Encyclicals

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, August 2015 The Propaganda War I want to look at what I consider to be one of the saddest aspects of the ‘Catholic’ campaign for a ‘NO’ vote in the recent  referendum in Ireland which claims to allow men to marry men and women to marry women. In previous articles I have shown how prominent Catholics spoke out publicly against same-sex marriage but contradicted Church teaching in doing so. One may ask why … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, August 2015 Public Statements of Catholics that promote erroneous thinking Before looking at the statements from the previous article on the marriage referendum, I want to look at a more recent public statement, this time issued on an Irish diocesan Facebook page. Once again the diocese and the bishop are unimportant as I want to deal with the subject matter. The bishop in question was speaking about political parties collecting funds after Mass … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, July 2015 Holiness is the Solution to all of Our Problems There is one, and only one, simple solution to the problems that beset our nation today and that is for each and every one who reads these articles to become saints. I once read a definition of intelligence, I cannot remember where, which defined it as the ability to separate out into categories. At first I did not understand what it meant … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, July 2015 Two Claimants to Jurisdiction over Marriage In looking at authority, we have seen that in any given situation, or place, or time, there can be only one ultimate authority. We have also seen that a clash inevitably arises where more than one person or group claim to be that ultimate authority. We also know that in Ireland, there have been two claimants to jurisdiction concerning marriage for quite some time now, … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, June 2015 There is only ever one Ultimate Authority I want to dwell a little longer on the subject of authority and to reflect briefly on the implications for the exercise of authority in Ireland that may come about as a result of the ‘Yes’ vote in the recent marriage referendum. I am speaking of authority in the sense of the power to determine, to have jurisdiction, and the right to control and … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, June 2015 The Wisdom of the Foreigner As I begin this article I have before me a magazine, produced in Ireland, by an American couple who came to live here in 1979 to promote Natural Family Planning. As is sometimes the case, the eyes of the foreigner can see more clearly the blighted landscape that is no longer noticed by the native, because it has become all too familiar to him. This American … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, May 2015 Priests who fail to uphold Church teaching on contraception, damage Marriage Our third child was born by caesarian section in December 1992. The following year we moved from County Tipperary to a parish in Co Sligo. We got to know the parish priest quite well and on one occasion when my wife was speaking with him on the subject of marriage and children he told her that perhaps it was time … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, March 2015 The Story of Humanae Vitae In returning to the Ireland of 1968 and the encyclical of Pope Paul VI, ‘Humanae Vitae’, we need to once again consider some of the history surrounding this encyclical. In 1963, Pope John XXIII, set up a commission to study the issues of birth control and population. The ‘pill’ had been approved for contraceptive use in America in 1960 and was gaining in popularity and so … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, March 2015 Casti Connubi confirms and reaffirms the uninterrupted tradition We have seen that Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Casti Connubi, both confirms and reaffirms the uninterrupted Christian tradition of opposition to contraception and to any use of matrimony which deliberately frustrates the natural procreative power of the marital act. That this teaching is infallible is clear from the fact that the whole of Christendom was united on this point up until … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, February 2015 Pope Pius XI – Casti Connubi In responding not just to the Lambeth conference but to the world at large, Pope Pius XI opens the encyclical letter Casti Connubi by recalling to our minds the greatness of the sacrament of matrimony. “How great is the dignity of chaste wedlock, Venerable Brethren, may be judged best from this that Christ Our Lord, Son of the Eternal Father, having assumed the nature of … Read More