Last week, I managed to get my hands on a copy of a PhD thesis from 1987 entitled ‘The office and authority of the local prior in the order of Saint Augustine’ by one Robert Prevost, then a doctoral student only a few years older than myself. For years it had lain totally untouched in…
“Welcome to the desert of the real,” Morpheus tells Neo as he awakens from the computer-generated dreamworld into grim reality. The line, borrowed from Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard, captures a central modern anxiety: what if the world we experience is not real, but an illusion? In his work, Baudrillard – a French philosopher…
This is just what Christian inclusiveness is about: all are invited; not to ‘more of the same,’ but to something new, radical, and wonderful, writes Fr Chris Hayden Welcoming, openness, acceptance; inclusiveness, inclusion, inclusivity… these ideas have become part of the air we breathe. Their goodness is as taken-for-granted as that of fresh air, wholesome…
It is with the astonished joy of the resurrection in the season of Easter that we welcome a new Pope. We continue to mourn the loss of Pope Francis whose extensive ministry through presence, preaching, teaching and writing can now be absorbed and take on new light. Just as the words of Christ we read…
Russell Shaw Cardinal Robert Prevost has selected the name Pope Leo XIV, an apparent nod to Pope Leo XIII, who deserves to be called the founding father of Catholic social doctrine in modern times, with his encyclical Rerum Novarum as its foundational document. The Catholic Church has taught social morality for many centuries. This body of teaching includes…
Catholic education, Apologetics and COVID-19 This article explores what influences people to develop a faith and conversely why do they lose their faith. Research evidence points to perhaps surprising data on the role of schools and, also on the influence of home. Insight into apologetics helps us consider how we discuss and defend our faith…
The thought of some of the greatest and most influential people in history seems at times riddled with inconsistencies. Jesus, Augustine, Socrates, Aristotle, among others, appear at times to be contradicting themselves. It’s not always easy to see how everything squares with everything else in their teachings. That’s why the great religions and philosophies of…
Catholic schools face a critical juncture. The opportunity for renewal is vast, the path forward is clear, writes Bláthnaid Gunawardana Catholic schools have long been a crucial pillar in the Irish education system. They are highly admired and supported for their high levels of academic excellence, positive community engagement and strong moral framework. They aspire…
A few months ago, a friend and I here in Leuven went on one of those carnival rides that look, frankly, insane. It was basically a huge pendulum. If you think of it like a clock-face, it swung as high as one o’clock on the one side, and eleven o’clock on the other. All the…
The resurrection of Peter At the end of The Georgics, Virgil retells the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice—a story of love, loss, and irreversible failure. After Eurydice dies from a snakebite on her wedding day, Orpheus charms the rulers of the underworld with music to win her back. They agree—on one condition: he must not…
Fr John McCarthy
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Fr Barry White