Fifty years ago, in 1971, a very fine Dominican priest (and philosopher), Fergal O’Connor, set up an organisation to support unmarried mothers, calling it ‘Ally’. In her autobiography, Political Woman the late Nuala Fennell, T.D. – the first minister for women’s rights – praised Fr O’Connor most especially for his pioneering and compassionate work in…
Today, the common question in spiritual circles is not, “What is your church or your religion?” but, “what is your practice?” What is your practice? What is your particular explicit prayer practice? Is it Christian? Buddhist? Islamic? Secular? Do you meditate? Do you do centring prayer? Do you practice Mindfulness? For how long do you…
Did you ever notice how days’ significance changes over the years? In my early years, those quiet days between Christmas and Epiphany had little character. One day was like another, merely time reserved for lolling around, eating sweets and watching television. Then one year my mother died, a couple of days after New Year’s Day.…
One certainly can’t accuse the Vatican of being part of what Italians call the “no vax” crowd, meaning resistance to the Covid-19 vaccines. Not only did the Vatican nip a Catholic form of such opposition in the bud recently by signing off on the morality of the vaccine, but on December 2 the Vatican announced…
Were I asked to do so, I think I would propose Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, as my Person of the Year. Leadership As the head of the operational side of the EU, she has shown leadership, grace under pressure, and when the EU-British deal was pronounced done, a cultural…
The Government should seize the moment and set a deadline for an end to homelessness writes St Stanislaus Kennedy RSC Focus Ireland has been working harder than ever this year in partnership with the State and together we have helped over 800 families to secure a home and leave homelessness behind. There has been great…
The View Year’s end is a time, when newspapers publish archival documents that may reveal discreetly hidden or long forgotten aspects of governance. Representatives of public institutions, even students, should have some minimal knowledge of their history, to avoid unnecessarily raising ghosts of the past. The report in The Irish Catholic (November 26) that the…
What we now refer to as the patriarchy was only too well aware of the dangers of toxic masculinity, writes David Quinn A teacher was sacked recently from Eton College in England, the country’s poshest school. His error? To post his ruminations on the topic of the ‘patriarchy’ on the internet and to leave it up…
When I was a child, New Year’s Day was very special. Our family always had a big celebration, complete with a number of rituals. The rituals began already on New Year’s Eve. We didn’t go out that evening, but stayed in and celebrated together as a family. Everyone stayed up until midnight and, just before…
For Catholics, true human freedom is possible only inasmuch as reason and will participate or share in God’s wisdom and providence writes Fr Kevin O’Reilly OP In recent times in Ireland and elsewhere, the legal protection for the unborn has been removed. Same-sex marriage has received constitutional recognition, and now there are moves to legalise…
Mary Kenny
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
John L. Allen Jr.
David Quinn