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Rocking the Church
When Pope Benedict receives the gift of an iPod containing modern interpretations of hymns by British artists Boyce & Stanley, one may well hope that he should pop in the little earphones and listen. Read more…
Requiem for a seminary
At the door are Umkhonto we Sizwe veterans who visited me in the parish. They were bearers of good news. They are canvassing that our parish, St Charles Lwanga, be declared a heritage site. Read more…
Brian McKnight – Ten
CD REVIEW
The album title is an unsubtle hint that Brian McKnight is celebrating a decade of albums (he seems to be content to include his 2002 greatest hits compilation, From There To Here, among these ten offerings).
In that time, he has hit the mark more often than not, yet never produced a real soul classic. Ten is not going down into soul history as a classic either, but it is a perfectly good R&B album to spend some time with.
Mr Smooth goes through his usual soul-through-the-ages repertoire, showing that he can stand a measure of comparison with many of the genre’s stars, past and present (especially on the excellent “Find Myself In You” he recalls the legendary Marvin Gaye). Read more…
The stigma of depression
There remains a perception among some Catholics that people who commit suicide are automatically excluded from God’s mercy and salvation. This is a false position which requires a pastoral revision. Read more…
Pope’s iPod
By Simon Caldwell
British musicians recorded the classic Irish hymn “Sweet Heart of Jesus” in a calypso, disco style and sent it to Pope Benedict on an iPod nano. Read more…
Leadership
I would like to open the discussion on the topic of leadership by asking the reader to reflect on two sets of questions.
l What is the most important issue facing humanity today? Is it the problem of poverty and underdevelopment? Is it the issue of conflict and political oppression? Or is it the HIV/Aids pandemic? Read more…
Bishops and politics
The editor’s responses to letters printed on this page are customarily confined to brief footnotes, and even these are few. On rare occasions, however, letters merit a response more comprehensive than the space available for such footnotes would allow. Dr Bernard Cole’s letter this week provides one such occasion. Read more…
The value of teamwork
Remember that old joke about business partners? Fellow on the phone says: “Sorry, my partner can’t come to the phone, he’s tied up right now…I always tie him up when I go out.”
Partnerships are a lot more serious these days and on a far more massive scale. Added value in strategic alliances. Teamwork at top level. Read more…
The abortion debate
The teaching of the Catholic Church on abortion is unequivocal: life begins at the point of conception, and the right to life is inalienable from that point onwards. Procuring an abortion, the Church teaches, is a denial of that right and therefore morally not licit. Read more…
From social to sociable
Did your parish observe Social Communications Sunday last week? I’m almost inclined to say ha!ha! Who reads these days and what is social communications anyway?
I sometimes think that those of us who write are more passionate about the message we want to get across then the readers are about reading it. Why? Have writers thought more about their subject matter and as a result become passionate? What makes a person passionate about something, like family life? So we begin with my usual list of questions. Read more…
