The View I love Christmas. No ‘bah, humbug’ for me. Of course, it is much easier to love Christmas when you have been greatly blessed by having a family, a roof over your head and enough to live on. So many people do not even have the basics of life. As a child, there was one…
The Christmas season is a time to reflect on what life is all about, Pope Francis has told an international group of performers. “The time before Christmas calls us to ask ourselves, ‘What is it that I am waiting for in my life? What is the great desire of my heart?’ You too, with your…
The latest episode of Brazil’s comedy group Porta dos Fundos on Netflix has angered thousands of Brazilians from different religions. The group’s Christmas special, A Primeira Tentacao de Cristo (‘The First Temptation of Christ’) is a satire about a gay Jesus bringing his boyfriend home to meet Mary and Joseph. Reaction to the 40-minute show…
It’s unlikely that your children or grandchildren will keep going to Mass unless some of their peers are doing so as well, writes David Quinn It is now coming up to seven years since the start of this papacy. What has changed in the Church in the meantime? The main thing is probably tone. The…
The Australian government has released its second “exposure draft” of its religious discrimination legislation, winning widespread praise from faith groups, including the Catholic bishops, following changes to the original legislation released in October. The bishops’ main criticism was the proposed laws did not extend to cover health and eldercare workers; the Catholic Church runs about…
As part of the celebrations for his 50th anniversary of priesthood, Pope Francis chose to personally present a multi-volume collection of writings by his long-time spiritual director, the late Jesuit Far Miguel Angel Fiorito. In addition to presenting the Spanish-language collection, Escritos (Writings), at a conference at the Jesuit headquarters on December 13, Pope Francis…
Questions of Faith The first image that probably pops into your head when you think of Santa Claus is a jolly, old, bearded man who delivers presents to children once a year. However, the origins of this story date back to a real life person in the 4th Century. St Nicholas of Myra was a…
A British bishop said he was relieved by the election defeat of political parties committed to liberalising Britain’s abortion laws, but he was “not particularly enthused” by the Conservative Party agenda. In the December 12 general election, the Conservatives of Prime Minister Boris Johnson gained 47 seats, the largest increase for his party since Margaret…
Reforms of the Church in Ireland are underway, and they will intensify, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo tells Michael Kelly The Christian roots of relations between the Irish and the Holy See go back to 431 when Pope Celestine I sent Palladius as Bishop of Ireland. St Patrick was to steal his thunder, but relations between…
The heart of the Christmas message is reaching out to those who have no home or have been displaced, the Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin has said. Following several recent stories of migrants suffering horrific deaths in containers and arriving on Irish shores the prelate told The Irish Catholic “it’s bringing home to us that…
Breda O'Brien
David Quinn
Colm Fitzpatrick
Michael Kelly
Chai Brady