Letter from Rome Inés San Martín Though reaction to Pope Francis’s recent joint declaration with the leader of Al-Azhar, arguably the most important figure in the Sunni Muslim world, received a mixed verdict – from being hailed as historic, to being dismissed as another feel-good statement without teeth – few men have more…
Elise Harris Speaking at a secular conference on child pornography and online threats to youth last week, a Catholic priest said the fight against child abuse isn’t merely a cause for the Church, but for the entire human family and for civilization itself. During the February 7 panel titled ‘Pornography, Minors and Safety on the…
As a vowed, religious celibate I’m very conscious that today celibacy, whether lived out in a religious commitment or in other circumstances, is suspect, under siege, and is offering too little by way of a helpful apologia to its critics. Do I believe in the value of consecrated celibacy? The only real answer I can…
The Notebook On Wednesday morning, January 30, Fr John Cummins [pictured] looked forward to another busy day among his flock in the parish of Abbeyleix. One of the highlights of his day would surely be the celebration in the local primary school for Grandparents Day. His first public event on that morning was Mass…
Some years ago, I was invited to accompany an Australian right-to-life group to a witness vigil outside a Melbourne abortion clinic. I was staying with one of the women involved in the event, so I said I would. It was a peaceful and respectful gathering. The participants were seated on a wall, or on the…
The View Martin Mansergh January brought Ireland into the second and more difficult phase of the decade of centenaries dominated by the birth pangs of a new State. Part of the price of this or any form of Irish self-government was partition. There are two modes of remembering. The ceremonial joint session of…
The Church in Ireland badly needs a public affairs office, writes David Quinn The Catholic Church in Ireland needs a full-time public affairs office. At the moment, the response of the Church to issues of the moment is far too hit-and-miss and there is an almost total lack of ‘joined up thinking’ and ‘joined…
I was very blessed during my theological formation to have had the privilege of taking classes from two very renowned Catholic scholars, Avery Dulles and Raymond E. Brown. The former was an ecclesiologist whose books often became textbooks which were prescribed reading in seminaries and theology schools. The latter was a Scripture scholar whose scholarship stands…
The Notebook Fr Vincent Sherlock Some time ago I received a text from a parishioner, telling me that there was no need to visit her mother on my First Friday calls since her mother was in hospital for a few days. The level of devotion this daughter showed in caring for her mother…
You can change your mind about a subject not just once, but several times. The subject over which I have vacillated in the course of my lifetime is that of censorship. As a young person, I was vehemently against censorship, largely because both movies and books were subject to sometimes quite draconian censorship: either the…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
David Quinn