Lord Jonathan Sumption is a well-respected British judge and historian, who has served as a Justice of the Supreme Court. But what he now says about the increasing power of lawyers in the interpretation of the law is deeply significant. I have been much impressed, this year, by his short book Trials of the State:…
The View There has not been much publicity for the current government consultation on abortion in Northern Ireland. It closes at 11.45pm on December 16. Responses to the consultation should inform the new proposals for the provision of abortion in the North. Readers will know that law was passed in Westminster last July requiring the…
There is a scene in iconic film The Quiet Man when John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara go on a date. This being 1950s Ireland (in the imagination of the movie’s director, John Ford), they must take a chaperone along with them in the shape of Barry Fitzgerald to ensure all the proprieties are observed and…
Fr Andrew McMahon The opportunity to honour Gay Byrne’s impressive life’s work was exploited to impose a revisionist narrative of 20th Century Ireland, writes Fr Andrew McMahon In a column in the Sunday Press almost 40 years ago author and critic Desmond Fennell spoke of “the Manichaean notion of the Dublin liberals that our society…
For the vitality of our parishes we need the courage, wisdom and right judgement to forge a new path, writes Bairbre Cahill I may as well lay my cards on the table from the outset – I would take sacramental preparation out of Catholic schools. That may seem drastic, so why am I suggesting it? At…
Questions of Faith It’s commonly asserted – namely from those in the Protestant tradition – that Catholics commit the sin of idolatry by worshipping statues. It’s an intriguing claim, namely because the Bible couldn’t be more explicit about the worship of graven images. “You shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness…
Letter from Rome A little more than four years after Pope Francis published one of his most provocative documents, not to mention perhaps his most political, in the form of his eco-encyclical Laudato Si’, the Pontiff appears increasingly disappointed in the way the environmental manifesto been received. In two separate messages published this week, Francis appeared…
Catholic theology lost a giant last Monday with the death of German Fr Johann Baptist Metz, a disciple of famed Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner and the father of what was known as “new political theology”, at the age of 91. I first encountered Metz more years ago than I care to remember, when I was…
We’re all familiar, I suspect, with the difference between justice and charity. Charity is giving away some of your time, energy, resources, and person so as to help to others in need. And that’s an admirable virtue, the sign of a good heart. Justice, on the other hand, is less about directly giving something away…
This weekend marks the Third Sunday of Advent – Gaudete Sunday. While Advent no longer has the penitential feel it once did, this weekend is a break from the sense of expectation and an invitation to rejoice in God’s presence amongst us. The Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord is still two weeks away,…
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
David Quinn
Bairbre Cahill
Colm Fitzpatrick
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly