I am a Catholic

I have to say that I'm a little surprised by the general use of the word 'Christian'. To my knowledge GMS, St Joseph's North Point, St Helens, Loretto Convent and St Mary's Jesuit College were all Roman Catholic schools which also accepted non-Roman Catholic pupils. There may have been others which I have omitted. Victoria, Dow Hill and St Pauls were NOT Roman Catholic schools.

As a UK resident I live in a Christian country. However, there is a vast difference between The Church of England and Roman Catholics. Both come under the umbrella of Christianity.

Christianity covers a multitude of different groups who believe in Christ and as a Roman Catholic I would not like to be tarred by the same brush as some of the extreme Christian movements that exist in some parts of the world most notably in the USA Bible Belt.

Before I can appreciate the arguements involved in this discussion I would like to know which branch of Christianity is causing these problems in India. I would be a little surprised if all Christians were acting in unison so, lets be a little carefull of the use of the word Christian as it can be a little misleading.

I don't wish to imply that RC's are an elite branch of Christians or are not involved in these troubles but, it would be nice to know!

The other misconception which creeps into the reporting of these incidents is the inuendo that the US President, whoever he or she may be, is the leader or spokesperson of the West. This is absolutely not true and most European based people would be appaled by this link.

Regards

Charles H Tresham
(GMS 1953 - 1961)

I readily agree with Charles.

The word catholic means
1. broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal.
2. universal in extent; involving all; of interest to all.
3. pertaining to the whole Christian body or church

As per the above definition, I too am a Catholic, excluding 3.

We in Goethals did not have these problems and the Loreto girls have also said the same. This difference in perception between the Catholics and the Christians who we generally call Protestants was pointed our by Br James in one of his earlier mails. Unfortunately, when anybody talks of Christians, all are painted with the same brush which makes the Catholics wince as they are not to blame for these conversions. I would request our readers to provide some word which could include the whole lot of Christians excluding the Catholics.

Radheshyam