Courtney McGrailPeople pray on the feast of St Barbara, December 4 at St Barbara Church in Havana, Cuba. Barbara was an early Christian Greek martyr, whose relics lie today in Kiev, Ukraine. Photo: CNS
Month: December 2016
No decrease in attacks on Egypt’s Copts
Paul KeenanThe latest in a litany of ongoing attacks on the Coptic community in Egypt took place towards the end of last month in al Nagameesh, the evidence apparent in the ashes of what was the village’s community centre. Available to all for anything from celebrations to town meetings, the community centre was also regularly in…
French legislators move against pro-life websites
French government proposals to outlaw what have been termed “intimidating” and “misleading” anti-abortion websites passed a legislative hurdle on December 1 when the National Assembly voted to pass curbing legislation in this area. Amid a fraught parliamentary session, marked by heckling across the chamber, the Assembly cleared the way for its Bill on the issue…
The selective silence of President Higgins
Dear Editor, I love reading Mary Kenny’s articles as she is not afraid to say her mind. Having read her ‘Achilles heel’ article about President Higgins and his “seeming reluctance to revisit any past pronouncements on the state of Venezuela and its late leader Hugo Chavez” and the “appalling poverty, hunger, cruelty and injustice” there…
Just how ‘pro-life’ is Donald Trump?
Dear Editor, Your feature letter from Ms Bernadette Fitzgerald in the edition of November 24 (“Why Catholics should welcome Trump”) repeats the idea that, as long as a person is pro-life (i.e., specifically opposed to abortion), this alone trumps (no pun intended) all faults. This is utter nonsense. First, let me be clear, I am…
The UN does not merit minister’s thanks
Dear Editor, I cannot believe what is happening with the present Government. In this centenary year of the heroes of 1916, Ireland doffs its cap to the UN, a body that cooperated with human rights abuses at many levels. After being roundly abused by the UN for Ireland’s pro-life laws, the then Minister for Health…
Lay community can help elderly priests
Dear Editor, I refer to Greg Daly’s report in The Irish Catholic of November 24 of his attendance at the AGM of the Association of Catholic Priests. An Irish Times editorial of November 18 referred to and fully supported Fr Brendan Hoban’s views on priests being a ‘lost tribe’. As an ordinary and elderly parishioner,…
Who teaches the teachers?
Dear Editor, On Friday as my wife and I waited our turn to meet with subject teachers at a Catholic secondary school ‘Parents’ Evening’ I read Paul Keenan’s article ‘Students would benefit from Religious Ed as a core subject’ (IC 24/11/2016). We received great subject feedback from the various teachers until we came to the…
Fidel Castro, the communist leader who received three Popes
Inés san Martín Fidel Castro, Cuba’s communist leader who died on November 25 at the age of 90, was by far the most dominant figure in Cuba’s one-party state which he ruled with an iron fist for almost five decades before handing over the powers to his brother Raúl in 2008. A hero to the left across the…
Hoping for ‘Cuba Libre’
Cuban expatriates hoping for a new chapter of freedoms in their country celebrate the death of Fidel Castro in Little Havana, a neighbourhood of Miami, November 26. Castro, who seized power in a 1959 revolution and governed Cuba until 2006, died November 25 at the age of 90. Photo: CNS