Presbyterians in a time warp

■ I was not surprised at the recent Presbyterian general assembly vote to not accept people in same-sex relationships as full members, and to break links with their Scottish counterparts.

In the ‘Belfast Telegraph’ recently, a woman who was a long-time member of the Presbyterian Church, and whose daughter is in a same-sex relationship, was scathing of the Church from which her daughter was excluded. They took the bold step of resigning in the wake of this.

As an Irish Catholic who voted for same-sex marriage and the removal of the Eighth Amendment, I firmly believe there is little difference, apart from the Reformation, between the ideals of the fundamentalists in either Church. Their pretence that they are all-embracing, all-loving is somewhat hypocritical given the comments from their respective bishops and assembly members.

The general assembly spokesperson said “the Church alone has the right to interpret and explain its standards under the guidance of the holy spirit” and that it came to “decisions following much prayerful consideration, discussion and open debate”. Did they ask their followers if it was such an open debate? I think not. Sadly, like the Catholic Church, those in charge are caught in a time warp where they see no compassion, love, forgiveness for those of us who are estranged in some way from our respective Churches or are different in some way in the way we live our lives as free and open human beings. Christy Galligan Letterkenny, Co Donegal