From a Catholic point of view, politics is always the art of the possible. Since all politics is limited, Catholics do not look to politicians to have the answer to everything. This is why the Church does not endorse any particular political party or political strategy. In the United States, for example, it is common…
The Notebook Fr Conor McDonough The choir of King’s College, Cambridge is often associated with the Christmas season. For many of my English friends, the sound of Carols from King’s on the BBC on Christmas Eve is the sign that Christmas has well and truly begun. But I associate them above all with…
What kind of a doctor is eager to perform abortions? Perhaps that’s a question for Health Minister Simon Harris. To be fair to the medical profession, I don’t think that most doctors do like to carry out abortions. Some may do so if they feel it’s called for, clinically, but most – in my experience…
The View There can be no doubt that Ireland’s health care services are struggling, as are many of those who work for them. Here are a few facts: The Irish Independent reported this week that 500,000 public patients are waiting to see a specialist. “Some 138,584 of these patients spent the whole of 2017…
Our shifting views towards World War I show how fickle we can be, writes David Quinn It is now commonplace for Irish pupils to learn the famous poem by World War I poet, Wilfred Owen, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. Owen was killed on the Western Front in 1917. Owen’s poem mocks the idea that…
An Irish saint championed the idea of Europe in the Dark Ages and inspired today’s European movement, writes Greg Daly At a time when Europe’s future is uncertain and nationalist currents are on the rise, it’s worth reflecting on the ideas that first underpinned the European movement, according to Dr Alexander O’Hara. An honourary…
Michael Sainsbury Although China and the Vatican signed a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops in September, persecution of Chinese Catholics continues. Some believe there is considerable pushback against the Vatican-China deal from inside China’s United Front Work Department, the Communist Party-controlled religious bureaucracy, especially at a more localised level. “Many officials at…
The abortion bill is being rammed through the Oireachtas heedless of the views of huge numbers of voters, writes Denise Kelly Last week, the Government’s abortion Bill progressed with alarming speed through one of the most crucial stages of the parliamentary process, Committee Stage. It now returns to the Dáil where a significant proportion…
Dennis Sadowski At the urging of the Vatican, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops will not vote on two proposals they were to discuss at their Baltimore meeting regarding their response to the clergy sex abuse crisis. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, USCCB president, informed the bishops as they opened their autumn general assembly…
I live on both sides of a border. Not a geographical one, but one which is often a dividing line between two groups. I was raised a conservative Roman Catholic, and conservative in most other things as well. Although my dad worked politically for the Liberal party, most everything about my upbringing was conservative, particularly religiously.…
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
David Quinn
Greg Daly
Fr Ronald Rolheiser