“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…
Category: Comment & Analysis
Repeal of Roe v Wade gives us hope
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,…
Following Roe vs Wade ruling give pregnant women support
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…
US bishops react to overturning Roe v. Wade
John Lavenburg In response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs Wade, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore stated his appreciation but kept an eye towards the future and the need to redouble Church efforts supporting women and couples who face unexpected pregnancies, as well as opening the hearts and minds of those with a different perspective. “My…
Faith as a love affair of the heart
Last Friday, June 24, we celebrated the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The spirituality of the Sacred Heart is an invitation to be intimate with God. The theme of intimacy is central in the Bible. The symbol of the heart is considered to be the seat of emotions and human affectivity. It can rejoice…
Everyone needs good neighbours
If I don’t appear at my local church over a couple of Sundays, other parishioners are kind enough to notice my absence: people very sweetly ask me afterwards if I’ve been away – usually the reason – and if I had a pleasant trip. One of the social advantages of being part of a parish…
John Paul I and the pill: He wanted change, but accepted Humanae Vitae
On the eve of the World Meeting of Families and with a view toward the beatification September 4 of Pope John Paul I, attention turned to his initial openness to softening Catholic teaching on contraception and his later support for the teaching of St Paul VI. The editorial director of Vatican News, Andrea Tornielli, and the…
The paradox of the phrase cheap grace
There’s a tension among Christians today between those who would extend God’s mercy everywhere, seemingly without any conditions, and those who are more reticent and discriminating in dispensing it. The tension comes out most clearly in our debates concerning who may receive the sacraments: Who should be allowed to receive the Eucharist? Who should be…
Why Michael D. is so suited to being president…
Michael D. Higgins is a very popular president, and I think there’s a special reason why he is well suited to the Irish temperament. Many outsiders who have observed Ireland and the Irish have remarked that a feature of Irish life is a difference between what people say in the public sphere – and what…
Resist calls to scrap three-day waiting period for abortion
The View In 2018, then Tánaiste Simon Coveney said that he was willing to support repeal of the 8th amendment and legalisation of abortion on demand to 12 weeks because he had been assured there would be “strict guidelines”, including a three-day waiting period for women to reflect on the decision before they underwent an abortion.…


David Quinn
Breda O'Brien


Mary Kenny

Fr Ronald Rolheiser

