I wrote my doctoral thesis on the value of various philosophical arguments that try to prove the existence of God. Can there be such a proof? Brilliant philosophers, from Anselm, through Aquinas, through Descartes, through contemporary intellectuals like Charles Hartshorne, submit that the existence of God can be proven through rational argument. Except, a lot depends…
Dear Editor, The concept of ‘safe access zones’ around places that provide abortion is still being bandied about, most recently by Limerick City and County councillors. A group of councillors do not have the power to deprive people of the right to pray quietly outside abortion clinics for the unborn children losing their lives through…
Notebook The Pope’s recent document, clamping down on the Tridentine Mass, has made difficult reading for some Catholics. The document issued by his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI authorising that Mass (which Pope Francis has now overridden), also made difficult reading for another band of Catholics. Pontifex The key thing to remember, however, is that neither…
It fascinates me that whenever there is a street demonstration in Ireland against the alleged influence of nuns – as there has been in connection with the proposed National Maternity Hospital adjacent to St Vincent’s – protesters come out with the catchphrase, often painted on banners: “Get your Rosaries/Off our ovaries.” This snappy campaign cry…
The View Niamh Uí Bhriain Last week, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín read an astonishing document into the Dáil record. He had received a document, under freedom of information, in regard to a shocking decision made about the movement of older, vulnerable people from hospitals to nursing homes at the outset of the Covid-19 crisis. Some background is…
A much greater threat to the unity of the Church is what is going on in the likes of Germany, writes David Quinn Personally, I do not attend the Latin Mass. I have been to three or four in my adult life, and one of them was a funeral. The others I attended mainly out…
Letter from Rome What impact it may have on the course of justice in a Vatican tribunal remains to be seen, but one point is becoming steadily clearer about the case of Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who’s been indicted along with nine other defendants for various forms of financial crime and corruption and who’s set…
Pope Francis’s decision to restrict celebration of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, effectively rolling back wider permission granted under Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, is being met by predictably mixed reaction from Catholics around the globe, with some praising the move as prophetic and others calling it a stain on Francis’s legacy. Speaking to Crux, liturgy…
“Some things need to be said and said and said again until they don’t need to be said anymore.” Margaret Atwood wrote that. I quote it here because each year I write a column on suicide and mostly say the same thing each time because certain things need to be said repeatedly about suicide until…
Notebook “Why did you become a priest?” Brendan lives not too far from Washington DC and is the middle of three children. I baptised him a short few years ago and each week with his parents and sisters, he joins the parish of Kilmovee for Sunday Mass via webcam. This led him, on one occasion…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.