The Church is presented an opportunity with full pews at Christmas, writes Andrew O’Connell
Category: Opinion
A health insurance policy not fit for purpose
At the end of November, the Mater Private Hospital announced they were axing 95 jobs citing the fact that 170,000 insurance policy holders have cancelled their cover since 2011 and the “further erosion of resources” in the sector due to the cap on tax relief on premiums over €1,000. The reduction in patient services in…
Silence on Christian suffering is appalling
Dear Editor, Your front page coverage of Pope Francis’ warning on the plight of Christians in the Middle East (Danger of Christian ‘extinction’ in Mid-East, IC 21/11/13) reveals a sad, not to say disturbing reality in what our current Pope represents to Western observers and the media which has been so keen on the so-called…
Pius XII and the path to sainthood
Dear Editor, After the death of Pope Pius XII in 1959, the Kennedy Directory USA, now the Official Catholic Directory, published the following statistics in relation to his 19 year Pontificate from 1939 until his death in 1958. In 1939 the number of archdioceses in the USA numbered 19, in 1958 they numbered 26 an…
An iconic yet enigmatic figure
Nuala O’LoanFr Alec Reid was a man of courage who dedicated his life to peace, writes Nuala O’Loan
The faithful can find strength in the Gospels
Dear Editor, I found the Gospel message this week very life giving in a time when many in our Church are on the defensive and very angry. Luke 21:5-19 V.14 Jesus says “Keep this carefully in mind you are not to prepare your defence because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom…
The dangers of political correctness
Mary KennyThe Methodists pioneered the great temperance movements of the Victorian era – and were so successful at overcoming addiction to alcohol, especially among poor people who were being ruined by penny gin – that their campaigns have had many imitators since. Even the Pioneers learned from the Methodists (and from the great Fr Mathew). So…
We should defend the good people of the Church
Dear Editor, It is good that Sister Julie Rose of Roscrea has commented as she did on the portrayal of religious sisters in a recent film. We should expect that the Catholic Church as a whole would have come to the defence of sisters, brothers, clergy and others who acted honourably in the service of…
Francis wants to shake the Church out of complacency
Michael KellyMichael Kelly examines the Pope’s ‘roadmap to reform’, Evangelii Gaudium
The Pope’s reform agenda
Cathal BarryThe Pontiff’s new exhortation is a powerful display of practicality, writes Cathal Barry