Imagine a scenario in which it came to be known that cars with defective seat belts had been allowed on to the market. Now imagine that this information on the increased risk of passenger fatalities was known to government and all the major political parties prior to the sale of the cars, but they failed…
Claims that Ireland was repressed in the 1980s are absurd, writes David Quinn ‘Why were we so hateful?’, the editorial in the Irish Examiner asked of Irish people living in the 1980s. A feature last weekend in the Irish Independent described the same decade as “traumatising” for women. The 1980s is in the spotlight…
Parents are morally obliged to vaccinate their children, writes Colm Fitzpatrick With the recent spate of measles outbreaks across Ireland, questions have been raised about what role both parents and government play in preventing the spread of infectious illnesses. Vaccinations, of course, seem to be the obvious solution as they provide immunity to the…
A new Vatican document invites important questions about dialogue and understanding, writes Kevin O’Higgins SJ This month, the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education issued a document, ‘Male and Female He Created Them: Towards a Path of Dialogue On the Question of Gender Theory in Education’. While the focus is on gender theory in relation…
Letter from Rome Inés San Martín Pope Francis visited the southern Italian city of Naples last Friday, participating in a theology congress dedicated to interreligious dialogue and migration in the context of the Mediterranean Sea. The Argentine Pontiff revisited some of his core concepts, calling for theologians to be an expression of a Church…
Every so often, we get official confirmation of the obvious, and, surprisingly enough, it still makes waves. Such is the case again with the release of a preparatory document for an October summit of bishops on the Amazon, which confirms that the ordination of married “elderly people”, meaning men, will be on the agenda. From…
Questions of Faith When criticising religion, it’s common to hear the expression: “Faith is believing in something without having proof.” This accusation is usually thrown at people who adhere to a particular religious or spiritual belief in an attempt to show the irrationality of their thinking. In others words, while you may think it’s noble…
Growing up as a Roman Catholic, like the rest of my generation, I was taught a prayer called, The Act of Contrition. Every Catholic back then had to memorise it and say it during or after going to confession. The prayer started this way: “Oh, my God, I am truly sorry for having offended thee…
Dear Editor, Perhaps the most interesting aspect of your interview with Archbishop Eamon Martin this week (IC 20/6/2019) was not his comments on the country’s smallest dioceses, or even his openness to a national synod in a few years, but his barely veiled suggestion that the Archdiocese of Dublin be dismantled to make the Church…
The Notebook Fr Vincent Shelock “There were people of all ages, gathered ‘round the gable wall”, so begins Dana’s wonderful hymn telling the story of the Knock Apparition of August 1879. It’s a lovely image of Church – people of all ages, gathered, content to be with one another and respectful. I often think…
David Quinn
Colm Fitzpatrick
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser