Your editorial (The Guardian view on liberal Christians: is this their moment?, 1 January) refers to the Vatican’s opposition to abortion. But it goes much wider than that, and can be seen more as a pro-natalist policy. A hierarchy of men who should have no children, and little understanding of what it takes to bear and bring up a child, are hellbent on trying to force women to have more babies.
The Catholic faithful, where they have access to family planning, respectfully reject their church’s ban and choose to have about the same number of children as everyone else. So the Vatican is trying to force governments and international organisations to erect barriers to reproductive health and choices, regardless of people’s religious affiliation. It is a policy of almost fanatical opposition.
This matters if we are to save our natural environment and limit climate damage. The importance of stabilising the human population will be an issue at the Cop26 conference in Glasgow. Unless the policy changes, we will see the Holy See delegation, with other ultra-conservative representatives, using every procedural trick in the book to block this debate.
We need a spotlight put on Vatican policy, and we need it now.
Barbara Rogers
Author, A Matter of Life and Death
• I cannot agree with your editorial. All the Christian leaders mentioned are men who continue to preach a male God, a father figure. How does this make them progressive? Until they start at least to use inclusive language, what do they have to say to women, their sisters in the faith?
The encyclical by Pope Francis entitled Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All) is proof that the churches are not listening to women and to describe them as liberal is just not true.
Pam Webb
Haslington, Cheshire
• It would appear that there is some confusion regarding progressive and liberal-minded Christians in your editorial. I am a liberal Christian who would not support the idea of terminating any human being’s life from their conception to the end of their life. Nor would I trample over LGBTQ+ rights. Can someone explain to me how this makes me a rightwing religious conservative?
Elizabeth Stacey
Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire
