Recent cases have seen more questions asked about Belgium’s permissive euthanasia laws than ever before, writes Jason Osborne As the Irish bishops warn in their ‘Day for Life’ message that Ireland’s elderly feel “worried” when they hear talk of legislation for assisted suicide and euthanasia, Belgium is making its way through its 20th year since…
by Cindy Wooden The Second Vatican Council was the universal Catholic Church’s response to God’s love and to Jesus’ command to feed his sheep, Pope Francis said, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the council’s opening. The council reminded the Church of what is “essential,” the Pope said: “a Church madly in love with its Lord…
Fifty years ago, on an overcast, cold, Autumn day in the gymnasium of the local public high school, I was ordained to the priesthood. Beyond the grey sky, another thing marked the event. This was a tender season for my family and me. Both our parents had died (and died young) within a year and…
We have just passed the significant milestone of 60 years since the opening of the Second Vatican Council by Pope St John XXIII on October 11, 1962. In his inaugural speech that opened the Council, Papa Roncalli mapped out the way in which the Church intended to “bring herself up to date where required” in…
Does marriage and family life make women happier? That’s a debate going back centuries. Queen Victoria herself, though founder of a dynasty of marriages and families, opined that it was better to be happy and single than married just for the sake of wedlock. Conservative women were twice as likely to be satisfied with their…
The View This week, the Life Institute, of which I am a director, will launch its annual billboard campaign to shine a light on the appalling outcomes of Ireland’s abortion law. As the years slip by, what we know for certain is that the death toll from legalised abortion gets higher and higher. In just over three…
Churches seem to be an afterthought in the post-pandemic world, writes David Quinn Parishes, like the country in general, will have to pray hard for mild weather this winter if they are to cope with the big rise in energy costs caused chiefly by the war in Ukraine. Fortunately, the Government has allocated additional support…
Letter from USA Once again a Nobel Peace Prize was announced Friday, and once again a pope didn’t win. This year’s honour went to human rights’ campaigners in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, in what’s widely been seen as an implicit condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and both his war in Ukraine and his anti-democratic…
by Dennis Sadowski Participants at a Catholic-led conference on peace on the Korean Peninsula said it might be time to rethink how to engage with North Korea, because economic sanctions and displays of military strength have not deterred the country from aggressively pursuing a nuclear weapons development program. Such a reset, conference speakers said, could…
If we only prayed when we felt like it, we wouldn’t pray a lot. Enthusiasm, good feelings, and fervour will not sustain anyone’s prayer life for long, good will and firm intention notwithstanding. Our hearts and minds are complex and promiscuous, wild horses frolicking to their own tunes, with prayer frequently not on their agenda.…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.