Building a Church Without Walls
If we can believe the reports of the Catholic Communications Office and other media outlets, Jennifer Sleeman’s call for the women of Ireland to boycott mass yesterday did not prompt a widespread ‘stay away’ movement.
As this report from … Read more...
The US-based National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC) has issued a press release in support of Cork woman Jennifer Sleeman’s call for a mass boycott in Ireland on Sunday, September 26th. The NSAC urges Catholics in the US and worldwide to … Read more...
Jennifer Sleeman, an 80-year-old mother of a monk, has called on women to boycott mass this Sunday, September 26. Her proposal is in many ways old news, having been debated in various media for the past month.
As I’ve … Read more...
Pope Benedict expressed his deep sorrow for clerical sexual abuse yet again during his state visit to the UK. The BBC has called his remarks on Saturday his ‘strongest public apology yet over the scandal.’ On the same day, the … Read more...
The Pope has finally arrived in the UK, with all the pomp and ceremony that was expected. Watching the images of his appearances today in Scotland, it is hard to begrudge the spectators their excitement. Popes do indeed know how … Read more...
I reviewed Xoliswa Sithole’s documentary, Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Children, on this blog back in March. I hope that the BBC’s recent re-airing of the film has once again highlighted the situation in Zimbabwe, which continues to be precarious for the … Read more...
How might the civil rights campaign in Northern Ireland have developed, had there been no ‘armed struggle?’
That was the theme of the first session of the McCluskey Civil Rights Summer School, held on Saturday 28 August at the Heritage … Read more...
Is there a time when it’s right to walk out of church? While I think that’s a matter of individual conscience and discernment, I’m intrigued by the differences in where and when people choose to leave church.
In some cases … Read more...
Today on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence, Marie Collins, a survivor of clerical sexual abuse, shared her thoughts on the Pope’s refusal to accept the resignations of Bishops Eamon Walsh and Raymond Field. Collins, who has gained considerable respect … Read more...
Secretary of State Owen Paterson has published a summary of the responses to the Eames Bradley Report on dealing with Northern Ireland’s past, revealing an overwhelmingly negative reaction to it.
As the unionist newspaper the News Letter puts it, ‘Ulster … Read more...
In a further attempt to address the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, the Vatican has announced new procedures for defrocking priests. The Vatican is presenting these as tough new measures, the first amendments to the relevant sections … Read more...