Letter from Rome Suppose that earlier this week, when plans for what eventually happened were confirmed, the Vatican Press Office had issued something like the following statement. “Pope Francis usually celebrates the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday outside the Vatican with vulnerable and excluded people, expressing the Lord’s special love for them.…
Pope Francis on Easter offered consolation to all those still struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and he urged speeding up production of Covid-19 vaccines amid global delays and ensuring they reach the poorest countries. In his Easter Urbi et Orbi address, the Pope said the resurrected Christ is a sign of “hope…
The world will be saved by beauty! Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote that, Dorothy Day quoted it, and centuries before Jesus, Confucius made it central to his pedagogy. They were on to something. Beauty is a special language that cuts through and sidelines all the things that divide us – history, race, language, creed, ideology, politics, economic…
Notebook There’s a sense of the Church at its best going on this weekend. It’s that early enthusiastic excitement of a new relationship or hobby. We’ve got all the gear and are ready to spend ourselves fully in the pursuit of love of person, sport or activity. We couldn’t imagine missing a meeting, training session…
It would be a shame if after all the sacrifices of Covid-19 we went back to where we were beforehand, writes Archbishop Eamon Martin The first performances of Handel’s Messiah were in Fishamble Street, Dublin, in 1742 and so many people wanted tickets that the organisers asked the ladies to come without hoops in their skirts and…
Easter Sunday this year falls on my 77th birthday, so I’ll be marking it with gratitude for the gift of my life. To be honest, my poor Ma wasn’t exactly thrilled when she found herself with a fourth pregnancy in her forties when her other children were born a good decade before that. But she…
The View It was an interesting start to Holy Week 2021. Last Palm Sunday evening, Michael Kelly of this newspaper reported that the State had confirmed in the Declan Ganley case (which challenges the ban on public worship) that it was an offence to go to Mass, or for a priest to say Mass publicly…
There has been widespread criticism of the criminalisation of Mass with people drawing obvious historic parallels, writes Ruadhán Jones Garda roadblocks barring parishioners from attending Mass in Co. Cavan raised historic parallels with penal times, as it was confirmed over the weekend that public worship is now deemed a legal offence. The confirmation came when…
Other countries are opting for a more balanced approach to coronavirus, writes David Quinn At the weekend, the Netherlands played Latvia in a qualifying match for the soccer World Cup. In Ireland, the equivalent game with Luxembourg was devoid of spectators. In the Netherlands, 5,000 were permitted to attend in a stadium that can fit…
The rhetoric from some members of the Oireachtas should seriously worry us, writes David Mullins During the course of a recent Dáil debate, Alan Kelly, the leader of the Labour party, suggested that the assets of those religious orders who were involved in the mother and baby homes should be seized in the event that…
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Archbishop Eamon Martin
Mary Kenny
Maria Steen
Ruadhán Jones
David Quinn