Category: Opinion

A chance to boost real Catholic Church marriage preparation
The View   The upcoming referendum proposing the relaxation of the Constitutional divorce provisions is likely to be passed. It should act as a spur for the Catholic Church to reconsider its attitude to marriage on two fronts: whether it will continue to act as a solemniser for civil marriages and whether the current approach…
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A choice that’s not respected

One minority is consistently ignored in today’s Ireland, writes David Quinn   Minorities today often receive preferential status. This is to compensate in many cases for a past in which minorities were often discriminated against or rendered invisible. The compensation takes many forms. One is protection from criticism, hence politically correct policing of the things…

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Does God have a gender?

There’s an old story about an astronaut who went far out into space and upon his return was asked if he had seen God. He replied, to their surprise, that he had, and when pushed to describe what God looked like, he said: “She’s black.” It’s not clear when this thought-provoking tale began circulating, but…

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Who goes to Hell and who doesn’t?

Hell is never a nasty surprise waiting for a basically happy person. Nor is it necessarily a predicable ending for an unhappy, bitter person. Can a happy, warm-hearted person go to Hell? Can an unhappy, bitter person go to Heaven? That’s all contingent upon how we understand Hell and how we read the human heart.…

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Divino Amore…a walk from darkness into light

The Notebook Fr Bernard Healy   The whole Catholic world comes on pilgrimage to Rome, but where do the Romans themselves go on pilgrimage? Many head to Lourdes, Fatima and San Giovanni Rotondo like the rest of us, but the pilgrimage site that has a special place in the hearts of many Romans is Divino…

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God’s call is being heard elsewhere

Dear Editor, For all that Pope Francis often talks of his wish for “a poorer Church”, I don’t know how many of us expected it to entail figures for religious orders as stark as those published in The Irish Catholic this week (IC 2/5/2019). Recurring stories of losses at Veritas along with declining weekly collections…

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Facing up to an unsustainable future
Ireland’s religious orders are increasingly facing financial challenges, write 
Greg Daly, Colm Fitzpatrick and 
Chai Brady   The frantic call for funds to restore Notre Dame de Paris after the disastrous fire at the start of Holy Week will have baffled many, as will have done stories some months ago about how Ireland’s Diocese of…
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Sex education is just 
not that easy to teach
When people of my generation look back at the subject of sex education, I think many would conclude that it was frankly woeful. Basically, there wasn’t any ‘education’ in what was then known, euphemistically, although not untruthfully, as ‘the facts of life’. It was considered indelicate to explain too much, and much energy was expended…
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Look beyond headline stats to discover the true position
Greg Daly, Chai Brady and Colm Fitzpatrick   Headline figures from the Charities Regulator can be somewhat misleading, according to Fr Bill Toner, Treasurer of Ireland’s Jesuits, who explains that in the first place the Irish province’s accounts are divided between a range of trusts. “What happened with us is that the treasurer way, way…
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