that the President is elected to protect. She wants a third legal gender to have equal status with male and female! Our laws are based on biology – male and female. He created them, but all our laws will have to change accordingly if this ‘new gender’ becomes law. Biology will be replaced by ‘bullology’ to run this freak show, based on the delusions of Connolly. She is subsumed by gender extremism because she is a radical feminist of the hard left.
Is it still the law that seven years must expire before a criminal who has served a prison sentence gets Garda clearance to work? Connolly thinks rehabilitation is the perfect answer, without giving any heed to Garda clearance, which places her in trouble in this area too. I would not choose Connolly to work in a hospital or school and I wouldn’t trust her to be President for the same reason. The law must be respected.
She shunned answers to vital questions on Tipp FM, October 10, even saying she couldn’t recall Barbie Kardashian’s name. She is a barrister and even claimed she has left the UK Supreme Court ruling aside to reflect on later. This is to minimise the significance of this ruling, to pretend it’s of no importance.
The main party feeders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Sinn Féin manipulated the nomination selection process to keep Maria Steen off the ballot paper, which has left me disenfranchised. My vote will be a protest vote. Anti-Catholic bigotry must not be allowed to go unheeded. It extends to the independents and all involved in the prevention of a Catholic choice. It will be remembered at election time. For those who are voting, Heather Humphreys is the safest choice. Connolly is a worry. She does not have the level-headedness required of a President.
Yours etc,
Mary Reynolds
Dublin 6
A correction on consubstantiality
Dear Editor, Fr Gerry O’Hanlon SJ claims that the teaching of the Council of Nicaea (325) regarding the ‘consubstantiality’ of Jesus Christ, ‘was resisted by many at the time because it seemed to represent change and was unbiblical’ (The Synodal Times, October 2, 2025). This is a misleading, indeed a seriously erroneous statement.
Nicaea defined not an abstract ‘consubstantiality’. It taught that Our Lord is ‘consubstantial with the Father’. The Creed of Nicaea was defended above all by St Athanasius the Great, who spent much of his life defending the term as best expressing in philosophical terms what was in accord with the traditional doctrine of the Church.
Athanasius faced huge opposition from those who had been captured by the zeitgeist (what is fashionable). The followers of Arius had adopted the popular philosophical thinking that stressed the absolute transcendence of God the Father and so could only conceive of the Son as a creature. Put simply, Niceas declared that He is not a creature. He is God. Some powerful career bishops in line with the political power of the day pressured their fellow-bishops to accept a compromise formula. They almost succeeded. By what means? By calling synods. Synods can be so easily manipulated. After one double-synod that compromised the truth, St Jerome moaned that ‘The whole world groaned and was astonished to find itself Arian’.
To use the 17th centenary of Nicaea to foster radical change in the Church’s teaching on the ordination of women to the diaconate, as Fr O’Hanlon advocates, is misusing a distorted caricature of the history of dogma concerning the central mystery of our faith, the Most Holy Trinity, to achieve a questionable end, one that reflects the zeitgeist and is contrary to the whole Apostolic Tradition.
Yours etc,
Fr D. Vincent Twomey SVD
Donamon, Co. Roscommon
Ceasefire in Gaza: tentative but hopeful
Dear Editor, It’s quite extraordinary to behold the degree of begrudgery exhibited by many commentators and indeed ordinary individuals, in relation to the Donald Trump brokered ceasefire in Gaza.
It’s as if many people, primarily on the ‘liberal/left’, would have preferred the unfortunate victims of this conflict (on both sides) to continue suffering, rather than acknowledge the vital contribution of the US President in securing a peace deal. Tentative though it is, at this stage.
Thankfully the families of the Israeli hostages, the ordinary Palestinians and the Hamas leadership are being more magnanimous in their appreciation of the contribution of President Trump and the other negotiators. As was the Venezuelan recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, who dedicated her award to him. As the man himself said, “blessed are the peacemakers”.
