The greatest threats to Christianity come not from the right but from the left, writes Dr Tom Finegan A noticeable feature of recent public theological discourse is a readiness to criticise causes of the right. Take two high-profile pronouncements, those of Fr Michael Mullaney and of Anglican Archbishop Michael Jackson. Shortly before Christmas they criticised…
Our politicians should exhibit more grace to one another and also receive grace from the rest of us, writes Fr Martin Magill Grace is perhaps one of the greatest of God’s gifts. It is truly “amazing” as exemplified in John Newton’s famous hymn ‘Amazing Grace’, so loved in all Christian traditions and beyond. Grace is the…
There’s fatigue heading into 2020 in the US, but also cause for a bit of optimism, writes Christopher White One year ago, the US bishops gathered at Chicago’s Mundelein Seminary for a historic retreat initiated by Pope Francis in response to the latest round of the clergy abuse scandals. Some months earlier, the leadership…
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.…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Maria Steen
David Quinn
Colm Fitzpatrick