The Church’s view of life as a gift informs its view of the practice of surrogacy, writes Maria Wiering “The gift of life which God the Creator and Father has entrusted to man calls him to appreciate the inestimable value of what he has been given and to take responsibility for it.” So begins the…
Polarisation in Poland has reached new heights as it enters the new year, following the election of a left-leaning government more in line with those “European values” we frequently hear about from the continent’s top bureaucrats than the nation’s previous right-wing PiS (Law and Justice) administration. At the top of the new government’s agenda, headed…
Whatever its critics may say, the Church in Ireland has embraced Pope Francis’ call to reach to the peripheries and Ireland is better for it. For instance, the Church is a constant voice for migrants and the homeless, with Archbishop Dermot Farrell recently offering a stirring defence of the right of asylum seekers and refugees…
Justin McLellan While bishops may take a cautious approach to the Vatican’s guidance on blessing same-sex or other unmarried couples, they should not deny their priests the possibility of discerning and imparting blessings on people who ask for them, the Vatican doctrinal office said. “Prudence and attention to the ecclesial context and to the local…
Many parishes across Ireland saw packed churches this Christmas as people turned out in droves to celebrate the birth of Christ. This followed calls from priests and prelates across the country in early December for people to use the festive period to encourage their friends and neighbours who have been away from the sacraments, to…
Archbishop Eamon Martin has decried the “shocking” example of modern warfare in Gaza in his message for World Day of Peace. Reflecting on Pope Francis’ message highlighting the “serious ethical questions related to the armaments sector”, particularly the weaponisation of artificial intelligence, the archbishop of Armagh said “we must not lose sight of the shocking…
I had known that the parish church in Tubbercurry turned 90 in 2023. I wasn’t sure of the date but had mentioned it at a pastoral council meeting and thought we should mark the event as the year was coming to a close. I called Bishop Paul and asked if he might be free to…
The Church offers us a richer way to celebrate Christmas, writes Amy Welborn For Catholics, great feasts like Christmas don’t come at us out of the blue: In the secular world, ‘Christmas’ seems to start in October! However, our approach to this holiday as Catholics must be different, and it can be. We can put…
Although a time of joyful anticipation and celebration the Christmas period undoubtedly throws up stressful curve balls that for newlyweds, and even veteran married couples, cause tedious petty quarrels – or at worst seething vendettas. Avoiding battles of pride and half-baked principles during the holidays will allow a couple to enter the New Year without…
A two-point question: It is common to hear, ‘It’s a miracle,’ for a sports comeback victory. Does the Church actually have a definition of a miracle? When it comes to canonisation, miracles are required, aren’t they? Does a miracle happen in other domains except health and medicine? A miracle is an extraordinary phenomenon that cannot…
Chai Brady