Recently, at an academic dinner, I was sitting across the table from a nuclear scientist. At one point, I asked him this question: Do you believe that there’s human life on other planets? His answer surprised me: “As a scientist, no, I don’t believe there’s human life on another planet. Scientifically, the odds are strongly…
Category: Comment & Analysis
Discernment and vocation: another doubting Thomas
Vocation is not a test it is a call from God, writes Gavin Kerr
Pope’s tough words for United States
Tough words could see Pope Francis following in the footsteps of John Paul II, writes Andrew O’Connell
Britain’s calm and considered euthanasia debate was a model
“Public debates in Ireland are all-too-often marked by groupthink and a desire for conformity”, writes Michael Kelly
When suffering is the mother of compassion
A history of suffering teaches us to have empathy for modern refugees, writes Mary Kenny
Middle Eastern Christians overlooked in refugee crisis
We should ensure that Christians are proportionately represented in our refugee intake, writes David Quinn
Where the liturgy is celebrated
The Church teaches that when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are gathered to be ‘built into a spiritual house’, writes Cathal Barry
How we are all overstimulated in our grandiosity
There are now more than seven billion people on this Earth and each one of us feels that he or she is the centre of the Universe. That accounts for most of the problems we have in the world, in our neighborhoods and in our families. And no one’s to blame for this, save God…
Britain’s ‘right to die’ debate has a chilling tone
Changing legislation in Britain could prompt copycat policies in Ireland, writes Michael Kelly
Clergy, please preach against rural crime
Theft is a moral crime that threatens the ‘common good’, writes Mary Kenny

Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Courtney McGrail
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
Cathal Barry