Believers are ‘living stones’ that can build up the Church Although the Church is built upon a strong foundation, it is always in need of being reformed and repaired, Pope Francis has said. Before reciting the Angelus prayer last Sunday, Pope Francis said that Christians are the “living stones” that Christ uses to fill in…
Ngala Killian Chimtom Barely three years after the highly contagious Ebola virus struck Sierra Leone, killing roughly 4,000 people with 14,000 confirmed cases, the impoverished West African country is once more in the throes of disaster. Weeks of heavy rain led to the collapse of a side of Sugar Loaf Mountain on August 14, crushing…
Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, was in Moscow last week for meetings with both government officials and leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church. He held a news conference last Tuesday after seeing Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, discussing areas where the two sides agree (persecution of Christians in the Middle East) and…
Dear Editor, Pro–life people in the Republic of Ireland are very worried about remarks made by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in a TV interview on the Feast of the Apparitions at Knock, on August 21. They were made in an interview on the Six One News on RTÉ with Teresa Mannion. In reply to a question,…
Dear Editor, Greg Daly is to be commended for his analysis as “unsustainable and probably unconstitutional”, the recommendations of the Australian Royal Commission to compel priests to break the seal of Confession where child sexual abuse is disclosed (IC 17/08/2017). His interview with Teresa Devlin, CEO of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the…
Dear Editor, Someone who opposes abortion and holds to the traditional definition of marriage is immediately branded a ‘social conservative’. Why? If these values ensure the progress of human society into a safe and healthy future, surely that person merits the descriptive noun, ‘progressive’, i.e. ‘forward looking’? Yours etc., Judith Leonard, Raheny, Dublin 6.
Dear Editor, An urgent plea to all, your prayers (especially the Rosary) are asked that we may continue to protect the unborn and that Ireland remains abortion free. There are many people in this country who wish to change the law concerning the Eighth Amendment, which would allow abortion to be carried out in Ireland…
Dear Editor, Mary Kenny is mistaken when she refers to the “strange death of the SDLP” (IC 17/08/2017), because the SDLP is far from dead. Yes, they took a hit in this year’s Westminster election, but that still leaves a substantial group in the Northern Assembly and a sizeable number of councillors. However, longer term…
Dear Editor, I was delighted to read in The Irish Catholic that five of the recently ordained priests stated they “were inspired in their vocation by the Legion of Mary”, having just read the book From Navan to China giving details of the success of the work of the Legion of Mary in China, where…
Every day children in schools all around the world eat their lunch in toilet cubicles; others spend entire mornings in class silently agonising about who might hang out with them at lunchtime; millions immediately panic when they hear the familiar ping from their mobile and they realise that yet another so-called friend has posted spiteful…
John L. Allen Jr.