Greg Daly asks whether the Religious Sisters of Charity can legitimately host the new National Maternity Hospital In recent days a story broke in California that the American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU) had filed a lawsuit against a Catholic hospital for denying a hysterectomy last year to a woman who identified as a man, and…

Dorothy Day is alleged to have said: “Don’t call me a saint; I don’t want to be dismissed that easily!” A new biography on her by her granddaughter, Kate Hennessy, Dorothy Day – The World will be saved by Beauty: An Intimate Portrait of my Grandmother, will, I believe, go a long way in preventing…

Fr Vincent Sherlock Nobody was as surprised as myself. Ed Sheeran was playing his second concert in Croke Park and the reviews of the first concert were incredible. I thought about what a positive influence Ed had been in the lives of 160,000 plus people over two nights. My being there, I thought, had some…

I have criticised the media previously and do so again. I have been appalled by recent coverage in relation to the Church. So much media comment is based on untruth or exaggeration: for example elements of the media have not acknowledged the fact in the context of St Vincent’s Hospital, that the Sisters of Charity have…

“Awareness of technological innovation and change can make us alert to cultural and social change”, writes Mary Kenny It is well known that the greatest political changes often occur through ‘events’, rather than through the carefully-laid plans and projects of politicians. And perhaps the biggest changes to our social and cultural lives often occur through…

Many people mistakenly confuse the Catholic Church with its governing structure, writes David Quinn People are by now well familiar with the case against the Catholic Church. As Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said in a little-noticed address a few days ago, the attacks are relentless. We are much less familiar with the case in favour of…

The “Taoiseach…has just moved heaven and earth to try to reduce the constitutional protection now enjoyed by the unborn”, writes Michael Kelly The Government has given strong indications that it will hold a referendum on abortion next year. Truth be told, we’ve known for some time that politicians are minded to hold a referendum that…

“…you must stand up for your faith, be unafraid”, writes Mary Kenny I encountered a nun in a Dublin shopping mall last week – she identified me through a mutual acquaintance of schooldays. It took me a few minutes to clock that she was a religious sister, as she was dressed in civvies – indeed,…

It has been a bad few weeks for those of us who value life from conception to natural death. First, there was a huge backlash against the National Maternity Hospital being situated in the grounds of St Vincent’s Hospital. The perceived problem was that there might be any Catholic influence whatsoever in the place, particularly…

With the exception of scripture and a few Christian mystics, Christian spirituality, up to now, has been weak in presenting us with a vision for our retirement years. It’s not a mystery as to why. Until recently, the majority of people died shortly after retirement and so there was no need for a highly-developed spirituality…