Dear Editor, I do not think that I can be alone in seeing the publicity surrounding Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s recent speech on the New Evangelisation in a New Ireland as being a missed opportunity. Whilst there is much of interest and value in the speech itself, drawing on the call of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict…
Category: Opinion
Under Pope Francis, liberation theology comes of age
Pope Francis’ September 11 meeting with Dominican Fr Gustavo Gutierrez was an informal one, held in the in the Pope’s residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, and not listed on his official schedule. Yet the news that Pope Francis had received the 85-year old Peruvian priest, who is widely considered the father of liberation theology, has…
Megaphone diplomacy in Church is unhelpful
David QuinnWhat is the role of the Catholic media? What is the role of the Catholic commentator? These questions are prompted by an address given by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin at a conference in Kilkenny last week. I suppose the same kind of questions can be answered to a certain extent by asking what is the…
Where will Pope Francis lead us?
Michael KellyThere was a time when it would not have been uncommon to walk into an Irish Catholic home and see two portraits hung above a mantelpiece held in equal esteem: Pope John XXIII and US President John F. Kennedy. After the austere Pope Pius XII, ‘Good Pope John’ as he quickly became known, was…
Can we learn from Charismatic Renewal?
Hands up, I never ‘joined’ the Charismatic Renewal. But my life has been impacted and touched by a great many people whose lives have been changed because of Charismatic Renewal. People of a certain age may recall the emergence of the Charismatic Renewal around Ireland. The influence of the Charismatic Renewal Movement and its…
Getting the Church ready for mission
The Church is missionary by its very nature: that is to say that Catholics should be constantly reaching out to others. One of the great calls of Pope Francis since his election has been for Catholics to step outside of ourselves, to go out to the margins. We have an enviable missionary tradition in…
Becoming God’s good servants
The summer now past, we come once again to what is in effect, for many, the beginning of a new year. It is an opportune time to ask, not only, ‘What am I doing?’, but the more fundamental question, ‘Who am I?’ We, who must live and labour in this secular world, but carry…
Syria needs dialogue, not bombs
Pope Francis called for dialogue and reconciliation in Syria on Saturday as he led a peace vigil in St Peter’s square and millions of Catholics worldwide were joined by other faiths in a day of fasting and prayer. “In beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world, let us pray for reconciliation…
The confidence of priesthood
Dear Editor, Over the past few years and especially during the ordination ‘season’ of June/July, you have covered the phenomenon which can only be described as a sort of clericalism (in the best sense of the word). By that your pictures show the newly ordained in full cottas, amices and bright gold Roman vestments; heightened…
Questions for Bishop Smith
Dear Editor, I can’t help but wonder what Bishop Smith, Fr Patrick Mulcahy and the rest of the ‘ban the eulogy and all traces of humanity from funerals’ wing of the Catholic Church made of the carry-on at the funeral of the late, great Seamus Heaney. There you had piper Liam O’Flynn celebrating with Port…