Dear Editor, I feel so sorry for the homeless people that had to endure the freezing weather this week. People are often left cold in their own homes, so imagine what people without homes are feeling? Over the last year, many homeless people have been found dead, lying in the street, because of the harsh…
Dear Editor, Bishop Sorondo’s recent statement: “Right now, those who are best implementing the social doctrine of the Church are the Chinese” focuses fresh attention on the said “social doctrine”. Does the said “doctrine” embrace the detention of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, forced abortions, a regime that ties religion to extremism and terrorism, subjecting…
Dear Editor, I find it very uplifting that the 70th formally recognised miraculous cure in Lourdes has been announced (IC 15/02/18). It highlights the sacred nature of the place, and how God works mysteriously in the world. I think it’s a real shame that in our modern age people often reduce the supernatural down to…
Dear Editor, I am sometimes amused by discussions within the Church about the possibility of Catholics with same-sex attraction. Much of the commentary seems entirely unaware that gay Catholics – many of them couples with fellow gay Catholics – are part and parcel of every parish community in the country. In some parishes, they are…
Dear Editor, I cannot be alone in thinking that Cardinal Kevin Farrell and the Vatican are perfectly within their rights to decide who can – and cannot – speak on Vatican territory. The report that the organisers of an event at which former President Mary McAleese is due to speak next month have had to…
Dear Editor, Pope Francis’ convalidation of the marriage of two flight attendants while he was in Chile has drawn predictable ire online, with paid and amateur commentators alike shouting down the Pope for somehow ‘cheapening’ the Sacrament of Marriage. It’s early days yet, but it seems likely that a similar reaction will meet Bishop Brendan…
Dear Editor, With reference to your front page article about exorcists in Ireland (IC 18/01/18) I have to confess to considerable shock that a spokesperson from the Catholic Communications Office at Maynooth would state that “…this office has not been made aware of any recent cases of exorcism in Ireland in recent years”. That is…
Dear Editor, Like many people, I am heartbroken by the news that the wonderful Dolores O’Riordan has died. She was a wonderful artist, but above all a daughter, a mother and a sister. She loved Limerick, and Limerick loved her. We live in a culture where strength is prized above all else. A world dominated…
Dear Editor, The news that Fr Patrick Peyton, the famous ‘Rosary Priest’, is now firmly on the path to sainthood is one that will have gladdened many hearts, but perhaps a greater blessing is the prospect of this renewing Rosary devotion in Ireland. Fr Peyton was, of course, a product of a different time, a…
Dear Editor, Thank you for the excellent article by Fr Andrew McMahon on the Church and the media (IC 14/12/17). As Fr McMahon states, the media is generally hostile, sometimes very hostile, to the Church. In particular, the incessant pro-abortion propaganda in much of the media, most notably the Irish Times, which stands in contrast…