Personal opinion pieces on a wide range of Catholic issues by different writers.
Catholic peer, Lord Alton writes: The United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union at 11 pm, January 31, 2020.
The British people voted to end government paralysis, but Britain faces social problems that urgently need addressing. It needs to reset its relationship with its European neighbours. Ending of one union, with the EU, may be a curtain-raiser for the ending of another: th...
"Adherence to the current economic system represents a betrayal of future generations, owing to its environmental unsustainability." (Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum)
Will you be following the proceedings of the World Economic Forum's 50th Annual Meeting held in Davos, Switzerland from 21 - 24 January? This is seen as the single most influential...
Dr Pedro Gabriel, a Portuguese Catholic medical doctor and novelist reflects in the blog Where Peter Is:
Catholic social media has been in an uproar with the publication of a book about priestly celibacy, co-authored by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The coverage of this book has been juxtaposed and contrasted with Francis' alleged intention to allow some married men to be ordained...
In a Facebook piece entitled: 'Charity or Charnel House?' Lord Alton comments on the news that the director of Marie Stopes charity, Simon Cooke, has had a massive pay rise and bonus bringing his salary to £434,000. His pay award last year increased his base salary from £173,067 to 217,250 making him one of the top five best-paid charity chiefs in Britain. He was then awarded a 100 per cent...
Weimar, Germany- This is a city in central Germany that has had a glorious history marred by a terrible past. At present, it is a small city where the respect and promotion of human rights are celebrated and rewarded.
On International Human Rights Day, the city presents the prestigious Weimar Human Rights Award to those recognized and lauded for their commitment and work in defending and ...
Two years ago, speaking before a Vatican sponsored international symposium titled "Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament," Pope Francis said we cannot fail to be "genuinely concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects of any employment of nuclear devices.
"If we also take into account the risk of an accidental detonation as a re...
It's standard election news. Party puts up candidate who has said or done something particularly stupid. Press publish details of the embarrassing story. Candidate offers grovelling apology and survives, or they are swiftly removed by central office. It's textbook journalism and sadly all too familiar.
But what if the misdemeanour is expressing views which most Christian people believe? M...
November is very much a month of memories. The year is winding its way to its darkest days and the jollifications of Christmas are not yet in sight. So this is the time when in Catholic tradition, we remember our deceased loved ones - and of course we will be marking the awful loss of life in wars of the past hundred years or so when we come to Armistice/Remembrance Day.
This year was the...
It is astounding that developed, civilised, nations like Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland, South Africa, Hong Kong, Fiji and the United States have 10 years as the minimum age of criminal responsibility for children. It's a mark of shame. The United Nations Committee on Children's Rights says that 16 is the ideal but 14 years of age for criminal responsibility is the minimum. Most ...
A thought struck me while I was sitting through Holy Mass last Sunday. What if Christianity was as obsessed about social justice as it seems to be about sexual morality?
It is probably best to state it upfront: I am not asking the Church to be indifferent to sexual morality or to change its doctrine regarding matters related to sex and interpersonal relationships. I am in no way asking fo...
In the dangerous southern island of Mindanao in the Philippine archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, martial law reigns. It is a place forbidden to non-Filipinos by many embassies. It is troubled with social and political unrest. Mindanao is in a state of fear and tension and the economy in decline. Nevertheless, Donard Angeles, the Preda Fair Trade staff connects with the Preda or...
My story begins in the early 1950s. in a small town in rural Ireland where I was born and brought up. Ireland was beginning to awaken from years of being a poor, backward country and the modern world was beginning to make its presence felt. Peoples' aspirations were growing and the motor car was making its presence felt. Few people were able to purchase one but the fascination with this mir...
The world is afire again, the flames heartbreakingly consume shrubs, trees and forests in Australia, Portugal, Brazil, and recently in California and Siberia and elsewhere too, Fr Shay Cullen writes. The world community has reacted in protest to the hundreds of fires burning the Amazon rainforest. These are destroying the habitat of thousands of endangered species and the communities o...
I have had the privilege of observing Pope Francis up close on two apostolic voyages this year. In March he travelled to Morocco and, this past week, he visited Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius - I was present in Port Louis for his eight-hour visit to the Island.
I was struck, once again, by how easily Pope Francis relates to people. The excitement of the crowd and their joy at seeing...
