Category Archives: Religion
Swans in Time of C19
London Diary : Swans 21 May Two months on from C19 lockdown.A wonderful early morning in Battersea Park with the appearance of the first cygnet to hatch this year. For us regular park users the swan colony and its evolution across the seasons and the years has always had pride of place among the wild life that inhabits this historic green space near the River Thames in south London. But with the park providing a mental and physical life-line during the C19 lock-down, the bonding, mating and hatching of these …
‘Silence’: A film worth discernment
I am grateful to Father Nye, a wise old Jesuit friend for advising me to go and see and make my own mind up about Silence which arrived at my local London movie house on New Year’s Day. ‘Only don’t expect humour. It doesn’t have any’, ‘he added. Up to that point a reading of some reviews had led me to thinking I might avoid it. The suggestion was that this was an overlong and dark film, with a somewhat leaden dialogue, a miscast central character, and containing scenes of …
Pope Francis as Trump’s Nemesis
Pope Francis stands for most of everything Donald Trump finds objectionable. I would list this, in no particular order, as the following: Kindness and tolerance of minorities and other races and religions. Concern about global warming to the extent of calling for an immediate and drastic cut-back of polluting energy generators and waste. A critique of unbridled capitalism and a belief in the common good, based on human solidarity, and a truly Christian community as envisaged by the Beatitudes. Humility. Spirituality. Jesuitical Discernment. An ability to listen to the other. …
A family war remembrance
This evening at ten o’clock local time , on this day marking the centenary of the beginning of the First World War, lights will dim in the city where I am now London , in streets and homes, and candles will burn in remembrance… of those who died. I share with you the remembrance of my uncle who was killed long before any of us were born- 2Lt David Chambers Burns, Black Watch Regiment- educated at the Jesuit Stonyhurst College. “He was killed in Flanders during the Third battle of …
La reina Isabel y El papa Francisco
La reunión de la reina Isabel 11 con el Papa Francisco – oficialmente descrita como una visita de cortesía – pudo haber carecido de la cobertura mediatica y estatus político de la de Obama , pero no era menos cargada de simbolismo potente. Este fue el primer viaje al extranjero en más de dos años del monarca reinante que a pesar de su notable buena salud física y mental ha optado sabiamente por una agenda oficial menos agitada acorde con su edad – Ella cumplirá 88 en poco más …
When the Queen met Francis
Queen Elizabeth’s meeting with Pope Francis- officially described a courtesy visit- may have lacked the razzmatazz or political status of Obama’s but it was no less charged with potent symbolism. This was the first trip abroad in over two years by the reigning monarch that despite her remarkably enduring physical and mental good health has wisely opted for a less hectic official diary befitting her age- She is 88 in just over three weeks’ time. A rescheduled day trip to Italy-at the invitation of the anglophile Italian president-afforded an …
Obama and Francis: A worthwhile encounter
In the feverish information highway of instant mass communication it was perhaps inevitable that the meeting in Rome between Pope Francis and Barak Obama should lend itself to a plethora of comment, not always conceived or delivered in a spirit of generosity Leading the cynical charge was the hawkish Fox TV whose panel of commentators suggested that the meeting has exposed a huge political and ethical gap between the two men on issues like abortion and contraception while failing to find common ground on anything of substance. One of …
Obama y Francisco- un encuentro valioso
Teniendo en cuenta la naturaleza de la autopista de la información febril de comunicación de masas era quizás inevitable que el encuentro en Roma entre el Papa Francisco y Barak Obama se prestase a una gran cantidad de comentarios, no siempre concebidos o entregados en un espíritu de generosidad. Liderando la carga cínica fue la línea dura Fox News TV cuyo panel de comentaristas sugirió que la reunión habia puesto de manifiesto una enorme brecha política y ética entre los dos hombres en temas como el aborto y la anticoncepción …
My Christmas Carol
a. Verse One Just now I watched my football team FC Barcelona finish off their year playing a beautiful game of football-poetic in its creation, selfless in its delivery. The team played without their two non-Spanish superstars-Messi and Neymar- and yet had Pedro (born in the Canaries) and Cesc (a Catalan) scoring some sublime goals, and Jordi Alba (a Catalan) and Iniesta (a Castilian) in perfect harmony down the left-hand side and in the middle. Barca’s manager, Tata Martino likes to rotate his players (several of them Spanish internationals) …
My Catholic family
The Vatican has launched a worldwide survey to find out what Catholics really think about its teaching on marriage and family life, the BBC reports…Pope Francis is calling bishops to Rome next October to discuss possible reform that considers modern social realities. This survey has been badly organised by the Vatican civil service- haphazard distribution, and couched in ecclesiastical language that risks being lost on ordinary souls. But it remains a rare democratic exercise involving the Catholic faithful worldwide. It has got me thinking about my faith and …
