According to the Bible, there’s a secret that’s hidden from the amoral, known only by the virtuous. The Book of Wisdom tells us that when we are not virtuous “we do not know the hidden counsels of God, nor do we grasp the recompense of holiness, nor discern the innocent soul’s reward.” How true! How…
Dear Editor, Dublin City councillors, and some TDs – whose housing failure, for years, gave us our housing crisis – now want to re-zone Church land to prevent it being used to build houses and to impoverish the Church, its services, parishes, clergy and people. Some propose seizing such assets, Henry VIII style, built by…
Lent has almost run its course. Palm Sunday approaches and, on its heels, Holy Week. This is intended to be the highpoint of the Church’s liturgy; the recalling of those sacred events of more than two thousand years ago. We will journey with Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey’s back, see him betrayed, we will…
As a journalist, one of the great barriers to working as effectively as one would have liked during Covid-19 was the lack of ‘in person’ opportunities to meet. Many have hailed the revolution in communications brought about by zoom and other online platforms. Others have embraced the idea of working from home with an enthusiasm…
Professor Diarmaid Ferriter – probably the most influential historian in Ireland – has called for a “truth commission” to investigate the circumstances of Irish adoption practices in the past. He estimates that up to 20,000 Irish people may have been affected by historic illegal birth registrations, and this should be now be fully investigated by…
The View It increasingly seems that the stories that should most inspire us, the lives that are illuminated with courage and love, are becoming the least often heard. Sometimes, that’s a deliberate ploy, especially when the profound courage of families who carry and love their baby with a life-limiting condition are ignored by the media. But in the past few months,…
Whether the review of abortion legislation is window-dressing or serious remains to be seen writes David Quinn The operation of Ireland’s abortion law is under review. It was introduced in January 2019, following the referendum of the previous year. In the first two years of its operation, the law resulted in the loss of more…
Carol Glatz Protecting the human rights of people fleeing from or caught up in conflict zones must be as big a priority as providing them with basic material needs, said the leader of an international anti-trafficking network. People facing a humanitarian crisis need material assistance and they need experts committed to protecting their human rights,…
Forty years ago, Philip Rieff wrote a book entitled The Triumph of the Therapeutic. In essence, he argued that today in the Western world so many people need psychological therapy mainly because our family structure has grown weak and many community structures have broken down. He contends that in societies where there are still strong…
It’s nearly 25 years since I spent a year in Chicago, studying liturgy. It was a great opportunity for me, mind-blowing and perspective-enhancing. I got to understand how the US works, but I also learned about what makes Ireland unique, something you can only appreciate from outside it. I stayed at St Bernadette Parish on…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
David Quinn