Letter from Rome Catholicism is a vast, riotously diverse global institution, counting 1.3 billion members scattered in every nook and cranny of the planet. As a result, Catholic experience is a constant interplay between the universal and the local, a few basic constants refracted and lived out in a stunning myriad of different milieu. One…
Hours after Bolivia’s former interim president was detained and accused of promoting an alleged coup against her predecessor Evo Morales, the country’s bishops released a statement saying that “the politics of revenge” and a justice system aligned with the ruling political power “do not create confidence in the people”. “The arrest and prosecution of the…
Among people of faith, there is the notion that if you are person of deep faith you can easily renounce the things of this world, see the world for all its ephemerality, not cling to things, and die more peacefully. Not true. That is naïve, at least a lot of the time. James Hillman writes:…
Notebook Pope Francis said recently: “I know that many of you go to confession before Easter… Many will say to me: ‘But Father… I can’t leave the house and I want to make my peace with the Lord. I want him to embrace me… How can I do that unless I find a priest?’ “If…
Following the appalling murder of Sarah Everard, kidnapped at London’s Clapham Common, a tsunami of protest has arisen in Britain about violence against women. An extraordinary number of women have said that they do not feel safe in the streets – or sometimes at home – because of the threat of male violence. The First…
The View Little boys growing up today experience a different world from that in which our sons grew up. I remember teaching them to be polite, to open doors for people, to offer their seats to those who might need them etc. Now they tell me that some women interpret such basic courtesy as some…
We need to be wary of factions who will try to manipulate the planned meeting for their own purposes, writes David Quinn The bishops have announced that they are to hold a national synod of the Church within the next five years. It will be a meeting of priests, religious and laypeople to discuss the…
Letter from Rome Pope Francis’s recent trip to Iraq will undoubtably have a lasting impact on the country in ways that only time will tell. In the immediate aftermath, a few significant developments can already be seen. According to some observers, even before the historic March 5-8 trip took place, the first-ever papal visit to…
John Lavenburg Flor Molina crossed the US-Mexico border with her trafficker in 2002. At the time, she was under the impression the trip would last six months, provide housing, and enough money to return to Mexico to open a sewing shop and provide for her three children. Instead, she found herself working 18-plus hours a…
One of Dorothy Day’s favourite saints was Therese of Lisieux, Therese Martin, the saint we call ‘the Little Flower’. At first glance, this might look like a strange affinity. Dorothy Day was the ultimate activist for justice, protesting in the streets, being arrested, going to prison, and starting a community and a newspaper, the Catholic…
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
David Quinn