Editor’s Comment In England and Wales, churches and other places of worship have been included in taxpayer-funded programmes aimed at easing the rising cost of fuel. Most places of worship are large and, particularly in the case of churches, were built at a time when insulation and energy efficiency were not priorities. In short, they…
Editor’s Comment A few years ago ‘clustering’ was a word largely unknown by Catholics across Ireland. Today, parish clustering is the order of the day as it has been embraced by people within the Church as a response to the declining number of priests. I’ve often thought that clustering – joining a group of parishes…
In just seven years, the Church in Ireland will mark the bicentenary of Catholic emancipation. Catholic relief in 1829 aimed to ease the restrictions on Catholics that had come about since the time of the English Reformation when King Henry VIII rejected the authority of the Pope and the widespread persecution of Catholics began. While…
Editor’s Comment The long-anticipated results of the census in the North (see page 6) have demonstrated what has been obvious for some time: Catholics now make up a plurality in the region. The news has been greeted in some quarters in the extreme. Some unionist commentators have deemed the results “meaningless” in the context of…
Editor’s Comment “If you ever wonder what the relevance of the Faith might be for people in modern Ireland try a death bed,” a priest once told me. He was speaking about one of the most profound aspects of his ministry – accompanying a departing soul on their final journey and comforting and consoling their…
Editor’s Comment Much focus in recent days has, rightly, been on the role that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has played in reconciliation. The late queen has been a keen supporter of the Irish peace process and has played no small role in building bridges between both Ireland and Britain and the two communities in the…
Editor’s Comment After the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) great emphasis was placed on the restoration of the ancient order of the permanent diaconate. For many centuries, diaconate had been seen as just one more stop on the road to priesthood. The Church wanted to restore the tradition of the early Church where…
The synod process currently underway in Ireland is being replicated all across the Catholic world. To be sure, it is being met with varying degrees of enthusiasm – but it is a testament to the unity of Catholicism that the Pope is able to announce such an ambitious programme of consultation and within months parishes…
Editor’s Comment Voters in Colombia took to the polls at the weekend and in so doing elected that country’s first left-wing president. Gustavo Petro, the former mayor of the capital Bogota, is also an ex-paramilitary. His background as someone who took up arms against the government is attracting a lot of media attention internationally –…
To say that President Michael D. Higgins has caused dismay among the Irish missionary community would be to put it mildly. Which is ironic given that many of the same missionaries now scratching their heads at Mr Higgins’ ill-judged intervention on the recent massacre in Nigeria would have traditionally greatly admired his work. Mr Higgins…
Michael Kelly