The former editor of Intercom magazine and priest of the Killala diocese Fr Kevin Hegarty has called for priests to absent themselves from the chrism Masses celebrated in cathedrals during Holy week. Fr Hegarty called on priests who agree with Mary McAleese’s “forensic dissection of misogyny in the Catholic Church” to join the boycott. He…
The Church must speak out in defence of the unborn, Tuam’s archbishop has said, maintaining that the taking of innocent human life is the central issue in the abortion debate. In a pastoral letter to the diocese of Tuam released last weekend, Dr Michael Neary said that every human being has the obligation to respect,…
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ election, retired Pope Benedict XVI has defended the continuity of the Church’s teaching under his successor and dismissed those who criticise the Pope’s theological foundations. In a letter sent to Msgr Dario Vigano, prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for Communication, Pope Benedict applauded the publication…
The papal nuncio personally visited Mary McAleese to ensure that a letter to Pope Francis about a decision to bar her from speaking at a Vatican conference was delivered to the Pontiff, the former president has revealed. Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke, Mrs McAleese said the visit had been made on Archbishop Jude…
Sr Karen Kent WMOF Bishop Buckley led the people of Cork & Ross in prayer to welcome the icon when it arrived to our diocese in the Cathedral of Ss Mary and Anne. For this specially prepared liturgy Cllr John Sheehan, representing the Lord Mayor of Cork, and his wife were present along with…
Martin Mansergh The View Following the recent acute and unseasonal cold spell, a photograph appeared on the front of the Tipperary Star showing a winter scene of the centre of Thurles, taken from the bridge over the River Suir, with the caption (anonymous): “A snowflake is one of God’s most fragile creations, but look…
What We Talk About When We Talk About Faith by Peter Stanford (Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99) Emily Keyes Though religion implies community, it is easy to forget that religion is also an individual pursuit, with each practitioner possessing their own understanding of faith. This is what Peter Stanford, a long-time journalist for the Catholic Herald with…
India’s top court has ignited a new religious debate after permitting passive euthanasia, allowing patients to prescribe in their “living will” the withdrawal of medical support if they slip into an irreversible coma. Leaders of India’s Catholics, Muslims and Hindus have opposed the Supreme Court verdict, which says the right to life also includes the right…
John Redmond. Selected letters and memoranda, 1880-1918 edited by Dermot Meleady (Merrion Press, €29.99/£26.99) Ian d’Alton On March 6, 1918, John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, died – “a broken-hearted man”, in his own words – at the relatively young age of 61 years. History was in the process of overtaking him, and what…
Speaking at a presentation of a book on Humanae Vitae, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stressed that attempts to change the Church’s teaching are “a crime against the Church”. “The current attempt,” he said, “to put in contrast the last three pontificates, with the pretext…