Ranier Fsadni in his letter Atheism, Liberalism And Christianity (March 28) continued with his labelling campaign comparing Bishop Mario Grech's words to Richard Dawkins' "tirades against religion". If this in itself is not a show of intolerance on the part of the liberal Dr Fsadni, I do not know what it is. In the same "widely publicised letter to Marcello Pera" the Pope writes: "You show that liberalism, without ceasing to be liberalism but rather continuing to be faithful to itself, can connect with a doctrine of right and wrong, especially the Christian doctrine with which it shares affinities, thereby offering a true contribution to overcoming the crisis." Since Dr Fsadni has accepted and acknowledged the significance of the Pope's thoughts as expressed in this letter, he has to acknowledge that without a doubt there is a crisis in Western society; a socio-ethical crisis which needs to be overcome.

And it is precisely this crisis that Bishop Grech was highlighting in his sermon on the occasion of the feast of St Paul. The sentences quoted by Dr Fsadni especially those in (b) and (c) mean that removing God and relying solely on reason has led to the crisis.

Therefore, it is best to quote the first, but one sentence of the Pope from the same letter and allow the readers to judge if the Bishop's thoughts are, or are not in line with the Pope's. "With a remarkable knowledge of the sources and cogent logic you analyse the essence of liberalism, starting with its foundations, showing that at the essence of liberalism is its rootedness in the Christian image of God: its relationship to God, of whom man is the image and from whom we have received the gift of freedom. With indisputable logic you show that liberalism loses its base and destroys itself if it abandons this foundation."

And finally I question whether Dr Fsadni's objection lies solely in the fact that, unfortunately for all of us, the Bishop was speaking the sad truth, a truth which liberals like Dr Fsadni refuse to accept. That truth that liberalism divorced from God has brought about a socio-ethical moral crisis where decadence has permeated all levels of our culture.