Category: Articles
PureMentalNI: ‘Children of the Troubles’ have had Enough of Adult Inaction
Mental health provision is now an issue for NI school students - and with politics in a quagmire the churches could play a role too, they say.
read moreIrish Catholic Schools: Avoidance of Research Threatens Integrity
A retired principal's candour raises a stark question: is avoidance of research into the true state of 'faith formation' in Irish Catholic schools fostering hypocrisy?
read moreGlobal Crisis, Global Advent, Global Christmas … Global Pentecost?
Unprecedented global crisis, growing disillusionment with 'charismatic' political leadership, the young outraged. Thomas Reese in the NCR sees reasons for Advent hope.
read moreThe Two Popes: What have they said to one another?
With speculation rife on how two living popes view one another, Des Brady reviews an equally speculative Netflix movie on the subject.
read moreReadying Irish Catholic Faith for the ‘Public Square’
Our faith should indeed determine our politics, argues Sean O'Conaill - in agreement with Archbishop Eamon Martin. However, in the wake of the Ryan report of 2009, a whole new conversation about that needs to happen.
read moreGloria Before Credo
Love before Knowledge: Aidan Hart suggests that the religious education of Catholic children and young people should follow the sequence of the Confession, Gloria and Credo of the Mass.
read moreCan laypeople lead a parish? Look to Louisville, KY, USA
St William Parish, Louisville, Kentucky - the future for Irish parishes - ploughed by Irish emigrants from 1901. (Republished by permission of NCR)
read moreHigh Time for Lumen Gentium No. 37 (1964)?
What different path might the Catholic Church in Ireland have taken, if this 1964 Vatican II declaration had led to never-ending dialogue in every Irish parish?
read moreWhen did Jesus call anyone to a secondary role in the church?
That Jesus called people to ‘follow me’ in the Gospel is indisputable, but was he calling some to a primary role of ‘ministry’ and others to be merely deferential receivers of that ministry – a secondary role? Sean O'Conaill thinks otherwise.
read more‘Lay involvement’ – is it happening in your parish?
The ACI Steering Group asks for feedback from members on the progress of lay involvement in an Irish church running increasingly short of clergy.
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