The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021, introduced in the US Senate and House June 8 and currently moving through various committees in both chambers, “is nothing short of child sacrifice”, said Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco. The “misnamed” measure, he said, “shows to what radical extremes the supposedly ‘pro-choice’ advocates in our country…
Vatican requires vaccine pass for visitors and employees The Vatican will require all visitors and personnel to show a Covid-19 pass proving they have been vaccinated, have recovered from the coronavirus, or have tested negative for the disease in order to enter the city state beginning October 1. To enter Vatican territory, tourists and other…
In Walker Percy’s 1971 novel, Love Among the Ruins, his central character is a psychiatrist named Tom More. Dr More is a Catholic who is no longer practicing his faith, albeit he still believes. This is how he describes his situation: “I believe in God and the whole business but I love women best, music…
The Sunday Gospel Today’s Gospel (Mark 10: 2-16) is first of all about the sanctity of marriage between husband and wife, and then about the touch of God on their children. The background is a trick question about divorce in an attempt to trap Jesus. “Is it against the law for a man to divorce…
The US state of Kansas ranks 27th in terms of American states for the percentage of residents who are Catholic. Some 18% of Kansans – fewer than one in five – identify as Catholic. In the Diocese of Wichita – which covers 26 counties in south central and southeast Kansas – only about 10% of…
For some reason, coincidence or God-incidence, the theme of vocation has featured a few times in the media this week. 75 Years in Japan (RTÉ One, Thursday) was one of the most marvellously inspiring and moving programmes I’ve seen this year. This documentary told the story of Jennie O’Sullivan who became Sr Paschal when she…
Remembering this year is the fiftieth anniversary of Stravinsky’s death, I wrote about him in this column of September 2 reaching his Symphony in C of 1940 when he had settled in America. This followed the death of his first wife Katya and marriage in March 1940 to extrovert artist and divorcee Vera Sudeykina. They…
Dear Editor, thank you for your courageous words in your timely ‘Editor’s Comment’ on the controversy provoked by the president’s refusal to attend the ecumenical service in Armagh [The Irish Catholic, September 23, 2021]. The commemoration (not celebration) of partition was always going to be something that had to be handled sensitively – a fact…
Minority pupils more likely to have negative school experience Pupils from Muslim minority backgrounds are more likely to have a negative relationship with their teacher, new research from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) shows. The study, lasting three years and involving more than 3,000 students, showed that 94.5% of majority students experienced positive or moderately positive…
Notebook We’re all familiar with trade unions, organisations like SIPTU and ASTI, founded by workers in a particular sector, and designed to protect the rights and welfare of such workers. They play a vital role in society, and in modern times Popes have consistently made major pronouncements in their favour, most elaborately in Pope St…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Brendan O’Regan