In the 30th year of the common era, better known in the “western world” as “A.D.”, when the first full moon of spring illuminated the night of Palestine, a young and free prophet called Jesus of Nazareth was arrested, summarily tried and sentenced by the Roman procurator to die on a cross at the request, […]
I doubt there is a more appropriate building than the Arantzazu Basilica to offer and enjoy the concert “Horrela Bizitzeko” (To live like that). But much courage was needed to organize that concert there, because certain things are still too hard on the ears of the Church. A lot of courage was needed, and the […]
In Les Halles de Beaubourg, the old Parisian farmers’ market, completely redone in the 1970s and turned into the commercial, cultural and artistic heart of contemporary Paris, there is a singular jewel: Saint Merry’s, a beautiful gothic church from the 16th century, in flamboyant style, called “the little Notre-Dame”. It is a museum of architecture, […]
I am filled with astonishment and sorrow after reading the essay Oilarra kukuruka [The Cock Crows] (Erein 2020), which has just been published by Xipri Arbelbide, a Basque priest and friend from Heleta (Lower Navarre). It revolves around the death throes of the Catholic Church in our country, and I am astonished that the author […]
Roger Lenaers is an elderly, wise Belgian Jesuit, author of books such as Another Christianity is Possible and Although there isn’t a God up there[1], written with intelligence and soul for those who want to go on being Jesus’ disciples without cutting themselves off from today’s world with its worldview, science and language. Having devoted […]
Still and quiet on the bare branch, a blackbird is watching the snow-covered landscape of Aizarna. Everything radiates quietness and harmony. Everything breathes in peace. But when I look at the first news item, the front page, or the first thought, the current and enormous uncertainties of the planet, the threats of this pandemia and […]
About 2,700 years ago, the first Isaiah, an outstanding poet, wrote: For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace (Is 9, 5). Seven centuries later, around 80 AD, a physician evangelist called Luke, another poet, described: […]
It’s Advent again and the prophecies written by Isaiah a mere 2,700 years ago have a new feel about them. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isa 2:4). There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear […]
I am impressed by the advances in technology and the sciences that make it possible. It is an incredible collective success of sapiens, our species, to make life more comfortable and with less suffering. I would certainly not want to go back to the living conditions of just 200 years ago: no vaccines, antibiotics, anesthesia, […]
On 22 October the Constitutional Court of Poland ruled that abortion on the grounds of foetal malformation was unconstitutional. I remember what happened; in 1993 and defying the Church, the State legalised abortion on four grounds: rape, incest, serious risk for the mother’s health and foetal malformation. It was a symptom of the new Poland, […]
