Author Archive
“Ireland looks set to repeat the mistakes of societies like Britain and the US ” - Cardinal Sean Brady
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
Several recent news reports here in Ireland have been focusing on Cardinal Sean Brady’s ultimatum to Irish government. The planned Civil Partnership Bill proposes to make changes in order to offer better (mainly financial) protection to same-sex and cohabiting couples.
The Cardinal criticised the Bill, arguing that it undermined Marriage as upheld in the Constitution, by [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »>
“If Catholics were really acting on a proper understanding of their faith, Barack Obama would never have been elected” - Austin Ruse (President of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute)
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Exit polls suggest that Obama captured the majority of overall Catholic votes - if Ruse’s logic, and the initial polls are right, then this majority vote must be seen as grand failure for the Catholic Church.
Posted in The Church, Thoughts & Questions, Views on News | 10 Comments »>
Synod of Bishops proposes female Lectors
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
The Catholic News Service reported this story over the weekend - proposition 17 from the Synod of Bishops on the Bible puts forward that
The synod fathers recognize and encourage the service of the laity in the transmission of the faith. Women, in particular, have an indispensable role on this point, above all in the family and [...]
Posted in The Church, Thoughts & Questions, Views on News | No Comments »>
Muscular Christianity
Thursday, October 16th, 2008
Muscular Christianity is a movement which became active in the Victorian era, and in some form, still continues to this day. The movement came about through a change in the way of life for both men and women. And it’s a curious thing to think, and look about us, to wonder if the shape of society [...]
Posted in Days gone by, Prayer & the Christian life, Thoughts & Questions | No Comments »>
‘Over the pope…there still stands ones own conscience’
Thursday, October 9th, 2008
I have to admit that I was a little surprised when I came across this quote by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI:
“Over the Pope as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there still stands one’s own conscience, which must be obeyed before all else, if necessary even against the [...]
Posted in The Church, Thoughts & Questions | 11 Comments »>
A path with pain
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Croagh Patrick in Co Mayo receives ample press coverage each July - the last Sunday of the month, ‘Reek Sunday’ marks the call to ascend the holy mountain for tens of thousands of people. Even on any given weekend, hundreds of pairs of feet, booted and bare, make their way to the summit.
Similarly, pilgrimages to [...]
Posted in Pain and suffering, Prayer & the Christian life, Thoughts & Questions | No Comments »>
mea maxima culpa
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
Last week, the Church of England issued an apology to Charles Darwin, 126 years after his death. Comparisons have been made to Pope John Paul II’s reconcilliatory admission of the erring of the Catholic church in its treatment of Galileo.
Posted in Dialogue, Great men and women, Other Religions/denominations, Science, Views on News | 12 Comments »>
The Devil And Daniel Webster
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI’s recent French visit has drummed up quite a bit of media coverage, effectively overshadowing another story from France which emerged over the past fortnight concerning a very different Church.
The Church of Scientology, who have faced various legal wrangles in the past, is set to be tried for organised fraud in [...]
Posted in Other Religions/denominations, Thoughts & Questions, Views on News | 2 Comments »>
