Many people who don’t believe in God do believe that human behaviour is simply the result of social conditioning, writes David Quinn Atheists often enjoy making sport of religion. They mock us for believing in the ‘great sky-fairy’ (meaning God), or the virgin birth, or that a man can walk on the water, or rise…
Scotland has reported its second-highest annual abortion figure on record. Public Health Scotland announced on August 25 that 13,583 abortions were performed in 2019, with a termination rate of 13.2 per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44. Last year’s figure is the highest since 2008 and represents an increase of 297 from 2018 when…
Focus Ireland have called for a reintroduction of eviction bans and rent freezes due to recent Covid-19 restrictions as new figures show an increase in homelessness from 8699 in June to 8728 in July. The charity warned of a potential bigger increase in the coming months. Pat Dennigan, Focus Ireland CEO, said: “As children across…
Letter from Rome Robert Merton, a famous American sociologist, was, by all accounts, a smart guy. Among other things, he popularised the expression “law of unintended consequences” to refer to situations when a person does something for one reason, but he or she finds that it produces all sorts of other unexpected results. Right now,…
The Missionaries of Charity cancelled their customary birthday celebrations for their founder, Mother Teresa, this year after nine religious sisters tested positive for Covid-19. Wednesday marked the 110th birthday of Saint Mother Teresa, who died in 1997. Among other celebrations, the Motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity, which houses the saint’s tomb, was forced to…
There is a clematis in flower along our fence, big, rich, flouncy purple flowers. The sepals are feathery with a darker purple rib running the length of them. At the heart of the flower are stamens, purple merging to an almost lime green. Next to it is a hydrangea. Lilac-fading-to-white florets surround a head of…
The case of the mistaken baptism is a reminder of the Sacraments’ centrality writes Ruadhán Jones It’s not often that an apparently obscure verdict on a question of Catholic doctrine has especially dramatic effects. When the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) announced that baptisms where the deacon or priest said “we” instead…
Marking an historical first in Pope Francis’ home country, the Diocese of San Luis in northern Argentina invited a transgender woman to read one of the prayer intentions at a public Mass celebrated by the local bishop. The invitation was issued to Francia López by civil officials to recognize the work she does among the…
Despite the challenges, rumours of the Church’s demise are greatly exaggerated Bishop Paul Dempsey tells Michael Kelly When the parish priest of Newbridge Fr Paul Dempsey got a call from the Pope’s ambassador in Dublin in mid-December requesting a meeting he quickly made arrangements to go to the capital. The Papal Nuncio Archbishop Jude Okolo…
As an occasional continuation of our series ‘Lockdown Reading’. This week we are publishing an appreciation of an important book once very well known, but now neglected… Realizations: Newman’s own selections of his sermons edited by Vincent Ferrer Blehl, with a preface by Muriel Spark (Liturgical Press, 2009 [originally published 1964]) Teresa Whitington These 13 sermons…
David Quinn
Chai Brady
John L. Allen Jr.
Bairbre Cahill
Ruadhán Jones
Michael Kelly
Peter Costello