Thousands gathered at the RDS this past weekend for the 35th Divine Mercy Conference, as pilgrims and faithful from across Ireland and abroad came together for prayer, worship and reflection on this year’s theme – ‘This is my Body… this is my Blood, given up for you’. The annual gathering brought together families, young people…
After more than thirty years working in Catholic education I have learned not to be alarmed easily by legislative change. Education is constantly evolving. Policies change. Language adapts. Governments revise frameworks. But every so often, a development occurs that points to something much deeper than routine reform. It signals a change in first principles. Last…
The paradox at the heart of the current Irish media landscape is that the broadcasting regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, wants to maintain public trust and combat disinformation at the same time as it uncritically adopts gender identity beliefs. Pushing the belief that men can be women and that women are not entitled to single-sex spaces…
Ireland is often described as a land unusually rich in the art of written memory, with a wealth of books, illuminated manuscripts, and a deep tradition of scholastic learning. From the early Middle Ages, its monasteries produced a vast array of annals, genealogies, saints’ vitae, and legal texts in seemingly unprecedented quantities. The Irish monasteries…
By Frida Hennig and Pedro Esteva Young Catholics have responded to Bishop Niall Coll’s recent remarks about youth, who he referred to as “i-Gens”, seeking “clarity, coherence and tradition” rather than adaptability and experimentation, which can often seem fruitless. The Irish Catholic spoke to two “i-Gen” Catholics to get their perspectives on the Bishop of…
Thousands gathered at the RDS in Dublin this weekend for the 35th Divine Mercy Conference, joining in prayer, worship and reflection under this year’s theme, ‘This is my Body… this is my Blood, given up for you’. Attendees travelled from across Ireland and abroad for a programme of Mass, Eucharistic adoration, music and talks centred…
Various expert reports suggest that around 2% of the world’s population is transgender (trans). In other words, the number of people feeling that their gender identity does not align with their biological sex is very small. This condition is also known as gender dysphoria. In the worlds of medicine and psychotherapy, there is deep disagreement…
It was lashing across the Knockmealdown Mountains as we drove up the winding road to Mount Melleray. But as the car pulled into the gravel courtyard, the sky began to clear. The grey lifted, and there before us stood the great church against the wide Waterford landscape. For nearly two centuries, the monastery had been…
There’s a programme on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday evenings called ‘The Moral Maze’ (which my colleague Brendan O’Regan has on occasions reviewed). It approaches a series of topical questions within the framework not just of debate, but with the focus on the moral analysis. What is the right thing to do? What is the…
It was a parish priest who gave award-winning Irish filmmaker Campbell Miller the break he so badly needed. Without the encouragement of Fr Colin Crossey, from Newcastle, Co. Down, Miller might not have pursued his talent which is about to be showcased in the United States. His latest docudrama, St Patrick – The Hidden Years,…
Mary Kenny
Martina Purdy