Letter from Rome Pope Francis is attempting to hold the nation of Italy together by appealing for political unity at a time when political opposition are threatening to sabotage Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s plan for gradually easing coronavirus restrictions by issuing their own decrees. Yet at some point, when this is over, the Pope…
Anton de Wit The Netherlands recently announced a gradual relaxation of the ‘intelligent lockdown’. Elementary schools will be open again soon and outdoor sports are also allowed under certain conditions. Meanwhile, the Dutch Catholic community wonders: when will we be able to go to Mass again? In an opinion poll of the Dutch Catholic weekly…
John Updike, after recovering from a serious illness, wrote a poem he called, Fever. It ends this way: “but it is a truth long known that some secrets are hidden from health”. Deep down we already know this, but as a personal truth this is not something we appropriate in a classroom, from parents or…
Notebook We buried him today in Culmore 10, 15 people there, no more; for we are told that is the way to keep the deadly virus at bay. But it’s sad for sure and lonely too far removed from what we do, when parish stops to bow its head and mourn a neighbour who…
Historic memories of the Spanish flu of 1918-20 have been frequently invoked during the present pandemic – the novelist Emma O’Donoghue, who wrote Room, will be publishing a new novel in July based on the so-called Spanish flu. (Unfair to blame the Spanish for that pandemic: Spain’s press simply reported it, being free of wartime…
The View At the beginning of Lent we heard the words: “Memento homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.” Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return. In the two months since then – has it really only been two months? – a tiny virus has brought the world to…
It is untenable for the Government to refuse to admit mistakes and we need a public inquiry, writes David Quinn Nursing homes in Ireland, whether private or HSE-run, look after about 30,000 elderly people. That comes to roughly 0.6% of our population. Yet these homes account for around 50% of all Covid-19 related deaths…
It is funny where the lessons of our classrooms are sometimes understood. I studied philosophy when I was still a bit too young for it, a 19-year-old studying the metaphysics of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. But something from a metaphysics course remains indelibly stamped in my mind. We learned that there are four ‘transcendental’ properties…
Notebook I have been live-streaming Sunday Mass onto our parish Facebook page since March 15, so I feel like a hardened cyber-veteran at this stage. But even with nine broadcast Masses under my belt, the Sunday morning liturgical adventure is always preceded by a sleepless Saturday night. Maybe after a year, when this becomes…
It is said that time heals all wounds, although the motto doesn’t specify just how much time may be required. Still, it happens. Just look at Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and their plans to govern together during this time of crisis. The plans may not run smoothly, and there may be arguments over the…
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Mary Kenny
Maria Steen
David Quinn