Recently I spent a few days in Rome with two friends who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful experience as the Eternal City always seems to tick so many of the boxes that make for a great holiday. My abiding memory of this recent trip will be one of ‘queueing’. We…
Wherever one finds oneself on matters of ecclesiastical politics and bureaucracy, there is no doubting that the Roman synod that concluded at the weekend was the most momentous event in the life of the Church since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).
“Census highlights waning power of Catholicism” ran the headline, reporting the demographic changes in the latest census records.
We Irish tend to be a cheerful bunch. We like to look on the bright side, and hope for the best. Yet there are times when it’s prudent to be wary, and even fearful.
While Catholics make up less than 70% of the Irish population in Census 2022, the full breakdown released on October 26 shows that ‘no religion’ is still by far in the minority.
So, former Jesuit Marko Ivan Rupnik, the priest dismissed by the Society of Jesus after it was determined that charges of his sexual ‘misconduct’ with between nine and 20 or more women, and at least one man, were credible, has been incardinated as a priest in Slovenia’s Diocese of Koper.
Argentina will get its first home-grown female saint in early 2024 with the canonisation of Blessed María Antonia de San José.
I am writing this article from Sligo. I am here preaching the annual novena in honour of St Martin de Porres.
Perhaps the strongest argument for legalising – or at least decriminalising – cannabis (and other recreational drugs) is that this measure takes it out of the hands of criminal drug-dealers. If people are going to smoke weed anyway, let it be through a legal route – just as cigarettes remain legal, even if unhealthy. And…
What are we doing to stop a third world war? What can we do? I never thought I would write these words, but increasingly the possibility of renewed global conflict is being raised by many distinguished individuals. Is this what it was like in the 1930s, as the world watched the rise of Hitler and…
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Ruadhán Jones
Nuala O’Loan