The professional body for doctors in the UK dropped its traditional opposition to assisted suicide, despite a poll that found a majority of its members remain opposed to the practice. The Royal College of Physicians declared it has adopted a policy of neutrality, although a majority of doctors said they were against assisted suicide. In…
‘Special attention’ for migrants at Francis’ Morocco visit Pope Francis wanted to go to Morocco in December to draw attention to the need for international cooperation in assisting migrants and in alleviating the situations that force people to seek a better life outside their homeland. Protocol dictated that he could not fly to Marrakech just for the United Nations meeting on migration,…
Staff and students of St Patrick’s College, Cavan, gathered earlier this month to thank Dr Leo O’Reilly, former Bishop of Kilmore, for his much-appreciated work in the diocese on the occasion of his retirement. Bishop O’Reilly said his last Mass in Kilmore Diocesan Pastoral Centre’s Conaty Chapel on March 8 in the presence of the…
Dear Editor, It was refreshing to read how President Jean-Claude Juncker has spoken to the bishops of Europe about the role of Catholic Social Teaching in the European Union (IC 21/3/2019). Although Pontiff after Pontiff has spoken of this over the decades, including Pope Francis when addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg a few years…
Pat O’Kelly Like the first performances of both Rossini’s The Barber of Seville in Rome on February 20, 1816, and Verdi’s La Traviata in Venice on March 6, 1853, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly was a flop at its Milan première on February 17, 1904. The principal problem with the Rossini lay with supporters of rival…
Marriage counsellors wanted as Accord launches recruitment drive Accord, the Catholic Marriage Care Service, has urged counsellors to enrol in their Certificate in Counselling. The course will run from October 2019 through June 2020 and will be run in conjunction with the Pontifical University in Maynooth. Executive administrator Harry Casey said marriage counsellors are in demand more than ever. “Marriage and families…
Human race needs green space The great outdoors may be one of the cheapest therapies for children, a new study from Denmark shows. Kids who grow up surrounded by nature have up to 55% less risk of developing various mental disorders later in life, according to the paper from Aarhus University in Denmark, published in the…
The Notebook Donal McMahon In all fine old cities there are the obligatory sights of the guidebooks and tour buses but also the little discoveries that you make for yourself. The first are always well worth the visit but it’s the second unpredictable ones that often linger just as much or even more in…
Simon Caldwell The professional body for doctors in the U.K. has dropped its traditional opposition to assisted suicide, despite a poll that found a majority of its members remain opposed to the practice. The Royal College of Physicians has declared it has adopted a policy of neutrality, although a majority of doctors said they…
Pope Francis has expressed his grief for the loss of life caused by the sinking of a ferry in the Tigris River near the Iraqi city of Mosul. In a telegramme signed on his behalf by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope said he is deeply saddened to learn of the accident and expressed his prayerful…