Mary KennyThe roots of Mother’s Day surely lie in the Feast of the Annunciation
Category: Opinion
We need leadership from our bishops
Mags GarganDear Editor, Soon we as a country will be voting for or against same-sex marriages. The Church is very silent. There is little danger that many priests will be persecuted for the safe, wishy washy Gospel that is preached from most of our pulpits each Sunday. Where are the sermons on marriage? Where is the…
Catholic politician: Myth or reality?
Courtney McGrailDear Editor, In St Brigid’s church, Belfast, Cardinal Turkson said that the duty of a Catholic politician is to reflect the joy and transforming power of the Gospel. Sadly, as shown by David Quinn’s comment piece (IC 05/03/2015 Nationalist parties are alienating Catholic voters), that is lacking in the nominal Catholics of both Sinn Féin and…
Freedom of speech
Dear Editor, It seems to me that the media could be descripted as ‘hetrophobic’ towards people that disagree, however minutely, with them and the gay agenda. Fair is fair – if they want freedom of speech for themselves, they have to allow the same for others as well. Yours etc., Brid Fitzpatrick, Terenure, Dublin 6W.
Judgment of Obama unfair
Dear Editor, I share Margaret Hickey’s position opposing abortion, (IC Letters 26/02/2015) but not her judgment of President Obama. Jesus Christ set down fundamental criteria by which people will be judged in Mt 25.31-46, “I was hungry and you gave me food” etc. One of these is “I was sick and you took care of…
Make our votes count
Dear Editor, I have no doubt that there is a huge number of people in our country who like me would disagree with the proposed referendum change to marriage. Unfortunately many of these same people will do nothing practical about it and hope others will do the work. In the last referendum, less than 40%…
Why the Church is Catholic
Cathal BarryThe Church is Catholic because she has a mission to the whole of the human race, writes Cathal Barry
Seeing straight has more dimensions than we can imagine
Fr Ronald RolheiserSometimes you can see a whole lot of things just by looking. That’s one of Yogi Berra’s infamous aphorisms. It’s a clever expression of course, but, sadly, perhaps mostly, the opposite is truer. Mostly we do a whole lot of looking without really seeing much. Seeing implies more than having good eyesight. Our eyes can…
Overcoming a culture of unquestioning deference
''You are the most Catholic country in the world!” Msgr Giovanni Battista Montini (later Blessed Pope Paul VI) told Ireland’s Ambassador to the Vatican, Joseph Walshe, in 1946. Just two years later, the first act of the newly-formed interparty Government in 1948 was to send a message to Pope Pius XII in which Taoiseach John…
It’s the process, not the child, that’s wrong
We hardly need reminding that in Italy, “la Mamma”, is a powerful figure, both in reality, and in symbol, image and metaphor. If you really want to upset an Italian, you insult his mother. The wildest Sicilian bandit has always retained the uttermost respect for “la Mamma”. There is even a civilised Italian tradition that…