Dear Editor, Relating to Bishop Tom Deenihan’s comments [IC 01/07/2021] that the Government has directed the Catholic Church to cancel First Holy Communions and Confirmations, I have said it before and I will say it again the Catholic Church’s religious practices and those that attend them are of no interest and therefore not a voting…
I’m not sure I could give a coherent description of the protocols of association football, were I quizzed on the subject: the ‘off-side’ rule has been explained to me many times, but I still don’t quite grasp it. It was lovely to see the euphoric delight expressed by the Italian fans in celebration” And yet,…
The View The late Fr Denis Faul acknowledged that the one luxury he permitted himself was a television subscription that permitted him to access French and German channels. As a country, we can afford even less today to rely exclusively on the Anglo-sphere for our information. Happily, it was possible to order from a French…
Fundamental reform of the Irish economy can benefit everyone the Catholic agency insists, writes Michael Kelly The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) has proposed a package of reforms beginning with the forthcoming budget that the agency believes would lay the foundation for a future without poverty in Ireland. Entitled ‘Foundations for an Equal Ireland’ the…
It is doubtful whether a party with the word Christian in the title would even see the light of day in Ireland, writes David Quinn The new leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Germany is a man named Armin Laschet. He will be unfamiliar to the vast majority of Irish people, but he…
Letter from Rome Carol Zimmermann It turns out there really is no place like home for a prized piece of movie memorabilia that came to The Catholic University of America’s drama department about 50 years ago. Missing for decades, the university’s long-rumoured possession of the blue gingham dress worn by Judy Garland as Dorothy in…
Jodi Martin Accompaniment is the key to addressing modern catechetical challenges, a method that’s at the centre of a new entity being created under the direction of Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Catechism. A proposal to create an Institute for the Catechism was…
Several weeks ago after giving a lecture at a religious conference, the first question from the audience was this one: How can you continue to stay in a Church that played such a pivotal part in setting up and maintaining residential schools for the indigenous people of Canada? How can you stay in a Church…
Notebook When I was a student at the Irish College in Rome back in the 1980s one of the features of our lives was the interaction we had with Irish couples who came out to Rome to be married. Sometimes there were four or five couples each week. Many of them travelled to Rome on…
Dear Editor, Breda O’Brien suggests that if President Joe Biden is to be excommunicated then William Barr, President Trump’s Attorney General should also be excommunicated because of his support for the death penalty [IC 01/07/2020]. While I totally support Breda in her opposition to the death penalty, I contend that there is no comparison with…
Mary Kenny
Michael Kelly
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser