Authority

Editors Note: an earlier version of this article was inadvertently missing two consecutive paragraphs. They began with “When members of the Church…” and “No genuine Catholic…” Their omission may have altered the coherence of the article. They are now included. St. Thomas More said that he was “the King’s good servant, but God’s first.” Today there are few Kings, or Queens, and they are merely symbolic of supreme national authority. Supremacy is held (theoretically) by the (voting) public, whose wishes … Read More

Choosing a Topic I find that having to write a fortnightly article for the Catholic Voice is a great discipline. Often times, if I am not writing on a particular theme, I do not know exactly what I will write about from one fortnight to another. But, because I know that I have an article to write, I will be mulling things over in my head wondering if this topic or that subject matter would be suitable for an article. … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, September 2016 By Way of the Family I gave a talk at the Human Life International, ‘By Way of the Family’ conference, on Saturday 24th September. My talk was on the history of contraception in Ireland and the response of the Church in Ireland to it. Whenever someone of faith looks at this history, they will be filled with a deep sadness at the way that the flock of Christ were neglected. The … 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