A pro-life group have welcomed the Garda Commissioner’s statement that ‘safe access zones’ to abortion providers were unnecessary, but said politicians’ reactions were “deeply alarming”. The Pro Life Campaign criticised some prominent TDs who decidedly ignored and belittled the statement which said further legislation wasn’t needed. Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Eilís Mulroy said: “What these…
Proposed changes to Britain’s surrogacy laws would lead to the “further demeaning of pregnancy”, according to the leading Catholic bioethics centre in the country. Under current UK law, commercial surrogacy – that is, the hiring of a woman to bear a child for another person or couple – is illegal, although ‘altruistic surrogacy’ is not.…
Don’t give up on dating when you’re older, it might just save your marriage, writes Colm Fitzpatrick “Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way,” the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard once remarked. While this quip was written to shed…
First US head of CDF group dies age 83 US Cardinal William Levada, former head of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation and retired archbishop of San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, died on September 26 in Rome. He was 83. When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, he named then-Archbishop Levada to replace…
Some years ago I went on a weekend retreat given by a woman who made no secret about the fact that not being able to have children constituted a deep wound in her life. So she offered retreats on the pain of being unable to have children. Being a celibate and not having my own…
The Pope John Paul II Award is merely a gong with no real value unless those doing it “take seriously how the Gospel can help us understand where our society is damaging itself”, Derry’s Bishop Donal McKeown told young people at Knock Shrine on Friday. Speaking at the National Pope John Paul II Award Pilgrimage,…
A Personal Perspective on Irish PEN by J Anthony Gaughan (Kingdom Books, €15.00) PEN was an international association of writers founded in London in 1921 – the initials stood for ‘Poets, Essayists and Novelists’, but in fact many kinds of writers are now members. The club, as its members thought of it, was intended to…
Sweet Treats This is a wonderfully moreish chocolate cake, the sharpness of the dark chocolate is complemented perfectly with sweet bursts of juicy pears that are right in season this time of the year. It is a really easy recipe to whip up if you have a couple of pears getting overripe in your fruit…
Trócaire and an iconic Dublin parish stand to lose thousands of euro after a cash-in-transit security company in financial difficulties has been revealed to have used client money to prop up its accounts. The chief operations officer of Business Mobile Security Services (BMSS), which trades under the name of Senaca, asked the High Court this…
Feel the buzz in Sligo With a modern awareness of how important bees are for our ecosystems to thrive, perhaps it’s time to learn more about these fascinating creatures. If you’re interested to find out about the ins-and-outs of beekeeping, look no further than Sligo where trained farmer Ailbhe Gerrard can show you the ropes.…
Chai Brady
Colm Fitzpatrick
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Peter Costello
Greg Daly