Letters

Dear Christis

I would be most grateful if someone could write in to explain why on page 14 of Christis Issue 45 we have “The problem with the Roman Catholic church in Rwanda is that they don’t treat people as individuals”, while two pages later, a quote from ‘The Common Good and the Catholic Church’s social teaching’ states that “Each individual has a value that can never be lost and must never be ignored … ”. While I realise that one is a personal view from Rwanda and the other is the Catholic Church’s view in England and Wales, it would seem to me at least, that they are not coherent; moreover, that the view changes to suit the circumstances that prevail. While adaptability is fundamental to Christianity, surely fundamentals of Christianity are not adaptable; did not Christ love the people who He met as individuals?

I look forward to hopefully having this apparent difference explained.

God Bless

Magnus Smyly

PS: Issue 45 was one of the best issues this year; keep up the excellent work Christis.

Dear Christis

Its always good to see that Christis encourages free and honest discussion on the somewhat thorny question of Christian Unity on the University campus. Whilst at the University I’ve been both encouraged and dismayed by the outcomes of such debates.

Again, Christian unity week proved to be a mixed blessing, on one level it was good to see that a great number of people from all sorts of spiritual backgrounds where able to come together to celebrate our communion with Christ and with one another. On another level it was sad that many people felt that they could not share their experience with one another, it was particularly sad that a prominent Christian group on campus felt the need to hold a separate prayer meeting on the evening of the Christian unity service.

As Christians we all have quite different but equally valid experiences and interpretations of our faith, rather than being a barrier our differences could be a learning experience for us all, part of reaching spiritual maturity lies in the realisation that our faith asks just as many questions (some of which can only be answered in heaven) as it does provide answers. We may not agree on many things, our traditions may be quite different but to walk away from those differences not only requires an extreme arrogance but also reveals how fragile faith can be.

Celebrate the differences, learn to love each other because of those differences, only then can unity and communion take place.

Love, Peace and Flowers

Dean Akrill