Sir, It is scarcely correct to say that the Church of England doesn’t canonise saints (“ ‘St Shahbaz’ would be a potent message”, Mar 7). Though it has no ceremony of canonisation it regularly places martyrs in its own approved calendar of holy days.
Beginning with the Protestant martyrs Ridley and Latimer (1555) and continuing with King Charles I (1649), it has embraced the Catholic Maximilian Kolbe (1941), the Lutheran Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1945) and adding in our own time the Anglican Janani Luwum (1977) and the Catholic Oscar Romero (1980).
Christian martyrs are rarely separated from the political arena. There is nothing to prevent the Church of England, in due time, including Shahbaz Bhatti in its list of commemorated martyrs. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s article (“A truly Islamic state would protect Christians”, Opinion, Mar 7) has made an excellent start in that process.
The Rev Prebendary Norman Wallwork
Dursley, Glos