Archbishop Eamon Martin pictured with the boys from the Palestrina Choir of St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral after the 1916 Rising State commemoration ceremony at Arbour Hill in Dublin at the weekend. photo: CNS
Singing through the centuries
Month: April 2016
First the rhythm method, now the algorithm method
Mary Kenny
“It’s wonderful the way that technology can come to the rescue of good ideas and update the way we look at things,” writes Mary Kenny Natural Family Planning (NFP) was encouraged by the Catholic Church after the publication of Humanae Vitae in 1968, and many couples who felt they needed to limit their families tried…
Agenda-driven media accused of damaging public opinion of Church
Cathal Barry
A prominent priest-sociologist has warned that a number of anti-Catholic media commentators are damaging the public’s opinion of the Church. Jesuit Fr Micheál Mac Gréil told The Irish Catholic that he was “very worried about the atheistic proselytisation going on in Irish society today”. “I believe that proselytising is now not on the side of…
Dublin’s archbishop calls for solidarity against violence
Mags Gargan
The Archbishop of Dublin has called on the people of the city to form a “strong alliance” against gangland violence and to co-operate with the Gardaí to “break the chain of hate and evil”. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was speaking in the wake of the separate shooting of two men in Dublin on Monday night, in…
Ballymena parish getting round the table
The theme of ‘Mercy: Compassion and Healing’ will be explored at the fourth annual All Saints Round Table Gathering hosted by Ballymena Parish in Co. Antrim next month. Margaret McNulty of Embrace, an interdenominational group of Christians working together, will speak about her work promoting a positive response to people from ethnic minorities living in…
Deals with the Devil
Paul Keenan
Europe is ignoring Turkey’s appalling rights record, writes Paul Keenan
Irish churches need to embrace new technology
Dear Editor, The failure of the Catholic Church to note the very pragmatic steps taken by other religions to help congregations is odd. Why, when providing resources that can help the celebration of Mass, does our Church fail so often and so miserably – certainly in Ireland – to venture out of old habits and…
Vatican Roundup
Contract hitch halts audit of Vatican’s finances The first ever audit of Vatican finances by a major global firm has been cut short after – it is understood – the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, raised concerns. The audit by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) was “suspended immediately” on April 12, it has been revealed, when Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu…
Adultery, census forms and papal tweets
Brendan O’Regan
Coverage of this week’s census brought out “the conspiracy theorist in me”, writes Brendan O’Regan Last week I reviewed two British crime shows that showed adultery as a hugely destructive thing, and there was the same message yet again on another drama, Undercover, last Sunday night on BBC One. This was a peculiar variation on…
The Greek view of the financial crisis
And The Weak Suffer What They Must? Europe, Austerity, and the Threat to Global Stability by Yanis Varoufakis (Bodley Head, £16.99hb) Peter Hegarty In a memorable passage in this apologia, former Greek Minster of Finance Yanis Varoufakis describes walking down a long cold corridor in the finance ministry in Berlin. At the other end German finance…