Dear Editor, The decision of the Mater Hospital to comply with the Government’s abortion legislation is regrettable. The statement issued by the hospital does not make it clear whether the decision was taken by the hospital authorities or if the governance structures of the Irish Sisters of Mercy were a party to this decision. In…
Category: Opinion
A lesson from the road
Fr Ronald Rolheiser finds himself on the Camino de Santiago
The Mater Hospital and abortion
Dear Editor, I’m sure that I’m not the only one who is totally baffled and shocked at the news that the Mater Hospital has agreed to carry out abortions in keeping with the Government’s legislation, the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act. Recently, Fr Kevin Doran said that the Mater Hospital could not carry out…
Pope Francis and the common good
Dear Editor, Suppose that Pope Francis had said in his now-famous interview that Catholics should stop obsessing about social justice issues, such as combating poverty and discrimination and war, and instead preach the Gospel of mercy. There would have been a fierce outcry. And rightly so. Does the Pope not realise, people would have said,…
Most baptisms are ‘invalid’
Dear Editor, Charles Byrne is right in voicing his concern that “tens or even hundreds of invalid baptisms” were celebrated with Fr Iggy O’Donovan acting as celebrant (IC 26/9/13). While the affair as reported has a distinctive legalistic and Pharisaical aspect to it, I would not just agree with the statistics quoted but multiply them…
Thanks for the Francis interview
Dear Editor, Many thanks and congratulations on your visionary initiative in publishing the full interview given by our ever-surprising Pope Francis in your September 26 issue. Many regard it as a historical new-start in renewal for the Church Let’s hope you may have many copies in some convenient form for any who may have missed…
People want pastors not bureaucrats
Nuala O’LoanFrancis poses enormous challenges to the faithful, writes Nuala O’Loan
New media and the new evangelisation
Two of the most searched items on the internet are pornography and religion. Questions are often raised about the Church and the internet. Throughout YOUCAT there are many reasons why young Catholics are ‘needed’ in the area of translating the message of faith into a language of their peers. Paul VI wrote about the need…
Revisiting the illegal adoption case
Mary KennySometimes the best option is adoption, writes Mary Kenny
Pope’s remarkable style
Pope Francis is barely six months in office and his pontificate is having a remarkable effect on people both inside and outside the Church. The Holy Father has an extraordinary ability to find simple words to pose fundamental questions about the world in which we live, about the Church and about the life of faith.…