Hell is never a nasty surprise waiting for a basically happy person. Hell can only be the full-flowering of a pride and selfishness that have, through a long time, twisted a heart so thoroughly that it considers happiness as unhappiness and has an arrogant disdain for happy people. If you are essentially warm of heart…
Category: Opinion
Pope makes classic mistake on violence motivated by religion
“the Pope is absolutely correct that not all Muslims are violent”, writes Michael Kelly, but Pope Francis fails to “confront the cold reality that Islamists such as so-called Islamic State claim to be acting in the name of Islam”
The reality of modern martyrdom
Dear Editor, The brutal murder of Fr Jacques Hamel while celebrating Mass in northern France is one Catholics must reflect on with care. In your report on the murder’s repercussions among French Catholics (‘French Catholics in fear after Islamists kill priest at Mass’ IC 28/07/2016), you quote Fr Aidan Troy as saying that “attacking a…
Recognising our common humanity
Dear Editor, Last Thursday, I happened to hear Ray D’Arcy interview Sinead McBreen on his afternoon radio show on Radio One. While it was a pleasant surprise to hear Ray giving voice to the pro-life side of the abortion debate, I was disappointed at how the discussion played out. By the end of the interview…
An establishment conspiracy on the unborn
Dear Editor, It’s clear now that the purpose of the proposed ‘Citizens’ Assembly’, to be chosen by a polling company, is to remove the protections of the Eighth Amendment for the unborn. This unelected, unnecessary ‘assembly’ is a political fig-leaf, designed to give political cover to politicians who desire the destruction of Ireland’s constitutional protections…
Lessons from Scripture studies
Online chatter about the Republican National Convention has focused less on the coronation of Donald Trump than on his wife Melania’s speech. For some, the speech was notable for its so-far unexplained nod to 1980s singer Rick Astley, with Mrs Trump declaring of her husband that: “He will never, ever, give up. And, most importantly,…
Our obsession with youth
“You know the culture is broken when adults consider ‘adult’ a compliment”, writes Chris Altieri
Clarify meaning of Eighth Amendment
Dear Editor, Mary Kenny, under the heading “Why we must change this fatal phrase” (IC 14/07/2016), reminded us of the writings of George Orwell, who said whoever controls the language controls the political power. Today, she says, we are presented with the hurtful, and harmful, phrase “fatal foetal abnormality”. She rightly criticises the use of…
Following example of O’Connell, Hume
Dear Editor, Mary Kenny hits the nail on the head when praising the peaceful, legal and constitutional paths of the Liberator, Daniel O’Connell (IC 21/07/2016). Her description of the scenes of blood running on the streets and heads on pikes along the roadsides which the young O’Connell saw during the French Revolution in 1789 is…
Responding to terrorism in our own lives
Dear Editor, In the face of the horrors being perpetrated by ‘terrorists’, I must ask myself, “What can I do?” Whether I am old or young, poor or rich, I have been gifted with the possibility of doing something worthwhile in my lifetime. I know what it feels like to yearn to be loved and…