People want and need the faith, so we should offer it to them, writes Ruadhán Jones Towards the end of last year, this paper reported on a new survey which found that 51% of 18 to 34-year-olds pray regularly, compared with 24% of over-50s. This news, we were told, is a hopeful sign and should…
The Sunday Gospel This Sunday we celebrate the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, marking the beginning of his public ministry. He has emerged from the 30 years of what we call his hidden life. Since Jesus was without sin, he did not need to submit himself to the ceremonial bathing that John the…
Hindu nationalists falsely accuse missionaries of exploiting the vulnerable to win converts, writes David Quinn Mother Teresa is one of the most loved figures of the 20th Century, and in the eyes of millions of Catholics, a saint. It’s probably for this reason that she also comes under continual attack. The most famous of the…
There is no guarantee the proposed synod will rekindle the Church’s missionary zeal, writes Kingsley Jones The Covid-19 pandemic has been a crisis for Catholics in more ways than one. Not only have we had to deal with a medical emergency, but we’ve also been ambushed by the spirit of our times. While our right…
The Dáil debate on whether to accept the Treaty opened on December 21, 1921. The Treaty had been signed early on December 6. The debate took place in the low-ceilinged two room lecture hall, on the second floor of what is now the National Concert Hall. My memory, as a UCD student who attended lectures…
Recently NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope into space, the biggest and most expensive telescope ever built. It will take six months for it to travel a million miles from the earth, find its permanent place in space, and then start transmitting pictures back to earth. Those pictures will be such as have never…
Dear Editor, As the pandemic rolls on and on and as numbers suffering from Covid grow more and more in spite of vaccinations and many restrictions, I feel called to share some thoughts and reflections. There is clear evidence that the current state of the world is much cause for anxiety and concern among many…
Editor’s Comment “It’s not you, it’s me…” has to rank as one of the worst – not to mention corniest – lines to use in a relationship breakup. Mercifully, I’ve never had it said to me – but evidently it is intended to ease the dumpee’s feelings in the sure and certain knowledge that it…
Notebook I am about to misquote Oscar Wilde (or use his sentence structure for my own ends); please bear with me. To get away for four days with all the priests of the diocese for a retreat in the midst of a global pandemic might seem lucky, but to do it again the following month…
For almost two years now, and probably for months to come, our lives have been dominated by the pandemic and the restrictions it has placed on us. It has catapulted doctors, scientists and public health experts generally into positions of pre-eminence where their word can barely be questioned. Such an eventuality was predicted decades ago…
Ruadhán Jones
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly