In the Discworld novel Eric by Terry Pratchett, as the Wizard Rincewind and teenaged demonologist Eric Thursley escape Pandemonium, they notice that the individual cobbles on the ‘Road to Hell’ have good intentions written on them. These included “for the good of the kids”, “I meant it for the best” and “we are equal opportunities…
In the passage that recounts the disciples’ encounter with the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus, one of the most evocative lines is where Cleopas says plainly “our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free”. The despondency is palpable. It’s a feeling I am sure that many…
The list of priests who have died this year from the beginning of March until the end of August makes for grim reading (see page 19). There has been a dramatic rise in the number of Irish clerics who have died compared to the same period in previous years. Of course, not all of them…
I had just turned 18 when the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. I was on retreat for Holy Week at the time and therefore was forbidden to listen to the radio so as not to break the pattern of the retreat. I had the profound sense that something momentous was happening and figured that…
Dublin Diocese has announced that priests are taking a 25% pay cut on already low salaries and that it is looking for one third of its 82 lay staff to take redundancies. Among those asked to consider redundancy are parish pastoral workers (see Page 4). The bishops’ conference in Maynooth is also cutting back on…
After 107 days, I was overwhelmed to be able to attend Mass on Monday [pictured]. The joy was palpable after the long Lent and Eucharistic famine we have been living. Coronavirus is still very much with us, and we must continue to approach the Celebration of the Eucharist with caution. I’m also conscious of the…
Documents obtained by The Irish Catholic this week offer something of a glimpse behind the scenes on the relationship between the Church and the State since Covid-19 restrictions began back in March. Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has been the key go-between on behalf of the hierarchy. His years in the Vatican’s diplomatic service has…
The Belfast-born writer and theologian C.S. Lewis once opined on the saints who live amongst us. “Already the new men are dotted here and there all over the earth,” he wrote. “Some, as I have admitted, are still hardly recognisable: but others can be recognised. Every now and then one meets them. Their very voices…
One of the great hurts that parishioners share with me over a cup of tea when I speak at missions and novena (remember when we used to be able to do things like that?) is the disappointment that their adult children don’t bring their own children up in the faith. Grandparents often feel marooned with…
It’s 16 years since the then Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly painted the image of ‘tiptoeing’ back to the Church. “It would be good if we recognised the new religions of sex and drink and shopping for what they are and tiptoed back to the Churches,” she told the Céifin conference in 2004. New research carried out…
Michael Kelly