Letter from Rome In sports, people argue about who’s the GOAT, meaning “Greatest of All Time”. In basketball, is Lebron James the GOAT or is it Michael Jordan? In baseball, are we talking Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb? In college football, did Alabama Coach Nick Saban just become the GOAT by winning a seventh national…
Catholics in Iraq are not giving up on a papal visit despite Pope Francis recently saying the pandemic might stop him from going: at the request of Cardinal Patriarch Raphael Sako, they’re reciting a prayer specifically for the trip scheduled for March 5-8 to take place. “Lord our God, grant Pope Francis health and safety…
Most of us are familiar with the story of Zorba, the Greek, either through Nikos Kazantzakis’ famous book or through the movie. Well, Zorba was not a fictional character. He was a real person, Alexis Zorba, who had such a larger-than-life personality and energy that when he died, Kazantzakis found his death very difficult to…
Dear Editor, The Irish Catholic [IC 07/01/2020] carried criticism, by David Quinn and others, of the Irish Government and of our bishops for the suspension of public Masses. The point made was that Ireland was amongst few European countries in taking this step. In light of decisions taken in Northern Ireland and Britain since then,…
The Stoic philosopher Epictetus observed almost 2,000 years ago that “it is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows”. I’ve thought about it a lot over the last week regarding the reaction to the mother and baby report. Some newspaper columnists have called on Judge Yvonne Murphy’s report to be set aside because –…
Notebook Of all the stories I’ve read about the mother and baby homes, one in particular has haunted me, that of a young woman who kept her pregnancy secret to the end, and, when labour began, went quietly to a local mother and baby home, gave birth, left her child with the nuns, and went…
If significant numbers of people chose not to be vaccinated, the result could be significant loss of life and serious illness in the community and especially among those who are most vulnerable, writes Bishop Kevin Doran Early in December 2020, the Irish Catholic Bishops issued a statement welcoming the progress that has been made in developing…
Since I am of the generation who grew up in Ireland in the 1950s, I’ve received messages on social media saying I – or we – must have been aware of the neglect, malnutrition and cruelties of the mother and baby homes which have been brought to light this week. Astonishing It may seem astonishing…
The View It is profoundly disappointing, not to mention scary if you are what the French call a ‘certain age’ to be once again in lockdown. It is heartbreaking to see it sweeping again through nursing homes, including places where it was successfully kept out in previous waves. Impacts Young people may not be as…
The commission doesn’t shy away from laying blame at the foot of families as well as Church and State, writes Chai Brady The responsibility for the “harsh treatment” of unmarried mothers “rests mainly with the fathers of their children and their own immediate families”, according to the commission investigating the institutions. The report – which…
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien
Chai Brady