All the current talk about judges and courts made me reflect this week on the role of law in Christian civilisation. The institutions of justice are not, of course, a Christian invention; it was the pagan Romans who were the pioneers in legal thought and practice. It was they, for example, who first enunciated the…
Dear Editor, I was very saddened to learn that there will be no public Masses for the next three weeks. As a daily communicant, I was upset to hear that I, along with many other practising Catholics, will not be able to receive the Holy Eucharist for a minimum of three weeks. The Eucharist is…
President Trump has said that, following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, he intends to nominate another woman to be a Judge in the American Supreme Court. That’s great! There are two leading, clever women lawyers who are candidates. In an era when gender balance is upheld as an ideal, you might think that there…
The View Like all other Catholics in Dublin last weekend, I was unable to attend Mass due to the level three restrictions designed to lower the numbers of Covid-19 cases. Although during the original lockdown I was very grateful to have live streamed liturgies, nothing replaces worshipping in a real-life community. Still, it is amazing…
While fighting Covid-19 might save lives, it can also cost lives, livelihoods and future prospects, writes David Quinn At the time of writing, Dublin appears to be the only place in the whole of Europe that does not permit public worship, including public Masses. Places with much higher infection rates than Dublin are permitting public…
The report comes as criticisms of Disney bring Chinese cruelties to the fore again, writes Ruadhán Jones Near the end of a long list of credits is an obscure, seemingly inconsequential thank-you from Disney to the “Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region Committee”. Already alarm bells should be ringing. Xinjiang…
Letter from Rome Catholic bishops and diocesan tribunals are making steady progress in implementing Pope Francis’ reforms to make the annulment process quicker, but it is taking longer to achieve the Pope’s goal of making the process less expensive for couples. The proof is in the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, a 512-page tome of…
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has penned a new article for the religious journal First Things, arguing that the Vatican’s agreement with China on the appointment of bishops has confused Catholics on the ground and urging the Holy See to be more vocal on China’s violations of human rights. “The Holy See has a unique…
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam ultimately all believe in the same God. Interestingly, too, in the popular mind they also all tend to conceive of God in the same way, namely, as male, celibate and not being particularly happy. Well, the gender of God is not something we can ever conceptualise. God is neither male or…
Notebook He knelt, having just received his First Holy Communion. For how long did he kneel? I am not sure, but I imagine the teacher told the boys and girls that they should kneel when they returned to their seats, having said “Amen” to the Body of Christ. When he felt an appropriate length of…
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien
David Quinn
Ruadhán Jones
Fr Ronald Rolheiser