The Church must speak up for rights society is happy to ignore, writes David Quinn The late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who was the archbishop of Chicago, used to advocate an approach to Catholic social justice teaching that become known as ‘the seamless garment’. The idea behind it was that all social justice teachings belonged together…
Letter from Rome Matthew Santucci In the 2024 edition of the “Annuario Pontificio”, or Pontifical Yearbook, released last week, Pope Francis reinstated the ancient, honorary pontifical title of “Patriarch of the West”, reversing Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 decision to suspend the title. This honorific designation has reappeared among the list of “historical titles” used to…
Notebook Like Ben Bulben, Fr John Carroll is a cherished landmark around Sligo! Like Ben Bulben, the shadow of his presence crosses county boundaries. For many years he was the chaplain in the town’s hospitals and continues to have a very active and pastoral presence to this day. It is impossible to put a number…
April 10, 2024 will be noted in the annals as a significant day for the Church in the west of Ireland, because after almost 900 years the number of dioceses in the province was reduced from six to three. Two years ago, a new bishop was appointed to Galway with responsibility for the diocese of…
The price of Irish unification has now been put at €20 billion over twenty years – the bill to be picked up by the Irish taxpayer. (Although these figures, as estimated by economist John FitzGerald, son of Garret, are disputed by some.) But as Ireland is reckoned to be one of the richest countries in…
The Government’s monumental defeat in the referendum showed how truly out of touch they were with the Irish people. The aftermath saw many calling for Fine Gael to get back to its Christian democratic roots with critics saying that too much time has been spent appeasing the woke brigade and too little on bread and…
It is just a month since the resounding defeat of the two referenda put to the voters by the government, but one wonders has the government learned anything. Last Saturday, at the SIPTU Early Years conference in Liberty Hall, Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman, doubled down on ignoring stay-at-home mothers and families who wish to…
What is happening to a lot of our young people? The Annual General Meeting of the Irish Medical Organisation last weekend heard that in the last three decades the number of young people presenting at the Mater hospital in Dublin after self-harming has increased fivefold. Addressing the conference, Prof. Matthew Sadlier, a consultant psychiatrist, blamed…
Pope Francis opened up about tensions between himself and the private secretary of his predecessor Benedict XVI, German Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who he said made things “difficult” for him. Speaking to Spanish Journalist Javier Martinez-Brocal with ABC Español, Francis addressed comparisons between himself and Benedict, saying such comparisons are normal, and that even Benedict was…
In a new document published Monday, the Vatican presented a “seamless garment” approach to human dignity, uniting Pope Francis’s progressive social agenda with the traditional moral and ethical concerns of his predecessors. Closely associated with the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, the “seamless garment” approach to life issues in the Church consists of a…
David Quinn
Mary Kenny
Wendy Grace
Maria Steen