Who is this child born in Bethlehem? The manifestation of his divinity is known as an epiphany. On Friday, the sixth of January, we recall the first of three epiphanies. The Wise Men coming from the east brought gold to proclaim Jesus as king, frankincense to represent his priesthood, and myrrh which is used for…
The president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, once again attacked the Catholic Church in the Central American country, accusing it of “calling for bloodshed,” and said, “I never had respect for the bishops.” The Sandinista dictator made the statement December 19 during the 25th commencement for graduates in police sciences from the Walter Mendoza Martínez Police…
In December, a group of doctors, nurses and midwives wrote an open letter to Minister Stephen Donnelly ‘strongly urging’ him to keep the 3-day waiting period before a woman undergoes an abortion. It was a significant statement for several reasons. Firstly, it was timely, in that the Government is supposed to be conducting a review of the abortion…
Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila called it irresponsible and a “flat out lie” for The Denver Post daily newspaper and some other local media to scapegoat Catholic teaching on human sexuality as contributing to hatred against transgender people and the wider LGBTQ community that led to a mass shooting at a Colorado gay bar. He made…
‘The book you need to read finds you, and finds you at that time in your life when you need to read it’. I believe that old axiom, and offer it here as an apologia for my selection of books for 2022. Good art and good literature always have an objective element to them, a…
In the long run, Pope Benedict will be remembered as one of the greatest theologians of the modern period, writes Fr D. Vincent Twomey SVD As doctoral student of Joseph Ratzinger from 1971 to 1978, it was my privilege to come to know one of the greatest theologians of our time. Like most of his…
Pope Francis thought it a good idea to hone in on the life of St Francis de Sales on the 400th anniversary of his death and so should we, writes Jason Osborne On December 28 Pope Francis released an apostolic letter Totum Amoris Est (‘Everything Pertains to Love’), to mark the fourth centenary of the…
Pope Benedict had been well and truly reduced to a caricature, but what we really had was a humble, courteous and holy man, writes David Quinn After Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope in 2005, it was eagerly anticipated by some, and feared by others, that he would begin a new crackdown on theological dissent within…
The Wisdom of Pope Francis Christian faith, inasmuch as it proclaims the truth of God’s total love and opens us to the power of that love, penetrates to the core of our human experience. Each of us comes to the light because of love, and each of us is called to love in order to…
Cardinal Angelo De Donatis said December 23 that the Diocese of Rome learned only recently about the accusations of abuse against Fr Marko Rupnik, a Jesuit priest and artist who has served in the diocese for decades. In a statement, Cardinal De Donatis said “the diocese of Rome, which was unaware until recently of the…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
David Quinn