Why did the bishops go even further than the Government required by telling priests aged over 70 to strictly cocoon, asks David Quinn A delegation from the bishops’ conference held an online meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last week to discuss a return to public Masses. A statement was released by the bishops afterwards. It…
A Parent’s Perspective My daughters all love the film, Pride and Prejudice. Times may have changed, but there’s something timeless and appealing about the spirited Elizabeth Bennet and the dashing, debonair, Mr Darcy. It is the perennial theme of a great love, a story that never grows old, boy meets girl, there are some…
A group of seamstresses working in direct provision centres have come together to make over 1,000 face masks a week to protect the vulnerable from Covid-19. The Sanctuary Mask Initiative (SMI) is spearheaded by BetterTogether and the Cork Migrant Centre, with the support of the UCC University of Sanctuary, UCC Feminist and Fáilte Refugees Societies.…
He was an evangelist who steadied the ship after the turmoil following Vatican II, the Papal Nuncio exclusively tells Michael Kelly A hundred years ago this week, Karol Wojtyla was born in the small Polish town of Wadowice. Some 58 years later he would be catapulted on to the world stage as the 263rd Successor…
Raphael’s World by Michael Collins (Messenger Publications, €19.95 / £17.95) The Renaissance painter Raphael (1483-1520) is an artist whose work is widely familiar to many people without them being aware of it. His images affect their imagination because of their content, not because of whom they are by. This is because (rather like Murillo) he was…
Discernment isn’t an easy thing. Take this dilemma: when we find ourselves in a situation that’s causing us deep interior anguish do we walk away, assuming that the presence of such pain is an indication that this isn’t the right place for us, that something’s terminally wrong here? Or, like Jesus, do we accept to…
Almost nine out of 10 readers of The Irish Catholic online want a swifter return to public Masses as soon as it is safe to do so, rather than the July 20 deadline set by the Government in the Republic. In the North, where a ban on churches opening was lifted this week, there is…
Tin Can Cook by Jack Monroe (Bluebird Books for Life, £6.99) During this current term of trial, I was talking on the phone to a friend who is unmarried and lives alone and was finding life very hard. Feeding a single person economically – takeaways are costly – is difficult. He said he was very clever…
Religious freedom and political freedom are woven from the same cloth writes Ray Kinsella Reflecting on Ireland’s experience under the cosh of the Covid-19 pandemic there are very real reasons for concern. The scientific evidence justifying authoritarian edicts restricting freedom of movement and of religious practise – enforced by an unsettling show of force…
The Sunday Gospel Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap. Some of the doors that have kept people locked in have been opened in recent days, but there is still a long wait until all doors will be opened. Religion has a huge role to play in sustaining hope by remembering the bigger picture of life.…
David Quinn
Maria Byrne
Michael Kelly
Peter Costello
Fr Ronald Rolheiser