Letter from Rome Jonah McKeown After the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAFL) last month issued a booklet summarising the Church’s teaching on a number of bioethical issues, the section on “artificial nutrition and hydration” (ANH) has some observers concerned about what they see as a departure from previous Church teaching. The Pontifical Academy for Life…
Cardinal Timothy Dolan You’ve seen those ‘bulletin bloopers.’ I enjoy them. Here’s one: “The topic for next week’s sermon will be ‘What will hell be like? Come early and listen to the choir.’” Thank God that can’t be said about most of the choirs I’m grateful to hear at Sunday Masses here in the archdiocese.…
Courtney Mares Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, spoke on the phone last Monday morning with Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in a conversation that underlined the need for dialogue, negotiation, and peace. According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, the cardinal “expressed the Holy See’s serious concern about what is happening in the…
Bishop Robert Reed Here’s a question for you. Is holiness complicated or is it simple? Jesus tells us that holiness shows itself in simplicity, in acts such as giving a cup of cold water to a little one (Mt 10:42), or even in just sitting quietly in trust, like lilies of the field (Mt 6:28).…
I could do so much more for this man now if I were a priest, says Fr Chris Gault OP “It’s just who I am.” So came the simple response with which I was met on an evening around 10 years ago, sitting in the living room of my student house with my friend and…
Matt Letourneau If your child had a disability, wouldn’t you want to give them the best treatment, support and services available? According to the Disability Federation of Ireland, over 1.1 million people in Ireland have a disability — 22% of the population — and this group encounters more health, educational, employment and housing problems than…
Fr Shay Cullen The shocking testimonies of 2,300 victim-survivors of childhood physical, psychological and sexual abuse representing 200,000 children that suffered in government care centres and Church orphanages and institutions over the past 70 years have just been released in a New Zealand report that took six years to compile. The investigative report, Abuse in…
The Pope issued a letter in eight languages saying that reading novels and poems is valuable and should be encouraged in the training of priests, and he reveals his own love of tragic stories I had originally chosen to give this Letter a title referring to priestly formation. On further reflection, however, this subject also…
UK Christian groups are worried about escalating numbers of problem gamblers following the Euro 24 football tournament. GamCare, which runs the National Gambling Helpline, recorded a 10 per cent rise in calls after this year’s tournament compared to 2021. London Catholic priest and sports chaplain Fr Vlad Felzmann warned of the destructive power of gambling…
A leading Catholic research institute has warned that legalising assisted suicide in England would put an “extra burden” on sick and disabled people. Lord Falconer has attempted to introduce legislation to change the law on assisted suicide for the seventh time through a new Bill, which has been introduced in the House of Lords. The…