In virtually all of his novels, Milan Kundera, manifests a strong impatience with every kind of ideology, hype, or fad that makes for group-think or crowd-hysteria. He is suspicious of slogans, demonstrations, and marches of all kinds, no matter the cause. He calls all these the great march and, to his mind, they invariably lead…
Notebook It was St Stephen’s morning and I was in the sacristy for morning Mass. As I got ready, I asked one of the altar servers if he had an enjoyable Christmas Day. I had follow-up questions as well: “What did you get from Santa?” Is that what you wanted?” Even more questions, if needed,…
Where I was born in Co. Tyrone, today is generally known as ‘Boxing Day’. It’s a pity that – at least in that part of Ireland – the influence of British television and culture has had the effect of erasing St Stephen from the calendar. Thankfully, in most of the rest of Ireland the day…
Dear Editor, David Quinn writes that it’s up to individual people and parish communities to revive the Church in Ireland (IC 19/12/19) rather than the Pope – I think he’s spot on. It’s true that Francis is probably one of the most popular Pontiffs among the secular public but this won’t put people in the…
As a new party, Aontú did well in the Derry constituency of Foyle for the UK General Election: Anne McCloskey got over 2,000 votes and saw an increase in support for her party. Yet, in terms of the overall political picture, it’s surely also a welcome development that the SDLP, which had been wiped off…
The View I love Christmas. No ‘bah, humbug’ for me. Of course, it is much easier to love Christmas when you have been greatly blessed by having a family, a roof over your head and enough to live on. So many people do not even have the basics of life. As a child, there was one…
It’s unlikely that your children or grandchildren will keep going to Mass unless some of their peers are doing so as well, writes David Quinn It is now coming up to seven years since the start of this papacy. What has changed in the Church in the meantime? The main thing is probably tone. The…
Some years ago at a religious conference a man approached the microphone and after apologising for what he felt would be an inappropriate question, asked this: “I love my dog. When he dies will he go to Heaven? Do animals have eternal life?” The answer to that might come as a surprise to many of…
Dear Editor, I read that according to a recent poll, most Americans support life in jail over the death penalty (IC 05/12/19). At its root, this perspective is based on the idea that every single person has intrinsic human dignity independent of their behaviour. It doesn’t matter if you’re a thief or a murderer; you…
Notebook My Auntie Mary was the most famous person in our family, but she attained fame in an unusual way. She was my grandmother’s aunt and had died long before I was born. I knew only two salient facts about her: she lived on North Street, Skibbereen. And she died on Christmas Day. What happens…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien
David Quinn