A bill that would ban abortion of people with disabilities has split the pro-life camp, writes Ruadhán Jones Early last week, the DUP announced that it would propose a bill seeking to outlaw abortions on children with disabilities such as Down Syndrome, cleft palate and club foot in the North. The Severe Foetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment)…
Few people in Ireland seem aware that we are one of the only countries in Europe that has put a total halt to public worship, writes David Quinn The four Catholic archbishops have met online with Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, once again to express their wish that Catholics be allowed to gather in churches for Mass and…
Letter from Rome During the St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI years, the Vatican had a council of cardinals from around the world who allegedly oversaw its financial affairs. Members of that body routinely complained that the information they received was incomplete, that it lacked credibility and was fundamentally untrustworthy. Two of the…
A priest from Qaraqosh helping to prepare the city’s youth for Pope Francis’s visit next month has said the fact that a Pope is traveling to the country for the first time has shown young people that the Church, which can often seem far away, is close to them. “Here in Qaraqosh, we are so…
In his autobiography, Nikos Kazantzakis shares how in his youth he was driven by a restlessness that had him searching for something he could never quite define. However, he made peace with his lack of peace because he accepted that, given the nature of the soul, he was supposed to feel that restlessness and that…
Notebook An Ash Wednesday scene in a home in our parish last week. John, a farmer, comes home after his day’s work is done. His daughter Clara is sitting at the kitchen table studying for her Leaving Certificate. John immediately notices that Clara is sporting a very big black cross on her forehead which she…
“Where there is no vision the people perish,” is wisdom attributed to King Solomon in the Old Testament. It came to mind this week reflecting on the poor performance of the southern Government when it comes to charting a realistic and hopeful way out of the current level five Covid-19 restrictions. A succession of high-profile…
Dear Editor, Whenever the media do a story that involves the Church it very often elicits very vindictive comments from readers. Recent examples included ‘that vile institution,’ ‘this evil cult’. I spent my youth in five different schools taught by nuns, priests and Christian Brothers. Some were strict and dished out corporal punishment which I…
Our President, Michael D., has been giving a discourse on the evils of the British Empire, its violence, brutality, and class oppression (and a British newspaper, The Guardian, has chosen to publish his thoughts). He is right in much of what he says: imperialism was violent and brutal. He is also correct in saying that…
The View The past year has been so very strange for all of us – our ways of being and doing were suddenly and utterly changed. We ceased to be in charge of our own lives. Once we were able to gather as a community of God, pray together and celebrate the great joys of…
Ruadhán Jones
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan