Letters | 21 February 2013

Benedictions

Sir: John O’Sullivan’s summary of Pope Benedict XVI’s ‘extraordinary contribution’ to Catholic thought was masterful (‘Benedict’s reformation’, 16 February) — and how interesting that the Pontiff’s writings and speeches have helped create a new ‘Catholic atheist’ movement. It is a shame, however, that O’Sullivan didn’t mention another area in which Benedict has challenged western ideas: his repeated denunciation of ‘unregulated financial capitalism’ as a threat to world peace. Adam Smith would have agreed with him. I hope that O’Sullivan’s omission was not ideological blindness as to the nasty side of free markets.
Camille De La Chesnais

Yorkshire

Sir: Charles Moore writes that Benedict XVI’s memoirs, if he writes them, would be a papal first (Notes, 16 February). Not quite: read the vivid and witty Commentaries of Pius II (Pope, 1458-1464), who died on the way to leading a crusade to retake Constantinople from the Ottomans. An excellent translation from the Latin was published in 1959 (Allen and Unwin).
George Stern

London N6

Blame the EU

Sir: One of the advantages of living in Africa, particularly in rural areas, is that you can be sure of the provenance of the meat you are eating because it is often looking at you, bleating, mooing or clucking prior to being dispatched and put in the cooking pot. OK, it can be a bit tough, but at least you know what you are eating.

Most popular

Rod Liddle

British Steel and the death of dim-witted globalisation

But aren’t we being a bit squeamish about what we eat? Many years ago, a group of us were taken out to a restaurant in the old city in Rabat and were fed an endless stream of spiced, marinated, roasted kebabs, all tender and delicious. At the end of a very convivial evening, we asked our hosts what we had been eating and they shrugged their shoulders, said not sure, could be goat, dog, donkey, who knows? None of us threw up there and then or suffered any ill effects from our meal.