The Second Vatican Council remains a living issue, writes Francis X. Rocca Fifty years ago this October, Blessed John XXIII and more than 2,500 bishops and heads of religious orders from around the world gathered in St Peter’s Basilica for the opening session of the Second Vatican Council. Over the following three years, Vatican…
A euthanasia group was behind Britain’s commission on assisted suicide, writes Greg Daly A.S. Byatt caused a stir some years back when she publicly disparaged the phenomenal success of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, describing them as little more than a comfortable patchwork of clichés, unworthy of comparison with the writings of such fantasists…
The al Shabaab group may at last be fighting for its own survival, writes Paul Keenan Has the al Shabaab group in Somalia shot itself in the foot? The answer seems to be ‘maybe’ based on events since The Irish Catholic last reported (The enemy from within IC 11/8/11) on a group that has…
Letter from Rome The new head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will be appointed in April, writes Andrea Tornielli Next week, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will hold a plenary session in the Palace of the Holy Office. Everyone expected the name of Cardinal William Levada’s successor…
Senior Vatican officials will hear first hand of the experiences of Irish abuse victims at a major conference in Rome next week aimed at extending better Church guidelines worldwide to ensure abuse allegations are handled properly. Marie Collins, who was abused by Dublin priest Fr Paul McGennis, was one of the first people to come…
Nigeria: Christians flee Boko Haram violence Christians in the north of Nigeria are fleeing south following the latest attack by radical Islamists on their community. Having threatened to target Christians if they did not leave the predominantly Muslim north, the radical Boko Haram group launched a January 6 attack on the Deeper Life Christian…
Ten years on the Church has still not addressed the credibility gap left by the scandals, writes Phil Lawler Ten years have passed since the Boston archdiocese was engulfed in scandal, as the result of investigative reporting by the Boston Globe. Today, the faithful in Boston are still struggling to shake off the…
There is something heavenly in Leonardo Da Vinci’s work, writes Rory Fitzgerald from London Leonardo da Vinci is currently visiting London. The most extraordinary collection of his works ever assembled in the British Isles is currently on display at London’s National Gallery. This exhibition is entitled ‘Painter at the Court of Milan’ and it…
Religion is moving centre-stage in the US presidential election, writes Kieron Wood The victory of Mormon Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucus last week has once more highlighted the importance of religion in US presidential elections. In the 2012 Iowa caucus of January 3, Romney took only 25 per cent of the vote,…
Two years after Haiti’s earthquake, Trócaire continues its work there, writes Eoghan Rice In the labyrinth of narrow laneways that cut through Villa Rosa, Saul Darbouze leads us to the place he calls home. The path changes from concrete to mud as we enter further into this tangled web of side-streets and alleyways.…
Paul Keenan
Rory Fitzgerald