Archbishop Diarmuid Martin pictured with students of the Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra, Dublin, where the archbishop led the school’s inaugural Mass on October 26. The Mass marked the opening of the school year at the amalgamated St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys and St Mary’s School for Deaf Girls, located…
Courtney McGrail
Vatican Roundup
Pope hosts unique Mass for prisoners Pope Francis celebrated a special Mass for prisoners in the presence of 1,000 inmates on November 6. Organissed as part of the Vatican’s Year of Mercy celebrations, the Mass at St Peter’s Basilica brought prisoners together from 12 countries along with their families as well as prison chaplains. Addressing…
Ireland should lead by example on human rights
Irish Columban Fr Shay Cullen has used the occasion of his receiving the Hugh O’Flaherty Humanitarian Award to call on Ireland to lead by example on human rights. Addressing the audience at the awards ceremony in Killarney, Co. Kerry last weekend, Fr Cullen said Ireland’s commitment to resettle 4,000 refugees fleeing conflict is “an…
Pope’s Nordic noir
Dear Editor, It was interesting to see the Pope in Sweden this week to mark 499 years since an Augustinian monk from a small town in Germany nailed a set of heretical theses to the town bulletin board, in hope of starting a conversation about his new ideas. People with less education and training than…
Arrogance of Zappone is startling
Dear Editor, I would like to thank Mary Kenny for her excellent article of October 20, 2016, ‘Is Katherine Zappone fit for her government job?’ As a grandparent who minds our grandchildren weekly, I so appreciate her sensitivity. The sheer arrogance of Minister Zappone is startling. Her refusal to give young mothers the choice of…
Aid agency rejects ‘contraception distribution’ claim
A leading Catholic aid agency has rejected an accusation that it has been involved with distributing contraceptives in Africa. Following claims by a body named the Lepanto Institute that the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) had made contraceptives available during its field work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 2006 and 2010, the CRS…
France to reconsider nativity scene ban
A legal advisor to France’s top administrative court has said that public buildings in the strongly secularist country could be allowed to house nativity scenes. According to French media, magistrate Aurélie Bretonneau said the tradition of nativity scenes – known as crèches in French – do not necessarily breach the nation’s 1905 law on church/state…
Address problem of theological illiteracy
Dear Editor, I attended your splendid Conference on the subject of Faith-based Schools in a pluralist society and was struck by the high calibre of many of the contributions, especially those of Francis Campbell and Baroness Nuala O’Loan. However, I was also impressed by the letter of Julie Connolly (‘A tendency towards pantheism’ IC 20/10/2016)…
Vatican Roundup
Pope alters membership of Liturgical body Pope Francis has replaced in one move all of the members of the Congregation for Divine Worship. While membership of the body in charge of liturgical questions – like all others – is subject to change at the behest of the Pontiff, this is normally done on an individual or small group basis, making…
Pope knows reality of sexual confusion for others
Fr Des O’Donnell In an interview last month, Pope Francis mentioned a family he knew where a young boy expressed a wish to be a girl when he grows up. This desire comes from what is called Gender Identity Confusion. It is also called Gender Dysphoria or Transsexualism. The Pope knows what psychologists have long…