“Conscience has to be understood more widely than the mere deification of feelings or obedience to a dominant orthodoxy”, writes Editor Michael Kelly By the time most people read this, the general election will be over. At least the vote-casting part of it. All but a few seats will be decided, and it will be…
The late Princess of Wales developed a friendship with an Irish nun who offered her “prayers and support” during the public breakdown of her marriage, a series of letters, newly discovered in Ireland, reveal. Letters and a Christmas card sent by Princess Diana in 1992 to Sr Teresa of the Little Sisters of the Assumption…
“It’s good to see the Catholic Church laying claim to this heritage of caring for creation”, writes Mary Kenny I heard a sincere and impassioned sermon in Dublin at the weekend in which the priest spoke about defending the environment: this, he said, was following in the footsteps of Pope Francis and St Francis himself.…
Calum MacFarlane-Barrow, Sarah Moynihan, Glenn McDyre, Aoife Martin and Julianne Collins at the Mary’s Meals stand at the Divine Mercy Conference in the RDS, Dublin at the weekend. Photo: John McElroy
The rights of religious organisations working in the areas of marriage, education and health are under threat because of “equality legislation that does not recognise the right to protect religious ethos”, Bishop Kevin Doran has said. The Bishop of Elphin made the remark in a talk called ‘How should a Catholic think about politics?’ that…
“there does appear to be something in Catholicism in America that is not present in many Irish parishes”, writes Michael Kelly I’m writing from the United States where I am attending the Religious Education Congress of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Irish Catholics who attend Mass in the US often return with memories of the…
Creighton was right to quit FG – voters Renua leader Lucinda Creighton was right to quit Fine Gael, according to almost half of her constituents. The Dublin Bay South TD sacrificed her junior ministry and a potential promotion to Cabinet when she voted against the Government’s controversial abortion legislation in 2013. A poll by research firm Millward Brown for the Irish Independent…
Faith and sport are “intertwined” to the extent that they are the “matrix” for strong parish communities, a leading physical therapist has claimed. Gerard Hartmann, who has treated some of the world’s most elite sport stars, made the remarks at a diocesan-run sports conference in Limerick. “Where we see strong communities you typically see faith…
An Irish missionary based in the Philippines has described the homophobic comments of Filipino world boxing title holder Manny Pacquiao, as “deplorable”. Irish Columban missionary Fr Shay Cullen, who has lived in the Philippines for over 40 years working with street children, said the boxer’s remarks that “If men mate with men and women mate…
Govt accused of reneging on deal with faith schools A senior Church official has accused politicians of hypocrisy over their criticism of Catholic schools. Fr Tom Deenihan also hit out at successive Governments for reneging on a 1997 deal that would guarantee the ethos of faith schools in return for the Church having fewer representatives…
Michael Kelly
Mags Gargan
Mary Kenny
Courtney McGrail
Greg Daly
Cathal Barry