We have a responsibility to ease the burden on countries that are immediate neighbours to war-torn regions, writes David Quinn Europe is currently embroiled in the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War. It has been precipitated by the collapse of authority in Libya, and in large parts of Iraq and, of course, by…

Calling women as deacons is at least worth talking about Phyllis Zagano The early Church had a problem. As it grew, the apostles could not attend to all its ministries. As Pope Francis said, when speaking to assembled bishops in Philadelphia, last September, the apostles essentially ‘invented’ the diaconate. The beginnings of the diaconate related…

The Church teaches that ecclesiastical ministry is exercised in different degrees, writes Cathal Barry The ministerial priesthood has the task not only of representing Christ before the assembly of the faithful, but also of acting in the name of the whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, and above all when…

In a recent article in America magazine, Grant Kaplan, commenting on the challenge of the Resurrection, makes this comment: “Unlike previous communities in which the bond among members forges itself through those it excludes and scapegoats, the gratuity of the Resurrection allows for a community shaped by forgiven-forgivers.” What he is saying, among other things,…

“We have been called to inform consciences, not to replace them”. “Where love is concerned, silence is always more eloquent than words. It is an encounter with a face, a ‘thou’, who reflect God’s own love and is man’s ‘best possession, a helper fit for him and a pillar of support’, in the words of…

Bishops must answer Pope’s challenge on sex education, writes David Quinn Amoris Laetitia is a long and complex document with many parts dealing with diverse topics, but all relating in the end to the family, the Church’s concept of the family and how people can be led, sometimes bit by bit, to see the wisdom…

There were four speakers at the presentation of the Pope’s post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation in Rome last Friday, but all eyes and ears were on Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. Before turning to his prepared text he announced: “This text is beautiful, really beautiful in my opinion.” He went on to praise the accessibility and immediacy of the…

“If the Church cannot give life to families, she herself has no future” Fr Bernard Healy Much of the commentary about Amoris Laetitia will focus on the care of those in ‘irregular unions’. It seems a shame that the ‘hot button issues’ will take attention away from a vision that could be genuinely revolutionary in…

“What must be borne in mind is the fact that daily Mass is a (praiseworthy) devotional exercise”, writes Editor Michael Kelly Chaplains at universities and other third level institutions in the Republic were getting it in the neck this week. Atheist Ireland – a body which, oddly, seeks to present itself as the representative organisation…

Following “a terrific reception for his latest document Amoris Laetitia” in America, there are those “who feel that he hasn’t gone far enough”, writes Mary Kenny I have a friend who wrote a well-researched book about the British royal family as a shrewdly ‘marketed’ celebrity product. When I asked him how his book had been…