Debate need not be disloyal

Peta Barlow (“Failed loyalty”, June 17-23) conflates dissent and disloyalty. This equation is false. It seems to be a widely held view in our Church.

The mark of disloyalty is flight, not engagement. For the most part, Catholics who “dissent” are passionately loyal. We love and own our Church. As GK Chesterton said: “Love is not blind… Love is bound; and the more it is bound, the less it is blind.”

Because we love our Church, we are deeply disturbed by the mass exodus of Catholics over the past several decades. I think this is caused, at least in part, by archaic practices and inappropriate rulings of various Church officials, and we wonder whether these accurately reflect the will of Jesus for our times.

To claim high moral ground merely because one agrees with (or acquiesces in) the party line on various issues is to misconstrue the nature of love and loyalty.

As mature brothers and sisters in Christ, let those of us who choose to engage in debate — even in a debate about whether to debate — do so in charity and with mutual respect.

Derrick Kourie, Pretoria