Ngala Killian Chimtom As a deadly conflict continues to rage in Sudan, Catholic bishops both inside the country and in neighbouring South Sudan used their Christmas message to praise the clergy and men and women religious for continuing to serve despite the risks. “To you, our dear clergy and religious men and women, we would…
Piety is the enemy of humour, at least whenever something less than piety is masquerading as piety. Here’s an example: I once lived in community with an overly serious man who, after someone would tell a colourful joke, would bring us back to earth with the question, “Would you tell a joke like that in…
Justin McLellan While bishops may take a cautious approach to the Vatican’s guidance on blessing same-sex or other unmarried couples, they should not deny their priests the possibility of discerning and imparting blessings on people who ask for them, the Vatican doctrinal office said. “Prudence and attention to the ecclesial context and to the local…
Dirty Linen: The Troubles in my Home Place, Martin Doyle (Merrion Press, £24.99). Martin Doyle tells us in the introduction to this book that the Linen Triangle “stretched from Lisburn across the southern shore of Lough Neagh to Dungannon in Co. Tyrone and south to Newry, the heartland of a trade that was both agricultural…
The US Department of State among others has demanded the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa and other imprisoned Nicaraguan religious leaders following a wave of detentions targeting Catholic clergy over the Christmas season. The January 2 statement described Bishop Álvarez and the other religious leaders – including Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna –…
The former Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Bishop William Lee has died aged 82. The Tipperary native was ordained in 1966 at St Patrick’s College Maynooth and went on to further studies which eventually culminated in being awarded a doctorate in canon law from the Gregorian University in Rome. The bishop emeritus, who resigned from…
In writing my selection of a ‘Book of the Year’ before Christmastide descended on us all, I ended up writing about what was for me was a special book of importance, but was not the one I first intended to celebrate. But because of that change of plan, always inherent in writing for a weekly…
The Archbishop of Malta and close confidant of Pope Francis, Charles Scicluna, has called for a “serious discussion” about celibacy. The Catholic Church should consider revising its rules to allow Catholic priests to marry, Archbishop Scicluna told the Times of Malta newspaper. “This is probably the first time I’m saying it publicly and it will…
It’s 1988 and we’re coming up to Christmas. Elderly Jew Sir Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins) is decluttering his study to please his wife Grete (Lena Olin). In the process he discovers a scrapbook from World War II. Flash back half a century. Nazism is about to sweep across Europe. The young Nicky (Johnny Flynn) is…
When organisations are caught out doing something wrong it often happens that they get defensive and opt for cover up and obfuscation. Whistleblowers can be treated as pariahs rather than being welcomed as liberating the organisation from corruption or malpractice. This certainly seemed to be the case in Mr Bates v. the Post Office (UTV/ITV…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Brandon Scott
Aubrey Malone
Brendan O’Regan