Fr Ronald RolheiserIt is easy to mistake piety for the genuine response that God wants of us, that is, to enter into a relationship of intimacy with Him and then try to help others have that same experience. We see this everywhere in Scripture. For example, in Luke’s Gospel, after witnessing a miraculous catch of fish, Peter…
Month: March 2015
The Church is the temple of the Spirit
Cathal BarryThe Church is the body of Christ, writes Cathal Barry
Pills not best solution to all ills
Mags GarganIt has been suggested that anti-anxiety medications are being too widely prescribed and too often used in Ireland, writes Mags Gargan
Indians say conversion was not a motive behind Teresa’s kindness
Courtney McGrailIndians have condemned claims that Blessed Teresa of Calcutta’s sole aim in helping the poor was converting them to Christianity. Speaking at the inauguration of an orphanage and women's home run by a Rajasthan-based NGO, nationalist leader Mohan Bhagwat, a fundamentalist Hindu, said “here we will not provide service like that rendered by Mother Teresa.…
Former Vatican chief appointed new Archbishop of Malta
Former Vatican chief prosecutor Charles Scicluna has been named as the new Archbishop of Malta. Born in Toronto, Canada in 1959, Dr Scicluna began working in Rome as Substitute Promoter of Justice for the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura before becoming Promoter of Justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).…
A man of deep and abiding faith is mourned
Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, who has died aged 97, has been honoured in death by a host of American luminaries. “His deep and abiding faith in a loving God, and in the power of our shared humanity, led him to join the first-ever United States Civil Rights Commission, and join hands with (the Rev. Martin…
People of the Central African Republic are ‘the new Israelites’
An archbishop in Central African Republic has likened the people of his country to Israelites wandering in the desert, and urged them to use the pope's planned autumn visit to escape from their “prolonged crisis”. In a Lenten pastoral letter, Bangui’s Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga, president of the national bishops’ conference, said that “the harsh ordeal”…
Latvian Christians doubt NATO guarantee
Just weeks after the Latvian government announced new security measures, including the reintroduction of conscription, Catholic leaders have expressed concerns about possible Russian aggression. Speaking on behalf of Latvia’s bishops’ conference, Msgr Paul Klavins said NATO forces have given Latvians a “sense of greater protection” but added that many doubt how NATO’s collective defence guarantee…
Praying for an end to brutality
Iraqi Christians attend Mass at a church in Baghdad. Pope Francis has said Catholics are "praying urgently that the intolerable brutality" Iraqi and Syrian Christians are suffering "may end as soon as possible."
Vatican Round-up
Book claims Pope Francis’ revolution ‘may disappoint’ The Pope is engaged in a “radical revolution” that may disappoint both progressives and traditionalists, according to Cardinal Walter Kasper’s new book Pope Francis – Revolution of Tenderness and Mercy. Describing how the Holy Father distanced himself from such extreme positions in his final address at October 2014’s…