While some studies associate religiosity with conspiracy theories, organised religion is a bulwark for reason, writes Ruadhán Jones The continuing prevalence of, even rise in, belief in conspiracy theories causes some incredulity in the intellectual elite and scientific communities. How could it be, that the age of reason has given way to an age of…
Letter from London Jonathan Luxmoore In a gallery of The British Museum, light plays on an array of medieval crosses, reliquaries and manuscripts, as an audiovisual display reenacts one of English history’s most notorious crimes. At the centre, three stained-glass windows, painstakingly transferred from Canterbury Cathedral, convey images from the fabled afterlife of St Thomas…
In a recent issue of Comment magazine, Timothy Keller, theologian and pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, wrote an insightful essay entitled, ‘The Fading of Forgiveness’, within which he highlights how, more and more, forgiveness is being seen as a weakness and a naivete. Hence, our culture sees forgiveness more negatively than…
Notebook Getting vaccinated is “an act of love,” Pope Francis said in his latest urgent appeal, after more than a year of insisting Covid-19 vaccines be equitably available worldwide for everyone to get inoculated. Nonetheless, some Catholics have been wondering if they should seek a religious exemption from an immunisation requirement with vaccines tested or…
For centuries, numberless men and women have lived lives of involuntary celibacy: they have never found a partner with whom to settle down. The Irish were, traditionally, cautious about marriage – often because so many farms were small and inheritance was uncertain – so they lost their opportunity to find a spouse. There were many…
The View So first, the good news: the bill seeking to legalise assisted suicide in Ireland has been comprehensively rejected by the Oireachtas Justice Committee. This is a significant victory for the protection of vulnerable, sick and elderly people – who are among those endangered when it becomes culturally and medically acceptable to assist a…
Catholics need a constant reminder that the grace of God is greater than our sin, writes David Quinn Sometimes we need to remind ourselves why we are Catholics. We are Catholics because we believe Catholicism is true. We are not Catholics because all Catholics behave well, or because the Church is or is not in…
Letter from Rome It was quite fitting for a Catholic actor and a Christian director of a new streaming series on the life of Jesus to meet Pope Francis on the feast of St Clare of Assisi, patron saint of televisions and screens. Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus, and Dallas Jenkins, the series’ director, creator…
The Faithful still long to practice their faith free from harassment, writes Elise Ann Allen For Iraqis, the first week of August 2014 will forever be etched into their memory as the start of one of the worst episodes of religious and ethnic persecution the country has ever seen when the so-called Islamic State overtook…
What is the Eucharist? What is supposed to happen when we gather to celebrate the ritual that Jesus gave us at the Last Supper and asked us to perpetuate until his return? Is this meant to be a family meal or a re-enactment of Jesus’ sacrificial death? Is it meant to look like the old…
Ruadhán Jones
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
David Quinn