Encouraging Vocations

Posted on 11. Jul, 2013 in Vocation

“Vocation is more than just priesthood,” says Ann Marie Gallagher, Director of Vocations Ireland, who was recently at the European Vocations Service Conference in Rome. The theme was “joyful witness” and there were delegates from twenty-two countries all looking at how to creatively meet the challenge of vocations. She talks to Miriam Gormally about how […]

Abortion: a fair debate?

Posted on 04. Jul, 2013 in Church Teachings, Humane Vitae

Columnist John Waters writes for the Irish Times, The Irish Catholic and various other publications. He believes that the current debate on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy legislation in the Irish media is not a debate at all. He criticises much Irish journalism as belief systems promoted under the guise of reportage – reportage […]

Pope Francis: Ruffling feathers

Posted on 04. Jul, 2013 in Church Teachings, Vatican

Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Pope on March 13th 2013. Fr. Michael Collins, author of Francis, Bishop of Rome speaks to Miriam Gormally about Pope Francis and his new approach as head of the Catholic Church.  In this first of a three part series, he talks about how Francis is challenging the idea […]

Creating Community

Posted on 27. Jun, 2013 in Church Teachings, Community

2013 is the year of the Gathering, a time to bring community together. Miriam Gormally spoke with Fr. Michael McCullagh about his work with community and Diaspora. He spoke about how people create community, but how they can also exclude others. He looked at the creation of community within Communion and Miriam put it to […]

Morality and Banking

Posted on 27. Jun, 2013 in Church Teachings, Economy, Humanitarian Aid

Recordings of executives from Anglo Irish bank mocking their customers and those who were bailing them out has ignited national and international outrage. Judith Turbyne, director of Progressio Ireland, an Irish international development organisation, spoke to Miriam Gormally about the scandal. Judith considers the moral issues within the banking sector, the effects of the bailout […]

Being Present

Posted on 27. Jun, 2013 in Church Teachings, Spirituality

Dr. Michael Sullivan SJ, Director of the MA in Applied Christian Spirituality in All Hallows College and author, spoke with Pat Coyle about Authentic Self Presence and Liberation Theology and the links between them. Pat Coyle put it to him that those involved in Liberation Theology were often critical of things like “Authentic Self Presence” […]

Addressing Abortion

Posted on 20. Jun, 2013 in Celibacy/Sexuality, Church Teachings, Humane Vitae

Fine Gael TD Peter Mathews put three motions before a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party calling for the proposed abortion legislation to be scrapped, the suicide clause to be removed and for members to have a free vote. However he did not get support for any of these motions and voting for the […]

Abortion Legislation

Posted on 13. Jun, 2013 in Church Teachings, Humane Vitae

The much debated abortion legislation was published this week. It brought in new changes regarding conscientious objection and gave powers to the Minister for Health to suspend services if he believes an institution is failing to comply with the provisions. It included the controversial access to abortion for women experiencing suicide ideation, even though psychologist […]

Helping Women

Posted on 13. Jun, 2013 in Feminism/Women in the Church, Poverty

The Bishops’ Appeal is the Church of Ireland’s world aid development programme and depends on collections that are made during the periods of Lent and Harvest.  The Church’s General Synod in May heard that annual takings were down 20 percent because of the economic situation.  But on the other hand there was no single major […]

Spiritual Capital

Posted on 06. Jun, 2013 in Church Teachings, Faith and Justice, Gospel Values

Pat Coyle spoke to Dr. Michael Sullivan SJ, Director of the MA in Applied Christian Spirituality in All Hallows College and co-editor of the book Spiritual Capital – Spirituality in Practice in Christian Perspective. Spiritual Capital is the most recently recognised form of capital within the 4Capital Theory (the four capitals referring to material capital, […]