Parenting Matters
Start preparing children now for new school
Month: June 2016
Stop stressing – start living!
We need to take time out from our busy lives to allow space for reflection and renewal, writes Norman Drummond
Deep things happen under the surface
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
The spirituality writer, Tom Stella, tells a story about three monks at prayer in their monastery chapel. The first monk imagines himself being carried up to Heaven by the angels. The second monk imagines himself already in Heaven, chanting God’s praises with the angels and saints. The third monk cannot focus on any holy thoughts…
Vatican Roundup
Consultant’s volte-face in Vatican court hearing A former consultant to a pontifical commission who denied to a Vatican court that she leaked documents about Vatican financial reform admitted to sending the documents when originally interrogated, a Vatican policeman has said. Stefano DeSantis, an officer investigating the matter, testified on May 24 that Francesca Chaouqui, one of five people on trial…
Indonesia’s death penalty for some drug offences is no deterrant
The death penalty does nothing to hinder the drug trade, a leading Indonesian cleric has said. Speaking after Indonesia’s government announced the imminent execution of 15 prisoners, Fr Paulus Christian Siswantoko, executive secretary of the Indonesian bishops’ Justice and Peace commission, said, “the death penalty is not a deterrent to drug dealers. Many of them…
Italian property tax may force schools to close
An Italian archbishop has warned Church-owned schools will close if the government forces them to pay property taxes worth around €100,000. Responding to a call from Ferrara’s mayor Tiziano Tagliani to pay retroactive property taxes on schools that charge a partial tuition fee, on the basis that this could be considered a “commercial activity”, Ferrara-Comacchio’s…
Philippine bishops delay response to attack
The Philippines’ Catholic Bishops’ Conference has prepared a response to an attack on the Philippine Church by president-elect Rodrigo Duterte, but has decided not to publish it until after his presidential inauguration on June 30. The bishops’ response has been prepared against a background of apprehension that Mr Duterte’s accession to the presidency may see…
Vietnam’s slow and painful pace of change
Paul Keenan
The release of a celebrated priest means little, writes Paul Keenan
Huge research deficit on issue of Catholic education
Dear Editor, These days our bishops and educationists are again circling the wagons against the encroachment of ‘faith-neutral’ models of religious education in Catholic schools. So, for example, we hear Dr Eugene Duffy of St Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, insisting that: “Parents, if they’re sending their children to a faith-based school, will have a genuine…
Disorder and disrespect at services
Dear Editor, I found myself in church, quite accidentally, on a Saturday afternoon at a baptism ceremony. It was conducted by an elderly priest, for whom I had great sympathy. Why? The atmosphere in the church was anything but quiet and respectful. There was widespread talking and giggling, children running around through the seats, even…