The Notebook Donal McMahon In all fine old cities there are the obligatory sights of the guidebooks and tour buses but also the little discoveries that you make for yourself. The first are always well worth the visit but it’s the second unpredictable ones that often linger just as much or even more in…
The View We celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation on Monday next. Reflecting on this seminal moment in the history of Salvation got me thinking about Mary’s role in it as a young girl, and how different a view modern society and feminism promotes. Today’s feminist empowerment classes surely would utterly reject Mary’s submission…
Every generation likes to embrace a cause, and almost every generation thinks its elders are responsible for messing up the world. So it is unsurprising that some of the young activists on the ‘climate change’ school strikes blame oldsters for causing global warming by greed and careless living. Did we? Maybe so. Still, it might…
Irish people must start having children in their 20s, writes David Quinn Almost half of women aged 18 to 24 would consider freezing their eggs according to a new survey from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the UK. They would do so in order to ‘preserve their fertility’ in the hope…
Letter from America Elise Harris Catholicism’s ongoing clerical abuse scandals have provoked wide reactions, not the least of which has been a push both within the Church and from outside it for tough norms and policies to provide accountability for both the crime and the cover-up. However, according to a leading member of a…
It’s time to switch on the lights for youth ministry, writes Colm Fitzpatrick Earlier this month, Archbishop Eamon Martin spoke to thousands of young people from across England and Wales about the power of faith, and the vital role that they play in evangelisation today. Addressing around 10,000 Catholics at the 2019 Flame Conference…
Michael Otto New Zealand’s Catholic bishops expressed horror and distress at a terrorist attack in two mosques in Christchurch that saw at least 49 people killed. The shootings took place at or near the Al Noor Mosque, where 41 people were killed, and at the Linwood Mosque, where seven were killed. One more person…
We don’t know how to celebrate things as they’re meant to be celebrated. We want to, but mostly we don’t know how. Generally we celebrate badly. How do we normally celebrate? By overdoing things; by taking a lot of the things we ordinarily do, drinking, eating, talking, singing, and humouring, and bringing them to excess.…
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger was the Archbishop of Paris until he retired in 2005. Lustiger – a convert from Judaism – was a towering figure in the global Church and considered a key ally in the reforms of Pope St John Paul II. Among the projects Cardinal Lustiger himself embraced with gusto was the reform of…
Dear Editor, Many dioceses are engaging in ‘listening’ processes which on the face of it is commendable. However, one must ask what qualities are required to “listen”? Surely no institution can embark on a successful ‘listening’ programme without (i) effectively addressing the reason for embarking on such a listening programme which does of course reflect…
Maria Steen
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
Colm Fitzpatrick
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly