In a new interview published on January 8, Pope Francis says he came into the papacy not wanting to travel very much, but after his initial outing to the Italian island of Lampedusa in early July 2013, which is a major point of arrival for refugees trying to enter Europe, he understood he had to…
Antoni Guterres promises a revived United Nations, writes Paul Keenan How long, if at all, one wonders, do staff at the United Nations pause to wish one another “Happy New Year”? The question is posed from a knowledge that the multitudinous issues with which the international body concerns itself do not ebb and flow with…
Dear Editor, I have to disagree with Danny Cusack’s reference to “squandering the pro-life movement for a tawdry triumph” in the election of Donald Trump as US President (Letters, IC 15/12/2016) I also left Amnesty over its campaigning for abortion, the destruction of the most vulnerable and helpless of all, but, if Hillary Clinton had…
Dear Editor, Catholics must always seek to be faithful to the Pope. But irrespective of the teaching in Amoris Laetitia, the Vatican response to Cardinal Burke et al. is a source of scandal. The four simply said “we the undersigned, but also many bishops and priests, have received numerous requests from the faithful of various…
Dear Editor, We have a Pope, a Holy Father who is continuing the process of renewing the Catholic Church and caring for us his Children. In time the intransigent oldies in the hierarchy will, with God’s help be overcome. There are of course many intransigent minds among us lay folk also. So many thoughts run…
Dear Editor, Your recent report inviting applications for the post of Maynooth president concludes: “Applicants to include written permission from bishop or religious superior”. It strikes me that this condition rather narrows down the pool of eligibles, amounting to a virtual veto on some potential contenders. Surely the crisis in our national Church and in Maynooth itself calls…
Dear Editor, Recently I wrote to you about The Ray D’Arcy Show on radio and an interview with Rónán Mullen. I made the point that it was evident where D’Arcy’s sympathies lay on the subject of abortion. Rónán Mullen was simply superb in answering Ray D’Arcy’s points and it was all too clear that Mr…
Dear Editor, So the head of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association is defending the core role of religion in schools (IC 5/1/2016). But why is this even necessary? Despite the common phrase ‘Church-run’, most Irish schools are in fact ‘Church-owned’, built by parishes on their land. If people want to push the Faith out…
Recently, while on the road giving a workshop, I took the opportunity to go the cathedral in a city for a Sunday Eucharist. I was taken aback by the homily. The priest used the Gospel text where Jesus says “I am the vine and you are the branches” to tell the congregation that what Jesus…
Next week will see the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th president of the United States of America. Few could have predicted, even six months ago, that Mr Trump would defeat the Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. In fact, I spent election results night at a party hosted by the wonderful US Ambassador to…
John L. Allen Jr.
Paul Keenan
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly