Hundreds of Irish GPs have submitted a third petition to their representative body calling for a vote on abortion and freedom of conscience. Approximately 600 GPs hand-signed the petition calling for the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). Dr Orla Halpenny from Doctors for Life said that “members…
A Parent’s Perspective I always remember my mother giving me a little pamphlet titled My Dear Daughter which was the equivalent of what’s commonly referred to as ‘The Talk’. Schools often depend on outside-trained speakers now to supplement the information they deliver on sexuality and relationships. Parents may be relieved to leave this aspect of…
New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have expressed horror and distress at a terrorist attack in two mosques in Christchurch that saw at least 50 people killed. The shootings took place at or near the Al Noor Mosque, where 41 people were killed, and at the Linwood Mosque, where seven were killed. One more person subsequently died…
While many Twitter users saw last week’s meeting of American Vice President Mike Pence with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his partner as an in-your-face moment for the pro-marriage Christian politician, a Dublin-based priest has said the scene really shows gracious dialogue. Fr Bill Dailey, priest in Dublin’s Newman University Church, criticised Twitter users who were…
The murder of dozens of martyrs was nothing short of a devastating tragedy, but it is also an example of the courage and enduring faith of Egypt’s persecuted Christian community. A new book by a renowned German author details his travels to one of the small villages these men came from. He meets their families…
The Primate of All-Ireland has asked for prayers and Christian outreach following the tragic deaths of three teenagers in a crowd crush outside the Greenvale Hotel, Co. Tyrone on St Patrick’s night. The three young people have been named as Lauren Bullock (17), a student of St Patrick’s College in Dungannon, and Connor Currie (16)…
We don’t know how to celebrate things as they’re meant to be celebrated. We want to, but mostly we don’t know how. Generally we celebrate badly. How do we normally celebrate? By overdoing things; by taking a lot of the things we ordinarily do, drinking, eating, talking, singing, and humouring, and bringing them to excess.…
Questions of Faith It’s often said by theologians that before the Incarnation, history was pregnant with Christ – that is to say, history itself was waiting for God to enter into humanity. It’s a powerful and almost poetic idea, that the world was preparing and anticipating for this momentous point in time. But was there…
Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography of a Rebellion in Ulster by Guy Beiner (Oxford University Press, £35.00) Ian d’Alton Troublesome memories, or memories of troubles? This fascinating book is about memory, and how the contemporary inevitably colours perceptions of the past. In that context, pinning down memory is always aiming at a moving…
Faith isn’t a matter of praying for victory, Wales’s defence coach told a gathering of Catholics ahead of the Welsh rugby team’s 25-7 trouncing of Ireland last weekend. Speaking on ‘Faith in a Competitive World’ to over 120 people near Cardiff’s St David’s Cathedral, lifelong Catholic Shaun Edwards said that as a boy he had…
Chai Brady
Maria Byrne
Colm Fitzpatrick
Fr Ronald Rolheiser