Although in the context of the past, the omens are not promising, the hope now is that some kind of normality can be restored to that troubled part of the world and the unfortunate people can rebuild their lives.
Yours etc,
Eric Conway
Navan, Co. Meath
A plea to voters
Dear Editor, I suggest caution in relation to abstaining or spoiling your vote as it may favour the candidate you don’t want. Vote instead for the candidate you think is the best of a poor selection.
Yours etc,
Gerard Gallagher
Newbridge, Co. Kildare
Life is our responsibility to protect
Dear Editor, That was an excellent article by Fr Chris Hayden on ‘Ireland’s banal abortion law’. As he said, “we need to relearn that something that has become as routinised and banal as abortion, something public figures can easily disregard (if they are not actually expressing their approval of it) is actually an evil that breaks bodies and hearts, and strikes a blow against society itself.” That indeed is true, and as he said, “the pro life project is a consciousness-raising one”. Above all, we have to keep ensuring that there is no silence on this vital issue. The aim is certainly to ensure that no discussion or balanced debate is allowed and we all have a duty to keep on speaking for those with no voice, the unborn. Society may argue that this is just the way things are but it is our duty and responsibility to counteract that with our efforts to protect and care for all life from conception until natural death. Anything less is totally unacceptable.
Yours etc,
Mary Stewart
Ardeskin, Co. Donegal
‘We must ensure the next generation believe in God’
Archbishop: some dioceses and parishes will not survive rationalisation
Primate of All Ireland Eamon Martin spoke to The Irish Catholic about negotiating the needs for the future of the Church, expressing that ensuring the passing of the Catholic faith is more vital than the upkeep of Church buildings.
“We’re going to find that some parishes, some dioceses perhaps even, are not going to be able to survive financially, and that’s a whole new challenging landscape for us to inhabit. But remember the Faith, and the passing on of the Faith, is the really important thing, not the buildings, not the structures, but ensuring that the next generation of Irish people believe in God,” said the archbishop.
Archbishop Martin also addressed the recent changes to Irish parishes and dioceses, with some bishops heading two dioceses and some priests in charge of several parishes, depending on the area’s varying needs.
“I see that sort of rationalisation of resources continuing. I’m not too sure if we have yet properly thought it through,” said Archbishop Martin, referring to recent situations such as the merger of the Archdiocese of Tuam and Killala.
Catholic schools advised to not make use of SPHE textbooks
Alan Hynes, CEO of the Catholic Education Partnership, shared that the controversy around graphic content in SPHE textbooks is “moot” for Catholic schools because they have been advised not to make use of the textbooks.
“That was pretty much the advice we gave to school and we directed them toward our own resources and supplemented those with resources found in the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s website,” said Mr Hynes.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín also addressed the content, saying that while young people should be taught about sex education, the content should not include “over-sexualised” themes. Independent TD Carol Nolan agreed, blaming “extremist voices” for their “determination to sexualise children”.
“What is driving this relentless determination to sexualise children or to prompt them toward the exploration of what, until 5 minutes ago, were adult only themes? Well I for one and the very many parents who contact me will not simply accept this poison as the new normal,” said Ms Nolan.
Immigrants return spiritual legacy to Ireland
In an interview with The Irish Catholic, Catholic speaker Paul J. Kim, who was evangelised by Irish Columban missionaries in Korea in the 1960s, shared his thoughts on immigrants’ contributions to the Catholic faith in Ireland.
“The very faith Irish missionaries once spread to distant countries is now being brought back to Ireland by the descendants of those evangelised,” remarked Mr Kim, referencing a trend he has observed of immigration sparking renewed Catholic faith in Ireland.
Mr Kim also expressed concern over a potential loss in faith within younger Irish generations: “From what I saw, there are still young people on fire for their faith, but the overall situation in Ireland and Europe shows the Church has a lot of catching up to do.”
