Letter from Rome Famously, Pope Francis isn’t one for spending a lot of time thinking about doctrinal questions or disputes. The Pontiff often mocks theologians for obsessing over the fine print of things, recycling a quote from Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople to Pope Paul VI after an historic 1964 meeting: “We’ll bring about unity…
Claire Giangravè Dreams of having a Vatican team in the Olympic games became a bit more real on Thursday, as the Holy See officialised its presence on the sports scene by presenting an athletic association bearing the papal colours with the goal of promoting diversity and Christian values. “The dream that we have very…
No community should botch its deaths. The renowned anthropologist, Mircea Eliade, suggested this and its truth applies to communities at every level. No family should send off a member without proper reflection, ritual and blessings. On December 26, 2018, the family of art and the family of faith lost a cherished member. Sr Wendy Beckett,…
Dear Editor, As you and your readers will be aware the Holy Father Pope Francis has called the presidents of bishops’ conference to Rome to discuss the vital issue of safeguarding at a meeting from February 21-24. As we are all too painfully aware in Ireland, this is an issue that has profound consequences for…
The Notebook Here are four letters guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of any parish priest or indeed parish secretary or administrator: GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). It came into effect last May and now it applies to every parish in Ireland. In the parish where I minister, it affected us in at…
The idea of ethos can sometimes be a thorny issue. In a world which often prides a utilitarian approach to education over a holistic vision of the human person, ethos can get reduced to 15 or 20 minutes of religious education every now and then. When one speaks of ethos to politicians, they will often…
Some people of my generation (born in the 1940s) refer to young folk as “snowflakes”: fragile and likely to dissolve under stress. This is unkind and mostly untrue. Most young people I meet are very nice, thoughtful and idealistic. But, certainly, they have been raised in a gentler and more protective way, and adulthood has…
The View Martin Mansergh While some Christmas carols emphasise the coldness of the season ‘in the bleak mid-winter’, others emphasise the mildness of the infant Jesus. It is difficult to remember 12 days of Christmas that have been so mild and in most parts mainly dry. The first snowdrops were out even before…
Despite setbacks at the ballot box, the Church must not lose its nerve, writes David Quinn Back in the 1990s, Ruairi Quinn, then Finance Minister, declared Ireland was now ‘post-Catholic’. He said it in the aftermath of the 1995 divorce referendum. He knew that many people still went to Mass. What he meant was…
The creation of a new lay body within the Church is an attempt to live out Vatican II, writes Greg Daly The transfer this January 1 of services run by the Brothers of St John of God to a Church lay body has been a long time coming, according to the provincial of the…
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
Greg Daly