Dear Editor, Last week, the media reported about a pro-life pregnancy counselling agency that is apparently giving women inaccurate advice in order to pressure them into not having an abortion. This was well covered by RTÉ, and a man from the agency in question featured on Liveline. He did not do the pro-life cause very…

Dear Editor, If one approaches the issue of abortion purely on a scientific and sociological basis, the answers seem to validate the religious approach. For example, the life that begins in the woman’s womb is a human life. That said, l object to capital punishment, a view shared by most liberal thinkers. If the human…

Dear Editor, David Quinn (Moves to ban the burkini are excessive and counterproductive, IC 1/9/16) says, in reference to France that “the weight of Catholic opinion is opposed to the ban on grounds of religious freedom”. It should also be said that very many Catholics (and others also) in France and elsewhere are opposed to…

Dear Editor, So SNCF (French railways) has a “delightful and innovative free service to travellers” providing a short poem or text from an automatic machine when a train is up to five minutes late (Mary Kenny, IC, 8/9/16). What do they produce when a Train à Grande Vitesse from Narbonne to Perpignan is almost one…

Dear Editor, Writing last week, Cindy Wooden says that ‘ecumenism remains high on the papal agenda’ (IC Notebook 8/9/16). This is as it should be. The Holy Father is to meet the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, next month. Ecumenical dialogue is sometimes a case of one step forward and two steps back. Relations…

Dear Editor, While I am enthused by Pope Francis’ recent calls during World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation, for environmental destruction to be classified as a sin, I do wonder if a more nuanced perspective is required. Is it right to classify certain behaviours that cause ecological harm as sin, if there is…

Dear Editor, I read with interest David Quinn’s article (IC 8/9/16) on the critics of Mother Teresa who have been so vocal in recent days. Strange though it may sound Mother Teresa did have one rather unlikely admirer. In his autobiography  written some years ago, Bob Geldof speaks very favourably of Mother Teresa. The work is…

Dear Editor, Over the past couple of weeks, I have read numerous articles in relation to the recent controversy surrounding Maynooth seminary. These have included speculation regarding the priesthood and what form it should take in this time.  There are some who believe that our more recently ordained priests are of a more traditional mindset…