A ‘Green Pledge’ could be an important step forward, writes David Quinn What should the Church itself do about climate change? Some parishes now have climate change committees and various religious orders have long had a strong commitment to preserving the environment. Pope Francis has made it a central theme of his pontificate. The…
There is a danger that conscientious objection will only be allowed when it can make little difference, writes Dr Keith Holmes Conscious Objection in Health Care describes medical scenarios where clinicians refuse to engage in a clinical activity on the grounds that such participation would contravene their ethical moral or religious beliefs. While this…
Letter from Rome Under a Pope for whom ‘synodality’ is the buzzword par excellence, meaning broad consultation and shared decision-making, it probably should be no surprise that synods and their vicissitudes are destined to be the biggest Catholic drama over the months to come. We already know about the controversial Synod of Bishops for the Amazon…
Since Brexit has dominated the UK news for the past three years, it might be easy to miss the great strides being made by the government in promoting religious freedom in the same time period. The latest move has been to appoint Rehman Chishti, a Conservative Member of Parliament, as the new Prime Minister’s Special…
We quite naturally tend to think of the word ‘Christ’ as Jesus’ second name. We think of the name ‘Jesus Christ’ like we think of names like ‘Susan Parker’ or ‘Jack Smith’. But that’s an unhealthy confusion. Jesus didn’t have a second name. The word ‘Christ’ is a title which, while it includes the person…
Notebook A question. Do you know what the first food eaten on the moon was? The answer may surprise many of you…the Eucharist! Of the many interesting milestones marked or celebrated this past summer, one that stood out for me was the 50th anniversary of for the first people to set foot on the moon…
The View City and county libraries, along with other cultural bodies, make a vital contribution to public education, not least in remembering and deepening understanding of important anniversaries. The relatively new Lexicon on the seafront in Dún Laoghaire is hosting two exhibitions at the present time, co-sponsored by the Peruvian and the Polish Embassies…
Clarity and honesty are urgently needed around Ireland’s low vocation numbers, writes Greg Daly “Fifteen seminarians have begun their formation and academic programme for 2019 – 2020,” began the press release last week from the Catholic Communications Office (CCO) in Maynooth. “The new students are currently in formation in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth and…
The Pope has to be careful to give equal attention to the legitimate political concerns of all Catholics, writes David Quinn It is now over a year since Pope Francis visited Ireland. There has been remarkably little interest in that fact and almost no commentary about it. That’s not a good sign. On the…
The fact that we now live in a society highly ideologised by social media and rogue journalism makes inevitable that we must ask of each encounter “is this person friend or foe?”, writes John Waters When you stand up to be counted on what have become the era’s most ideologically-mobilised questions, you find yourself encountering…
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Greg Daly