The Notebook I am ordained almost 34 years and for over 30 years of that time, I have been doing baptisms all wrong. For that first 30 years, nearly every baptism I did was private. Parents would ring me with the news of a birth and I would make arrangements with them alone. When…
I think, if I were a full-time resident in Ireland these days, I would now be inclined to vote for Fianna Fail. I’m impressed by the way in which party members are emphasising the role of conscience in the debate over repealing the Eighth Amendment. By contrast, it seems deplorable that Fine Gael was so coercive…
The View It is easy to become despondent given that our political system is contemplating removing rights for the vulnerable and helpless from our Constitution. A clause that protects both mother and baby is now somehow re-classified as discriminatory in a way that is reminiscent of Orwell’s dark masterpiece, Animal Farm, where Squealer can…
To do away with the constitutional protection for the unborn would merely heap injustice upon injustice, writes David Quinn The Kerry babies scandal happened a year after the passage of the 1983 pro-life referendum which enshrined the right of life of the unborn in the Constitution. This has to be kept in mind in…
We live in a world of deep divisions. Everywhere we see polarisation, people bitterly divided from each other by ideology, politics, economic theory, moral beliefs, and theology. We tend to use over-simplistic categories within which to understand these divisions: the left and the right opposing each other, liberals and conservatives at odds, pro-life vying with…
Dear Editor, With reference to your front page article about exorcists in Ireland (IC 18/01/18) I have to confess to considerable shock that a spokesperson from the Catholic Communications Office at Maynooth would state that “…this office has not been made aware of any recent cases of exorcism in Ireland in recent years”. That is…
The Notebook Martin Delaney Down syndrome My face may be different But my feelings the same I laugh and I cry And I take pride in my gains I was sent here among you To teach you to love As God in heavens Looks down from above To him I’m no different His love knows…
Though its critics may never acknowledge it (or even believe it), the Catholic Church is the world’s leading advocate for the marginalised and the vulnerable – an enemy of unjust discrimination, and a pioneer in healthcare and education. Whether it is standing up for the poor and homeless or the unborn and those nearing the…
There’s an old saying that “the pen is mightier than the sword”, and it is as strikingly true today as it ever has been – if “pen” embraces the use of words in general. People are often judged more by what they say than by what they do. Or even by what other people say…
The View Martin Mansergh January may be the beginning of a new year. Mostly, it feels like a return to base camp, with life stripped back to its essentials and nature relatively bare. It is a month to be endured. Warmth is comfort; coldness and damp is living in misery. January also tends to…
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly