Sir, – It is good that Patsy McGarry ("No carol singing by congregations in churches this Christmas", News, December 13th) has drawn attention to the ridiculously inequitable regulation that all Christian congregations must remain silent at Christmas. All this is in contrast with the thousands who can attend football matches and pack into pubs. This has borne particularly hard on this Church of Ireland where singing has always been an essential part of our worship – what Bishop Burrows has called an essential part of our DNA. It is disappointing that the bishops of the Church of Ireland have failed to make this clear and have tamely accepted what is essentially a Roman Catholic approach to worship. – Yours, etc,
ROBERT MacCARTHY,
(Formerly Dean
of St Patrick’s
Cathedral, Dublin),
Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.