Junno Arocho Esteves The prophecies and revelations of St Bridget of Sweden, who lived in Rome for nearly 20 years until her death in 1373, were known for their direct reprimands to popes and princes alike, calling for an end to corruption and the start of reform within the Catholic Church. “She was not afraid…
Nothing is as important as forgiveness. It is the key to happiness and the most important spiritual imperative in our lives. We need to forgive, to make peace with the hurts and injustices we have suffered so as not to die angry and bitter. Before we die, we need to forgive – others, ourselves, and…
For almost 60 years a British journalist, Alistair Cooke had a weekly show on BBC Radio 4 called Letter from America looking at various topics from an American perspective. I feel a little like that this month as I’m writing this piece while sitting in a café just across the street from the White House.…
It’s just gone 25 years since the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and it was interesting to see, in one of the television documentaries shown about her life, a statuette of Jesus on her desk: she had draped a set rosary beads around the figurine. Marking the anniversary, her biographer Andrew Morton has…
Pope Francis should appoint more cardinals from areas where Catholicism is growing rapidly, writes David Quinn Ireland has no cardinal of voting age, and given that Pope Francis is now 86 and in visibly declining health, it will probably mean that the Church in Ireland won’t have a representative at the conclave that will one…
Far from being oppressive, understanding sin and its effects points the way to liberation and freedom, writes Jason Osborne An old clip of a prominent Irish priest recently went viral online, in which he lamented the fact that young priests talk about sin. Far from being an isolated sentiment, I’ve encountered a number of Catholics…
Pope Francis August 27 created 20 new cardinals, including 16 under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote for the next pope. It was Francis’s eighth consistory, and whenever we get a new crop of Princes of the Church, several chronic misconceptions tend to head once more unto the breach. Herewith, three conceptual…
A wise old Augustinian priest once shared this in class. There are days in my life when everything from the pressures of my work, to tiredness, to depression, to distraction, to flat-out laziness make it difficult for me to pray. But, no matter what, I always try to pray at least one sincere, focused Our…
I write these lines in advance of a class reunion in St Nathy’s College, Ballaghaderreen. It will see former pupils and classmates, who sat the leaving cert in 1981, gather to mark the 40 years that have passed since those June days The intention was to have this gathering in 2021 but, like lots of…
When my son Ed visited Hungary recently, the first thing that greeted him at the airport was a large billboard with a picture of two parents with three children, bearing the slogan “Hungary Welcomes Families”. Indeed, that is the policy of Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister. Orban is much criticised in western Europe, but his…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.