Dear Editor, With regards to the proposed “reality check” that the Roman Catholic Church may or may not need to take, depending on your point of view, permit me to throw the following observations into the mix. Firstly the general population’s understanding of the nature of marriage, sexual intercourse, contraceptives and homosexuality has changed dramatically…
Month: July 2015
Mater’s compliance questioned
Dear Editor, In your June 4 edition you publish an advertorial in support of the Mater Hospital Foundation’s “Make Your Will Week”. The excellent work of the medical, nursing and other staff of the hospital are described in the advertorial and it may be that some readers of The Irish Catholic will be moved to offer…
Processions give witness
Dear Editor, I was very impressed by the pictures of the Corpus Christi processions in Millstreet and Templemore in The Irish Catholic on June 18. But where are the processions from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s? Why did they stop? The same goes for Marian processions and the traditional practice of the crowning of a statue…
Media silence noted
Dear Editor, RTÉ News very briefly carried the tragic story of the young Irish woman who in 2012 died after an abortion carried out at a London clinic. Three abortion clinic staff – a doctor and two nurses – were being charged in court with manslaughter and negligence. Subsequently other media ignored this woman’s tragic…
Liturgy as source of life
The Church teaches that liturgy is a participation in Christ’s own prayer, writes Cathal Barry
The God of our desires
What lies deepest inside authentic faith is the truth that God is the object of all human desire, no matter how earthy and unholy that desire might seem at times. This implies that everything we desire is contained in God. We see this expressed in the Psalms, which tell us that God is the object…
Strawberry and elderflower mousse
Every summer I look forward to making elderflower cordial. Elderflower is best picked on a sunny day, but we had so many dull and drizzly days last month that I had little opportunity to pick any. As soon as the sun peeped out from behind the clouds, I legged it out of the house with…
Vatican Round-up
Rome recognises Palestine After 15 years of negotiations, the Holy See has formally recognised the “state of Palestine,” signing a treaty that Rome hopes will help build improved relations between Israel and Palestine. The preamble to the ‘Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine’ recognises the right to self-determination of the…
A ship to shore support service
Mags Gargan visits the Stella Maris centre in Dublin
Pope tackles Vatican’s complex media web
“Infighting and jockeying for positions” muddies the Church’s message, writes Michael Kelly

Courtney McGrail
Cathal Barry
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Erin Fox
Mags Gargan
Michael Kelly