Dear Editor, Mary Finegan (IC Letters 27/07/2017) believes that “banning women from being ordained priests is insulting”. At the Last Supper, Jesus told his apostles that, “the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all I have said to you” (Jn 14:26). Further, “when…
Dear Editor, I too was appalled when I saw the image on social media of a ‘repeal’ jumper spread on the altar of the Oblate church in Inchicore (IC 10/08/2017). This insult was intended to provoke the people of faith. However, I think it has back-fired on the pro-choice campaign because the people of the…
Dear Editor, I wish to congratulate Dr Andrew Maxwell (IC Letters 20/07/2017) on his point that the GAA is the new religion in Ireland. First of all the GAA is very well sponsored for all their games in Croke Park, therefore they should pay all the players. All Ireland tickets will be €90 this year,…
Dear Editor, Our poor priests are run off their feet. Soon they will all be gone unless something radical is done. I cannot see the Church surviving, the way it is going. When discussions of the shortage of priests arise two solutions are always presented – ordaining married men and ordaining women. However, neither of…
As back-to-school signs hang in seemingly every shop window, there is no denying that school days are just around the corner. The summer is winding down and as anticipation for school picks up, parents are preparing their little ones for the first day of school. Many parents are anxious about this new journey in their…
Fr Cathal Deery was born in Monaghan town, and had a traditional Catholic upbringing, where the family rosary was a daily occurrence. “It was part of growing up,” he says, adding, “going to Mass wasn’t an option – we’d go every Sunday.” His maternal grandfather had a strong influence on his faith, which compelled him…
The word “Protestant” is generally misunderstood. Martin Luther’s protest that led to the Protestant reformation was not, in fact, a protest against the Roman Catholic Church; properly understood, it was a protest for God. God, in Luther’s view, was being manipulated to serve human and ecclesial self-interest. His protest was a plea to respect God’s…
At the time of the election in the USA I wrote that I had a sense of dread with Donald Trump becoming President. I wouldn’t have been happy with Hilary Clinton getting the job either, and wondered how such a vast country with such potential couldn’t produce better than those two candidates. My sense of…
An Inconvenient Sequel (PG) He walks like John Wayne. He talks like Dr Phil. Who is he? He’s Al Gore, the man who once said, “I used to be the next President of the United States.” That didn’t happen but something else did. He found a life outside politics. A life of lecturing on ecology,…
The Nuns of Saint’ Ambrogio: The True Story of a Covent Scandal By Hubert Wolf (Oxford University Press, £20.00) When the Church these days is besieged by scandal many seem to think that in previous generations things were different. They were certainly different, but in the sense of being far worse, as this book, by…
Colm Fitzpatrick
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone
Peter Costello