While the new NPHET restrictions are of course necessary to get to the bottom of this whodunit we call Covid-19, they do raise the old questions of why the familiar fall guys (churches, cinemas, etc.) have again been targeted. Is the elephant in the room not the secondary schools? They opened in late August and…
The Bishop of Cloyne has said that to introduce a bill that would allow for assisted suicide during the middle of a pandemic is a “contradiction of an enormous magnitude”. Bishop William Crean criticised the introduction of the ‘Dying with Dignity Bill’, dubbing it “disingenuous and unnecessary”. In his Homily for the Church’s ‘Day for…
In the passage that recounts the disciples’ encounter with the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus, one of the most evocative lines is where Cleopas says plainly “our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free”. The despondency is palpable. It’s a feeling I am sure that many…
Notebook Recently I was reading about a little remote uninhabited island off the coast of Scotland. It is one of the Orkney Islands called Lamb Holm. It was there that Italian prisoners of World War II were kept from 1942 to 1945. They left something behind – a tiny chapel. Among the prisoners was a…
US pandemic stimulus bill excludes Catholic school students and their families The chairman of the US bishops’ education committee said October 1 “it is unconscionable” the HEROES Act stimulus bill proposed in the House is excluding Catholic school students and their families. The bill includes $225 billion for education, including $182 billion for K-12 schools,…
The Sunday Gospel Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap. Today’s Gospel (Matthew 22:1-14) is a parable about an invitation to a wedding, not just any wedding, but the royal wedding of the king’s son. In Michelangelo’s famous fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the finger of God is reaching towards Adam drawing him into…
Dear Editor, I was getting a little bit concerned about our former president Mary McAleese. It had been several weeks since I had heard her quoted predicting the demise of the Catholic Church. She was clearly keeping her powder dry for a few weeks to maximise publicity for a new book. Her training as a…
Radical legislation that would make it legal to end the lives of vulnerable patients has passed the first stage in the Oireachtas by 81 votes 71. It was debated for just 70 minutes, with TDs opposed to the move only permitted four minutes of speaking time. Politicians backed the move to send the plan to…
Church leaders have urged parishioners not to lose heart in the face of further Covid-19 restrictions and insisted that they will work to impress upon the civil authorities the vital importance of public Masses. In a statement this evening (Wednesday) following their virtual quarterly plenary meeting, the bishops’ conference said that while they “fully support…
People who think politics is sinking to new lows may find comfort in knowing Pope Francis also is concerned about the debasement of what church teaching has described as a “lofty vocation.” “Political life no longer has to do with healthy debates about long-term plans to improve people’s lives and to advance the common good,…
Aubrey Malone
Michael Kelly