Rome was bathed in glorious sunshine last week as I spent three days visiting the Vatican with fellow legislators from the British Houses of Parliament. It was a wonderful trip and we had illuminating conversations with Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Archbishop Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation…
Category: Opinion
Remembering Fr Martin Clarke
He made much of the time he was given Brenda Drumm I met Fr Martin Clarke for the first time at my interview for the job of Communications Officer with the Catholic Communications Office (CCO) back in the summer of 2000. I was nervous about the interview panel but he immediately put me at ease.…
Roma children and State power
The recent ‘child removal’ cases are a worrying development, writes Mary Kenny
Prayer with a global outlook
Prayer makes us more than observers, writes Andrew O’Connell
Review of Murphy Report makes for interesting reading
A new review of the 2009 Murphy Report in to the handling of abuse allegations in the Dublin archdiocese has criticised alleged failings in Judge Yvonne Murphy’s approach. It makes for fascinating and often illuminating reading. Let’s be clear: the Murphy Report offers a devastating insight into a corrupt culture in the Church that often…
Living the single life
Can celibates and singles be happy, asks Fr Rolheiser
Fr Flannery is not a victim
Dear Editor, I am writing to respond to the letter from Jarlath Vaughan (‘It is wrong to silence Fr Flannery’ IC 10/10/13). Firstly, I’ll say that I have followed the story of Fr Flannery quite closely since it began to unfold. At this stage, talk of Fr Flannery as a victim of the “evil Vatican”…
Misleading on mental health
Dear Editor, Mary Kenny’s article entitled ‘What liberal’s don’t report about mental health’ (IC 7/10/13) is not only inaccurate but unacceptably stigmatising and serves only to propagate the myths and mistruths that link violence to people with experience of mental health problems. It is hugely concerning how Mary Kenny bases her entire piece around two…
Mary Kenny and The Quiet Man
Dear Editor, I usually enjoy reading Mary Kenny’s weekly column. I was, however, disappointed to read her criticism of the classic film The Quiet Man (IC 10/10/13). She sounded a particularly discordant and sour note. It is a little late in the day for her to reveal that the ‘archaic’ story was not politically correct…
Columban and Ireland’s Christian legacy
Dear Editor, Fr Sean McDonagh celebrated St Columban in your issue of October 10, and rightly so. This was the time when the Irish were the saviours of Europe, because of the great work our missionaries did in Scotland, and in western Europe as a whole. It was not just that they brought the Faith…