The Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod published on May 5 the testimonies of two men in civil marriages with other men who describe from personal experience the tensions and wounds that have marked their life of faith within the Church. It is the first time a Vatican text has given voice to this group…
As a mother, I would do anything to spare my children unnecessary pain. Any parent knows the instinct to shield their child and the desire to absorb their suffering whenever possible. In many ways, this is what defines parenthood: the adult’s willingness to ‘suffer for’ a child’s good. Surrogacy, on the other hand, begins with…
Pope Leo XIV surprised 13 priests from southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, by joining a video call from Rome on Wednesday, telling them they were in his prayers and that he hoped peace would soon prevail along the tense frontier. The Lebanese Catholic and Maronite priests were asked to attend an online morning…
The Anglican bishop N.T. Wright once contrasted the preaching of the Gospel by St Paul and his own efforts to do the same. “When Paul preached the Gospel, they tried to stone him. When I preach the Gospel, kind ladies make me tea!” Here he was pointing to the contrast between the effect of preaching…
A poll found two-thirds of Americans have a positive view of Pope Leo XIV’s calls for peace amid the Iran war and a majority of people hold a negative view of President Donald Trump’s criticisms of the Holy Father and threats to destroy Iranian civilisation. The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll surveyed 2,560 American adults between…
Let us run with perseverance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1–2). Some words never leave us. They return in quiet moments, in struggle, in grief, in temptation, ‘Keep your eyes on the goal.’ Simple words. Because our life journey is…
Love of country is not nationalism, but a Christian duty rooted in gratitude, responsibility and charity, writes Fr Chris Hayden Is there a love of country that occupies a sensible, reasonable, humane space, away from the extremes of unbridled nationalism on one hand, or nation-dissolving globalism on the other? For Catholics, the answer is a…
‘Communications is something the Church needs to get a handle on’, says Radio Maria priest I even remember having a friend in school who was a devoted listener to radio and we used to plan what it would be like having a breakfast show on the local radio station, but those were very ephemeral dreams,”…
A little over a month into Ireland’s championship summer, the early unpredictability is beginning to give way to something more familiar. The heavyweights are stirring. In both codes, sides who had been questioned are now starting to reassert themselves, with Armagh and Limerick producing emphatic statements against Down and Clare, respectively. Yet alongside that return…
Holly Cairns’s bill to amend abortion legislation in the Dáil this week has, obviously, prompted renewed debates about the termination of pregnancy. Leave aside the issue of the three-day ‘reflection period’ before the procedure, quite a few people are unsettled by the statistics: abortion in Ireland has risen from about 3,000 a year pre-2018 to…
Renata Steffens
Mary Kenny