Editor’s Comment Church history is always one of ups and downs, peaks and troughs. The last 2,000 years have been witness to some of the greatest people in human history doing great things in the name of Christianity. The same period has also witnessed immense human wickedness from people who profess to be followers of…
Dear Editor, As Christians around the world start thinking about setting up nativity scenes for Christmas, the ox and the donkey regular fixtures around the manger are latter-day inventions nowhere to be seen in the gospels. The Vatican itself has included animals in the nativity scenes it sets up each year in St Peter’s Square.…
During this month of November, we will have memorial Masses in many parishes across Ireland. In my experience these can be very moving occasions as the name of each person who died during the last year is called out and a family member comes forward to light a candle in memory of a parent, a…
Elon Musk, allegedly the richest person in the world, sometimes seems a stereotype of the eccentric billionaire. He is an extraordinary innovator in areas from neurotechnology to futuristic engineering: he has controversial views about Covid-19, thinks that Artificial Intelligence is the greatest threat to the human race, and believes we should colonise Mars. He marries…
Catholic schools’ bodies welcome developments in SPHE course, but warn it ignores ethos, writes Ruadhán Jones The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s (NCCA) draft SPHE curriculum for Junior Cycle has been criticised by Catholic bodies for “ignoring” schools’ rights to govern their own ethos, although they welcome developments in other areas. The Association of…
It is not at all clear where this whole synodal process is going to end up, writes David Quinn The Vatican has just issued a new synodal working document that is now to be studied at a continental level by the Church in the coming months. This new document is a synthesis of the papers…
The war in Ukraine has seen questions asked of the Irish policy of military neutrality, writes Jason Osborne The war in Ukraine has seen the topic of Ireland’s military neutrality discussed with more vigour than perhaps any other time in recent history, with some arguing that the war in Ukraine has shown the need for…
by Dennis Sadowski Universities around the world are taking steps alongside major technology companies to explore ways to bolster ethics education in the artificial intelligence field in line with an initiative supported by the Vatican. The effort seeks to help those already working or aspiring to work in the tech fields understand that the development…
by Barbara Fraser The Church in Latin America and the Caribbean is called to be a missionary Church that heeds the cry of the poor and excluded; a synodal Church where women, young people and laypeople have greater roles; and a Church that is evangelised even as it evangelises, according to the final document of…
There’s only one addiction for which we are praised – overworking. With every other addiction, concerned others are looking to put you into a clinic or into a recovery programme, but if your addiction is work, generally it’s seen as virtue. I know of what I speak. I’m a “recovering workaholic”, and not exactly in…
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Ruadhán Jones
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser