Most countries deem such restrictions to be disproportionate and not to hold rights in balance, writes David Quinn There is every chance you didn’t notice it because it was barely reported, but last week the Dáil voted by an overwhelming majority of 117 to 10 in favour of the so-called ‘Safe Access Zones’ Bill that…
The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) has estimated it will receive more than quarter of a million requests for help this year, as Christmas approaches. With calls for help already at almost 200,000 to date, the society expects calls at the end of this year to well exceed last year’s record of 230,000 calls.…
Russell Shaw Levelling hierarchical distinctions in the Church without removing them entirely has emerged as a principal objective of Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality. That is perhaps the chief conclusion to be drawn from the first session of the synod, which took place October 4-29 at the Vatican. The second, and presumably last, session will…
Chris Altieri There was a curious news item carried by Vatican News recently, one which, among other things, reminds us that the Catholic Church has both real enemies and a long memory. It may also, however, serve to illustrate that often enough, the Church’s worst enemy is within – and the enemy isn’t who…
A Mexico school run by the Augustinian order threw themselves into Irish food and culture, making hurleys out of bits of plastic and sampling a full Irish breakfast, all witnessed by Irish friar Fr Colm O’Mahony OSA. Fr O’Mahony was invited to the Mendel Institute in the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico, to join them in…
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: My parish recently returned to communion under the second species. A Eucharistic Minister holds one cup and one cloth and does one wipe after each serve. Most people are still not receiving it for fear of Covid or other illness. Why can’t the Church simply use disposable plastic cups with…
Age is Just a Number: Make the Best of Every Decade, by Francis Brennan (Gill Books, €19.99 / £17.99) Francis Brennan is not a young man, and yet he has conquered our attention on television and become a bestselling author. One can’t help wondering if he has some secret which might be of interest…
Jonathan Luxmoore The president of the Polish bishops’ conference has bitterly criticised demands for liberal change by the Church in neighbouring Germany and urged the Pope not to allow them to dominate the Rome Synod on Synodality. “Awareness of the power of truth sustains my hope for the ongoing synod – that it won’t be…
Europe has witnessed a 44% jump in anti-Christian hate crimes across more than two dozen European countries over the past year, according to a group that monitors discrimination against Christians. The Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) November 16 released its annual report detailing the spike in anti-Christian incidents, which it…
I live on both sides of a border. Not a geographical one, but one that separates the church pew from the academic halls of theology. I was raised a conservative Catholic. Although my dad worked politically for the Liberal party, most everything within my upbringing was conservative, particularly as this pertains to religion. I was…
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser