Dear Editor, One of the questions connected with the idea of same-sex marriage is that of same-sex couples raising children. This, I suggest, is an issue where the sexual orientation of the adults can be quite irrelevant. Unusually perhaps, my father and his brother married twin sisters.  At one time in my childhood, my mother…

Dear Editor, Andrew O'Connell is to be commended on his article ‘The crime of gossip’ (IC 6/2/14) I commented recently that the Church i.e. from our altars, has been lax in this regard.  Since every word Andrew says is true it's quite amazing it's given such a wide berth. Is it because everyone contributes to the…

Dear Editor, The Republic of Ireland is to hold a referendum in 2015 on the controversial issue of so-called same-sex ‘marriage’ – something which Eamon Gilmore, the Tánaiste, had lobbied for. Whatever the outcome of such a referendum, there can never be such a state as ‘same-sex marriage’. Marriage is between a man and a…

Dear Editor, Whatever her personal views on same-sex marriage may be, Sarah Carey, in her article of February 6, displays a quality of reasoning and logic (especially in her criticism of the reaction of the pro-same-sex marriage lobby to the recent case involving RTÉ and some prominent pro-traditional marriage supporters) that is all too often…

Dear Editor, In The Irish Catholic of February 13 a spokesperson for the Iona Institute is reported as saying that the group’s "opposition to same-sex marriage is based on the belief that marriage is a child-centred institution first and foremost …". It follows from this, that motherhood and fatherhood and the natural ties are extremely…

Peter Hegarty The 40-year ordeal of civil war and dictatorship left a deep imprint on Spanish culture and the Spanish collective memory. What Spain remembers – and forgets – are the subjects of a profound and elegant book informed by its author’s deep familiarity with the country’s language, art and culture, which he zealously wishes…

The Vatican is offering a special software application that will allow anyone with a website or blog to provide readers with automatically updated news and documents from the Vatican. When installed, the widget opens a small rectangular window with four tabs. Clicking on one provides the latest news from the Vatican, the Pope’s Sunday Angelus,…