Michael KellySame-sex marriage referendum is likely to be one of the most divisive political campaigns Ireland has seen, writes Michael Kelly
Month: January 2015
With power comes corruption
Courtney McGrailDear Editor, Your editorial (“One Church but a very different Catholicism”, IC 08/01/2015) was an important event. To read in a Catholic paper that “History proves that, when the Church lusts after political and secular power, the Gospel is soon relegated”, is to pinpoint the dilemma upon whose horns the Church has been impaled ever…
Belfast clergy host festival to promote generosity
Mags GarganAn inter-denominational festival aimed at promoting cross-community friendship and global generosity has been launched by Belfast’s Lord Mayor. Now in its third year, the 4 Corners Festival, which runs from January 29 to February 8, grew out of conversations between Fr Martin Magill, parish priest at Sacred Heart parish and Rev. Steve Stockman of Fitzroy Presbyterian…
Same-sex marriage poll is dry run for repeal of the pro-life amendment
Dr Martin ManserghMartin Mansergh, The View
Gov is accused of excluding people clinging to the margins
A cleric at the forefront of social justice campaigning has accused the Government of further excluding people who are already clinging to the margins of society in a new review of State policy. A review of Government policies released by Social Justice Ireland this week, which analyses how Ireland is performing on reaching its national…
Primate’s ‘holy gust’ moment receives press award
A photograph from the installation of Bishop Donal McKeown as the new Bishop of Derry last year, won a prestigious award at the annual Press Photographers Association of Ireland’s competition. The photograph by Margaret McLaughlin of The Irish News, titled ‘The Holy Gust’, captures the moment when a gust of wind caught the robes of…
The Irish Times only apologised for abortion story after extreme pressure
Greg DalyThe Pro-Life Campaign has insisted that The Irish Times has “little or no credibility” when it comes to reporting on abortion after new documents reveal how the paper tried to play down an instance when it published an abortion related story which was found to have no basis in fact. On August 23, 2013 a front-page story…
Preserve Jewish heritage – bishops
Poles should do more to maintain Poland’s synagogues and Jewish cemeteries, according to the Polish bishops’ Commission for Dialogue with Judaism. Pointing to how 3.5 million Jews lived in Poland prior to the Holocaust, the bishops said: “We often don’t realise that, in our localities and neighbourhoods, Jews lived, worked and created as our elder…
No Mass is more special than another
Dear Editor, Am I alone in feeling irritated by the habit of some within the Church to use terms like ‘special Mass’ to try and add emphasis to a particular celebration of the Eucharist? One can, perhaps, forgive the error if it is used by journalists in secular newspapers, but it’s very disappointing to see…
Does the traditional understanding of marriage as possible only between a man and a woman still have any value?
The Irish Catholic has asked an interdisciplinary team, which includes Prof. Eamonn Conway and Dr Rik Van Nieuwenhove, theologians at Mary Immaculate College University of Limerick, and Mr Patrick Treacy SC of Integritas, to consider and respond to the difficult questions we all face when deciding how to vote in the referendum.