“As followers of Christ, we are called to speak up for the rights and dignity of asylum seekers and refugees … they are not to be targeted or penalised, abused or frightened,” the Archbishop of Dublin has said. “In the last two years, this country and others have welcomed, vast numbers of people fleeing the cynical war…
Bill Dodds On their wedding day, a bride and groom may have stars in their eyes, but they have rocks in their heads if they think their partner isn’t going to: Drive them nuts. Sometimes. Take them for granted. On occasion. Do something that truly hurts them. Once in a while. Husband does it…
Patricia Casey The sexual abuse of children by priests has been a huge stain on the life of the Catholic Church, particularly in Ireland, the United States and parts of Europe. It has damaged the wellbeing of its victims, leading some to take their own lives. It has ruined the reputation of Catholicism in…
Cardinal Kurt Koch January 5 and 6 marked the 60th anniversary of the meeting in Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras. It was the first meeting between a pope and an ecumenical patriarch since the one between Pope Eugene IV and Patriarch Joseph II during the Council of Ferrara (1438-1439). This important…
Fr Patrick Briscoe OP Sometimes you hope to be wrong. For example: A good friend that I made in college seminary discerned out of formation and began to pursue a relationship with a young woman. I didn’t think they were a match. I told him as much. (Graciously, he did not end our friendship…
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: Our daughter has totally given up going to church because of the relentless use of incense at each Mass. It doesn’t bother me but I do notice a lot of people in the congregation that obviously have problems with it. Since it causes breathing difficulties for many people is it…
The Irish Synodal Pathway Steering Committee has urged Church organisations to become involved in the faith development of Catholics and explore what they might have to offer in terms of training and skills development in the future. The call forms part of the recommendations submitted by the Steering Committee in its latest report ‘What does…
Thomas O’Loughlin Gerald O’Donovan: A Life. 1871-1942, by John F. Ryan (Liverpool University Press, £95.00) This book is, to my knowledge, the first full length biography of that most complex character of the late-19th and early 20th Century, Gerald O’Donovan, who is now best remembered for his first novel: Father Ralph, published in April 1913,…
Six nuns from the Congregation of the Sisters of St Anne were kidnapped January 19 while traveling on a bus in the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, according to the Haitian Conference of Religious. Other passengers on the bus also were taken in the abduction, the conference said in a statement. “These many kidnappings fill the consecrated…
In a new attack against the Catholic Church and other Christians in Nicaragua, the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, has cancelled the legal personhood of several religious congregations and evangelical groups. On January 16, the Ministry of the Interior published in the official government newspaper La Gaceta the…