Parishioners should stand up for hundreds of millions of persecuted Christians by ‘turning their churches red’ later this month, Irish bishops have said. “On Red Wednesday, we remember the horrific reality of religious violence and intolerance in our world and we state definitively that those who do not respect freedom of thought, conscience and religion…
What kind of a doctor is eager to perform abortions? Perhaps that’s a question for Health Minister Simon Harris. To be fair to the medical profession, I don’t think that most doctors do like to carry out abortions. Some may do so if they feel it’s called for, clinically, but most – in my experience…
The View There can be no doubt that Ireland’s health care services are struggling, as are many of those who work for them. Here are a few facts: The Irish Independent reported this week that 500,000 public patients are waiting to see a specialist. “Some 138,584 of these patients spent the whole of 2017…
The beginning of an inquest into the shooting of 10 innocent people during the Ballymurphy Massacre is the “first step on the road to justice” according to campaigners. The inquest began in Belfast on Monday, with relatives of the victims gathering outside the Laganside Court and holding pictures of their loved ones. Ballymurphy parish priest…
Our shifting views towards World War I show how fickle we can be, writes David Quinn It is now commonplace for Irish pupils to learn the famous poem by World War I poet, Wilfred Owen, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. Owen was killed on the Western Front in 1917. Owen’s poem mocks the idea that…
The teaching of Limbo was a well-meaning attempt to solve a theological problem but caused many mothers to suffer, a leading theologian has said. Prof. Eamonn Conway, a lecturer at Limerick’s Mary Immaculate College, said the theological concept “caused a lot of harm”, and that it was an attempted solution to protect the idea that…
One of Ireland’s most popular singers has launched a charity single for the Christmas market after making a 20,000km round-trip to record it. Multi-award winning Tommy Fleming travelled to Rwanda to record ‘Give A Little Bit’ – the 1977 hit by Supertramp – with local teenagers in support of Irish aid agency Bóthar’s Christmas appeal.…
An Irish saint championed the idea of Europe in the Dark Ages and inspired today’s European movement, writes Greg Daly At a time when Europe’s future is uncertain and nationalist currents are on the rise, it’s worth reflecting on the ideas that first underpinned the European movement, according to Dr Alexander O’Hara. An honourary…
Following Monday’s shock announcement that the Vatican has requested the US Catholic Bishops to delay voting on new standards for bishop accountability, survivors of sexual abuse and bishop accountability activists decried the move as “totally unacceptable”. Terence McKiernan, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, called the move a “pre-emptive strike” by the Vatican against US bishops as they…
Politicians must act to assist workers as technology continues to transform jobs across Europe, said a committee of the European Union bishops’ commission. Work is sustainable only “if it does not harm or destroy the livelihood of others and if it uses generously and equitably the gifts of creation”, said the social affairs commission of…
Greg Daly
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
Chai Brady
David Quinn
Colm Fitzpatrick