Dear Editor, I wish to congratulate you and your team for your excellent and thorough coverage of the appalling restrictions placed on religious worship throughout this pandemic. Despite assurances from the Heath Minister Stephen Donnelly last year that there would be no penal provisions put in place to deter people attending Mass and other religious…
Because most people of faith are law-abiding, there has been Church compliance with the Government’s draconian regulations against public worship – even though, as this newspaper has pointed out repeatedly, all across Europe, and Britain, churches are open for prayer and services. Yet, in the light of history, it is utterly shocking that this new…
The View Many interesting books are being published around the centenary of partition and the border. The Irish civil war of 1922-23 – however painful at the time and long after – is now history. In his detailed, critical but also sympathetic book, A Difficult Birth: The Early Years of Northern Ireland 1920-25, Alan Parkinson…
The chilling effect on free speech of moves to push legislation should be obvious, writes David Quinn The Government is aiming to pass a new law against so-called ‘hate crimes’. It looks certain to be passed because few voices have been raised in opposition to it. On the contrary, it seems to have general assent…
Why do sincere people so often find themselves at odds with each other? The issue here is not about when sincerity meets insincerity or plain old sin. No. The question is why sincere, God-fearing people can find themselves radically at odds with each other. Among other things, it can help us understand what’s at the…
The right to religious worship has now been restricted in Ireland in some shape or form for 405 days. Apart from a brief period during the summer and the month of December, public Mass in the Republic has been disallowed for over a year. Many good people – instinctively trusting that the Government knew what…
Dear Editor, I was delighted to see the extensive coverage given by The Irish Catholic last week to the concerns of orthodox young Catholics who are worried that the up-coming national synod will be the occasion for watering down doctrine. I too share their worries, especially looking at what is happening in Germany and their…
Notebook At the heart of the Easter story is the triumph of life over death, love over hate and reconciliation over resentment. The following story brings the message of that first Easter right up to date. Over 80 years ago, in Greece, 50,000 Jews lived peacefully in Thessaloniki. It was a valued and vibrant community.…
The perceived tension between science and religion is a misunderstanding of the relationship between faith and reason writes Dr Andrew Meeszaros The alleged incompatibility between a scientific worldview and a religious one has been a major and consistent factor in the rise of the ‘nones’, or those with no religious affiliation. Because religion seems to…
One of the great benefits of lockdown, for me, has been the experience of participating in various lectures and talks by Zoom. And I can now say that I’ve ‘attended’ Trinity College Dublin – at least vicariously, via excellent history seminars, hosted by TCD’s Centre for Contemporary History and chaired by Prof. Eunan O’Halpin. Civil…
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly