Dear Editor, Pro–life people in the Republic of Ireland are very worried about remarks made by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in a TV interview on the Feast of the Apparitions at Knock, on August 21. They were made in an interview on the Six One News on RTÉ with Teresa Mannion. In reply to a question,…
Breaking seal of Confession is impossible
Dear Editor, Greg Daly is to be commended for his analysis as “unsustainable and probably unconstitutional”, the recommendations of the Australian Royal Commission to compel priests to break the seal of Confession where child sexual abuse is disclosed (IC 17/08/2017). His interview with Teresa Devlin, CEO of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the…
Definition of progressive
Dear Editor, Someone who opposes abortion and holds to the traditional definition of marriage is immediately branded a ‘social conservative’. Why? If these values ensure the progress of human society into a safe and healthy future, surely that person merits the descriptive noun, ‘progressive’, i.e. ‘forward looking’? Yours etc., Judith Leonard, Raheny, Dublin 6.
Prayers needed to save the Eighth Amendment
Dear Editor, An urgent plea to all, your prayers (especially the Rosary) are asked that we may continue to protect the unborn and that Ireland remains abortion free. There are many people in this country who wish to change the law concerning the Eighth Amendment, which would allow abortion to be carried out in Ireland…
SDLP is actually far from being dead
Dear Editor, Mary Kenny is mistaken when she refers to the “strange death of the SDLP” (IC 17/08/2017), because the SDLP is far from dead. Yes, they took a hit in this year’s Westminster election, but that still leaves a substantial group in the Northern Assembly and a sizeable number of councillors. However, longer term…
Tremendous work of Legion of Mary goes unnoticed
Dear Editor, I was delighted to read in The Irish Catholic that five of the recently ordained priests stated they “were inspired in their vocation by the Legion of Mary”, having just read the book From Navan to China giving details of the success of the work of the Legion of Mary in China, where…
How to ‘bully-proof’ your kids
Every day children in schools all around the world eat their lunch in toilet cubicles; others spend entire mornings in class silently agonising about who might hang out with them at lunchtime; millions immediately panic when they hear the familiar ping from their mobile and they realise that yet another so-called friend has posted spiteful…
Recent books in brief
Radical & Free: Musings on the Religious Life by Brian O’Leary (Messenger Publications, €10.99) With vocations seemingly in permanent decline, there is a need, some Catholics might feel, for a book of this kind by an experienced lecturer, to explain to a sceptical age where the sources of a religious vocation lie. The answer to the…
Dublin parish celebrates 200 years
Sr Louise O’Brien, Sr Esther & Sr Elma Hurley (Daughters of Charity, Henrietta Street) with Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Fr Bryan Shortall OFM Cap. after a Mass to celebrate the bicentenary of St Michan’s Church, Halston Street which was followed by a street party.
Blessing of Galway Bay
Fr Conor McDonough OP gives the annual blessing of Galway Bay off the Claddagh near Mutton Island lighthouse. Fr McDonough fi rst blessed the boats and all who sail in them at the pier near St Mary’s Church before the fl eet sailed out for the centuries-old tradition of the Blessing of the Bay. Photo:…





