By Edward Lucas in THE TIMES, 13 April 2020 The dream is over. For two decades the conventional wisdom has been that China’s economic rise comes at no political cost. Indeed, it was argued, prosperity would bring democracy. The pandemic has laid bare our mistake. First, the death and destruction caused by the coronavirus stem…
Author: Fr Michael Campion
Ireland’s swift action leaves UK facing questions over its coronavirus strategy
By Rhys Blakely, Science Correspondent, in THE TIMES, 14 April 2020 The government’s chief science adviser has defended the timing of lockdown measures after it was suggested that the faster implementation of restrictions in Ireland significantly reduced the number of deaths. Leo Varadkar, the prime minister, suspended normal life in Ireland nearly two weeks before…
Camilla recommends books to get you through the coronavirus lockdown
By Andrew Holgate in The Sunday Times, 12 April 2020 When the Prince of Wales tested positive for the coronavirus, his wife was obliged to spend two weeks in self-isolation. The Duchess of Cornwall turned to her books for comfort and yesterday produced a list of nine of her favourite novels. It turns out to be…
Pandemic is time to consider ‘universal basic wage,’ pope says
by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service, 13 April 2020 VATICAN CITY — Writing to social movements, including organized groups of casual laborers, Pope Francis said the COVID-19 pandemic should give rise to consideration of "a universal basic wage" to guarantee people have the minimum they need to live and support their families. "Street vendors, recyclers, carnies,…
Give us a vaccine for this domestic goddess myth
By Sarah Baxter in The Sunday Times, 12 April 2020 My mother died of Covid-19 last weekend. It was a tragedy for her and our family, but not for the country, because she was already fading gently away. Her death will have contributed to the frightening spike in the number of people who have lost…
With your permission, I shall give a short speech
By Garrison Keillor I skipped the news today and clicked on Zoom where my church held Morning Prayer for Holy Week and there we all were in little boxes on the screen, like pastries on the grocery shelf, and we prayed for forgiveness — though in self-isolation, there’s not much lust or anger, just gluttony…
Pope Francis – in first Interview for a UK Publication -says pandemic can be a ‘place of conversion’
By Austin Ivereigh in THE TABLET, In an exclusive interview recorded for The Tablet – his first for a UK publication – Pope Francis says that this extraordinary Lent and Eastertide could be a moment of creativity and conversion for the Church, for the world, and for the whole of creation. • Towards the end…
Is there a Christian way of facing the Covid-19 crisis?
By Fr Kieran O Mahony OSA, a Biblical scholar based in Dublin The first is the move from “I” to “we”. This is a frightening situation that we face together. The common good — the good of us all — must be given first place. That is a very Christian, even a very Catholic virtue. The…
Papacies in Lockdown
By Massimo Faggioli in Commonweal Magazine (USA), 31 March, 2020 Governments around the world are comparing the fight against the pandemic to war, and whether or not you agree with the metaphor, Pope Francis and the Vatican do face a “warlike” situation. Italy is in lockdown, the rites of Holy Week and the Easter liturgy…
Churches Should Be Open
By Melanie McDonagh in THE TIMES, 3 April 2020 Off-licences, allotments, churches. Which is the odd one out? Easy. Churches must remain closed on account of the pandemic. The first two are essential; the second, apparently, non-essential. Which is weird when we’re coming up for Holy Week, high point of the Christian year, when Christians…
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