Category: Comment & Analysis

No country for old men or women?

Politicians need to address issues around our ageing society, writes Finola Kennedy Finola Kennedy The final comment of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry went largely unreported. He referred to the difficulty of providing resources for “the ageing of Irish society”. He went on to say: “I hope the issue isn’t lost.”…

Visiting a land transformed

Luca Attanasio It was 1984. In the aftermath of the terrible news report by the BBC on the effects of famine in Ethiopia, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure quickly brought together the top bands of the time and recorded the famous song Do They Know it’s Christmas.  They raised a lot of money and international…

A pilgrim comes to Mexico

The Latin American Pope faces a testing visit, writes Paul Keenan There could hardly have been a more diabolical challenge to the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to Mexico than the January 29 murder of baby Marcos Miguel Pano Colón. In a single violent incident among the many thousands perpetrated by the country’s drugs cartels…

Acts of the penitent

The Church teaches that Confession to a priest is an essential part of the Sacrament of Penance, writes Cathal Barry The Church teaches that penance requires the sinner to “endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction” Among the penitent’s acts contrition occupies first…

Responding to the call of God

“the God who calls is the God who loves, who forgives, the God who sees into our hearts and gently but very definitely coaxes us to be the very best person we can be”, writes Fr Martin Delaney Recently I returned to my home parish for the funeral of one of my neighbours, a Kiltegan…

Debating the future of a celibate priesthood

“When someone objects to mandatory celibacy, it is because they imagine it to be a lonely life”, writes Editor, Michael Kelly The Pope’s right-hand man Cardinal Pietro Parolin this week cautioned against knee-jerk reactionary responses to problems facing the Church. Addressing a conference on the issue of priestly celibacy in Rome, the Vatican Secretary of…

Rewriting the rules on sexual consent

“Duh! is one reaction” to sexual activities requiring consent, writes Mary Kenny There have been some mixed reactions to the news that Trinity College Dublin is planning to subject their students to “sexual consent workshops”. The object is to teach those Freshers – mainly men, evidently – that it’s not acceptable to engage in sexual…

A burden too far?

A Vatican cardinal has confirmed that an increasing number of priests turn down appointment as bishop, writes Michael Kelly A joke popular in some clerical circles is to quip that anyone who wants to be a bishop deserves it. But, more often than not, many a true word is spoken in jest. Anyone intimately acquainted…