What does it mean to ‘be born again’, to ‘be born from above’? If you’re an Evangelical or Baptist, you’ve probably already answered that for yourself. However, if you’re a Roman Catholic or a mainline Protestant then the phrase probably isn’t a normal part of your spiritual vocabulary and, indeed, might connote for you a…
Dear Editor, Fr Conor McDonough’s piece on religious leaders with ‘chutzpah’ and Greg Daly’s feature on the 42 martyrs under consideration for beatification made for a powerful combination in your latest issue (IC 18/7/2019). Episcopal boldness is something we clearly need in our Church today, but it’s not good enough to whinge that the bishops…
Notebook Fr Vincent Sherlock It’s an old story now – well a few weeks old and that’s history, the way life moves on. The Taoiseach compared the leader of the opposition to being like a priest who speaks against sin while being a sinner himself. It was, in all fairness, a cheap and unnecessary…
Two funerals of Irishmen distinguished in their fields took place over the last week: one was a large popular gathering to mark the passing of the comedian Brendan Grace, who died aged 68. His funeral Mass was held in the heart of Dublin’s Liberties area, at the Church of Nicholas Myra in Francis Street. The…
The View In her 1979 essay ‘Let Us Not Be Hypocritical’, the late Harvard professor Judith Shklar wrote that: “Hypocrisy remains the only unforgiveable sin even, perhaps especially, among those who can overlook and explain away almost every other vice.” I found myself reflecting on this idea recently, when the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, got…
Pol O Muiri C.S. Lewis, Belfast man and writer, is probably best known for his fiction and his Christian apologetics. His works on Narnia have enthralled children for decades while works like Mere Christianity, have provided solace and guidance for adult readers. Narnia is, of course, a mythical and mysterious place where wondrous and unexpected…
The Moon landing ultimately glorified God, writes David Quinn The first man in space was the Russian Yuri Gagarin in 1961. After he returned to Earth he was reportedly asked if he saw God while he was up there. He apparently replied, “I looked and looked and looked but I didn’t see God”, although…
Letter from the UK Charles Collins Britain’s foreign secretary says the world should use ‘Christophobia’ to describe anti-Christian persecution and said the UK’s efforts to help persecuted Christians around the world has not always “matched the scale of the problem”. Jeremy Hunt was speaking last Monday during the presentation of a report he commissioned…
On hundreds of occasions since the commencement of the new abortion law in January, pro-life activists have chosen to picket venues where abortions are carried out. By and large, these protests have attracted very little media attention. It was something of a surprise, therefore, to see such a protest at Holles Street Hospital hit the…
Inés San Martín Nicaragua and Venezuela are continuing to experience turmoil due to popular opposition to their socialist leadership. Both regimes have been accused by prominent leaders of human rights violations, and international organisations ask their governments to be open to dialogue. Venezuela The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, released…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
Maria Steen
David Quinn