LETTERS Anti-Catholic attitude
From Mr Adrian Hilton Sir: I must voice a word in defence of Julie Burchill's article on the Roman Catholic Church (Diary, 12 February), if only to bal- ance the histrionic and emotional reactions to her 'filth' and 'bile'. Whereas one may take issue with aspects of the manner in which Julie Burchill expresses herself, one cannot fault the essential truth of her observations, particularly in relation to anti-contraception and anti-abortion poli- cies as a means of affecting demographics. It is also of interest to note that the presti- gious Roman Catholic college Stonyhurst footed the legal defence bill for one priest recently accused of buggering young boys. These are unfortunate facts, and the voic- ing of them should never fall foul of 'politi- cal correctness'.
As for Walter Hooper stating that Julie Burchill's article was 'the worst insult to the Catholic Church [he has] come across' (Letters, 19 February), I can only presume he is not very widely read. Not only is the Constitution of the United Kingdom uncompromising on Catholics (because of experience), Buckle's History of Civilisation states, 'According to the natural order, the most civilised countries should all be Protestant, and the most uncivilised Catholic.' And the Telegraph has carried innumerable articles on the endemic cor- ruption of the institution and the imperial ambitions of the papacy. When the Sunday Telegraph states, 'Catholics tend to be verti- cal, hierarchical and centralised . . . in other words, they tend to be corrupt, auto- cratic, with more susceptibility to the Mafia and maximum bureaucracy', one begins to understand why Protestant countries, such as Britain or Denmark, tend to be more democratic and open, with less tolerance of centralised control. It is unsurprising, therefore, that the whole European debate has been at its most fierce in those nations whose heritage is Protestant (UK, Den- mark and Sweden, with Norway and Switzerland — the seat of Reformation learning — not members at all), and not in the slightest bit surprising that our Roman Catholic Continental neighbours, used to government by oligarchy, simply cannot understand what all the fuss is about.
Inasmuch as the papacy still claims to be infallible and asserts political power, claim- ing to be 'Father of Kings and Princes, Ruler of the World', and remains semper eadem, I, for one, am grateful for the Act of Settlement of 1710, assuring us of our liber- ties, in particular of free speech, even if such free speech should be deemed to cause offence. Long may such foundations stand.
Adrian Hilton
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
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