Michael KellyThere was a time when it would not have been uncommon to walk into an Irish Catholic home and see two portraits hung above a mantelpiece held in equal esteem: Pope John XXIII and US President John F. Kennedy. After the austere Pope Pius XII, ‘Good Pope John’ as he quickly became known, was…
Category: Opinion
Can we learn from Charismatic Renewal?
Hands up, I never ‘joined’ the Charismatic Renewal. But my life has been impacted and touched by a great many people whose lives have been changed because of Charismatic Renewal. People of a certain age may recall the emergence of the Charismatic Renewal around Ireland. The influence of the Charismatic Renewal Movement and its…
Getting the Church ready for mission
The Church is missionary by its very nature: that is to say that Catholics should be constantly reaching out to others. One of the great calls of Pope Francis since his election has been for Catholics to step outside of ourselves, to go out to the margins. We have an enviable missionary tradition in…
Becoming God’s good servants
The summer now past, we come once again to what is in effect, for many, the beginning of a new year. It is an opportune time to ask, not only, ‘What am I doing?’, but the more fundamental question, ‘Who am I?’ We, who must live and labour in this secular world, but carry…
Syria needs dialogue, not bombs
Pope Francis called for dialogue and reconciliation in Syria on Saturday as he led a peace vigil in St Peter’s square and millions of Catholics worldwide were joined by other faiths in a day of fasting and prayer. “In beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world, let us pray for reconciliation…
The confidence of priesthood
Dear Editor, Over the past few years and especially during the ordination ‘season’ of June/July, you have covered the phenomenon which can only be described as a sort of clericalism (in the best sense of the word). By that your pictures show the newly ordained in full cottas, amices and bright gold Roman vestments; heightened…
Questions for Bishop Smith
Dear Editor, I can’t help but wonder what Bishop Smith, Fr Patrick Mulcahy and the rest of the ‘ban the eulogy and all traces of humanity from funerals’ wing of the Catholic Church made of the carry-on at the funeral of the late, great Seamus Heaney. There you had piper Liam O’Flynn celebrating with Port…
Fr Rolheiser and atheists
Dear Editor, Fr Rolheiser’s weekly column is always enlightening, but is he correct in saying recently (IC 05/09/2013) that atheists who criticise the Catholic Church “…do us a huge favour,” since they offer us a chance to hear the truth about ourselves? In fact, generally speaking, atheists who criticise the Catholic Church hate it…
Boycott call for media abortion bias
Dear Editor, The time has finally come to take a stand and organise a concerted campaign to boycott the ‘likes’ of The Irish Times and The Sunday Times due to their anti-Catholic editorial bias, journalistic imbalance, and their very obvious pro-abortion stance. The impetus for such a strategy could come from the various pro-life groups.…
The collapse of moral standards
Dear Editor, David Quinn writes about the ‘anything goes’ sexual morality of teenagers today. But it’s not just standards of sexual morality that have fallen. Irish moral standards in general have collapsed. I lost my mobile phone today, and I am distraught. It’s not just that the phone contained irreplaceable photographs of my…