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,…
Category: Opinion
A model church
There we were; Fr Eddie Moore, my mother and I, standing in an enormous if peculiar space. We were in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Allenwood, Co. Kildare but a part of it few of the congregation would ever see. Behind us was the gable end wall of this massive church while in…
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…
A lesson from the road
Fr Ronald Rolheiser finds himself on the Camino de Santiago
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…
Unveiling a new look
A new look The Irish Catholic 125 years on
People want pastors not bureaucrats
Francis poses enormous challenges to the faithful, writes Nuala O’Loan
Revisiting the illegal adoption case
Sometimes the best option is adoption, writes Mary Kenny
Pope’s interview offers much food for thought
Pope Francis’ recent interview, given over three days to his Jesuit colleagues, has attracted great attention. He ponders over things, constantly reflecting and modifying his answers even as he delivers them. He is clearly a very thoughtful man. Antonio Spadaro, SJ, who conducted the interview reported that, “Talking with Pope Francis is a kind of…
On not faking humility
The invitation to humility is a clear and constant echo inside of Christian spirituality, writes Fr Rolheiser