Katherine Mansfield—writer of short stories, friend and literary compatriot of Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence—had a gift for arousing strong opinions. The reckless abandon with which Mansfield threw herself into sexual relationships with both men and women, and the acerbity of her tongue and pen, could provoke critics, family, and friends, not to mention Read more
A former top UK judge has likened efforts to oust expression of religion from the public square to Tudor-era persecutions. Sir Michael Tegendhat said soaring numbers of lawsuits involving religion pointed to an increasing denial of human rights. Sir Michael was the UK’s top libel and media judge until he retired last year. His comments Read more
In two US dioceses, the parents of children attending Catholic schools are being told they must have their children vaccinated, regardless of moral qualms. But critics say such compulsion is contrary to moral advice given by a pontifical academy. The Church has moral difficulties with certain vaccines, the cell lines for which were originally derived Read more
Dozens of prominent Catholics in San Francisco have taken out a full page ad in a major newspaper calling on the Pope to replace the local archbishop. The ad in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 16 stated Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has “fostered an atmosphere of division and intolerance”. More than 100 signatories to an Read more
Here is something you may have missed. Tucked away in the current print edition of the Tablet, dated April 11 2015, on page 28, is a brief report of certain remarks made in a television interview by Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna about the Synod on the family. The Cardinal said, and I transcribe: “I Read more
A Belgian bishop has urged the synod on the family to have the courage to bring the Church’s moral teachings more in line with the lived experience of the laity. In a letter reported by The Tablet, Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp said there is a gap between the moral teachings of the Church and Read more
Health care workers in the Philippines can refuse on conscience grounds to provide state–mandated contraception to patients, the nation’s bishops say. And these workers may also refuse to refer a patient to anywhere else contraception may be obtained, the bishops said in a statement. On July 9, the Philippines’ bishops’ conference issued what they called Read more
The Vatican has removed further sanctions it could have imposed on Irish Marist priest, Fr Sean Fagan, who was silenced in 2008. Society of Mary Superior General Fr John Hannan told CathNews that he is pleased the threat of further sanctions, stipulated in 2010, have been removed and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Read more
Some 74 per cent of Poles think that religion is not always the source of morality and people should follow their own conscience first. The results of a poll by the Warsaw-based CBOS polling agency reveal a significant decline of public trust regarding religion in Poland. The poll showed a significant increase in Poles who Read more
The cases of Pfc. Bradley Manning, who prefers to be known as Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden raise acute issues about the role of confidentiality in our society and the responsibilities of individuals who encounter disturbing information that they consider damaging to national security. In each case, an individual chose to divulge classified information even Read more