Recently, reading Commonweal magazine, I was struck by this line by Jerry Ryan, a Little Brother of Jesus: “I have lost contact with so many people who meant a lot to me at different stages of my life, people I loved dearly and really cared for and who had given me so much and made…
Dear Editor, I read the article by Matthew Carlson, ‘Listen to what gay people have to say, WMOF speaker urges’ (IC 05/07/18), and the supporting letter by Louise Clarke (IC 12/07/2018). Gay people are described as being on the margins and must be shown mercy, compassion and welcome. They have felt distanced from the Church…
The Notebook Before I was ordained, pastoral priests gave us retreats. They helped alert us to future pastoral dilemmas, or potential ones. One retreat giver asked that on ordination day, each of us should decide whether we wanted to be a priest or a bishop. (Who in their right mind would want to be…
I’ve been invited to participate in an American television programme on Pope Francis’s forthcoming visit, which will focus on “how the evolution of the women’s movement in Ireland changed aspects of society and culture”. To be sure, the development of women’s rights and the women’s movement did contribute to changed aspects of Irish society and…
The View July 25th is the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Humane Vitae – meaning “Of Human Life” – the papal encyclical known for its teaching on the regulation of birth. What many fail to appreciate is that it is about so much more than that. For all the controversy it generated at…
The willingness to take great physical risks is inspirational, writes David Quinn People love their heroes. Heroes are always the best in their field. During the World Cup, countries looked to the heroes in their squads. For Portugal it was Cristiano Ronaldo. For Argentina it was Lionel Messi. For Croatia it was Luka Modric.…
He’s a loser! You’re a loser! Among all the hurtful slurs we mindlessly utter, this particular one is perhaps the most hurtful and damaging. It needs to be forbidden in our public discourse and stricken from our vocabulary. We’ve come a long way today in forbidding certain language in our public discourse. Mostly the terms…
The Notebook Megan McKenna tells the story of a man who decided to clean out his fish tank. The problem was where to put the fish while he did the cleaning. He decided on the bathtub. He transported the fish, dumped them in their luxurious temporary quarters, and went to work cleaning the tank.…
Dear Editor, With the World Cup coming to an end on Sunday, it really struck me during the celebrations the sense of unity that football was able to create. Throughout the world, people of different nationalities, creeds and perspectives came together for a common cause and hope. They supported their own teams, but they, like…
Has the time come to abolish the concept of a written Constitution? As clause by clause is unpicked from our present Constitution – first composed in 1937, and with added amendments since – a self-evident truth emerges: what is accepted as a general good in one generation will often be dismissed as an outdated irrelevance…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
Maria Steen
David Quinn