Letter from the Vatican Pope Francis, known in his native Argentina for never leaving home, collected more frequent-flyer miles in 2019 than in any of the previous six years of his pontificate, travelling to Panama, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bulgaria and North Macedonia, Romania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Thailand and Japan. Though each trip…
If anyone has read a tabloid, they’ve probably seen the ‘they’re just like us’ section featuring favourite celebrities doing normal things like taking their kids to the park or walking around in jeans and a t-shirt with a Starbucks in hand. One might think, for example, of the humanising photos of Kate Middleton, Duchess of…
Can anyone prove that God exists? Well, many have tried. Some of the greatest philosophers and intellectuals in history have tried to prove that God exists. One of the most famous of these was Thomas Aquinas who produced five different logical ‘proofs’. For example, this is the algebra of one of his arguments: imagine walking…
Notebook Ever since becoming Pope in 2013, Francis, the son of migrants, has sought to awaken the consciences of people worldwide to the plight of migrants and refugees, which is the result of the biggest humanitarian crisis since the end of World War II and now involves, according to the United Nations, some 70.8 million…
The View On Monday, the Church celebrates the great moment of the first revelation of the Messiah to all nations and peoples: the Epiphany. Traditionally considered even more theologically significant than the Nativity, this was the moment in time when Christ was revealed as not only a Messiah for God’s chosen people, but for…
We need to have an honest and open-minded debate about climate change, writes David Quinn I confess to being in two minds about the green agenda for reasons I’ll try and explain. Green issues have pushed to the forefront of public debate in the past year. Here in Ireland, the Green party did quite well…
Questions of Faith The phrase goes: “New year, new me.” The mentality of recognising your weaknesses and setting new goals aimed at improvement is ubiquitous across the western world. Some people decide to hit the gym, others try to jump on the diet train and many of us will attempt to stave off alcohol.…
Really, I was only ever superficially aware of the disaster of Chernobyl. Yes, I remember when it happened in April 1986, and that it was awful, and indicative that the Soviet Union was hopelessly badly organised – something I had seen in visits to Russia and the USSR anyway. And I admired the work that…
There’s a Latin axiom which argues that there’s no accounting for taste, de gustibus non est disputandum. I reference it as a preamble to my annual list of the 10 books I most enjoyed this past year because, admittedly, taste is somewhat subjective. I chose these particular books because they’re the ones that spoke most…
Notebook The New Year brings with it a barrage of holiday offers. Travel agents and airlines know that the depths of winter create in us a desire for the delights of summer, and they know how to capitalise on that desire: leave behind the clouds, the rain, the gloom and head for the sunshine!…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Maria Steen
David Quinn
Colm Fitzpatrick
Mary Kenny