“Fr Flannery is clearly not even remotely on the same page as Pope Francis”, writes Michael Kelly Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar rebuked the Taoiseach at the weekend after Enda Kenny hinted that Fine Gael might be prepared to enter government with Sinn Féin. “In politics,” Mr Varadkar said, “you have to make compromises to…
“a crisis is also often an opportunity, and a chance to re-focus on the roots and reasons of a custom and a tradition”, writes Mary Kenny Considering that so many Irish people vehemently object to the policies of President Donald Trump – especially towards migrants – should Taoiseach Enda Kenny cancel the usual trip to…
“It is hard at this point to know what an election will change”, writes Martin Mansergh The history of the independent Ireland that originated 100 years ago last year has hitherto fallen into two main periods. The first 40 years were guided by Sinn Féin ideals of self-sufficiency and the notion that Ireland was as…
Pope cannot offer carte blanche for priests to dissent, writes David Quinn It has now been confirmed that Enda Kenny did indeed intervene with Pope Francis when he visited him recently on behalf of a number of priests disciplined by the Vatican, including Fr Tony Flannery. This raises an obvious question: why did the Taoiseach…
Dear Editor, In regard to the incident on The Late Late Show two weeks ago where the Eucharist was openly mocked and ridiculed, it’s difficult to know what was the worst aspect of the whole sorry episode. Was it the ignorance, the gratuitous contempt shown, the studied insult to those who actually pay to keep…
Dear Editor, Prof. William Reville asserts that defining meaning in our lives is a precursor to happiness, as he concords with author Emily Esfahani Smith in her book, The Power of Meaning (IC, 12/1/2017). Taking this approach is to miss the whole point of happiness, that it is the natural state of a human being.…
The French novelist and essayist, Leon Bloy, once made this comment about God’s power in our world: “God seems to have condemned himself until the end of time not to exercise any immediate right of a master over a servant or a king over a subject. We can do what we want. He will defend…
“Governments and great political movements have tried to take away the sins of the world and have often ended up becoming more corrupt and destructive themselves”, writes Fr Martin Delaney A recent Sunday gospel proclaimed the familiar words: “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” With those…
Early Christian monks believed in something they called acedia. More colloquially, they called it, the noonday devil, a name that essentially describes the concept. Acedia, for them, was different from ordinary depression in that it didn’t draw you into the dark, chaotic areas of your mind and heart, to have you diseased before your own…
“Francis has changed much in the workings of the Holy See, and the traditional bishops’ visits are not immune from this”, writes Michael Kelly At the Vatican press office on Friday morning, dozens of journalists waited patiently for the script of what Pope Francis would say to the Irish bishops present for their ad limina…
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Dr Martin Mansergh
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser