The View “All of us here today understand an eternal truth: every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. Together we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and the sanctity of every human life. “When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation.…
Once during a baseball game in high school an umpire made a very unfair call against our team. Our whole team was indignant and all of us began to shout angrily at the umpire, swearing at him, calling him names, loudly venting our anger. But one of our teammates didn’t follow suit. Instead of shouting…
Dear Editor, Regarding the front page of your paper (IC 16/01/2020), I read with alarm the decision made by authorities in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick to disallow the Certificate of Christian Ethics in Healthcare being made available. Hospital chaplains clearly showed ample interest in the development of the programme – which led to it…
The Notebook A cousin was speaking with me recently and she told me she was in London for a weekend, with her two young sons, to visit her sister and family. They went for a day trip to London and travelled on a number of trains and by underground. Later in the evening, her younger…
The latest culture war in the Church is being fought over the issue of mandatory celibacy for clergy. Those who have been agitating for a relaxation of the rules since the 1960s see an opportunity in Pope Francis considering the ordination of married men to the priesthood in the Amazon region. They see the admission…
I am not registered to vote in the current election, so my perspective is, perhaps, somewhat detached. But I certainly admired John Waters for deciding to run as an independent candidate for the constituency of Dun Laoghaire. John is from Roscommon but has lived for most of his adult life in the former port town.…
The Kingdom of God is not just a future hope. It is a present reality and it is marked by attitudes such as gentleness and mercy, commitment to peace, hunger for what is right and commitment to the truth (Mt. 5). It is closely connected with our care for those who are hungry and thirsty,…
Catholics must vote as Catholics on election day, writes David Quinn Election time again, and if you’re pro-life it’s a very strange one because it is the first since the May 2018 abortion referendum. In previous campaigns, the focus of the pro-life movement was to support candidates and parties who were pro-life, or at…
If Scottish MPs can decide for Northern Ireland, doesn’t the opposite apply, asks Pól Ó Muirí It is one of the most famous lines in Irish drama: “What is the stars, Joxer, what is the stars?” Spoken by Captain Boyle in Seán O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock, it speaks of tumultuous times in Irish…
Letter from Rome The controversy surrounding retired Pope Benedict XVI’s contribution to a new book on priestly celibacy demonstrates just how much both substance and appearances matter. And, as far as substance goes, the book paid scant attention to the uninterrupted presence of married priests in all but two of the Eastern Catholic churches. Published…
Maria Steen
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
David Quinn