We have certainly seen, in recent years, the onward march of the cashless society. First, there were credit cards, which began to make their appearance in the latter half of the 20th century. Subsequently, there were bank debit cards, which allowed us to pay for an item via ‘chip and pin’. Then, in the 1990s,…
Friday was among the most remarkable single days in the entire Pope Francis era, and given the way this papacy has generated non-stop thrills, chills and spills for more than 11 years now, that’s truly saying something. It was a long day’s journey into night, beginning at 8:30am with a still-unexplained, but nonetheless deeply amusing,…
Copernicus and the “Galileo case” are still taught in schools today. They drove a wedge of mistrust between the Church and science. But it was also a Catholic priest who first heard the bang. “In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. But the earth was desolate and empty (…), and God’s Spirit hovered over…
Victor Hugo wrote in his The Hunchback of Notre Dame, “The greatest products of architecture are less the work of individuals than of society.” Looking through the bus window on the way from the airport to Paris, I was speechless with the number of imposing, impressive buildings. It was windy when I got off the…
As I write these few lines, I am preparing to go to Ballaghaderreen for the wedding rehearsal of my nephew, Aaron and, his bride-to-be, Emma. It is something of a coincidence, since this same evening 37 years ago, I was at another rehearsal for an upcoming liturgical celebration. I was in Gurteen Church with some…
Readers familiar with the Irish actor and comedian Jimmy O’Dea might recall his monologue: “Thank heavens, we are living in Rathgar.” When I was a diplomat in Portugal some years ago, I used to say to myself, “Thank heavens that I live in Estoril”. It’s a very beautiful place about 25km from Lisbon. Driving home…
We often hear rallying calls to get more women into politics – and I’m all for supporting such encouragement. Indeed, plenty of impressive women emerged in last week’s local elections. In the context of the EU, it’s now predicted that three women are seen as the ‘queens of Europe’ – and likely to dominate the…
Pope Francis addressed engaged couples on St Valentine’s Day ten years ago. He gave his now-famous advice regarding the need to say, please, thank you and I’m sorry. He went on to say, “We all know that there is no such thing as a perfect family, nor even the perfect husband or the perfect wife. We…
Recently, well-known and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins publicly declared himself to be a ‘cultural Christian’, as he defined England as ‘culturally Christian country.’ This perhaps unexpected admission from the hardened atheist who famously wrote The God Delusion was made during an interview regarding the city of London’s decision to celebrate the Muslim feast of Ramadan…
It is my experience that most people are fair-minded when they reflect on things. But the clerical child abuse scandal has for many years been such an emotional subject that a discussion about safeguarding priests from the lingering cloud of suspicion would have been challenging and even considered inappropriate. Despite the ongoing trauma and hurt…
Mary Kenny
John L. Allen Jr.
Renata Steffens
Breda O'Brien