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…
The View Over the years I have been involved in the investigation of many murders which resulted from terrorist shootings and bombings, and deaths in violent situations. Such events are without question, terribly traumatising for those who are left behind – the family and friends of the person who died. My involvement has very often…
The Pope’s call for a more collaborative Church inspired by the margins is winning hearts and minds, one of the organisers tells Chai Brady It’s no secret that Pope Francis has been met with a mixed reaction since his election in 2013. Many people have hailed his emphasis on a humble Church listening to those…
In opting for a softly-softly approach to diocesan reform, Rome may simply be delaying the inevitable, but has to start somewhere, writes Michael Kelly The old saying goes that ‘you can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time – but you can’t please all…
Ruadhán Jones
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
Chai Brady