As the Catholic Church in different countries begins various synodal processes, the conference of Latin American bishops could not stay behind, and has launched its own Ecclesial Assembly. Pastoral plan “Did you know that our Latin American Church is calling together the 377 million Catholics in 46 countries of the continent to discern a joint…
Imagine a young couple intoxicated with each other in the early stages of love. Imagine a religious neophyte in love with God, praying ecstatically. Imagine an idealistic young person working tirelessly with the poor, enflamed with a thirst for justice. Are this young couple really in love with each other? Is that religious neophyte really…
Notebook As our parishes prepare again for the return to public worship, albeit in a limited format, we are thankful for this progress and the opportunity it affords us to gather as communities of faith. Truly we will celebrate that togetherness and rebuild, week by week, on the strong foundation that remains at the heart…
Truly, one of the great achievements of modern medicine is the treatment of babies in the womb. An unborn baby with a tumour on her lung – spotted by a routine ultrasound scan at 19 weeks – can now have corrective laser treatment surgery which saves her life. Prof. Basky’s work is a testament to…
The View Since the abortion referendum passed, there has been a concerted effort by abortion proponents — including the Government — to restrict the freedom of expression of pro-life supporters. Peaceful prayer vigils outside hospitals are likened to violence and there are moves to ban them. Not content with this, it now seems that even…
Ireland is facing a trifold housing crisis, in terms of homelessness, rent eviction and affordability, writes Ruadhán Jones On Friday April 23, the national ban on evictions from homes in the rental market was lifted. Housing charities and experts have warned of a potential “eviction crisis” as a result, as effects of Covid on jobs…
The Pope is putting greater faith in the local Church and does not believe that the magisterium must intervene to settle every doctrinal, moral and pastoral dispute, writes Fr Declan Marmion SM The Catholic Church is typically structured as a pyramid – the Pope at the top, people at the base. Pope Francis wants to…
It’s hard for the schools to teach the Faith if all the parents want is ‘Catholic-lite’, writes David Quinn Your average Catholic school today is not, in fact, very Catholic at all. That statement needs a bit of unpacking. A Catholic school is, of course, officially Catholic in that it comes under the patronage of…
Government’s actions suggest a preference for vaguely articulating a desired standard of behaviour and then tricking citizens into compliance, writes Prof. Oran Doyle Legal prohibitions on religious services have been much in the news lately. In this unavoidably lengthy post, I will show how these prohibitions have evolved over time in order to identify precisely…
Letter from Rome Here’s a brief sampling of news stories that have moved across the Vatican wire in recent days. – The Pontifical Council for Culture, under the ever-idiosyncratic Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, raised eyebrows anew with its announcement of a forthcoming May 6-8 conference on health care, cosponsored with the Cura Foundation, which, among other…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
Maria Steen
Ruadhán Jones
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.