Last night I had the pleasure of providing the keynote address at the celebrations for Uganda Cultural Day, held at St Mary’s College in Belfast. Fr Charles Lwanga Kaweesi, who is based in Portglenone, had invited me to speak on … Read more...
Category: Sociology of Religion
German Catholics Must Pay the Price for Sacraments
In what looks like another public relations disaster for the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church in Germany has announced that Catholics who refuse to pay a church tax of 8-10% of their income will be denied the sacraments and forbidden … Read more...
How will the Churches Remember the Ulster Covenant?
I have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog: How will the Churches Remember the Ulster Covenant?… Read more...
The Future for Lay People in the Catholic Church Part II – Can we Implement Vatican II?
On Monday I blogged about a talk in Belfast’s Clonard Monastery by Dr Richard Gaillardetz, McCarthy Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology at Boston College. Gaillardetz’s topic was the future for lay people in the Catholic Church. He spent most … Read more...
Religion, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Northern Ireland Part 5 – Liturgical Reforms and Conclusions
Today marks the conclusion of a five-part series on this blog on Religion, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Northern Ireland, based on a paper I recently gave at the ‘Religious Conflict and Difference’ conference at Stranmillis College in Belfast. Today I … Read more...
Religion, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Northern Ireland Part 4: Principles of Neo-Monastic Living (and Conference on Celts, Anabaptists, and New Monasticism 9 November)
Last week I started a series on this blog on Religion, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Northern Ireland, based on a paper I recently gave at the ‘Religious Conflict and Difference’ conference at Stranmillis College in Belfast. Today I continue the … Read more...
Churches and Reconciliation: Challenges for Christian Leadership?
In a comment on yesterday’s post, in which I introduced what will become a series on ‘Religion, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Northern Ireland,’ Fr Martin Magill, the parish priest at St Oliver Plunkett’s in Lenadoon, Belfast, wrote:
… Read more...“I very much
Religion, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Northern Ireland: Some Initial Reflections
In yesterday’s post, I promised further blogging about the contents of a paper I delivered at the ‘Religious Conflict and Difference’ conference at Stranmillis College in Belfast last week, titled: Religion in Northern Ireland: How Can the Churches Contribute to … Read more...
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Speaking on Friday at the ‘Religious Conflict and Difference’ conference at Stranmillis College in Belfast, Rev. Norman Hamilton, minister of Ballysillan Presbyterian in North Belfast and a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, urged the academics at the … Read more...
Is Ireland Ready for Priestless Parishes?
The headlines in today’s Irish Catholic will come as no surprise to those who are aware of the long-term decline in priestly vocations in Ireland: ‘Church Prepares for Priestless Parishes.’ As the reporter, Michael Kelly, puts it:
… Read more...As the number
Scottish Irish Conversations on Sectarianism–New Post on Slugger O’Toole
I have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog about the panel discussion I participated in at the Edinburgh Festival of Politics: Scottish Irish Conversations on Sectarianism. … Read more...