*Ø* Thank Goodness

The hierarchy can write to Bertie as often as they like but I'm glad the pressure (which was probably going on in other European countries too) came to nothing.

"The Catholic hierarchy wrote to the Taoiseach in June to express its disappointment at the absence of a reference to Christianity in the draft EU constitutional treaty, wrties Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter.

"The Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Seán Brady, and the retired Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, raised the absence of such a reference in separate letters to Mr Ahern after the Government brokered an EU agreement on the draft constitution in June.

"Records released under the Freedom of Information Act show the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI) and individual priests lobbied the Taoiseach to push for such a reference in the run-up to final negotiation of the treaty. The preamble to the draft cites the 'cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe', but it does not refer to any specific tradition." [My emphasis}
Continue at The Irish Times