Dear Editor, It seems from both the pronouncements of Pope Francis and the submissions made to him and the bishops’ synod on defending traditional marriage and family, that there is a real sense that a new dispensation of mercy is on the agenda of this pontificate. Clerical celibacy might be described as the low-hanging fruit…

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   Happy families are essential for the Church and for society #prayforsynod  Division within a Christian community is a very grave sin; it is the work of the devil. There is the tendency to place ourselves and our ambitions at the centre of our lives. This is very human, but it is not Christian. Jesus…

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New access to International Theological Commission webpage The International Theological Commission has renovated and enriched its page on the Vatican website (www.vatican.va). This offers all its documents in various languages, among the section of Commissions linked to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. All the documents published by the commission are available for…

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Catholic Guides having fun in the grounds of Farmleigh House in Dublin at the annual Chief Commissioner Awards (CCA) from the Catholic Guides of Ireland, which recognises the special achievement of guides who have set themselves above the standard challenges of the guiding programme. A group of 28 award winners received silver or gold pins…

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Dear Editor, The Irish Catholic of Sept 18 carried an interesting feature titled “Faith formation is key”, about Archbishop William Slattery in regard to the South African Church’s approach to evangelisation. The quote that interested me was: “We can lose people to the other (‘6,000 independent Churches in South Africa’) unless we put a tremendous effort into the…

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