Peter CostelloHidden in Christ: Living as God’s Beloved by James Bryan Smith (Hodder & Stoughton, £8.99)
Month: April 2015
Vatican Round-up
Courtney McGrailCardinal accused of abortion lobbying Belgium’s Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels from 1979 to 2010, urged King Baudouin to sign the country’s 1990 abortion law, according to two former politicians. Speaking in a documentary for VTM, the Flemish Broadcast Corporation, Socialist Philippe Moreau and Flemish Christian Democrat Mark Eyskens claimed the cardinal tried to persuade the late king…
Church must reach out to the violent in Congo
Brutal violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo must stop, and the Church can help by reaching out to those committing the violence, according to religious congregations working in the conflict-torn country. The congregations based in the Diocese of Butembo-Beni say in a joint statement that armed men in the northeastern area of Beni…
Turkey reacts angrily to Pope’s Armenia ‘genocide’ remarks
Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Rome and summoned the papal nuncio in Ankara to express its disapproval at Pope Francis’ reference to the death of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1918 as “genocide”. Speaking before concelebrating Mass for the Centenary of Armenian Martyrdom, Pope Francis greeted the…
Agree on lack of leadership
Dear Editor, I agree totally with Terry Healy (IC Letters 26/03/2015) about the lack of leadership from the bishops. When Bishop Kevin Doran tried to explain the teachings of the Church, he was made to apologise – by whom I wonder? Yours etc., Helen Gately, Athlone, Co. Westmeath.
Pope’s promotion of toxic bishop hard to believe
Dear Editor, I was astounded to read the amount of evidence suggesting that Bishop Juan Barros not only knew about sexual abuse by Chile’s most notorious clerical sex abuser, but actually watched him abuse teenagers (IC 09/04/2015 ‘Vatican stands by controversial bishop’). When I initially heard of the protests against his appointment as Bishop of…
Everyone’s vote will be equally valid
Dear Editor, There is no doubt that had it not been for the marriage referendum, we would not have had so many public discussions about how Ireland treats gay people, or the nature of civil marriage. Whatever the result of the marriage referendum, it has been a healthy exercise for people who are gay, and…
How you vote will affect future generations
Dear Editor, Shortly Irish voters will be asked by our Government to legalise same-sex marriage, with men marrying men, women marrying women and with children being adopted/surrogated into same-sex unions, as a new Irish norm. Should this same-sex referendum pass, will schools and teachers be forced to teach children that same-sex marriage is not just…
Constitution accommodates other beliefs
Dear Editor, The ideal of the Christian family is embedded in the Irish Constitution and provides a template or framework for the family. Not all families are ideal, not all families are Christian, but Irish laws within the Constitution are capable of accommodating people of different belief systems. The forthcoming referendum on same-sex marriage will…
It beggars belief that Govt does not indemnify schools
Dear Editor, It beggars belief that schools used as polling stations are having to foot the bill if a voter falls or injures themselves on election days. So many Catholic schools are already feeling the pinch after continuous Government cuts and now I read (IC 09/04/2015) the ones that are being used as polling stations…