The View Strange things have happened in the Catholic Church during recent years. Once the hierarchy of the Church and her clergy seemed, to so many of us, to be in some way superhuman, immune to normal temptations, strongly united through the graces of ordination in defence of the Church and her people against the powers…

The day might not be far off when protesters invade Irish churches, writes David Quinn Eight Catholic churches in Canada have been burnt by arsonists in the last few weeks and in some cases totally destroyed. Ten churches were vandalised in the province of Alberta on one day alone last week. The attacks are almost…

Letter from Rome Toward the end of this week, rumours made the rounds in the Vatican press corps that Friday would be a venerdi di fuoco, meaning a day of fire. Friday came and went without sparks, so we breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be short-lived, however, because Saturday brought a…

Carol Zimmermann In response to a late June announcement, the United States will be conducting an investigation of former federally funded boarding schools to search for graves of Native American children, a spokesperson for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said June 28 the bishops will “look for ways to be of assistance”. “It is…

Notebook It is 1947, and dusk is falling on the town of Drogheda. In the White Horse Inn on West St, a middle-aged writer is at work, penning a short essay. His name is Clive Staples Lewis. He had already made his name as a scholar of English literature, and as a lively proponent of…

I’m fascinated by the way that old ideas often return wearing new livery. The latest health advice against Covid-19, and other ailments is – ventilation. That is, a dose of fresh air which Florence Nightingale was advocating back in the 1850s, and which every convent school practiced, before the era of the (less healthy) air…

The View A midst the ongoing controversy about whether US President Joe Biden should be excommunicated for his stance on abortion, important points are being missed. There needs to be sustained teaching on the nature of the Eucharist before people will understand excommunication. (This is not to suggest a moratorium on excommunication until all Catholics…

We need action to stop parents being pushed to abort children like Baby Christopher, writes Vicky Wall In 2018, I was one of a group of parents who knew, from personal experience, that safeguards were needed to prevent abortion being pushed after a diagnosis of a life-limiting condition for baby. When I was pregnant with…

Jesus instructed his followers to teach all nations, but what about the rest of the Universe, asks David Quinn The United States released a report at the weekend which didn’t attract anything like the attention I thought it would. Maybe because Covid-19 is still dominating the news, and here in Ireland we decided to have…