ROBERT Meggs (HAS, Jan 6) fails to appreciate how much authority is given to the religious sisters who are commissioned as parish administrators in two of our Darlington parishes.

They are not ordained ministers, but they are given a special responsibility for the care of these parishes.

They can prepare and conduct various liturgies and they have a particular care for the sick at home and in our hospitals.

They are leaders in encouraging both men and women in their parishes to fulfil various needs and ministries in the parish; eg, specially trained and commissioned ministers who take Holy Communion to the housebound and sick.

They help and guide groups who prepare people for the sacraments – eg, baptism, first Holy Communion and confirmation.

These highly-trained and devoted women are certainly not just tea makers, flower arrangers and givers of hymn books. They are vitally involved in the “running” of the parish and we are very grateful for their inspiring work.

Father Ged Lavender, Cullercoats, North Tyneside.

ALTHOUGH I am not a Catholic I think that Robert Meggs (HAS, Jan 6) is over-reacting in his accusation of misogyny in the Catholic Church.

The problem does not lie in the sharing of roles between the sexes, but in the status awarded to each activity.

Far from being liberated, many modern women have extra burdens imposed on them as they try to combine a career with bringing up children.

There is a good principle in the world of work called “division of labour”.

As a practising Anglican I often envy the Orthodox Jewish women who stay at home to cook the Sabbath meal while their husbands represent the family at the synagogue, as opposed to their Christian sisters who have to rush home from the Sunday morning service to turn down the joint before it burns.

As long as home-making and flower arranging are given the status they deserve, I see no superiority in the masculine role of priest.

Mrs Masha Woollard, Darlington.