Why did early Christianity alight on the ideal of virginity, when an intelligent or even just a suspicious Roman could see that its adoption would undermine the very fabric of ancient society?” That’s a comment from historian Kate Cooper and it poses some questions worth examining. Does the single state, celibacy, (vowed or otherwise) undermine…
Q: I read online that a married Catholic needs their bishop’s permission to separate from their spouse. My husband abandoned our family to live with his girlfriend. How can I get our bishop to make him come back home? A: I’m sorry you’re going through such a difficult situation. I don’t know exactly where you were finding…
In recent years immigration has been one of the thorniest topics around, and it drives polarisation big time. Spotlight: Why Are We Not Welcome? (BBC Two NI, Wednesday) explored a recent wave of racist and sectarian violence in North Belfast and Ballymena. Conor Spackman’s report told of how sectarian violence was still an issue, with…
Friendship and inclusion: the keys to unlocking closed doors Dear Editor, As a priest who worked in England for over 50 years, I have returned home in retirement, and am wrestling to fully understand what is happening in the Church of my homeland. There are shattering changes across the religious dimensions of Catholicism nationwide, and…
Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) is the charming villain at the heart of Roofman (R). In real life, Manchester robbed 45 McDonalds restaurants between 1998 and 2000. That’s what I said: 45. He was caught and imprisoned in 2000 but escaped four years later, taking on the identity of a government agent called John Zorn. He…
The first cardinal from the southern Philippines has decried what he describes as continued injustice against Muslim Filipinos who dominate part of Mindanao, which, for decades, has been stricken by poverty and war. Mindanao is home to an autonomous Muslim region, the Bangsamoro, where Muslims comprise around 91% of the population. “These injustices are not…
This month we celebrate the feast day of St Therese of Lisieux. She emphasised paying big attention to the small things. A series of small experiences over the past ten days has given me pause for thought ahead of the Pre-Synodal Assembly taking place in Kilkenny on the October 18. On a special night last…
The Best-Loved Poems from the Irish, selected translations of Gabriel Fitzmaurice, introduction by Alan Titley (Mercier Press, €14.99) These days when there is clearly an official drive to make us all more conscious of the Irish language, there yet remain as great many people for whom ‘the Irish’ remains a closed world. Here in…
New Perspectives on Conflict and Ireland in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Paul Huddie, Cathal Billings and Arlene Crampsie (Liverpool University Press, £105.00 / €121.00) This collection of essays is the product of a conference of historians at Liverpool University. The subject for discussion was “Conflict in Ireland in the Nineteenth Century”. The contributions…
Exodus 17:8-13; Psalm 121 (120); 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2; Luke 18:1-8 Jesus told a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. Luke 18:2 He said, “In a certain city there was…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone
Peter Costello