Gamal Tawfiq, a Coptic Christian schoolteacher, was walking home from work when his killers struck on February 16. Having been stalked through the streets of el Arish, the largest city on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Tawfiq was shot from a passing motorcycle, on which the killers then made their hasty escape. The death of Tawfiq was…
Our society tends to divide us up into winners and losers. Sadly, we don’t often reflect on how this affects our relationships with each other, nor on what it means for us as Christians. What does it mean? In essence, that our relationships with each other tend are too-charged with competition and jealousy because we…
Bro. Conor McDonough Picture the scene: a mid-20th-Century crowd of Irish emigrants in a newsagent’s after Mass. They all rush to buy the ‘Irish papers’ to find out what the important people in Dublin are doing and how the metropolis views the provinces. Then in walks a Monaghan eccentric. He has notions, so maybe he’s…
Dear Editor, The State-funded Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) is now campaigning for abortion. In its statement to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on February 13 in Geneva, and in its report submitted to the committee in January, it focused on “a woman’s right to bodily autonomy” and…
Mary Kenny considers the impact of reflecting on life choices and ‘what ifs’
Neutrality in Ireland is a morally charged concept, both for supporters and critics. For supporters, it is a principled stance to avoid becoming embroiled in armed conflict and military alliances and to support the peaceful resolution of disputes. For critics, it is an evasion of responsibility and taking a free ride behind serious defence measures…
Our attitude towards the disabled is something we must seriously consider as we debate abortion, writes David Quinn One of the issues that has given rise to the very strong possibility of an abortion referendum in the next year or two is that of unborn babies diagnosed with a life-limiting disability, also known as a…
Rudolph Otto famously described the religious sentiment as the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, “the tremendous and fascinating mystery”, but to be honest, that’s probably not how most Catholics experience it. For many Catholics, the faith may be primarily about community and worship, or about a set of doctrinal convictions, or an ethical code, even a…
Long before he assumed the highest office in the United States, President Donald Trump’s contradictory statements on everything from the war in Iraq to abortion were subjected to quizzically raised brows and prime-time debates. None of which has done the billionaire businessman any harm as he harangues and denounces anyone brazen enough to try and…
Dear Editor, Like Fr Tom Whelan (‘Fresh Mass translation ‘a long shot’’ IC 02/02/2017), I agree that the “pragmatics of administrators will win out,” when it comes to the future of the largely unloved 2011 translation of the Roman Missal. Its turgid prose, erratic use of capital letters and badly designed presentation of prayers in…
Paul Keenan
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
Dr Martin Mansergh
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.