There is a long Christian tradition – rooted in the Gospels – of showing compassion for women who work as prostitutes. Christian women and early feminists took up this cause in the 19th century – the anti-slavery Christian campaigner Josephine Butler sheltered prostitutes, and halted young girls from being trafficked into prostitution, too. Compassion and…
It was on the way to Mass that I first heard the story of St Joseph and Bobby Clarke. My friend’s aunt, Ann Kelly, needed a lift, and the pair of them were catching up, as I listened from the back seat. “As you know,” said Ann, “I fell out with St Joseph for 33…
A view from the Seanad The Trump/Vance vs Zelenskyy dust-up in the White House was widely portrayed as an ambush of a tired and strained war-hero by a cynical and narcissistic duo bent only on self-aggrandisement. But with the wisdom of hindsight, it seems that Zelenskyy played his hand very badly that day. In old-style…
Each time we leave Mass we are told to “go in peace” Our mission is “to love and serve the Lord”. What does this mean for each of us? The recent final document of the Synod last November tells us what it is to be a Catholic “each according to their diverse roles – within…
The anniversary of the two most recent referendums came and went last weekend. Do you remember them? I’m not sure you’re meant to. One was about inserting the concept of ‘durable relationships’ into the Constitution alongside marriage. The other was an attempt to remove from the Constitution the requirement that the State should seek to…
At the end of last year, I wrote a piece here on the Mass, entitled, provocatively, ‘How NOT to say Mass’. I invited readers to respond. It turned out that many of you had your own ideas on what priests should not do. It makes sense that readers would have comments to make. You are…
By Fr. Shay Cullen While many good and dedicated bishops and priests in the Philippines and elsewhere are examining their conscience about their responsibility to bring pedophile clergymen to justice, many more are not. In the past, Pope Francis — who remains hospitalized — has strongly spoken out on the urgent need to cleanse…
Five words, delivered during a homily on Ash Wednesday, have never entirely left me: “You all have to change,” the priest declared rather prophetically on March 6, 2019. He did not know that four women in our Falls Road congregation had been told the previous night that their vocation as Sisters of Adoration was over.…
An enormous event took place in London last month that was fronted by the Canadian psychologist and academic, Dr Jordan Peterson, who has made a huge name for himself since he first emerged on to the world stage in 2016 for criticising a pro-trans ideology law in his home country. The three-day event, held under…
The All Ireland Rosary Rally kicked off in Knock last weekend with over 200 in attendance for the launch. Despite grey skies and the biting cold, those in attendance were enthusiastic – not least the children who gathered for the children’s rosary at the end of the afternoon. The Rally, organised by Fr Marius O’Reilly,…
Mary Kenny
Martina Purdy
Senator Ronan Mullen
Nuala O’Loan
David Quinn
Maria Steen