Notebook One of the great surprises of the lockdown, for me at least, was just how many in Ireland are keen gardeners. People simply couldn’t wait for gardening centres to re-open, and when they did, on May 18, there were enormous queues of people desperate to buy seeds, pots and compost. My own lockdown gardening…
A Co. Kildare doctor, Adrian McGoldrick, who is recovering from the coronavirus, has warned others that an attack of Covid-19 can leave them with heart conditions and other health issues. “Don’t think that you can get the virus and that you will not suffer,” he has said. “Treat this virus with respect…this is going to be…
The View Between this week and next, schools across the country are due to reopen. Parents will be sending their children back to a school building for the first time since March, but this September many will be wearing a new uniform: a face mask. Children will be told to keep their distance from their…
While we think we have become a less judgemental society, we have simply found new things to be judgemental about, writes David Quinn The revelation that 81 people, including some sitting politicians and other very senior members of the Irish establishment attended a golfing dinner in Clifden recently has caused understandable outrage among many members of…
As parishes adapt to new ways to celebrate rites of initiation, technology is easing the transition, writes Jason Osborne In the current climate, preparation for the sacraments has been grievously complicated. The Catechetics Council of the Irish Bishops Conference, convened by Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick Diocese, identified a gap in the preparation of school…
Letter from America Christopher White In a moving essay published earlier this month in America magazine, the writer Mike Lewis chronicles how the division in the Church over Pope Francis has divided his own family, with his elderly (now deceased) mother spending her final years on earth saying that Francis has confused the Church. “My…
Courage isn’t one of my strong points, at least not one particular kind of courage. Scripture tells us that as John the Baptist grew up he became strong in spirit. My growing up was somewhat different. Unlike John the Baptist, as I grew up I became accommodating in spirit. This had its reasons. I was…
Notebook During the week we re-scheduled a date for First Holy Communion. It is another re-scheduled date in a year of cancellations, postponements, and disappointments. The hope is that the new date will go ahead and that the day the children have waited for will come, be lived, enjoyed and forever remembered. That, of course,…
Dear Editor, I cannot be alone in noticing a worrisome phenomenon amongst some people who describe themselves as Catholics to reject and denigrate all legitimate authority within the life of the Church. This used to be a phenomenon exclusive to those who would view themselves on the ‘left’ of the Church rejecting such teachings as…
I have friends who are on holiday in Italy at the moment, and they are having a wonderful time. Access to the historic monuments is spaced and well-arranged. Pompeii is as awesome as ever and Naples as full of life and charm as it always was. The lakes are fabulous (even if the Med is inclined…
Mary Kenny
Maria Steen
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser