Crannóggy Island

  Introduction This post examines how the essential marks of holiness and catholicity, often seen as opposites, are complementary. The next article will explore a deeper challenge: how modernist and progressive ideas have introduced confusion and doctrinal drift. While this post acknowledges the danger of extremes, its focus remains on how the Church must hold together holiness and catholicity as mutually enriching dimensions of her identity and mission. Can the Church Be Both Smaller and Greater? “The Church will become small,” Joseph Ratzinger once predicted, “but she will find her centre anew.” In a time of scandal, secularism, and spiritual fatigue, Catholics are asking hard questions about the future of the Church. Should we aim to be leaner and holier, even if that means being less culturally relevant? Or should we press harder on the Church’s mission to reach everyone, embracing diversity and dialogue? Some fear we’re splintering. Others see a refining. Beneath the ten...

  Introduction In our modern world, there's a lot of confusion about who we are as men and women. Questions about gender, sexuality, and even our own bodies seem to swirl around us, often distorting the beautiful truth of being "male and female." This post is an invitation to rediscover the timeless vision of masculinity and femininity, a vision rooted in Scripture, revealed perfectly in Jesus Christ, and faithfully taught by the Catholic Church. We'll explore how cultural challenges like "toxic masculinity," pornography, gender ideology, and new reproductive technologies have wounded us, and how a renewed understanding of God's design can bring healing and transformation. Our central question is simple: How can embracing the true meaning of being male and female offer a path to healing in a world that often feels lost? By looking at how men and women are meant to complement each other, reflecting the very love of the Trinity, we can find deepe...

  Introduction Modern feminism, in its many forms, has brought attention to the injustices women have historically endured—political exclusion, domestic exploitation, and cultural marginalisation. Yet as feminism evolved into more radical, postmodern expressions, it advanced visions of womanhood and equality that oppose the Catholic understanding of the human person. While the Church at times failed in its practice, her doctrine offers a deeply rooted anthropology: one that affirms the equal dignity of man and woman while embracing their distinct vocations. Catholic tradition does not see sexual difference as a cause of oppression but as part of a divine design—wounded by sin, yet restored in Christ. Through Scripture and the thought of figures like St. Edith Stein, Sr. Prudence Allen, Alice von Hildebrand, and St. John Paul II, the Church has developed a vision of woman that reclaims her original vocation, recognises the wounds of sin, and offers a path of redemption. 1. Cre...

Introduction America struck Iran's nuclear enrichment facility located 300 feet under a mountain AT Fordo with six 30,000-pound “bunker buster bombs," last night. Iran’s other nuclear facilities were attacke with 30 Tomahawk missiles launched by American submarines some 400 miles away. Donald Trump’s address to American Nation A short time ago, the US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, fu...

Introduction Yesterday was Father’s Day. As usual my children and grandchildren gathered to celebrate the day.   After a meal and a few drinks, my daughter, now in her forties, surprised me when she said: “You’ve been different the last ten years Dad. I wish you’d been like this when we were young.” My two sons agreed. I was heartened when my four-year-old grandson came to my defence; “Granddad’s got super-powers,” he said. Our favourite game involves Marvel figures My twelve-year-old granddaughter simply said somewhat sternly ,”Mum!” She and I share an interest in history, particularly Winston Churchill. It was all said in good humour and I brushed the remark off, but it led me to reflect on the role of fatherhood and the pressures facing men balancing finances, career, and home-life; pressures more intense today.. Fatherhood Today Fatherhood today is often confused or diminished. The Catholic Church offers a clear, and positive vision: fatherhood is not just a role - it...

  Introduction The British Government is actively considering the use of chemical castration - the administration of libido-suppressing drugs - for certain sex offenders as part of wider criminal-justice reforms aimed at reducing re-offending and alleviating prison overcrowding. British Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has announced plans to extend a scheme employing selective serotonin-re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and anti-androgens (i.e. chemical castration), to reduce sexual offending and is contemplating making the “treatment” mandatory for high-risk offenders (paedophiles and rapists), including those on suspended sentences. The proposal has two principal elements: Voluntary participation – Offenders may elect to undergo chemical castration within a structured rehabilitation programme and, by demonstrating commitment, earn credits towards early release. Mandatory treatment – Compulsory administration is being explored for the most se...