We enter the season of Lent by putting ashes on our foreheads. What’s symbolised here? Perhaps the heart understands better than the head because more people go to church on Ash Wednesday than on any other day of the year, including Christmas. The queues to receive the ashes in many churches are endless. Why? Why…
Among the many photos from Ukraine to have had major global impact in recent days was one set of wedding photos. On March 6, Lesya Ivashchenko and Valeriy Filimonov were married outdoors on the outskirts of Kyiv. The bride held a bouquet and wore a veil, but there was no white dress: both Lesya and…
The View At Mass on Sunday, the priest mentioned that we should be praying for Ukrainians but also for the Russian people. A young boy reacted immediately, asking his mother and grandmother in a loud whisper, “why should we pray for the Russians?” What a great question. Given the ongoing murderous assault on Ukraine, which…
The terrible events in Ukraine are evoking memories of the great famine of 1932-33, when up to three million Ukrainians were starved to death by Joseph Stalin’s deliberate policies. Ukrainians have a special word for that genocidal event – the Holdomor, or ‘terror famine’ – which bears some comparison to the Nazis’ Holocaust. I had…
In our current age of increasing political polarisation it is increasingly difficult to argue fruitfully, writes Dr Philip Gonzales If it is our conviction that Christianity — rooted in Christ the enfleshed Word of the Father — is true, and that this truth of love must be carried forward in service to our hazy, nebulous,…
The aid Poland has offered refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine is being hailed as a model of charity, writes Jason Osborne Just over one week since the Russian invasion of Ukraine was launched, the calculus of war already appears stark. As of the time of writing, roughly 9,000 deaths are estimated to have been…
Over the weekend, I spent some time with a group of journalists visiting Rome from the States, part of a special events unit within their news agency trying to get ready for whenever the next papal conclave occurs – or, as I call it, the “Big Show”. We were standing outside a Roman landmark when…
Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic and Orthodox leaders in Europe have appealed to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, urging him to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine. In an open letter published March 2, Romanian Orthodox Father Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches, told…
In his farewell speech in John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that he is going away but that he will leave us a parting gift, the gift of his peace, and that we will experience this gift in the spirit he leaves behind. How does this work? How do we leave peace and a spirit behind…
I know nothing about Ukraine. I don’t believe I know anybody from the country and I’d be hard pressed to name even a few of its cities or towns but I know I am heartbroken that the country finds itself at war. There are countless videos in circulation that seek to explain why Russia, or…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Breda O'Brien
Mary Kenny
John L. Allen Jr.