Letter: Celibacy does not denote holiness

Tuesday 24 September 1996 23:02 BST

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Sir: Paul Vallely ("A scandal but not a crisis for the Church", 21 September) is right to aver that Bishop Wright's misbehaviour does not rock the edifice of Catholicism. More's the tragedy!

This most recent scandal ought to rock Catholicism, in that Bishop "Roddy" has been exposed as an archetypal hypocrite within a system that for centuries has colluded in the rampant deceit that celibacy denotes holiness. In Bishop Wright's case this has been to claim the fatherhood of a diocese at the expense of a 15-year-old son.

The Rev ANDREW P de BERRY

Thurgarton, Nottinghamshire

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Letter: Celibacy does not denote holiness

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