Who threatens freedom of the press? Dear Editor, Michael Sanfey’s most informative report on the recent European conference of journalism and media freedom quotes one of the participants as warning against the influence that readers can exert on the media, thus compromising freedom of speech. The speaker offered as an example the fact that The…
In Week 6 of his Lumen gentium catechesis, Pope Leo XIV sheds light on the innate dignity of the laity and their role in the mission of the Church Brothers and sisters, good morning! Let us continue on our path of reflection on the Church as she is presented to us in the Conciliar…
Christians have Mary Magdalene and the other women to thank for the news of the Resurrection. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John recount the same happenings. Some details are different, but it is quite clear that Mary Magdalene and others found Jesus’s tomb empty and that they told the apostles. Peter and John believed them and…
Between Christmas and Easter, I attended a humanist funeral. It was not by design. I had assumed the deceased was of another Christian denomination, and there would at least be a religious element to the service at the crematorium. “Oh my God,” I thought as the humanist ‘minister’ rose to speak about John (not his…
On January 31 three young women: Paulina, Amelia and Anne-Sophie, took their religious vows and dedicated their life to God and to his mission. They were among a group of five novices who came to Dublin, to Raheny, in September 2024 for their novitiate programme. We are missionaries, so to go abroad is something normal…
Some years ago, while on a diplomatic posting at the Irish Embassy in Lisbon, I attended a ceremony at which the then Ambassador of Ireland to Portugal, John Campbell, gave an address to graduating students at St Dominic’s International School. The key sentence of Ambassador Campbell’s speech that day has always remained with me. He…
It is right, as many have already so done, to acknowledge and welcome the release of the first tranche of data from last year’s survey of parents and school communities on issues relating to patronage, language of instruction and single sex/mixed school settings. This is an important milestone marking that perhaps for the first time,…
When the temple veil was ripped open, this incredible truth was revealed, writes Fr Ron Rolheiser There are many haunting lines in the passion narratives. Who is not stirred in the soul when the passion story is read aloud in church and we come to the part where Jesus takes his last breath and there’s…
Did you know that your home is holy? It might not feel like it sometimes, but similar to the way God transforms common bread and wine into his precious body and blood, God uses sacramental grace to transform your messy family life into a ‘domestic church’. This is a truly sacred place where you are…
As Catholics, authority and revelation are obtained through reading sacred scripture, partaking in the blessed sacraments and putting our complete faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation and grace are poured out in abundance through our faith which is expressed in charity and expanded and increased through the Mass and the Eucharist. The moral teachings of the…
Martina Purdy
Fr Ronald Rolheiser