A leading psychiatrist has warned that the assisted suicide movement is undermining suicide support organisations and others who strive to prevent suicide. “It’s a contradiction for commentators to say on the one hand that we must do everything we can to prevent suicide but on the other hand to say that in certain circumstances it’s…
Pope Benedict famously spoke of the internet as having moved from being a tool which people use to an environment in which they live, envisaging what he called the “digital continent” as a key front in the New Evangelisation. Among the more colourful attempts at online evangelisation is churchPOP.com, founded by Brantley Milligan in the…
Greg Daly investigates some recent arguments against the Easter Rising “No one is ever told,” Aslan cautions Lucy Pevensey in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books, “what would have happened”. It’s an observation that could fruitfully be borne in mind by those who proclaim that had the 1916 Rising never happened, Ireland would have attained independence anyway,…
Systematic religious cleansing of Christians is widespread across Africa and the Middle East, according to a new report published this week. The Open Doors 2016 World Watch List reveals that every year well over 100 million Christians are persecuted because of their beliefs. North Korea remains the most dangerous place on Earth to be a…
The success of the peace process in Ireland may offer a template for a long-term solution to tension and violence in the Holy Land, Bishop John McAreavey has suggested. Speaking after a trip to the region which included stops in Gaza and the West Bank, the Bishop of Dromore told The Irish Catholic he feared…
‘Community will welcome Pontiff’ A leading Protestant cleric has insisted that the vast majority of his community would welcome a visit to the North by Pope Francis and poured cold water on suggestions of protests by extreme elements. Canon Ian Ellis, editor of The Church of Ireland Gazette, told The Irish Catholic that “we don’t…
There can be few more surprising sights for Irish visitors to London than that of Oliver Cromwell in Parliament Square. Admittedly, unlike the nearby statue of King Richard I, Cromwell at least had a serious link with Britain’s parliamentary tradition. For many Irish visitors, however, it can seem bizarre and abhorrent that Cromwell’s championing of…
The Government has refused to follow the lead of former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton in describing the persecution of Christians in the Middle East as ‘genocide’. The Opposition has accused the coalition of turning a blind eye. The Democratic presidential candidate has broken with President Barack Obama in saying that “we now have…
A well-known priest has said the trial of evangelical Pastor James McConnell for having allegedly sent “a grossly offensive” communication was a “complete waste of time and energy” that could have been better used. Pastor McConnell had been tried for anti-Islamic comments in a May 2014 sermon at the Whitewell Metropolitan Church, including saying, “Islam…
Greg Daly considers some common criticisms of the soon-to-be canonised Blessed Teresa of Kolkata The December 18 announcement that a second miracle had been formally attributed to the intercession of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata has sparked some predictable reactions. With the way to Blessed Teresa’s canonisation being opened and with the Vatican having set September…