Brazil’s bishops celebrated a new resolution of the Federal Medical Council (CFM) determining that doctors cannot induce cardiac arrest on an unborn child with more than 22 weeks of pregnancy. The norm, however, is being challenged by prosecutors and legislators and may not last too long. On March 21, CFM published the resolution 2378/2024, which…
Deputy Mattie McGrath, leader of the Dáil’s Rural Independent Group, has criticized the government for deliberately blocking a Dáil debate on the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, labeling the action as a “scandalous attempt to silence debate” on a critical issue. “It is a scandal that the government, with the facilitated support of ‘so-called’ independent TDs, have…
The virtue of justice is fundamental for peaceful coexistence, writes Pope Francis Here we are at the second of the cardinal virtues: today we will talk about justice. It is the quintessential social virtue. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it as “the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will…
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe “We are an Easter people and ‘alleluia’ is our song.” We love to quote St Augustine when we talk about what the church of Jesus Christ is. And honestly, there may be no better description. But I think a lot of us, somewhere along the line, have lost hope that…
Dear Editor, I was heartened by Bishop Kevin Doran’s recent remarks in the article about the changing cultural landscape and its impact on our Faith [The Irish Catholic – April 4, 2024]. His call to focus on the fundamentals of our beliefs and the support offered by the Church is more important than ever as…
A proclamation from the nation’s second Catholic president on a transgender-themed occasion is causing consternation among some faithful, as the date coincides this year with Easter – and as the annual White House Easter egg art contest bans, among other things, religious symbolism. On March 29, President Joe Biden issued his annual message for the…
Anto Akkara A watchdog group that monitors violence committed against Christians in India has released a study documenting 161 such crimes in the first 75 days of 2024. These numbers may underestimate the number of crimes and acts of persecution committed against Christians in India, according to AC Michael, a Catholic and coordinator of…
Carl E. Olson The Norwegian bishop and Trappist monk Erik Varden, still shy of 50, has established himself as a spiritual writer, retreat leader and prelate of the highest order. Raised in a non-practicing Lutheran home in a village in Norway, he was a teenage “agnostic” who was “hostile” to Christianity. His conversion to the…
Greg Erlandson This year, I’m glad to see Lent come to an end, and not just because of Easter Alleluias and Cadbury dark chocolate eggs. It was a tough Lent. Part of it, of course, had nothing explicitly to do with Lent. The news has generally been dreadful, a reminder, I suppose of why…
Dear Editor, As I followed Holy Mass from St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford recently, I thought of the fire that destroyed so much there a few years ago and of the tapestry of the holy family that was intact in spite of all the surrounding flames and destruction of all else. I ask myself, what…