We need to be wary of factions who will try to manipulate the planned meeting for their own purposes, writes David Quinn The bishops have announced that they are to hold a national synod of the Church within the next five years. It will be a meeting of priests, religious and laypeople to discuss the…
Letter from Rome Pope Francis’s recent trip to Iraq will undoubtably have a lasting impact on the country in ways that only time will tell. In the immediate aftermath, a few significant developments can already be seen. According to some observers, even before the historic March 5-8 trip took place, the first-ever papal visit to…
John Lavenburg Flor Molina crossed the US-Mexico border with her trafficker in 2002. At the time, she was under the impression the trip would last six months, provide housing, and enough money to return to Mexico to open a sewing shop and provide for her three children. Instead, she found herself working 18-plus hours a…
One of Dorothy Day’s favourite saints was Therese of Lisieux, Therese Martin, the saint we call ‘the Little Flower’. At first glance, this might look like a strange affinity. Dorothy Day was the ultimate activist for justice, protesting in the streets, being arrested, going to prison, and starting a community and a newspaper, the Catholic…
Notebook What hope is there for the young people of Ireland? Just over 40 years ago, when Pope St John Paul II addressed young Irish people in Galway, he was speaking to people supported and nourished by a Catholic culture: “You come from Catholic families; you go regularly and meet Christ in Holy Communion on…
Dear Editor, With the repercussions of the Covid-19 virus and the growing number of destructive antisocial disorders occurring regularly throughout the world it is probably timely for people who feel there is something not right about our society to reconsider and re-evaluate the benefits of religion and participation in church services as a more fulfilling…
According to some royal sources, the root of Prince Harry’s bitter feelings towards his family lie in a very old, even biblical, scenario: that is, when brothers fall out because one feels the other is favoured over the other. That was the basis of the Hebrew Bible’s first account of homicide: when Cain slew Abel,…
The View Pope Francis is sometimes controversial but never boring. As John L. Allen of Crux Now put it, the pontiff’s current trip to Iraq is perhaps his most emblematic trip – if only because his stubborn streak ensured that it happened. He ignored worries about super spreader Covid-19 events and security issues in order…
We have little right to be judging the past while we deny children their identity with the blessing of the State today, writes David Quinn ‘Who am I?’ was the question asked by a recent RTÉ programme about illegal adoptions in Ireland. It is one of the most fundamental questions we can ask ourselves. Most…
For better discussions on married priests we would do well to look to the Eastern Rite Christians, writes Peadar Laighleis Debates on married clergy have gone on as long as I can remember. Most people used the Protestant denominations as examples. Few referred to Eastern Churches – Catholic or Orthodox – though Catholic theology of…
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien