Notebook Fr Conor McDonough   It was heartening to see last week Californian politicians withdrawing legislation that would undermine the Seal of Confession. The bill was opposed by a large, well organised and committed campaign of lay Catholics, but the public face of the campaign was Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles [pictured]. He’s a…

John 
McGuirk   An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was at pains last week to distance himself from reports that he was being considered for the top job in the European Union – President of the Commission. Amid reports that he was in line to replace Jean-Claude Juncker, both the Taoiseach and his party seemed very eager…

Letter from Rome Elise Harris   A preliminary outline of Pope Francis’ coming apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia reveals the merger of several more departments and an increased emphasis on the presence of laity as part of a reform hinged on decentralisation and synodality and fuelled by evangelisation. Tentatively titled Praedicate Evangelium, a draft of the…

Shortly after Pope Francis was elected in March 2013, he declared his wish to preside over a “poor Church for the poor”. While that was a statement of intent, his first real chance to make it operational came three months later when he visited the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa off the coast of Sicily,…

Simone Weil once commented that it’s not enough today to be merely a saint; rather “we must have the saintliness demanded by the present moment”. She’s surely right on that second premise; we need saints whose virtues speak to the times. What kind of saint is needed today? Someone who can show us how we…

The Notebook Fr Bernard Healy   I try to visit the Isle of Wight for a few days every year. I sometimes joke that with its faded Victorian seaside resorts, relaxed way of life and quaint country villages that it’s a chance to take a short holiday in the 1950s. However, when I visit, I’m…