Last week I ended my column on the Trump-Biden Presidential debate. I wasn’t happy. I expected more from the Vice Presidential Debate, (RTÉ News Now, Sky News, CNN) on Wednesday night of last week and it was certainly an improvement, more civilised. The candidates, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris were more courteous, even gracious at…
Notebook To light a candle or not to light a candle, that is the question. Or to put it more pointedly, when the HSE advises churches not to permit people to light candles, should the advice be heeded or ignored? The HSE’s most recent comprehensive statement of ‘Covid-19 Guidance for Religious Services’ were last updated…
The Sunday Gospel Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap. Today’s Readings open up the contentious relationship between religion and politics, between the sacred and secular dimensions of life. In the First Reading the political decision of the Babylonian King, Cyrus, unwittingly served the plan of God for the release of the Jewish captives. In today’s Gospel…
French cardinal says book royalties go to abuse victims A French cardinal who resigned as archbishop of Lyon after being acquitted of failing to report clerical sex abuse said the royalties from his new book would go to abuse victims. Cardinal Philippe Barbarin told France’s RTL radio that the Archdiocese of Lyon would distribute the…
The purpose of crying out to the Lord in prayer is not to get used to suffering, but to remember that God, and not humankind, is the only source of salvation and consolation, Pope Francis said. The Book of Psalms, with its many prayers of supplication, teaches Christians how to ask “God to intervene where…
The North’s First Minister Arlene Foster has insisted that there is no evidence that the upsurge in coronavirus is linked to places of worship. The Northern Ireland Executive has today agreed a range of significant interventions in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the region. As part of the restrictions, churches will…
Junno Arocho Esteves Thousands sang and applauded as Italian teenager Carlo Acutis was beatified in a town dear to him and to many Christians around the world: Assisi. During Saturday’s beatification Mass, Italian Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the papal legate for the Basilicas of St Francis and St Mary of the Angels in Assisi, read Pope…
In the search for a cheap headline, truth is the first casualty – that’s why good journalism matters, writes Michael Kelly The well-known Dominican preacher Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP wrote recently about his increasing disenchantment with the mainstream press. “The media is relentless in attacking the Church,” he writes. “Every day there is verbal abuse,…
The four archbishops have requested a meeting with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in a bid to life the ban on people attending Mass under Level III coronavirus restrictions. Countries with much more stringent guidelines currently in place have not banned public worship and the Republic remains the only place in Europe where Catholics cannot attend Mass…
Missionaries ‘welcome’ but it’s not a sustainable approach, warns Rector The head of the national seminary has insisted that importing priests from overseas is not a solution to the vocations crisis. Fr Tomás Surlis was speaking to The Irish Catholic after the hierarchy announced that 13 men have begun studying for the priesthood for Irish dioceses this…
Brendan O’Regan
Ruadhán Jones
Michael Kelly
Chai Brady