Mass had just started when the children were murdered. It is not a sentence one should ever have to read or write. But even where songs have been sung, and the word of God recited in a psalm, bullets can fly from the darkness of those who seek to destroy. And so, evil disrupted worship…
What exactly is this ‘woke’ business?” asked an old friend, puzzled by the word’s ubiquitous use and the lack of exact definition. So, I thought I’d compile a simplified guide to an idea and a movement which wields power and influence in directing our values today. ‘Woke’ means replacing words like ‘mother’ and ‘father,’ with…
The bishops have just released a pastoral letter urging people, especially those who stopped going during the Covid pandemic, to start coming to Mass again. Introducing the pastoral on Sunday, Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare & Leighlin diocese, said: “Today’s Pastoral was born out of the experience of the Covid Pandemic” during which “Sunday worship…
Should I offer the sacraments to a parishioner with a limited lifespan? A man who lives in one of my parishes was given six months to live last February. He is an ordinary simple man, who likes nothing more than farming his land. In fact, the thought of dying would not be as hard for…
The Philippines has suffered damaging floods despite the billions of pesos paid to contractors for hundreds of flood control projects, mostly in Bulacan province. The Senate has uncovered fake projects, overcosting and underperformance by contractors. Some senators claim in recent hearings that corruption is so widespread. Investigators cannot cope and law enforcement against fraud and…
Primary schools have been in the news for months due to historic levels of underfunding, which the cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated. In general, primary schools in Ireland, 89% of which are Catholic, inspire high levels of trust and affection in local communities. There are some exceptions, most notably where schools are over-subscribed and parents find…
Every August, Knock beckons and my friends and I hit the road for County Mayo and the annual Novena to Our Lady of Knock. The forecast was for sun – a treat as I often joke that even Our Blessed Mother went to Knock in rain. Family day at Knock was a scorcher. When it…
The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has raised a very important issue, namely, should the Catholic Church sever its links with the insurance company, Allianz, because of business and investment links the company has with Israel? Allianz is a giant German company that took over Church & General Insurance in the 1990s. It is one…
Pregnancy was once considered such a private process that novels referred to ladies “in a certain condition.” Until relatively recently, maternity clothes were designed to discreetly conceal an expectant mother’s shape. There’s a famous picture of Jacqueline Kennedy with a lineup of the Kennedy clan before JFK’s election, and she is seated in such a…
The news in the Philippines these days is focused on impeachment, changing the Constitution, and other mundane political matters. The public, Congress and government agencies are far from addressing the needs of children who are sexually and physically abused by relatives, human traffickers and online predators, and the seeming social acceptance that allows the abuse…
Martina Purdy
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
Breda O'Brien