We have tested and tasted too much, lover- Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder. But here in the Advent-darkened room Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea Of penance will charm back the luxury Of a child’s soul, we’ll return to Doom The knowledge we stole but could not…
On the eve of the new millennium in 1999, the US writer George Weigel published his seminal biography of Pope John Paul II. Mr Weigel titled the 1,000+ page book Witness to Hope because he felt this encapsulated both the Polish Pontiff’s long-standing ministry and his feelings for the Church as we entered the third…
We often hear the claim, sometimes in homilies, that contemporary culture has lost a sense of sin. But what if it’s not so much the loss of the idea of sin, but the loss of the idea of forgiveness that we witness all around? The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche – famous for his oft-quoted phrase…
The story is told – probably apocryphally – that in the year 1210 St Francis of Assisi had an audience with Pope Innocent III. During the course of their meeting, both men strolled through the Vatican treasury with all the wealth that this contained at the time as a sure sign of the temporal power…
I’ve mentioned once or twice before that I grew up in Northern Ireland and for me it will always be home. When I was six-years-old, the British and Irish governments signed what became known as the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985. For the first time, it gave the Irish Government a say in the day-to-day affairs…
The shock was palpable as news spread on Friday afternoon that the British MP Sir David Amess had been killed. His murder – by a suspected Islamist – sent shockwaves through the political system in Britain. While every death in such circumstances is beyond awful, Sir David’s murder seems to have struck a deeper chord…
I felt blessed to be in Rome at the weekend to be with Pope Francis for the launch of the synodal way which will see a massive programme of consultation in every parish in the Catholic world. The Irish phase of the consultation – known as the synodal way – will begin in dioceses this…
From the moment of his election eight years ago, Pope Francis laid down a marker that the Church is not a debating chamber but exists to bring Christ to the world. Speaking the morning after his election he warned the cardinals who had just thrust him to the papacy: “We can walk as much as…
The US state of Kansas ranks 27th in terms of American states for the percentage of residents who are Catholic. Some 18% of Kansans – fewer than one in five – identify as Catholic. In the Diocese of Wichita – which covers 26 counties in south central and southeast Kansas – only about 10% of…
If the ecumenical service to mark the centenary of partition wasn’t political to begin with, it certainly is now. The decision by President Michael D. Higgins to refuse to participate in the ceremony has thrust what was to be a modest event centre-stage. It’s still not entirely clear why Mr Higgins felt so uncomfortable about…
Michael Kelly