Nearly 50 years ago Henri Nouwen wrote a book entitled, The Wounded Healer. Its reception established his reputation as unique spiritual mentor and he went on to become one of the most influential spiritual writers of the past half-century. What made his writings so powerful? His brilliance? His gift for expression? He was gifted, yes,…
Notebook Dear Mary, It’s Advent time again, which for you equates to the last month of your pregnancy all those years ago. Down through the years a lot has been said and written about your son’s birth in Bethlehem. Famous artists have tried to depict not only that famous night but also the day you…
Pope Francis spoke recently about supporting civil unions for homosexual people, and it’s not the first time he has made that point. He did so as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. He has always been keen to emphasise that gay Catholics are part of the family and that is a point that would, I think, be…
The View As a people we had come to take our way of life with all its freedoms for granted – the right to freedom of speech, of thought, of conscience, of privacy, of family life, the right of freedom of assembly…so many rights. For many of us they just were our rights and we…
Letter from Rome Within the last few days, two completely separate lawsuits have been filed in two different countries that somehow involve the Vatican. In the United States, four alleged sex abuse victims of ex-cardinal and ex-priest Theodore McCarrick are suing the Vatican, while in Italy Cardinal Angelo Becciu has filed a $12 million defamation…
In that brief intermezzo over the summer between what turned out to be the first and second great surges of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pope Francis held a series of appropriately socially distanced, “virtual” conversations with his premier English-language explicator about what he believes needs to be done for the world to be better than it…
Maturity has various levels. Basic maturity is defined as having essentially outgrown the instinctual selfishness with which we were born so that our motivation and actions are now shaped by the needs of others and not just by our own needs. That’s the basic minimum, the low bar for maturity. After that there are degrees…
Notebook One of the more worrying aspects of this past year of challenges is the proliferation of misinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories concerning the Covid-19 pandemic. The most egregious example was one message that did the rounds of many WhatsApp groups outlining a series of utterly false claims linking Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, George Soros,…
When it was reported in a London newspaper that Catholic priests can feel hurt and dismayed when the Faithful compare and judge their sermons – via internet live-stream Masses – the BBC commentator Nick Robinson remarked smartly: “Join the club!” Those guys and gals in the media are used to both brickbats and bouquets for…
The View What is religion for? We know that NPHET, or at least, Dr Ronan Glynn, then the acting Chief Medical Officer, did not think religion sufficiently important as a source of social contact to allow people to continue with public worship. In response to a question by David Quinn, he said that the aim…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
John L. Allen Jr.
Breda O'Brien