Dear Editor, Michael Kelly’s call for ‘a more robust approach’ to the Government [IC 22/04/2021] regarding the criminalising of Church services is certainly welcome. As all diplomatic approaches have been ignored, I think one solution could be for the bishops to tell their priests to no longer close the church doors while Mass is going on…
Mercifully, public worship will return in the Republic next week. From May 10, Catholics will be able to attend Mass without fear of prosecution. Priests will be able to leave their homes to celebrate Mass without the fear of up to six months in prison. It will be a relief for us to get back…
Truly, one of the great achievements of modern medicine is the treatment of babies in the womb. An unborn baby with a tumour on her lung – spotted by a routine ultrasound scan at 19 weeks – can now have corrective laser treatment surgery which saves her life. Prof. Basky’s work is a testament to…
The View Since the abortion referendum passed, there has been a concerted effort by abortion proponents — including the Government — to restrict the freedom of expression of pro-life supporters. Peaceful prayer vigils outside hospitals are likened to violence and there are moves to ban them. Not content with this, it now seems that even…
Ireland is facing a trifold housing crisis, in terms of homelessness, rent eviction and affordability, writes Ruadhán Jones On Friday April 23, the national ban on evictions from homes in the rental market was lifted. Housing charities and experts have warned of a potential “eviction crisis” as a result, as effects of Covid on jobs…
The Pope is putting greater faith in the local Church and does not believe that the magisterium must intervene to settle every doctrinal, moral and pastoral dispute, writes Fr Declan Marmion SM The Catholic Church is typically structured as a pyramid – the Pope at the top, people at the base. Pope Francis wants to…
It’s hard for the schools to teach the Faith if all the parents want is ‘Catholic-lite’, writes David Quinn Your average Catholic school today is not, in fact, very Catholic at all. That statement needs a bit of unpacking. A Catholic school is, of course, officially Catholic in that it comes under the patronage of…
Government’s actions suggest a preference for vaguely articulating a desired standard of behaviour and then tricking citizens into compliance, writes Prof. Oran Doyle Legal prohibitions on religious services have been much in the news lately. In this unavoidably lengthy post, I will show how these prohibitions have evolved over time in order to identify precisely…
Letter from Rome Here’s a brief sampling of news stories that have moved across the Vatican wire in recent days. – The Pontifical Council for Culture, under the ever-idiosyncratic Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, raised eyebrows anew with its announcement of a forthcoming May 6-8 conference on health care, cosponsored with the Cura Foundation, which, among other…
Dennis Sandowski President Joe Biden’s plan to withdraw US armed forces from Afghanistan by September 11 is leading observers to renew concerns about continued progress on human rights, the status of democratic reforms and whether a resurgence of violence will set back the war-beleaguered country. When leaving without a peace accord and peacekeeping forces, we…
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Maria Steen
Ruadhán Jones
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.