Dear Editor, I am responding to Mr Duffin’s letter from the August 14 edition, where he made the suggestion that perhaps the readings at Mass were too long, confusing and quite incomprehensible, and that shorter readings would be better for the lessening attention span of Mass goers. I think this thought is exactly one…
Category: Opinion
‘Be holy, for I am holy’ – Rejoice in our new saints!
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). On Sunday last, the Church invited us to rejoice as two young men, St Carlo Acutis and St Pier Giorgio Frassati were declared saints. Born in different centuries, they lived very different lives, Carlo with computers and technology, Pier Giorgio with mountains and…
Why nostalgia is growing for the ‘tradwife’
David Quinn
Last year, Ireland held two referendums which our political leaders, aided and abetted by most of our media, have been very keen to forget about. One was on so-called ‘durable relationships’. No-one could quite say what these were, but ‘durable relationships’ were to be given marriage-like status. Voters worried they were being asked to buy…
Downtown Abbey and the Duchess of Kent’s ancestor Oliver Cromwell
Mary Kenny
Conversation overheard: “Are you going to see the new Downton Abbey film, when it opens this week?” “Oh yes! We’re booked for Sunday.” “Complete tosh!” “I’m sure it will be absolute nonsense! But the gorgeous costumes and posh interiors are just the kind of fluffy entertainment that helps us escape the dreadful realities of the…
More married and grandparent saints please
Saints are in the news recently, most especially Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, recently canonised by Pope Leo. I grew up immediately after the Second Vatican Council, and one of the sad things about that time was that devotion to the saints was de-emphasised. I do not think that this was faithful to the…
Toumliline travels: A trip to Morocco’s forgotten monastery
Today it is monkeys, not monks, that wander the cloisters of Toumliline, a former Benedictine monastery in the Middle Atlas mountains of Morocco. Perched on a hillside above the town of Azrou – about ninety minutes south of Fez – some twenty monks hailing from En-Calcat Abbey near Toulouse once called this place home. Arriving…
No more safe spaces for journalists in Gaza
A hospital is supposed to be one of the safest places to go to amid armed conflict, like the war Israel is waging against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, there is strong evidence that Israeli forces are deliberately killing civilians, including women, children and journalists, in and around hospitals. On August 25, Israeli forces…
Culture will decide Ireland’s future, not slogans or street protests
Far Right and Far Left voices clashed on Dublin’s O’Connell Street in April 2025. Shouts of “Refugees are welcome” met with “Ireland is for the Irish.” Yet Ireland’s future will not be decided by street protests or slogans. It will be shaped by something deeper: culture. Unless we take culture seriously, Ireland risks tearing its…
Resisting complicity is a requirement
Dear Editor, Faced with the appalling evil of war, I suggest that the word ‘complicity’ is a more appropriate term than ‘cooperation’ as used by David Quinn in his recent article: “Is the Church cooperating with evil in Israel?” Complicity implies partnership in an evil action. It requires neither involvement in the core activity…
Ashamed of the gospel?
The days of comfortable Catholicism are past, The days of socially acceptable Christianity are over. The days of comfortable Catholicism are past. It is no longer easy to be a faithful Christian, a good Catholic, an authentic witness to the truths of the Gospel. A price is demanded. There are costs of discipleship – heavy…