Matteo Mazzariol Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death.” These words of GK Chesterton are probably the best to…
The 400th anniversary of the birth of the martyred St Oliver Plunkett was celebrated at a service on Wednesday in Drogheda. Fr Eugene Sweeney PP said: “Oliver Plunkett lived at a remarkably difficult and chaotic time. His resilience, courage and constant efforts for peace and justice are truly inspiring, and therefore it is appropriate to…
Fr Tom Grufferty When Garry O’Sullivan asked me to write an article on “Relentless Ministry” in the Catholic Church, I had never associated these two words as companions. I then began to investigate the topic myself personally. Here is my response: From the first day of my time at All Hallows College in the…
I still put barriers up in my soul to God, and He keeps breaking them down, says Ciarán Heelan I don’t think there was ever a time in my life when I didn’t believe in God, not truly. My story is more about how I placed limits and barriers in different areas of my life…
Hannah Brockhaus Defending the rights of Indigenous people is a matter of justice and a way to guarantee a sustainable future for everyone, Pope Francis said in a message on Monday. “Land, water, and food are not mere commodities but the very basis of life and the link between these [Indigenous] peoples and nature,” the…
Dear Editor, Three cheers for historian Fr Conor McDonough OP for exposing the ‘paper thin’ reasoning for deposing St Brigid in favour of some pagan goddess. The latter, he tells us, is only mentioned once in the 10th-century manuscript, ’Sanas Cormaic’. She never enjoyed any importance in Ireland. Where, one might ask, does that leave…
Heidi and Cory Busse The images of love and marriage that surround us in popular culture reinforce the idea that real love is easy, and experiencing hardship means you’ve married the wrong person. The reality is, we are all human beings struggling to find our way through relationships. Successful spouses know that putting time…
President Donald Trump’s new policies concerning undocumented immigrants have been causing shock and outrage among many in Latin America. The region’s Church is one of the institutions currently trying to figure out how such changes will impact its work and is establishing strategies to deal with them. The new US president’s pledge to promote “mass…
Nicolás de Cárdenas In his acceptance speech for the honorary doctorate awarded him by the Catholic University of Valencia, Cardinal Kurt Koch rejected the extreme positions of progressives and traditionalists regarding the Second Vatican Council. The prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity reflected in his address on the tension between the two…
Fr Hugh O’Donnell SDB The title must appear an unlikely one given that Matt left school basically illiterate. His time in St Lawrence O’Toole’s Christian Brothers’ school, aged 8/9, is summed up in the phrase, “kept home through necessity”. His next enrolment at age 11 in O’Connell’s is no brighter as there in the margin…