Cathal BarryAmid claims of an ‘epidemic’ of bullying in the Methodist Church, Cathal Barry investigates whether the Catholic Church has the same issue
Category: Comment & Analysis
Killing is not Caring
Greg DalyA Dublin conference has heard that assisted suicide threatens the weakest among us, Greg Daly reports
Heaven
The Church teaches that to live in Heaven is to be with Christ, writes Cathal Barry
The Eucharist is too profound to be fully grasped at first
Fr Ronald RolheiserChristian de Cherge, the Trappist Abbott who was martyred in Algeria in 1996, told this story of his first Communion. He grew up in a Roman Catholic family in France and on the day of his first Communion he said to his mother: “I don’t understand what I’m doing.” She answered simply: “It’s okay, you…
Travelling along ‘the wrong path’
Paul KeenanVenezuela is on course for political and financial disaster, writes Paul Keenan
Peace demands passion, patience and hard work
To overcome fear, discrimination and conflict, people must have a deep desire to open themselves up to God and his mercy, and work actively for peace every day, Pope Francis said. God’s plan for creation is peace, “which always meets opposition from humanity and the devil”, he said during a one-day visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina on…
We should discuss married priests and female deacons
Michael KellyIt’s an idea worthy of consideration, writes Michael Kelly
Seeing a ‘new mind’ in Sarajevo
A presentation Brother died as I was preparing to write this week’s column. As in any family, when a member of a religious order dies there is a flurry of activity: the undertaker is called, arrangements are made, obituary details are assembled and a homily for the Requiem Mass is carefully penned. On this occasion…
Welsh ban shows that ‘the best is the enemy of the good’
Mary KennyWe humans find it difficult to reach perfection at all times, writes Mary Kenny
Physician-assisted suicide debate re-runs may be an abuse of democracy
The Scottish parliament’s 82-36 vote against the introduction of physician-assisted suicide won’t end Britain’s assisted dying debate, any more than did Holyrood’s previous 85-16 vote against it in 2010, or a succession of failed legislative attempts in Westminster and the Welsh assembly. Responding on Twitter to plans for further attempts to legalise assisted suicide, the…