An English bishop expressed solidarity with the family of a man on feeding tubes who appealed to a court for him to be kept alive. Bishop Mark O’Toole of Plymouth said in a statement sent to Catholic News Service that the English court’s decision “to allow for the withdrawal of hydration and nutrition is very…
Letter from Rome In sports, people argue about who’s the GOAT, meaning “Greatest of All Time”. In basketball, is Lebron James the GOAT or is it Michael Jordan? In baseball, are we talking Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb? In college football, did Alabama Coach Nick Saban just become the GOAT by winning a seventh national…
Peace Smiles: Rediscovering Thomas Merton by Bishop Fintan Monahan (Veritas Publications, €9.99/£9.12) Anthony Redmond It is very clear that Bishop Fintan Monaghan is an ardent admirer and devotee of Thomas Merton and his writings. Dr Monahan, of course, is Bishop of Killaloe, based in Ennis, Co. Clare, and could be said to speak from the heart…
The Powerful and the Damned: Private Diaries in Turbulent Times by Lionel Barber (W. H. Allen, £25.00 / €20.25) Over Christmas, I read the book with the above arresting title. It is by Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times for the past 15 years, who has just retired. It is a gallop through the last…
Catholics in Iraq are not giving up on a papal visit despite Pope Francis recently saying the pandemic might stop him from going: at the request of Cardinal Patriarch Raphael Sako, they’re reciting a prayer specifically for the trip scheduled for March 5-8 to take place. “Lord our God, grant Pope Francis health and safety…
Everyday Philosophy Much philosophical discussion about lying has tended to focus on the most extreme of extreme cases. “Is it acceptable to lie to a murderer about whether or not his would-be victim is in your house?” As is often the case in philosophy, the extreme case is a very bad place to start. Starting…
Celebrating a livestreamed Mass for the community of Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington January 13, Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory noted how sometimes the readings of the day “fit our lives so perfectly”. They “somehow almost mystically describe where we are at this moment”, he said. Washington’s archbishop then pointed out how that day’s Gospel…
As has been commented on endlessly, the most recent lockdown has left many of us sitting at home, twiddling our thumbs. The first lockdown was greeted with some measure of determination and grit, and people made the best of things by picking up new hobbies and skills, trying their hands at cooking, gardening, a musical…
Most of us are familiar with the story of Zorba, the Greek, either through Nikos Kazantzakis’ famous book or through the movie. Well, Zorba was not a fictional character. He was a real person, Alexis Zorba, who had such a larger-than-life personality and energy that when he died, Kazantzakis found his death very difficult to…
Vatican modifies distribution of ashes for Ash Wednesday The Congregation for Divine Worship announced that the ashes will be “sprinkled” rather than applied as a paste and the priest will “say nothing” while doing so. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published the note ahead of the beginning of Lent,…
John L. Allen Jr.
Ben Conroy
Fr Ronald Rolheiser