Dear Editor, It was hugely interesting to read in this week’s paper that numbers are up at both Lough Derg and Knock, especially in light of Archbishop Fisichella’s view that shrines can play a key role in the re-evangelisation of Christianity’s old heartlands in Europe and America (IC 22/8/2019). One might wonder too whether walking…
Devil is a symbol, not a person – Church official The superior general of the Society of Jesus has said that the Devil is a symbolic reality, not a person. The Devil, “exists as the personification of evil in different structures, but not in persons…he is not a person like a human person. It is…
Amid ongoing civil unrest in Hong Kong, Catholics and other Christians have been urged to take a “major role” in protests against the government, as speculation of imminent military intervention from China continues to grow. “For this movement, it’s a great chance for the Catholics and [Protestant] Christians to cooperate with each other,” the acting…
In advance of a mandated national third-party reporting system for allegations or complaints regarding bishops, the Catholic dioceses of four New England states have launched a third-party, independent system to report abuse by Catholic bishops. The dioceses in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine make up the Boston Province, led by Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley,…
Thousands of pro-lifers from all corners of Ireland are expected to take to the streets of Belfast next month to send a clear message to London that MPs should not interfere and force abortion on the North. Westminster has voted to force abortion up to at least seven months’ gestation on the North unless the…
Are we Bodies or Souls? by Richard Swinburne (Oxford University Press, £14.99) Christopher Moriarty The author, Emeritus Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at the University of Oxford, has an impressive number of previous titles. Like this one, some end with question marks and include Is There a God? and Was Jesus God?…
Catholic leaders in Congo have gathered more than 1.5 million signatures on a petition that demands local elections to curb corruption and strengthen democracy. “Democracy must have roots right down to (the) local level, and people must be allowed to designate who governs them,” said Msgr Andre Massinganda, deputy secretary-general of the Congolese bishops’ conference.…
Vegan and vegetarian diets are not necessarily the healthiest, writes Madison Duddy The Economist dubbed 2019 ‘The Year of the Vegan’. With a continued increase in veganism, they might not be far off with their prediction. Over the past few years, more people have decided to adopt vegan and vegetarian diets for health and…
The Archbishop of Melbourne has said he is prepared to defy a proposed new law that would force priests in the Australian state of Victoria to violate the seal of Confession. The proposed legislation would include priests in mandatory reporting laws in cases of child sexual abuse, without any priest-penitent exceptions. “Personally, I’ll keep the…
Curing Mad Truths: Medieval Wisdom for the modern age by Remi Brague (University of Notre Dame Press, $29.00 / £35.50) Frank Litton Critical thinking is important, we all agree. Of course, the appetite for it is never going to be strong. Most of us want instruction in what the fashionable are thinking. We are as…