Dear Editor, Bishop Kevin Doran’s intervention in support of Pope Francis over Amoris Laetitia (IC 15/12/2016) is encouraging, and surely to be welcomed by all parties, especially given how it would take particular effort to claim the bishop lacks either intelligence or orthodoxy. Ever since the synod process began in 2014, a vociferous online fringe…
Courtney McGrail
Miss Universe pledges faith and charity this Christmas
In one of her final acts as Miss Universe 2015, devoted Catholic Pia Wurtzbach has made a public donation of personal items to Caritas Manila towards helping the Church’s efforts for the poor in her native Philippines this Christmas. During a meeting with Cardinal Luis Tagle on December 12, just ahead of the competition to…
The Francis effect
Pope Francis greets a boy as he arrives to lead his general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican. Photo: CNS
European bishops call for integrated response to poverty
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) has issued a document calling on Member States of the European Union to Member “to develop together with civil society and Church actors an integrated approach to combat poverty and social exclusion in all its forms”. In ‘Rescue the Weak and the Poor’, the…
BBC acknowledges falsely accusing wartime Church of ‘silence’
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has acknowledged that it incorrectly accused the Catholic Church of failing to speak out or act against the persecution of Jews in Europe during World War II. During a BBC news broadcast in July, covering Pope Francis’ visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp, a reporter stated: “Silence was the response…
‘Outrageous’ call was correct
Dear Editor, No doubt there will be some think Bishop McAreavey over the top in describing as “outrageous” the Dáil’s failure to condemn as genocide the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, but I am not among them. The bishop is absolutely right to call the scope of the Dáil motion on the activities…
The pick of the Christmas season
Catholic University of America’s Christmas Concert EWTN Christmas Eve 11am and Christmas Day 3.30pm The annual Christmas concert presented by the Catholic University of America, featuring a brilliant blend of angelic voices and the wonderful sounds of the Christmas Season. The Word is Born: Christmas with the Louisville Chorus EWTN Christmas Eve 3.30pm and Christmas…
A little something for the ‘ideas’ file
Dear Editor, Fr Conor McDonough’s column of December 15 – ‘In praise of books at Christmas’ – reminded me of an older notebook in your paper where one Maolsheachlann O’Ceallaigh wondered about what middle ground there is between, say, introductory books on St Thomas Aquinas and scholarly articles on the Angelic Doctor (‘Beyond Catholicism 101’…
Outgoing US House of Congress strengthens religious freedom
In one of the final legislative acts before the Christmas break, the US Congress has passed a new religious freedom act which aims to make tackling religious persecution a key part of America’s foreign policy. The Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act passed through the Houses of Representatives and Senate with no opposition and…
Don’t give up
Dear Editor, I was pleasantly surprised to read in your paper of December 15 that almost 40% of people in the Republic of Ireland plan to see Pope Francis when he visits Ireland. With curiosity likely to increase over the next two years, I would expect the 11% who are undecided to come to think…