19 FEBRUARY 2000, Page 30

From Mr Walter Hooper Sir: I am a Catholic and

I am spitting mad. Why have you allowed Julie Burchill to insult the Catholic Church in such a mean and ignorant fashion? I have been a sub- scriber for many years and yours is the last periodical in the world in which I would expect to find such offensiveness. The Catholic Church has 400,000 priests, most of whom live on starvation pay. They have given up marriage, wealth and most of the creature comforts, and Miss Burchill gloats over the failings of what is a very small per- centage of them. I think it must be obvious to many of your readers that Miss Burchill is very ignorant of the Catholic Church's teaching on celibacy, homosexuality and abortion. I doubt she even knows how igno- rant she is. But you know, and you must bear part of the blame for the worst insult to the Catholic Church I have come across. I have no doubt that Miss Burchill knows that, while it is politically correct to attack Catholics, it is not politically correct to attack other religious groups.

Walter Hooper

Oxford