Category: Opinion

Clarify meaning of Eighth Amendment

Dear Editor, Mary Kenny, under the heading “Why we must change this fatal phrase” (IC 14/07/2016), reminded us of the writings of George Orwell, who said whoever controls the language controls the political power. Today, she says, we are presented with the hurtful, and harmful, phrase “fatal foetal abnormality”. She rightly criticises the use of…

Following example of O’Connell, Hume

Dear Editor, Mary Kenny hits the nail on the head when praising the peaceful, legal and constitutional paths of the Liberator, Daniel O’Connell (IC 21/07/2016). Her description of the scenes of blood running on the streets and heads on pikes along the roadsides which the young O’Connell saw during the French Revolution in 1789 is…

Remembering a true devotee of Padre Pio

Dear Editor, It was with great sadness that the Padre Pio prayer groups noted the passing this year of the late Fr Michael Duggan CSSp of Whitestown, Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford Fr Michael became involved in the early years of the formation of the Irish prayer groups and was coordinator of the Padre Pio Prayer Groups…

Dear Editor, Can I commend you on your fascinating coverage of clerical salaries in your issue of July 21? It was extraordinary to see how much variance there was across the country, but even more extraordinary to see the variance in how dioceses cooperated with your efforts. The Diocese of Elphin, which publishes its clerical…

Paying for married priests

Dear Editor, The recent attempt by The Irish Catholic (21/07/2016) to survey priests’ incomes across Ireland should cause those who argue for married clergy to think again. With married priests would come clerical families, and it is hard to imagine priests – even with a spouse’s second income – supporting children on the income they…

Online chatter about the Republican National Convention has focused less on the coronation of Donald Trump than on his wife Melania’s speech.  For some, the speech was notable for its so-far unexplained nod to 1980s singer Rick Astley, with Mrs Trump declaring of her husband that: “He will never, ever, give up. And, most importantly,…