Letters to the Editor: leave those fish alone this Lent
Catholic Herald Readers• March 29, 2025
Fish-free Lent?
Sir – We generally consider Lent as a time for “giving up something”. In pursuit of broadening our Lenten horizons, the faithful could consider giving up unhelpful notions and prejudices and, in turn, choose to abstain from the consumption of that which is not ours in the first place – namely, the flesh of fish and other animals. Extending compassion and kindness to all is inherent not only to the Christian faith, but to the essence of what it means to be human. The mutual respect we owe each other and to all our fellow creatures who, like us, are living, breathing beings and with whom we share the planet, invites us to appreciate our mutual qualities and to accept – and even to celebrate – our differences. An ethical, animal-free lifestyle celebrates a bounty of fresh produce without causing harm. Moreover, leaving animals off our tables isn’t about “giving up” anything; rather, it is a deliberate decision to choose no longer to take that which was never ours – and thus is not a hardship but a joy. In a spirit of Christian charity and empathy, I suggest that Lent is the perfect time to advocate for our fellow non-human beings, in the name of the One who was crucified and rose again.
(Fr) Terry Martin Worthing, UK
New translation
Sir – At Mass I have recently been listening particularly carefully to the gospel being read, since the new Standard English Bible translation is now in use. Recently it was St John’s account of Jesus in Galilee, busy with His mission. Two individuals, briefed about Him by John the Baptist, pursue him. Turning, Jesus asks what they want. Probably embarrassed, they ask where He’s staying, respectfully calling him “Rabbi”. Is this really what they desire to know? Jesus’s response – “Come and you will see” – sounds professorial. Why not just say: “Come and see”? What impression is St John trying to give? Finally, we hear the two stayed till late afternoon. They must have discovered more than Jesus’s address. Back home, I turned to my Greek and Latin Testament. St John wrote: “erchesthe kai opsesthe”. The second verb put into Jesus’s mouth isn’t another imperative. It’s the indicative future tense of “horan” (“ to see”), the irregular “opsomai” – so the Standard English Bible got that right! The Vulgate has “venite et videte” (“come and see”). A slip? Perhaps. Then I remembered that Pope Damasus commissioned St Jerome to turn the Greek gospels into the Latin of uneducated western Christians, so perhaps not. The Vulgate has dominated English translations, and the Jerusalem Bible also renders it “come and see”. Inaccuracy can diminish meaning and anaesthetise our understanding of scripture. Last month your article “Why should I have to buy a new Missal?” praised the Standard English Bible for accuracy: correctly, surely.
Tony Meehan Aldridge, UK
Wisdom of age
Sir – Our parish priest recently read out a pastoral letter in which our bishop declared that “it is not my intention to preside over decline”. He and all the bishops of Europe are in fact managing the decline of the Church by the very fact that the parish clergy – its backbone – are rapidly decreasing in numbers and many of those left are approaching retirement age. I believe that most Catholics pray fervently for vocations, but I also believe that God expects us to do more. Our priest is a married convert with two children, and we are blessed to have him. The walls have not caved in. Why not recruit men of good standing who are widowers or married and have retired from their previous occupations? They will have had a lifetime of experience and with pensions they would not be a burden on finance. At the church where I was confirmed in Ireland there is now no Mass on a Sunday, because the local priest has three churches to look after. The people in that rural area have not deserted the Church, but the Church has withdrawn from them. Would it be true to say that this is what the Catechism calls a “sin of omission”?
Austin Gilroy Croydon, UK
High-stakes game
Sir – If any other head of state made similarly direct and pointed statements about another country’s affairs such as Pope Francis did in the early days of the new US administration, it might well be regarded as an intrusive overreach of power. If the Holy See is going to continue to benefit from its sovereign status and the privileged position in world affairs that it enjoys, then there is surely wisdom in discretion as well. That said, I hope the Holy Father’s interventions will encourage policymakers of the importance of applying an approach that is as humane as possible as they try and solve the very significant domestic problems facing the United States.
Clare Horgan Boston, USA
All welcome
Sir – Much of the good, even great, work of women down the centuries has simply been rooted in women getting together for prayer, witnessing to the Faith, and finding ways of helping one another in the vital work of passing on the Faith and serving people in need. Your readers may like to know that this year’s annual Mass organised by Catholic Women Praying Together (CWPT) will take place on Saturday 7 June at 12 noon at St Dominic’s Church on Haverstock Hill in London: the Rosary Shrine. The preacher will be Fr Toby Lees OP of Radio Maria; there will be refreshments afterwards in the parish hall. All are welcome to join us – men too!
Joanna Bogle London, UK
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(File photo of a fish-Friday dinner.)
This Letters page appears in the March 2025 issue of the Catholic Herald. To subscribe to our thought-provoking magazine and have independent, high-calibre and counter-cultural Catholic journalism delivered to your door anywhere in the world click HERE.