The Roman Catholic archbishop of Liverpool, Malcolm McMahon, appears more than a little defensive in his interview with Peter Wilby, whose questions about Catholic school admissions, far from being “based on inaccurate information”, were precisely the right ones (Grammars and free schools now on the hymn sheet, 2 May). The Catholic Education Service has long conceded that its schools must necessarily be religiously segregated, but it ignores the very clear evidence that they are socio-economically segregated too.

Research conducted by the Fair Admissions Campaign using official government data found that Catholic schools admit 28% fewer children eligible for free school meals than they should given their local areas, while the Sutton Trust reported earlier this year that “faith” schools are “three times as socially selective compared with their catchment area than non-faith schools”. Rather than defending this appalling record of disproportionately turning away poorer children at the gate, wouldn’t the archbishop be better off doing something about it?

Rachel Taggart-Ryan

Fair Admissions Campaign

• Peter Wilby clearly cannot stand Malcolm McMahon. As a governor of a Catholic voluntary-aided school, I am aware that there are many Catholics who are also members of ethnic minorities. We have large numbers of Filipinos, Indians from the southern state of Kerala and African refugees, not to mention eastern European migrants. These Catholics are a higher priority for entry than white atheists, but so are the children of Muslim parents who are looking for a faith-based education. Admissions criteria are carefully crafted.

“Segregated” Catholic schools were the means by which the poor discriminated-against Catholic community broke out into the mainstream of British life in the last century. The church’s mission to the poor continues today despite Wilby’s blind spots.

Dr Martin Price

Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan

• As the product of a Catholic education and a sometime parent governor of a comprehensive school, I have watched the faith sector increase its stranglehold on Liverpool’s schools greatly to the detriment of local authority provision. Parents wanting a non-selective secular education or unwilling to play the church game have precious little choice.

Angela Lansley

Liverpool

• The Roman Catholic archbishop of Liverpool tells Peter Wilby that Catholic schools “are for the Catholic community … by canon law schools are forbidden to turn away Catholic parents in favour of non-Catholics”.

So how does he explain that the official Catholic International Education Office says in a paper circulated recently at the Council of Europe that a “Catholic school is an inclusive school, founded in intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, a non-discriminatory school, open to all, especially the poorest … the Catholic school is anything but a communitarian school”?

And, by the way, where is the relevant canon law? Can he point me to his source?

David Pollock

London

• Malcolm McMahon, who chairs the Catholic Education Service, has views on the role and ethos of Catholic schools that should trouble us all. When asked whether some pupils at Catholic schools have same-sex parents, he responds: “Why would same-sex parents want to send their children to a Catholic school?” If the views of the archbishop are those espoused by his schools, why indeed?

This is a national scandal – a man responsible for overseeing the education of more than 800,000 children admitting that the 2,000 publicly funded schools in his charge are not necessarily appropriate for same-sex parents and their children. The archbishop claims that Catholic schools would nonetheless treat “them” with respect, but one wonders how much respect these schools can really be showing to people whose existence is ignored in everyday teaching or whose sexuality is described as sinful. The government wants to increase the number of such schools in England. In truth, it should have no hand in funding any of them.

Jay Harman

British Humanist Association

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters