Our Christian faith ultimately rests on Christ himself, writes David Quinn The faith of many Catholics has suffered another battering recently because of the latest eruption of public anger over abuse scandals. In Germany, a report commissioned by the Catholic bishops there shows that over a 70-year period, more than 3,000 priests have been…
Students raised in religious homes are more likely to succeed, regardless of whether they went to a faith school or a not, a new study has found. Research by the UCL Institute of Education found that pupils from Catholic and Church of England families did well due to their upbringing, rather than because of the…
There is reason to speculate on how well prepared the Pope was for his Irish trip, writes Greg Daly “It is not enough to turn the page. Life must be given anew.” This quote from Pope Francis headlined the La Civiltà Cattolica account last week of the August 25 meeting between the Pope and…
A new pro-life Poster Campaign aims to ensure legislation regarding abortion in the North of Ireland (NI) will be dealt with by Stormont rather than in Westminster, with campaigners saying “the battle is on”. Churches across NI will be contacted by Precious Life who hope they will encourage parishioners to send the group’s postcards to…
Chai Brady discusses the upcoming Synod on Youth As the Church comes closer to a major discussion on young people, it’s worth taking note of the aims and processes behind what it hopes to address: a crisis in reaching youth. The Synod on Youth will be held in the Vatican from October 3-28 on…
Francis is gambling with bishops’ conferences, but it’s probably the only card he has, writes Michael Kelly Depending on where you stand on Pope Francis, his decision to call a summit of the heads of the world’s bishops’ conferences is either courageous or too little too late. It’s certainly unprecedented and the February meeting…
Changes in Clogher mark a realistic direction for the Irish Church, writes Greg Daly Ask not what your church can do for you, but what you can do for your church. Msgr Joseph McGuinness didn’t say this in any of the recent missives issued from the Diocese of Clogher, but he could have done.…
People who deny the good work that the Church in Ireland has done are not being fair and instead are being driven by ideology, Bishop Donal McKeown has said. Referring to the Taoiseach’s speech with Pope Francis at Dublin Castle, Bishop McKeown pointed out how Leo Varadkar said “the Church in Ireland has done many…
Honouring a priest shot at point-blank range by the Mafia, Pope Francis has insisted that true happiness and a real change in Sicilian society will come only when people love and care for one another rather than trying to grab as much money and power as they can. “Having always leads to wanting. I have…
It’s a question almost as old as Christianity itself, and given that parishioners globally have some personal experience of it, it is certainly one worth answering: How long should a homily be? This question has sparked discussion this week after Pope Francis told a gathering of 10,000 over the weekend in Italy that the homily…
David Quinn
Colm Fitzpatrick
Greg Daly
Chai Brady
Michael Kelly