We have many photographs of Thérèse of Lisieux. Her sister Celine loved using a camera and took many photos of Thérèse, but there’s an interesting thing to note in those photos. The British Carmelite Ruth Burrows once did a study of those photos and commented that in all of them, Therese is always somehow alone,…
Thirty years ago, I was invited along with a colleague to lead a parish mission in Newfoundland on the east coast of Canada. It was an interesting and memorable experience. Newfoundland has very close connections with Ireland and indeed most of the population spoke with distinct Irish accents. Many of the family names were ones…
I suspect that many women have divided feelings on the subject of ‘drag queens’ – chaps who dress up in women’s clothes, with an over-exaggerated presentation of female hair, make-up and gestures. Some find it amusing; others feel that it takes a mocking view of femininity – rather as black people have objected to whites…
Wherever the synodal process goes, it cannot break with core Church teachings, writes David Quinn When I attended one of the synodal meetings in my parish in Dublin a number of months ago that discussed the issues facing the Church in the archdiocese, some of my initial concerns about where the whole process might go…
To no one’s real surprise, US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi received Communion during a papal Mass yesterday marking the traditional feast of Sts Peter and Paul. Pelosi, her husband Paul, and other family members happened to be in Rome on vacation and decided to attend the Mass. The act of receiving Communion, first…
Church representatives from French-speaking Africa have urged closer regional cooperation in Catholic peacebuilding to offset mounting economic and security challenges across the continent. “The Church frequently speaks out against government corruption and failure to settle conflicts – but it’s simply ignored,” explained Stephen Hilbert, adviser for Africa and global development for the US bishops’ conference.…
Denominational identity in me runs deep. Born, baptised, and raised a Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism is my second nature, like a brand on my skin. I have no regrets about the congenital grip this has on me, even though now I think of it more as a foundation than as an endpoint in my faith…
“Why did you not go in to join the celebrations?” It is a fair question! There was jealousy at work. Yes, he had gone away and left us all in the lurch. Yes, he had eaten into my father’s property but there was more to it than that. I resented him, not just because he had…
As usual, people are being given the wrong impression by our media about the implications of the overturning by the US Supreme Court of Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling that effectively made abortion legal up to birth in all 50 states of America. To judge by some of what you have heard or read,…
The overturn of Roe vs Wade is a great victory for the pro-life movement but it is also the start of a bigger battle. The considerable resources of the pro-choice movement, celebrities and influencers will all be marshalled. The singer Lizzo has pledged half a million to Planned Parenthood already and performers at Glastonbury have…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.
Breda O'Brien