Truth based on solid facts

The publication of the article John Paul has blood on his hands in the April 7 edition of The Jakarta Post was indeed rather unfortunately timed, and the Post has already graciously offered its sincere apologies.

However, the Post has an obligation to its readers to publish all the news from reliable sources that is worth printing, and, as far as I have seen, faithfully does so. This is one of the reasons why I am a subscriber to the Post.

Furthermore, Dr. Terry Eagleton, the writer of the challenged article, is a professor of Cultural Theory at Manchester University, and, as such, I believe, would never have written the article without having the solid support and back-up of facts.

Moreover, it amazes me that The Holy See did not offer any comments on Gwynne Dyer's article, The one that got away: Me and the last pope, which appeared on page seven of the April 7 edition of the Post.

I believe that both Dr. Terry Eagleton and Gwynne Dyer wrote their articles in a sincere desire to follow and implement the real teachings of Jesus Christ, and to assist the conservative Catholic Church in being more aware of the urgent and very real needs of Catholics in the present-day world.

Jesus Christ himself, who spoke the truth and was rewarded for doing so with a terrible and agonizing death on the cross, said: "You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free" (John 8:32). To these words I might add a saying from George Bernard Shaw: "All great truths began as blasphemies."

TAMI KOESTOMO, Bogor, West Java