Dear Editor, I was dismayed to read that NPHET’s reason for their recommendation that public worship should not continue [during level 3 restrictions], accepted by our government, was to decrease contacts in areas that, as a society, are relatively speaking in the context of a pandemic, less important. As a Catholic, I most strongly disagree…

Dear Editor, It is ironic that the so-called Dying with Dignity bill was introduced into the Dáil during palliative care week. Several professionals from the hospice and palliative care sector have warned that this bill is a ‘Trojan horse’ which will ruin our current gold standard of end of life care, where the patient, family…

Dear Editor, I would like to congratulate you on the publication of the article [IC 25/06/2020] by Dr Noel Keating. Dr Keating begins his study by making a brief reference to Thomas Merton or Fr Louis, which was the name given to him in ordination as a Trappist monk in Gethsemani, Kentucky, US.  Merton was…

Dear Editor, I was getting a little bit concerned about our former president Mary McAleese. It had been several weeks since I had heard her quoted predicting the demise of the Catholic Church. She was clearly keeping her powder dry for a few weeks to maximise publicity for a new book. Her training as a…

Dear Editor, I was very saddened to learn that there will be no public Masses for the next three weeks. As a daily communicant, I was upset to hear that I, along with many other practising Catholics, will not be able to receive the Holy Eucharist for a minimum of three weeks. The Eucharist is…

Dear Editor, As someone Irish now living in the United States I feel the call to enter the debate over the US Presidential election that has been raised recently in your columns. If indeed abortion was the only issue at stake in the election, a Catholic would have no option but to vote Republican and…

Dear Editor, I was delighted to read in your issue of September 3 of the episcopal ordination of Fr Paul Dempsey. Although not from Newbridge, I attended a christening in his parish church a short while back and was inspired by the way in which Fr Dempsey delivered his homily on the importance of faith…

Dear Editor, Our Lady of Guadalupe was responsible for the conversion of Mexico to Catholicism following on her apparitions to a shepherd boy, Juan Diego, which started on December 1, 1531. As a result, Mexico became Catholic, thus snuffing out the practice of human sacrifice which was prevalent amongst the tribes of that country. Abortion…

Dear Editor, Covid-19 has become part of many of the themes associated with Catholic teaching in recent months. This ‘collateral damage’ of biblical proportions has sent shockwaves through society as we know it. I need not reference the impacts at this moment in time, as these are well known and quite frankly many people are…

Dear Editor, I cannot be alone in noticing a worrisome phenomenon amongst some people who describe themselves as Catholics to reject and denigrate all legitimate authority within the life of the Church. This used to be a phenomenon exclusive to those who would view themselves on the ‘left’ of the Church rejecting such teachings as…