LETTERS Roman scandals
Sir: I have been amused by the recent cor- respondence suggesting a bigotry against Catholics in England. Although Dom Antony Sutch's article (`Gunpowder, trea- son and plot', 16 January) has much to commend it, it does, I fear, miss the central point.
Leaving aside the ghastly category of people who hate what they are not, my experience is that there are two types of anti-Catholics. The first, making up the majority of the population, are those who are, at best, indifferent towards religion and have no real malevolence directed against Roman Catholics, even those of us who are descended from the 'bog'. Certain- ly it is irritating to be described as 'that headmaster from a Catholic school' or to have some tired joke about the Jesuits related yet again, but they are no more tire- some than the silly, unfunny jokes about Jews or Arabs which are not intended to cause spite, no matter how offensive they might appear to the listener. I remember being astonished when my previous employer, upon my appointment here, commented, 'Oh, are the Jesuits allowed to marry these days?' This was a clear indica- tion of indifference, albeit a touch ironic.
What saves this group is that they are generally pleasant and amusing, if a little suspicious of Roman Catholics, but admit their ignorance on a subject which seldom touches their lives, whilst accepting its absolute importance for others.
The other category contains that small, but irritating and offensive, group who like to describe themselves as part of high soci- ety. Their self-importance is all the proof one needs to know that they are ignorant in matters relating to religion, despite their pathetic claims to the contrary. To have an informed discussion about religion would be as unthinkable as assuming they have some intelligence. Sadly, I have had to come across this type. The fact that they are twits seems beyond doubt, but what is troubling is that their views are discussed, listened to and now, quite remarkably, writ- ten about publicly, which will give them a sense of purpose and importance.
How awful for their decent and kindly dinner guests, who will now be bored fur- ther by religious bigotry. I should have been more interested in what Dom Antony replied to two of his abusers than in their remarks. Incidentally, one could see how absurd was the woman referred to by Dom Antony when she thought him educated and charming, a fact I shall be revealing to him when next he dines with me.
Dermot St John Gogarty
Headmaster, St Johns, Beaumont, Old Windsor, Berks
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