It was the stuff of high drama and historic import. As the final minutes of 2016 ticked away in an expectant Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), New Year spectacles could do little to distract the eyes of the nation from talks taking place in the capital Kinshasa, the outcome of which would dictate the chances…
It says something of the state of the nation when a quiet day of non-events gains more column inches with the international media than a 5.3 magnitude earthquake just days before. An understanding of this apparent skewing of priorities comes when El Salvador is identified as the source for both stories. On January 4, media…
Dear Editor, The Bishop of Kilmore has said the question of ordaining married men to the priesthood may be raised during the ad limina visit to Rome (IC 12/1/2017). As a convert from Anglicanism, I should like to make a number of points as to why any such proposal should be regarded with caution. First,…
Dear Editor, The basic idealism that prompts a young man to be a priest can often be the very quality that a similar young woman longs to find in a prospective partner. Few fellows today are looking for a chaste girl, so most girls, not primarily motivated by sexual desire, may feel obliged to ‘get…
Dear Editor, I have written to The Late Late Show to complain about an item that appeared on the January 6 edition of the show when in a discussion about a “post-truth” world, we had to endure sneering and mockery of Jesus and the Blessed Eucharist, which Ryan Tubridy seemed to find amusing. The Eucharist was referred…
Dear Editor, At a time when we are being asked by Pope Francis among others to rethink our relationship to our God-made environment, we are asked to examine our consumption patterns. One aspect of consumption is the food we eat. As Church, we are also called upon to make acts of personal sacrifice including special…
Dear Editor, This country at the present time is going through the greatest crisis of faith. For a long time I prayed for another papal visit to this country – now Pope Francis is coming in 2018, and please God there will be a healing of the wounds of the past and a great revival…
Dear Editor, We sat watching Meryl Streep’s tearful reproof at the Golden Globe Awards: “Violence begets violence.” This was followed, on television, by the trailers of two forthcoming films from Hollywood, depicting the most brutal violence on screen. Perhaps her speech could have profitably been directed towards some of her own colleagues or towards some…
Dear Editor, While I can appreciate our bishops’ reluctance to make a martyr out of the supposedly silenced priest Fr Tony Flannery, it is still depressing to read that they are unwilling to take any action to prevent him from saying Mass publicly within their dioceses. Fr Flannery is out of ministry for good reason,…
Recently a man came to me, asking for help. He carried some deep wounds, not physical wounds, but emotional wounds to his soul. What surprised me initially was that, while he was deeply wounded, he had not been severely traumatised either in childhood or adulthood. He seemed to have just had to absorb the normal…
Paul Keenan
Fr Ronald Rolheiser