LETTER HE EDITOR OF THE TABLET 1 King iret Choisters,Citon Walk London W6 OGY 02087181550 (testers thetabiet co.uk Allcorespandence including email, must eve a ull posal aces and contact telephone numb. The Editor eserves he right wo sharon eters, Eucharistic promise ‘@ Vincent Manning suggests that means of celebrating the Eucharist might be rethought in the light of Christ assurance that, where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there among them (Letters, 19 October). How wonderful it ‘would be if this idea could take root and grow Twonder in what sense the bishops assembled in Rome for the Synod would understand ‘Chiists promise recorded in ‘Matthew 18:20. My troduetion to eleriealisin although I didn't know the ‘word then) came during a retreat given by Bernard Basset ‘SJ in the mid 1960s: Fr Basset informed us that the promise ‘only applies when there is priest present. [BERNARD WHELAN FARNILAM, SURREY ‘@ Vincent Manning asks why thelocal bishop cannot support ‘thelaity to discern who has the siftsto preside at the ‘celebration ofthe Eucharist "The same point was made by ‘the Dutch provinee of the Dominican Orderin 2007. ‘They asserted that the severe shortage of priests necessitated radical measures to ensure the availabilty of the Eucharist. ‘They proposed that the local ‘designate lay persons, men and ‘women, to preside a the Eucharist and ask the local bishop to ordain them. Ifthe shop refused, the community should proceed without his permission. ‘They based their reasoning on the teaching of the renowned. ‘theologian, Fr Edward, Schillebeecks, and the revised ‘theology of ministry coming from Vatican II. Their + TOPIC OF THE WEEK + For Newman’s sake, listen to the lay folk ‘YOUR EXCELLENT editorial, “Church still lags behind Newman’ (19 October), highlights the “continued absence of any systematic consultation among bishops, priests and laity on the many challenges the Church now faces’ ‘Tobe reminded of the wonderful and inspiving National Pastoral Congeessin Liverpool in 1980, in which I was involved in the planning and execution sil hurts. It ‘was a week attended by enthused delegates from all aver the country who left for home full of hope for change and dialogue. Easter Peoplewas the book published afterwards ‘setting out the future. I remember haw [Archbishop Derek Worlock was personally crushed by the reactions from Rome. Forty yeas later we still have no struetuies for dialogue and consultation. ‘The laity are asked for their views which are then ignored. Meanwhile the ly folk who continue to fund their Church become steadily fewer in number. ‘TERENCE DUFFY RENTON, WIRRAL CHRISTOPHER LAMB, in“England’ giftto the Church’ (19 October), writes that, if Newman were to be declared a Doctor of ‘the Chureh, this “would place the English saint among the great confessors of faith, alongside John Chrysostom, Anselm and Aquinas’: Quite so, But let’ not forget the Venerable Bede who, to date, isthe only Englishman to become a Doctor ofthe Church. He was made so by Pope Leo XIII, ‘who also created Newman a cardinal. For [Leo XIII, there was more than one gift to ‘the Church who hailed from England, (DR) JONATHAN W. CHAPPELL LONDON I WOULD LIKE to add my congratulations ‘to The Tablet on its excellent tabutes to St John Henry Newman, Asa former student ‘of University College Dublin Tremember how we seminarians loved Newman House foritseaflee and Guinness buns, but also for the history we soaked up, being in the place where the saint lived. ‘When Newman commissioned the architect, John Hungerford Pollen, to build the University College Church in 1851 he ‘asked him: “Build us abarn and wewill, ‘tum it into a basilica” Then in 1886 ‘Newman preached his first sermon in the barn’ in which he said: "I wish all individuals to he oracle of philosophy and shrines of devotion. It would indeed bea ‘great tribute to our newest saint if this shrine of devotion was made a basilica. (En) TOM GRUFFERTY ALVERSTOKE, HAMPSHIRE ‘THE NEWS LETTER (a Belfast daily paper) ‘on its weekly churches page (1g October) noted the John Henry Newman ‘canonisation at Rome withthe heading “RC sainthood fora lapsed Anglican’, while the Irish Times (a Dublin daily) of the same date had an essay“John Henry Newman Protholic or Cathestant?” by the distinguished literary critic, Professor Declan Kiberd, “ave the Irish - Norther and Souther ~ cottoned on to something? WA. MILLER BELEAST MUST ADMIT to envy when I saw the photograph of St John Henry Newmans desk (12 October). A comfortable chair = not an all-swivel contraption; a slanting desk top, making reading and waiting easy; 1no laptop, no ugly PC tower, no telephone ‘or mobile, no pile of papers and no mug of tea tospill. If could emulate that, would it ‘make it easier to become a saint? (ER) E. MICHAEL PETERS. 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