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…
Category: Opinion
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…
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 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…
Church has replaced England as our bogeyman
David QuinnWhen it comes to the Catholic Church, many Irish people need to grow up, writes David Quinn
RTÉ coverage of the Philippines was scant
Dear Editor, I was very disappointed in scanty coverage by RTÉ on Philippines disaster; again RTÉ seems out of touch with international news compared to BBC, ITV and SKY News which give extensive coverage. Irish people are indebted to the thousands of Filipino nurses and care workers in our hospitals and health clinics. Of course the…
Defending the review of Philomena
Dear Editor, Fionn O’Grada took issue with my review of the film Philomena (IC 14/11/13) citing the review header ‘The Sins of the Mothers’ as apparent evidence of the fact that I ‘only’ saw sin in the fact that Philomena became pregnant outside marriage and not in the cruel way she and the other young…
The Pope, Medjugorje and messages from heaven
Michael KellyThe issue of Medjugorje can be a divisive one within the Church, writes Michael Kelly