Modern-day palliative care approaches and hospices have made it such that uncontrolled symptoms at the time of death are rare, writes Chris Garrett Caesar Augustus died peacefully at the age of 75 in the arms of his third wife Livia; unusual for that time given the bloody and traumatic deaths of some other Roman…
According to Isaac the Syrian, a famous 7th-Century bishop and theologian, a person who’s genuinely humble gives off a certain scent that other people will sense and that even animals will pick up so that wild animals, including snakes, will fall under its spell and never harm that person. Here’s his logic: a humble person,…
Notebook Every summer Dominican friars from various European countries visit our priories to work on their English. One thing that perplexes them is the apparently rude health of Catholic education here. How, despite centuries of persecution and recent decline, they ask, are there so many Catholic schools? And how is it that they are…
The View As I write this, I am wondering what will happen next at Westminster. Parliament will be prorogued within about ten days. Prorogation means the end of a parliament. When we come back by October 14, we will have a speech by Queen Elizabeth II which will contain the government’s proposals for the coming…
The Pope’s appointees to the College of Cardinals reflect the diminished role of Ireland in an increasingly globalised Church, writes Michael Kelly For the first time in more than 40 years, Ireland will not have a vote in a Papal conclave if there were to be a vacancy of the Holy See. Since he…
Marie Cummins The mission of 40 Days for Life is to bring together the body of Christ in a spirit of unity during a focused 40 day campaign of prayer, fasting and peaceful witness, with the purpose of repentance, to seek God’s favour to turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to…
We must not allow legislation that would be used to target only one side, writes John McGuirk It was a bit of a mad week across the water, with Boris Johnson deciding as he did to suspend parliament so that it cannot vote to thwart his Brexit plan. The response to this decision was…
Recent events don’t support the notion, writes David Quinn The constant refrain is that Ireland is becoming a more ‘compassionate’ place. This notion needs to be robustly challenged. The best that can be said is that we have become more compassionate in some ways and worse in others. Last week, Co Louth was witness…
It is often said that the bias against ‘mixed marriages’ – between partners of different religions – was cruel, and that the Ne Temere decree of 1908 was destructive of community and familial relationships. Yet it would be illusionary to pretend that no conflicts arise when a couple have different religious backgrounds or convictions, and…
There is a growing risk that the health service may begin to consider cost-saving measures that free up urgently needed beds, writes Dr Norella Broderick Support for euthanasia in Western Europe is growing. The UK-based Guardian reported last month that 93% of the British public now support physician-assisted suicide in the case of terminal…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Nuala O’Loan
Michael Kelly
David Quinn
Mary Kenny