Crannóggy Island

  On May 6, King Charles III will be crowned in Westminster Abbey in an ancient ceremony echoing biblical ideas of kingship and containing rituals that have been used since the first English king more than 1,000 years ago. But Charles will undergo the ceremony in an England unlike any other - different even from that of his mother, 70 years ago … On March 21, 2021, the day of Britain’s decennial census, 1 in 6 residents, about 10 million people, reported they had been born outside the United Kingdom, up from 7.5 million in 2011. India is the most common country of birth of migrants, but significant numbers list Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Jamaica and other former colonies, as well as former European Union partners such as Romania and Poland. The ethnic diversity is matched by changes in the country’s religious makeup. Just 46% said they were Christian on census day — a drop of 11 percentage points in 10 years. Meanwhile, other faiths, including Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Si...

What is the truth? CNA reports Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, has spoken in support of legalised medically assisted suicide, calling it “feasible” despite the clear teachings of the Catholic Church against it. “Personally, I would not practice suicide assistance, but I understand that legal mediation may be the greatest common good concretely possible under the conditions we find ourselves in,” Paglia said in a speech on April 19 during the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy. The Italian archbishop’s remarks were part of a presentation that included a documentary about an Italian man who went to Switzerland to die by assisted suicide. A video of the discussion, in Italian, is available here. The Italian news outlet Il Riformista published the text of Paglia’s speech on Saturday. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder” and “gravely contrary to the ...

Guest Post by Clive It came as something of a shock when I first learnt that Holland had a 'Bible belt' Holland! Liberal, sexually relaxed, secular, progressive Holland. The country you visited for their "coffee shops" and to stare at the prostitute's sitting in the windows, flaunting their wares. Or so I'm told. Now I will admit to not being especially knowledgeable about Holland, so in the same way that many outside the UK have a view of this country formed by what they see about London, my view of Holland is heavily weighted by what I know of Amsterdam. So it's pretty much sex and drugs, with a bit of Anne Frank thrown in. Saying all that, I wasn't surprised to read that Holland had just announced plans to legalise euthanasia for 1 to 12 year old children. It was after all the first European country to legalise euthanasia for adults. I was surprised when one of the reports I read mentioned that there were two Christian Parties as part of t...

Senior members of the SNP are braced for Nicola Sturgeon’s “imminent” arrest now she is the only party official named on their most recent financial accounts who hasn’t been interviewed by the police. Ms Sturgeon’s name appeared on the 2021-22 accounts, alongside her husband Peter Murrell and Colin Beattie, both of whom have been arrested and questioned. Ms Sturgeon is not attending the Scottish parliament this week, with her spokeswoman claiming she did not want to overshadow policy announcements by Humza Yousaf, her successor. Meghan Gallacher, the deputy leader of the Scottish Tories, said Mr Yousaf should “tackle this scandal head-on and prove he is his own man” by suspending Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell. Ash Regan, former candidate for the SNP leadership, has also called for Nicola Sturgeon, Peter Murrell and Colin Beattie to be suspended from the SNP. “I think if it’s found that people have been involved in something of this nature, that certainly until that can be cleared...

Witnesses have reported the sighting of a new apparition at Knock in Ireland, which they are convinced is "Old Joe" himself. Traditionally, Old Joe is portrayed as a character with horns, a forked tail, etc., but this time he appeared as an old man, wandering around as if lost, sniffing the hair of passers-by, and groping... well, never mind. There were reports that his hands had blood on them: however, some reports say that it was merely chocolate chip ice-cream.   "The sign said KNOCK, so I knocked." Those who observed the apparition had little doubt that it was Old Joe himself. "That's the Father of Lies, to be sure," said one visitor who had been learning Irish from a book. "He claimed to be an Irishman, Begorrah! on the grounds that among his ancestors were some Irish folk who died 200 years ago. Ochone!" Among great evils attributed to Old Joe are his support for the slaying of babies in the womb, the destruction of marriage, and ...

  Pope Francis has told “keyboard warriors” to put aside online polemics and get out from behind their desks to proclaim the Gospel.  Speaking in St. Peter’s Square on April 12, the Pope said,   “ One does not proclaim the Gospel standing still, locked in an office, at one’s desk or at one’s computer, engaging in polemics like ‘keyboard warriors’ and replacing the creativity of proclamation with copy-and-paste ideas taken from here and there.  The Gospel is proclaimed by moving, by walking, by going.”   The Pope warned that it is possible to have “misdirected zeal” that is “doggedly persistent in the observance of purely human and obsolete norms for the Christian community.” “We cannot ignore the solicitude with which some devote themselves to the wrong pursuits even within the Christian community itself; one can boast of a false evangelical zeal while actually pursuing vainglory or one’s own convictions.” he said.

The night is drawing to a close and the first light of dawn is appearing upon the horizon as the women set out toward Jesus’ tomb. They make their way forward, bewildered and dismayed, their hearts overwhelmed with grief at the death that took away their Beloved. Yet upon arriving and seeing the empty tomb, they turn around and retrace their steps. They leave the tomb behind and run to the disciples to proclaim a change of course: Jesus is risen and  awaits them in Galilee . In their lives, those women experienced Easter as a Pasch, a   passage . They pass from walking sorrowfully towards the tomb to running back with joy to the disciples to tell them not only that the Lord is risen, but also that they are to set out immediately to reach a destination, Galilee. There they will meet the Risen Lord. The rebirth of the disciples, the resurrection of their hearts, passes through Galilee. Let us enter into this journey of the disciples from the tomb to Galilee. The Gospel tells us ...

  Alleluia!   Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Rejoice! The stone is rolled away, grave clothes neatly folded, no more the smell of death, behold the empty tomb! Alleluia!   He is risen! Rejoice! Scripture has been fulfilled, the sting of death is gone, the victory has been won, behold the risen Christ! Alleluia!   He is risen! Rejoice! The curtain’s torn in two, our God invites us in, Christ’s sacrifice enough to wash away our sin! Alleluia!    He is risen! A Blessed and Holy Easter Sunday to one and all.

As a child, HJ asked himself why Jesus died such a terrible death to put right Adam and Eve eating an apple? An apple! Was there no other way? What did it say about God? These are question any thinking Christian will have contemplated - or should have. And, if we are to bring others to Christ, we need to be clear in our answers. Warning. It's a lengthy read - as it ought to be! This article , by Paul Thigpen, Catholic Answers, covers the many questions raised by the Passion of Our Lord. As Good Friday approaches it seems fitting to contemplate the issues raised. Sixteen centuries ago, when Augustine addressed the matter, he noted that he was not the first person even back then to discuss it. “There are those,” the bishop wrote, “who say, ‘What? Did God have no other way to free men from the misery of this mortality? No other way than to will that the only-begotten Son . . . should become man by putting on a human soul and flesh, becoming mortal so he could endure death?’” If Go...