The View A thoughtful friend of mine asked me whether this pandemic had been sent for a reason. Was it, she wondered, some kind of message from God that we were getting things badly wrong and needed to change our ways? Did we need to return to basics, like loving others and praying? I see…
With all eyes on the threat of Covid-19, an even greater killer is given more access, writes David Quinn At a time when we are trying desperately to save lives, to the extent of effectively shutting us all in our houses, both parts of this island have just made it easier to deliberately kill…
Letter from Rome With Easter just days away, debate continues to swirl about how accessible churches and pastors should be on the holiest day of the Christian calendar – and whether Easter ought to be celebrated this Sunday at all. Although Italy appears to have flattened the curve of the pandemic with projections currently…
Experts say the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) across Africa, Middle East and Latin America could lead to a collapse of already strained economies and healthcare systems in those regions. According to Dr Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, a major crisis could be…
Jesus’ death washes everything clean, including our ignorance and sin. That’s the clear message from Luke’s account of his death. As we know, we have four Gospels, each with its own take on the passion and death of Jesus. As we know too, these Gospel accounts are not journalistic reports of what happened on Good…
Notebook Have we ever washed our hands so often? Someone sent me a WhatsApp message recently and it had a picture of a man who said he had washed his hands so frequently that the notes he wrote on them for his Leaving Cert exam 30 years ago had re-appeared! Nearly every TV or…
What does it mean to be pro-life? To me it means defending human life from conception until the natural end of life; not deliberating taking human life, unless in extreme cases of self-defence. If a mad axeman is coming towards you with homicidal intent, you would be reasonably entitled to defend yourself, and those around…
The View Pope Francis’ recent Urbi et Orbi address was the most poignant moment of his pontificate. There was something profoundly moving about the emptiness of St Peter’s Square. Next to a crucifix that witnessed the defeat of a plague in Rome in 1522, Christ’s Vicar stood alone in the rain and, in the…
In a strange way, this crisis could act as a moment of grace as well as of suffering, writes David Quinn With public Masses suspended, we find ourselves in unprecedented times. How many previously regular Massgoers will revert to their pre-crisis levels of attendance? That’s only one of the questions to be considered in…
In the streets and towns of Ireland, these days have taken on a real Lenten feeling of desolation, writes Fr Jeremy Corley One cold morning a few weeks ago, just before receiving the ashes on my forehead, I heard the traditional Ash Wednesday reading from the prophet Joel: “Proclaim a solemn assembly. Call the…
Breda O'Brien
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
Maria Steen