Courtney McGrailDear Editor, In the Catholic Church we have an ongoing discussion about the crisis in vocations in the ministerial priesthood in Ireland in terms of staffing numbers and the challenges it poses. It perplexes me to see reactions from around the country when parishes get upset when their bishop announces he no longer has a…
Category: Opinion
Silence on loss of Dominican community
Dear Editor, I was surprised to see so little coverage in The Irish Catholic of how people from Drogheda walked to Tallaght on August 29 to present the Dominican HQ with a petition signed by 22,000 people objecting to the impending departure of the town’s Dominican community. Surprised, but not heartbroken. Isn’t it time to…
Is 520 the best we can do?
Dear Editor, It is encouraging to hear that parishioners across Ireland are making plans to welcome refugees from North Africa and the Middle East, and encouraging too to hear of bishops attempting to coordinate this response. Unfortunately, you report the Department of Justice as saying that a mere 520 migrants will have refugee status, with…
Where the liturgy is celebrated
Cathal BarryThe Church teaches that when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are gathered to be ‘built into a spiritual house’, writes Cathal Barry
How we are all overstimulated in our grandiosity
Fr Ronald RolheiserThere are now more than seven billion people on this Earth and each one of us feels that he or she is the centre of the Universe. That accounts for most of the problems we have in the world, in our neighborhoods and in our families. And no one’s to blame for this, save God…
Pope’s tough words for United States
Tough words could see Pope Francis following in the footsteps of John Paul II, writes Andrew O’Connell
Britain’s calm and considered euthanasia debate was a model
Michael Kelly“Public debates in Ireland are all-too-often marked by groupthink and a desire for conformity”, writes Michael Kelly
When suffering is the mother of compassion
Mary KennyA history of suffering teaches us to have empathy for modern refugees, writes Mary Kenny
Britain’s ‘right to die’ debate has a chilling tone
Changing legislation in Britain could prompt copycat policies in Ireland, writes Michael Kelly
Clergy, please preach against rural crime
Theft is a moral crime that threatens the ‘common good’, writes Mary Kenny