Ireland’s recent appearance before the UN Human Rights Council should prompt questions about how serious a body it is, writes Jason Osborne The relevance of Ireland’s recent appearance before the United Nations’ Human Rights Council can be summed up by the fact that Iceland asked us to “repeal the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act”.…
If the data is correct the post-coronavirus Church in Ireland will be a depleted force, but creative thinking can arrest decline, writes Michael Kelly The First Sunday of Advent at the weekend brought more potentially worrying news about the new variant of Covid-19 that has been discovered in South Africa. It’s a concern, health officials…
Framing the synodal process is taking away opportunities to sit and listen first, and let people talk, writes Garry O’Sullivan Speaking at the beginning of the diocesan phase of the worldwide synod, Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick said that the synod is taking place at a critical time for the Church and must not be…
Ruadhán Jones weighs up the pros and cons of diocesan priest gatherings For the week of November 15-19, there were no weekday Masses in parishes of Cork and Ross diocese. This was not a Covid-19 measure, it was a self-enforced pause in the celebration of the Eucharist. The priests of the diocese had travelled west…
Letter from Iraq Dale Gavlak Walking through this mainly Christian town outside of Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, it’s easy to see many changes since the victims of Islamic State militants fled here for safety seven years ago. Gone are the tents and caravans that dotted church yards and open fields to house those…
Why are so many people leaving their Churches? There is no one answer to that question. People are complex. Faith is complex. The issues are complex. Looking at the question, it can be helpful to distinguish among a number of groups. The ‘Nones’, the ‘Dones’, the ‘Spiritual-but-not-Religious’, the ‘Indifferent’, the ‘Angry’, and the ‘Marginalised’. While…
Editor’s Comment The Most Reluctant Convert is a film that traces the spiritual journey of the renowned author of The Chronicles of Narnia Belfast-born C.S. Lewis. It explores the impact friends had on the committed atheist and how they forced Lewis to question his own disbelief. The title of the film is taken from Lewis’ own description of…
Dear Editor, I couldn’t agree more than with Bishop Kevin Doran in his wish for theology to be taught at all Irish universities [The Irish Catholic – October 14, 2021]. I am a graduate from University College Dublin and, as a student, wondered why there was no teaching on faith or theology in the college.…
Notebook I’m a bit of a greeting card junkie. Wherever I go, I buy cards for all kinds of occasions. I seek out the ones with the most interesting messages, be that inspirational, meaningful, quirky or sometimes risky depending on who I have in mind to send them to. Sometime in late October I found…
They’ve dubbed it, sarcastically, ‘Pray to Stay’: that’s the description given to some refugees from the Middle East and North Africa who have converted to Christianity in Britain. The implication is that the 200 or so asylum seekers who have become Christians may have done so for manipulative reasons: so as to have a better…
Michael Kelly
Ruadhán Jones
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny