Speaking anonymously during an online discussion, a Christian cleric in Hong Kong said he thinks it is likely that greater repression by the Chinese government of religious freedom in Hong Kong, particularly the freedom of religious schools, is about to occur. The cleric, identified only as Reverend L, told the Hudson Institute’s Nina Shea February 10 that…
For some reason the last week felt very long. When Friday night, February 4, finally came last week I found myself sitting at the kitchen table, in front of the laptop, watching the live stream from the synodal path in Germany. It was the third out of four major gatherings taking place in Frankfurt/Main. I…
Christ and His Cousin: Renaissance Rediscoveries, curated by Dr Aoife Brady (Continues to 8 May 2022; Hugh Lane Room; free admission – no booking required) Currently the National Gallery is running a small but very interesting show in one of their smaller exhibition spaces focused on images of the child Jesus and his cousin St John…
Andrea Gagliarducci According to Vatican sources, the establishment of diplomatic relations with Beijing is not on the horizon, despite what some recent appointments might suggest. On January 31, the Vatican said Msgr Arnaldo Catalan, its representative in Taiwan, was being posted to Rwanda, where he will serve as apostolic nuncio. Days later on February 5, Msgr…
Cardinal Newman, Justin Martyr and Irenaeus have a lot to teach us about synodality, writes Kingsley Jones In a time of confusion and division in the Church, to whom should we go? We could try St Irenaeus, whom Pope Francis has recently declared the Church’s Doctor of Unity, or perhaps Bishop William Crean of Cloyne’s…
Faith leaders can play a transformative role in tackling violence against women and girls around the world, Trócaire tells Chai Brady While gender-based violence has always been a plight across the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a major increase with many countries unable to respond due to a lack of resources or training, activists…
The authors of a landmark abuse report responded this week to critics who argued that they overestimated the number of victims in the French Catholic Church. The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) issued a 53-page response on February 7 to a 15-page critique signed by eight members of the prestigious Académie catholique de France that was reportedly…
The concept of chastity has fallen on hard times. Several years ago, I was invited to speak to a group of students at a Catholic university. The invitation came with a request and a caveat. I was to speak on chastity, but ideally, I was to avoid using the word. The Dean of Theology, who…
Personal Profile Recently ordained as a permanent deacon for service in Clogher diocese, husband and father Paul Flynn is another bridge over the perceived ‘gap’ between the Church and the world. The ordination taking place earlier this month in St Michael’s Church, Enniskillen, it was just the latest, major step on Deacon Flynn’s faith journey…
Books Reviews 1975-2021: Reviews of works by distinguished biographers, historians, philosophers and writers by J. Anthony Gaughan (Kingdom Books, €24.00/£20.00) Fr Tony Gaughan, himself the author of many books ranging over philosophy, local and national history, and Irish social life since the middle ages, is one of this paper’s most popular reviewers. This compilation of…
Peter Costello
Chai Brady
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Ruadhán Jones