Notebook “To be or not to be”, cogitated Hamlet. Our dilemma as a ‘Family of Parishes’ was slightly different: “To grasp the nettle, or not to grasp the nettle?” The nettle in question would be understood by rural parishes everywhere and is summed up in six words: “Too many churches, too many Masses.” The simplest…

While the Catholic Church in Ireland faces a weekly battering – sometimes through mismanagement and misjudgement by the Church’s own leadership – in Britain, the monarchy is the object of obloquy, sometimes driven by a similar motivation to destroy the institution. They are aware that a Netflix series is going to be produced for profit…

The View A shift in the right direction is taking place on an international level when it comes to transgenderism and children. In Britain, and in states like Florida in the US, experts and policymakers are now putting the protection of children first – and reversing the trend to provide children with so-called ‘gender-affirming care’; a treatment…

Dublin diocese’s financial report shows it’s struggling to make up for Covid-driven income cuts, writes Ruadhán Jones As Ireland’s largest diocese, Dublin’s financial reports always make for important reading in gauging the Church’s financial health. This year’s two reports submitted to the Charities Regulatory Authority (CRA), covering the period up to December 31, 2021, were…

Ireland must play its part in combatting global warming, even though anything we do will make no discernible difference because our population is so tiny, writes David Quinn The autumn has been exceptionally mild so far and we had a warm summer. Parts of Europe had extreme weather events, including droughts. China has experienced a…

Church in Ireland offers partial Gospel for failing faith, writes Dr Tom Finegan Often when Church problems are discussed we hear about declining numbers, shaky finances, and lessening influence. Yet the problems in Irish Catholicism run deeper than any of these. The recent controversy involving Bishop of Kerry Ray Browne’s public rebuke of Fr Sean…

by Eduardo Campos Lima Letter from Brazil After the fiercest presidential campaign in Brazil’s history, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva managed to beat his rival Jair Bolsonaro on October 30 with a narrow margin of only two million votes. As soon as the South American country’s electoral authority proclaimed Lula’s victory, several world…