1 AUGUST 1998, Page 28

Off message

Sir: 'The joys and hopes, the griefs and anx- ieties of the men and women of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these too are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts.' Does Paul Johnson believe that?

Evidently not. For in criticising the Tablet in his column (And another thing, 25 July) he declared, 'It is the task of Catholicism to fight the modern world, to defy it, excoriate it, expose its shams and lies, its follies and meanness and frauds. Catholicism must set its face, flint-like and adamantine, against the modern world and all it represents.' And so on.

The trouble is, those words I have quoted at the beginning of this letter come from the documents of the Second Vatican Council, the most authoritative expression (Pope and bishops together) of the teach- ing of the Roman Catholic Church.

What Paul Johnson did in his entertain- ing and, in places, moving column last week was to set out with his usual verve one half of the Christian message, and jettison the other half.

John Wilkins

Editor, The Tablet, 1 King Street Cloisters, Clifton Walk, London W6