Threats to Lyric FM endanger a heritage that should be especially dear to Catholics, writes Rachel Sherlock It has emerged of late that RTÉ is allegedly considering the future of their classical music station Lyric FM in light of their ongoing financial crisis. While we will have to wait for the coming weeks to…
If I had the chance, I’d be yelling in the UN as well, writes Emma Tobin In the wake of her caustic speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City, Greta Thunberg has been the focus of intense international applause. Following the huge success of her global climate strike, with four…
Letter from Rome Speaking to a network of religious sisters that helps human trafficking victims, Pope Francis last Thursday told them to work closely with the local Church, because this is necessary for their project to be successful. “I want to reiterate that the journey of consecrated life, both female and male, is the path…
Proposed changes to Britain’s surrogacy laws would lead to the “further demeaning of pregnancy”, according to the leading Catholic bioethics centre in the country. Under current UK law, commercial surrogacy – that is, the hiring of a woman to bear a child for another person or couple – is illegal, although ‘altruistic surrogacy’ is not.…
Some years ago I went on a weekend retreat given by a woman who made no secret about the fact that not being able to have children constituted a deep wound in her life. So she offered retreats on the pain of being unable to have children. Being a celibate and not having my own…
Notebook Fr Bernard Healy As October rolls around again, I return to Rome to resume my studies. My first fortnight back will coincide with two significant events. On Saturday October 5, Pope Francis will be creating 13 new cardinals, and a week later he will be canonising Blessed John Henry Newman, the subject of…
The View September is a month that means back to school for most families: new uniforms and bags are donned while the trees shed their leaves and the last of the summer sun wanes. It is an exciting time, full of expectation that the newness of a fresh start brings. It is, for Catholic parents…
The power of Satan is real, and we must pray to overcome it, writes Fr Pat Collins CM According to Pope Leo XIII’s private secretary, when the Pontiff had a vision of demonic spirits about to mount an attack on the city of Rome he wrote the prayer to St Michael the Archangel. It…
Catholics across Ireland, and most especially in Belfast, were left perplexed on Monday by the news that onetime top BBC journalist turned trainee nun Martina Purdy had left her Belfast convent, after being told that her congregation was too small to allow her and three other temporarily-professed sisters to continue in formation. In a statement…
Every September we read reports of disgruntled secular parents who object to the fact that their children are being taught about religion, in religious-ethos schools. I find it difficult to understand why a parent would send their child to a faith-based school, and then complain that faith values are taught there. However, I suppose we…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Maria Steen
Greg Daly
Mary Kenny