Mary Kenny, Author at Catholic Herald

Mary Kenny

Mary Kenny: Forget your waistline, it’s character that counts

June 16, 2016

Pope Francis’s words criticising our culture’s worship of bodily perfection last Sunday were apt and wise. It was, he said, terribly superficial, and “the drive for perfect bodies marginalises those who may not fit those standards”. Cosmetic makeovers do not better the world, and may downgrade the less than perfect, the sick and the disabled.

Boxing might have died without Ali

June 09, 2016

From the point of view of religion, Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay) must have seemed a divisive figure in his prime. From the age of 17, he eschewed the Christian faith of his family to embrace the Nation of Islam, an esoteric cult which seemed to mirror the ideas of apartheid. Under the leadership of

Mary Kenny: The priest who left the snobs speechless

June 02, 2016

Anyone who flies by Ryanair – probably Europe’s most successful budget airline – is likely to be familiar with Knock airport, officially known as Ireland West Airport Knock, in Co Mayo. A grand little airport indeed, now serving the west coast of Ireland from Donegal to Galway – especially since Galway, the capital of Connaught,

Mary Kenny: Leave or Remain? There is a third way

May 26, 2016

As the Brexit referendum vote looms nearer, posters for Leave and Remain are going up all over our small Kentish town. A sociologist would observe that, on the whole, the more affluent parts of town sport a Remain poster, while the more modest quarters show the Leave stickers (sometimes alongside a St George’s flag). The

Mary Kenny: A fitting funeral for an abandoned baby

May 19, 2016

At the end of last week, circumstances took me to a pretty cemetery outside Dublin, at the seaside town of Greystones, Co Wicklow. From the Redford Cemetery, the lovely expanse of Dublin bay can be seen, and the Irish Sea shimmered in an azure Mediterranean hue. We were laying to rest the ashes of my

Mary Kenny: The astrologer I truly admired

May 12, 2016

Is the pursuit of astrology a sin? I don’t think the churches would put it that strongly these days, but it certainly was historically frowned upon. We were not supposed to predict the future or, most especially, put our faith in soothsayers. There was, no doubt, an old link with witchcraft. But there was also

Mary Kenny: When free speech is unacceptable

May 05, 2016

The Vatican once had a list of proscribed publications – known as the Index – which Catholics were urged to shun, these being a danger to their faith. Karl Marx and Jean-Paul Sartre both featured in this famous Index, which was, to some extent, an encouragement to rebellious youth to read such authors. Censorship, we

Mary Kenny: A lesson for the Church from BHS

April 28, 2016

I can’t remember when last I shopped at British Home Stores – renamed BHS – but then I’m not a great fan of department stores. I prefer, where possible, small shops, which are more personal and on a human scale. But it’s always dispiriting to hear of people losing their jobs, and it looks as

Mary Kenny: When fertility is not a ‘nuisance’

April 21, 2016

Alex Jones, the popular presenter of The One Show on BBC One, has made public her fears that, at 39, she may have left it too late to have a baby. She has only recently married, and thus her thoughts have turned to starting a family. She has used the opportunity to highlight the fact

Mary Kenny: The presidential candidate we’re waiting for

April 14, 2016

I’ve had the pleasure of being in New York for the past week – one of the friendliest cities in the world. Everyone says hello in daily encounters, and so courteously, too – the honorific of “Ma’am” is often used. Obviously the main talking point in the public realm is the coming presidential election. Few

When the rosary rang out in Dublin’s war zone

March 31, 2016

In the blaze of battle during the Easter Rising priests set up confessionals, took in the wounded and administered last rites

Mary Kenny: When the rosary rang out in Dublin’s war zone

March 31, 2016

Invited to make a contribution to Ireland’s commemoration of the Easter Rising of 1916, I chose to speak, in a Dublin church, about the nuns and friars who ministered to the people during that fateful Easter Week. The religious dimension is, nowadays,a somewhat marginalised aspect of Easter 1916 (regarded as the founding event of the Irish

← 1 … 16 17 18 19 20 →

Sorry, no search matching search results found. Please try again.