Editor’s Comment Pope St John XXIII was reportedly once asked by an impressed visitor to the Apostolic Palace how many people actually work at the Vatican. The Pontiff is reported to have quipped back: “Oh, about half of them”. The story is probably apocryphal, and I have since heard it said about many large organisations.…
When I made my Confirmation in 1990, our teacher excelled at helping us to memorise the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Each of us boys could rhyme them off one by one. Probably not to the same extent that previous generations could recite the catechism from heart, but certainly in a way that is probably…
Editor’s Comment As I write, a piece of legislation is making its way through the northern assembly. If passed, the legislation will seriously disadvantage Catholic schools by prioritising scarce resources towards what are commonly called ‘integrated’ schools. Catholic schools along with ‘controlled’ schools (in effect, Protestant schools) will be in second-place when it comes to…
Editor’s Comment There are few things that test faith as much as suffering and the presence of evil in the world. The Christian tradition has always recognised the reality of evil as a profound temptation against the Gospel message. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by Faith.…
Editor’s Comment “And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem,” proclaims the psalmist. And it is from Jerusalem that I write this reflection as part of The Irish Catholic Christian Solidarity Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I am leading the first post-coronavirus group of Irish pilgrims walking in the footsteps of Jesus.…
Female Government TDs cut a pathetic figure at the weekend lining up to express their sadness at not being invited to the latest come-all-ye. You see, the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) – a group funded by successive governments from taxpayers’ money to lobby said governments – is organising a campaign to ensure that…
There is much talk about the rising cost of living on both sides of the border. There is a broad consensus from politicians that something must be done. Invariably, the same politicians are divided on what should be done. What was it that Chesterton said about reformers: the reformer is always right about what’s wrong.…
Many people are now returning to the workplace as Covid-19 restrictions lift further – journalists like me have been in the office throughout – and many people are wondering what overall effect the pandemic will have on the world of work. Certainly, for some, a form of ‘blended work’ seems to be part of the…
Doug Beattie the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has launched a scathing attack on Catholic schools in the North, accusing them of educational apartheid. Mr Beattie leads what is often characterised as the ‘moderate’ unionist party in the region, in contrast to the traditionally more hard-line Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). It shouldn’t be…
“Respect and reverence for the dead is the mark of a great people,” a priest of my childhood acquaintance – long since gone to God – often remarked. I never really understood what it meant as a child, and looking back death was very present and open in the community where I grew up in…
Michael Kelly