I know nothing at all, apart from whatever we learn from the official introduction, about the new Papal Nuncio. I am on record many times in my belief that his predecessor Charles Brown was something of a disaster for the Irish Church. His choices for new bishops left a lot to be desired, and continued the policy of depriving the Irish Church of effective leadership. His failure to meet and talk seriously to anyone with a critical view of the state of the church in Ireland was utterly inadequate in a time of obvious crisis in our church.
Intolerance in the Public Square
I am pleased to hear voices beginning to be raised, the latest Eamon Martin, questioning the nature of some of the current debates in Ireland, and what voices are no longer acceptable in the ‘public square’. I have been quite repulsed over the recent past at some of the intolerance towards certain groups in our society, and this intolerance being presented as ‘liberal’ and ‘forward thinking’.
I fully accepts the principle that a National Maternity Hospital must be in full compliance with the laws of the land, and that no particular group or religious affiliation can dictate what is or is not permissable therein.
What awaits us in the Next Life?
I received an email recently, asking me could I give any idea of wha awaits us in the next life. This was my effort at an answer:
You do ask difficult question!! And I am afraid nobody has a definite answer to that one. No one has come back to tell us what the next life is like.
Many people have told me over the years that when someone very close to them dies, and after a period of grief and loneliness, they gradually get a sense that the person is close to them.
