On hundreds of occasions since the commencement of the new abortion law in January, pro-life activists have chosen to picket venues where abortions are carried out. By and large, these protests have attracted very little media attention. It was something of a surprise, therefore, to see such a protest at Holles Street Hospital hit the…
Inés San Martín Nicaragua and Venezuela are continuing to experience turmoil due to popular opposition to their socialist leadership. Both regimes have been accused by prominent leaders of human rights violations, and international organisations ask their governments to be open to dialogue. Venezuela The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, released…
The problem in the world and in the Churches, Jim Wallis suggests, is that, perennially, conservatives get it wrong and liberals (over-reacting to conservatives) then don’t get it at all. Nowhere is this truer, I believe, than in how we discern the finger of God in the events of our lives. Jesus tells us to…
Notebook Fr Conor McDonough It was heartening to see last week Californian politicians withdrawing legislation that would undermine the Seal of Confession. The bill was opposed by a large, well organised and committed campaign of lay Catholics, but the public face of the campaign was Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles [pictured]. He’s a…
I heard yet another sermon last Sunday in which the priest, speaking about the need for evangelisation, lamented the current shortage of priestly vocations. His sermon was well-constructed – this was in the Dublin diocese – and he spoke well, but he was old, and there was a perceptible note of weariness in his voice. He…
The View Stewardship of the environment is a key Catholic value. Sometimes it is frustratingly hard to implement this value as families and individuals. I am sure that most of us were horrified by the recently published photos of Little Skellig island in Kerry. Gannets are plucking from the sea plastic debris, such as…
John McGuirk An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was at pains last week to distance himself from reports that he was being considered for the top job in the European Union – President of the Commission. Amid reports that he was in line to replace Jean-Claude Juncker, both the Taoiseach and his party seemed very eager…
Letter from Rome Elise Harris A preliminary outline of Pope Francis’ coming apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia reveals the merger of several more departments and an increased emphasis on the presence of laity as part of a reform hinged on decentralisation and synodality and fuelled by evangelisation. Tentatively titled Praedicate Evangelium, a draft of the…
Shortly after Pope Francis was elected in March 2013, he declared his wish to preside over a “poor Church for the poor”. While that was a statement of intent, his first real chance to make it operational came three months later when he visited the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa off the coast of Sicily,…
Simone Weil once commented that it’s not enough today to be merely a saint; rather “we must have the saintliness demanded by the present moment”. She’s surely right on that second premise; we need saints whose virtues speak to the times. What kind of saint is needed today? Someone who can show us how we…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien
John L. Allen Jr.