Few things cause Christianity more trouble in the Western world than what it has to say about sexual morality, writes David Quinn Pope Francis knows that the gulf between the Church and secular society when it comes to sex is massive and is trying to address it by softening the edges and presentation of that…
A priest whose homily went viral this week has asked the bishops to speak up about the restriction to public worship currently in place in Ireland. Fr Seán Mulligan of Carrickmacross Parish gave a homily last Sunday which unexpectedly went viral overnight in Catholic internet circles. In it, he criticised the extent to which the…
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said he will challenge authorities to provide evidence that attendance at religious ceremonies is linked to the spread of coronavirus. It comes as data reveals that since the beginning of the pandemic there have been just six outbreaks of the virus connected with what the Government describes as ‘religious/other’…
Purposeful meetings are life-giving and this is the reason the Northern Pastoral Network continues to meet, writes Paula McKeown In Church circles there are many phrases being bounced around that can leave nothing but negativity ringing between the ears: “The accelerator has been pressed on secularisation.” “The few families that were coming haven’t come back.”…
The sense of Sunday still resonates deeply with Christians throughout this country and throughout the world, writes Julie Kavanagh A s a parish cantor, I have been one of the privileged few able to attend Mass on a Sunday throughout this pandemic. I don’t take that privilege lightly. I have experienced first-hand the loneliness of…
Bishop Denis Brennan has said that the “continued existence of church closures” needs to be “revisited and amended” in his letter encouraging solidarity in the “age of coronavirus” for the month of November. The Bishop of Ferns asked that people do more than “what is simply right at present”, saying “Let us as Church go…
Assisted suicides present an unhelpful and dubious choice of relief or continuous pain, writes Fr SeánMacGiollarnáth, O. Carm. The Hippocratic tradition in medicine is under threat through the removal of traditional protections at the beginning and the end of human life. Law and medicine both reflect dominant tendencies and practices in culture and politics which…
The United States hosted the signing ceremony of the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Thursday last (October 22). The document rejects the claim that abortion is an international human right. “Today we put down a clear marker; no longer can UN agencies reinterpret and misinterpret agreed-upon language without accountability,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services…
Pope Francis has announced he will create 13 new cardinals November 28. The Pope made the announcement at the end of his Angelus address October 25, telling the crowd in St Peter’s Square the names of the nine cardinals under the age of 80, who will be eligible to vote in a conclave, and the…
The Pope’s words on same-sex civil-unions aren’t a departure from Church teaching, a leading theologian has said. In a statement, Fr Eamonn Conway of Mary Immaculate College said: “The Church’s stance towards civil unions is a matter of prudential judgement and not one of dogma. “This recent statement by Pope Francis is not to be misunderstood…
David Quinn
Chai Brady