Crannóggy Island

  Introduction: The First Choice A Catholic senator defends marriage and votes against labour rights on Monday. A Catholic activist champions the poor while dismissing chastity as repression. An environmental warrior fights pollution while treating sexuality as a private choice. We have fractured what should not be divided. We speak of sexual morality as one thing and social justice as another. We build entire Catholic identities around these divisions. Left versus right, private morality versus systemic sin, bedroom versus boardroom. This division obscures a deeper unity. The Second Vatican Council said it plainly: "Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of self." From Eden to the present, human love unfolds as a single fundamental orientation: gift or grasp, communion or consumption, an open hand or a closed fist. In the modern West, we’ve built a civilisation of grasping. Radical autonomy, sexual utilitarianism, and economic acquisitiveness....

  Hi everyone, I just wanted to pop back and say a quick sorry for going so quiet these past few months. A few of you have checked in and asked if I was alright. Thank you. I am. I just seemed to disappear without meaning to. After the last post, which was so inward-looking, I found it hard to write anything else. And honestly, the summer here in the UK has been so full of news, changes, and general chaos that every time I tried to get a few thoughts down, something else happened. Before I knew it, weeks had gone by, and I was still staring at a blank page. So this is me easing myself back in; nothing profound, just a hello and an apology for the silence. I’d really love to hear from you: How are you finding things in the UK under Labour so far? What’s stood out to you these past months - good or bad? Any moments or stories that have stuck with you? I’ve missed the conversation here, and hope to get back into the rhythm of writing again. Thanks for sticking around. Peter...

  O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1) Prologue: The Landscape Within I’ve walked a long road, and the older I grow, the more I see that the desert isn’t just somewhere you visit, it also slowly unfolds inside. As a child, I imagined the spiritual life as a mountain to climb, milestones and clear vistas. But after decades in mental health and social work, in cramped offices with flickering fluorescent lights, it feels more like wandering through a vast terrain. The ‘desert’ I speak of isn’t sand and wind. It’s the state of the human heart in our restless times: the ache for meaning amid abundance, the hunger for love amid noise, the search for meaning in comfort. The Church knows this desert. She walks through changing landscapes, her voice shifting as the world changes. When I was young, she spoke with warning and clarity, guarding truths, though sometimes sh...

  Prologue: The Controversy in Rome In early September 2025, an event in Rome sparked significant controversy among Catholics worldwide. The incident occurred during the Jubilee Year, a time traditionally marked by pilgrimage, penitence, and spiritual renewal. A group of activist Catholic LGBTQ+ organisations participated in a public demonstration calling for greater inclusion within the Church.  The group entered several significant religious sites, including the Church of the Gesù and St. Peter's Basilica, carrying rainbow-coloured crosses. some were wearing T-shirts that bore slogans considered profane and irreverent. According to reports and photographs circulated online, one shirt read "F*uk the Rules." Participants described their action as a "pilgrimage of inclusion," passing through the Holy Door to affirm that LGBTQ+ Catholics, too, sought mercy during the Jubilee. Organisers of the groups insisted their act was devotional, not defiant, a public ...

  An old man's thoughts on the choices facing the faithful. Introduction "You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket" (Matthew 5:13-15). In my lifetime, I've witnessed sincere Christians explore distinct paths through cultural hostility or indifference. Each claims fidelity to Christ's call to be salt and light, yet these paths seem to diverge, sometimes sharply. So, I find myself returning to three images Jesus gave us—salt, light, and a city on a hill—as I watch His people wrestle with how to live in an increasingly secular, chaotic age. Salt must mingle with what it preserves, yet it can lose its savour. Light must shine in the dark, yet it can be hidden under a bushel, or burn so fiercely that it blinds. A city on a hill cannot hide; it is set inescapably before the watching world, for glory or for shame. Together, these metaphors sketch ...