Eritrean bishops protested the government’s seizure of Catholic schools and asked that the Church be enabled to continue its educational and health services. “If this is not hatred against the faith and against religion, what else can it be?” the bishops said in a letter to Eritrea’s minister of public education. “Our voice of protest”…
There is a danger that conscientious objection will only be allowed when it can make little difference, writes Dr Keith Holmes Conscious Objection in Health Care describes medical scenarios where clinicians refuse to engage in a clinical activity on the grounds that such participation would contravene their ethical moral or religious beliefs. While this…
The Pro Life Campaign (PLC) have said they remain “resolutely determined” to protect the right of citizens to hold demonstrations outside abortion clinics as the Minister for Health continues to pursue legislation that would make it illegal. The pro-life group said that Minister Simon Harris has invited a select group of Oireachtas members to a…
Questions of Faith When it comes to marriage, films and television shows often depict the ceremony with the bride donning an elegant, white dress as she walks up the church aisle towards the groom. This portrayal of weddings is not much different from those in real life; most women considering marriage usually take wearing a…
A bill to decriminalise abortion in all cases of rape failed in the Ecuadorian legislature last week, amid opposition from the Church and civil organisations. It would have allowed abortion also in cases of non-viable foetal deformity, incest, and non-consensual artificial insemination. Sixty-five members of the unicameral National Assembly voted in favour, five short of…
One of the world’s best-known actors Brad Pitt [pictured] has said he’s left Atheism behind and “clings to religion”. In a wide-ranging interview published in a US magazine, Mr Pitt (55) spoke of his Christian upbringing and the importance of religion in his life. “I grew up with Christianity. Always questioned it, but it worked…
Letter from Rome Under a Pope for whom ‘synodality’ is the buzzword par excellence, meaning broad consultation and shared decision-making, it probably should be no surprise that synods and their vicissitudes are destined to be the biggest Catholic drama over the months to come. We already know about the controversial Synod of Bishops for the Amazon…
Nights in Armour by Samuel Thompson (Mercier Press, €14.99) With the question of Ulster back in the fore of European politics, this new novel reminds us of just what the condition were in the grim past of that province that wise leaders in the Republic and the EU, Northern Ireland and Britain should seek to…
Two Irish clerics have been asked to take part in the Vatican’s upcoming Synod of Bishops on the Amazon. A Kiltegan Father originally from Monkstown, Co. Dublin, Bishop Derek Byrne of Primavera do Leste-Paranatinga in Brazil will join Fr Peter Hughes, a Galway-born and Columban Father who works for CELAM, the Latin American episcopal conference,…
It’s been 40 years since Pope St John Paul II’s iconic visit to Ireland, which drew crowds of millions. Since then Ireland has changed dramatically, but his messages of peace and faith are as relevant today as if they were said yesterday. The Polish Pontiff, who was just 59 years old at the time, kissed…
Chai Brady
Colm Fitzpatrick
John L. Allen Jr.
Greg Daly