A few weeks ago in this column I lamented the false dichotomy between science and religion – someone must have been paying attention! Last Friday BBC Radio 4 launched a new series, The Secret History of Science and Religion, presented in an amiably cheerful fashion by Nick Spencer. It’s not exactly easy listening, and not easy…
So, you want to explore the state of religion in the country today, what do you do? Send an agnostic, avowedly cynical, gay comedian to do the job? Well, it might work? That’s what happened with Divorcing God (RTÉ1, Wednesday) presented by Oliver Callan. The show was interesting, there were some reasonably fresh perspectives, observations…
I was puzzled to see a warning about strong language for a religious programme, and even more puzzled to find no strong language in the programme after all! So it was with Young, Welsh and Pretty Religious on BBC1 on Tuesday of last week. In this episode the focus was on a young Catholic priest, a…
Is there anything funny about the battle between good and evil? Can it be be taken lightly in any context? Even in the world of fantasy fiction? These questions were prompted by the new drama series Good Omens which was launched in its six episode entirety on Amazon Prime last Friday. I binge watched in…
In the aftermath of the elections and referendum we can rejoice that we have so many chances to vote, but there are worrying signs for our democracy and the role of media. I’ve never been a fan of RTÉ’s podium style debates (e.g. on last week’s Prime Time specials and Claire Byrne Live), but it’s…
It was inevitable – every time abortion is introduced into a country, horror stories follow. And it’s not like people weren’t warned. The story broke last Thursday but on Today With Seán O’Rourke (RTÉ Radio 1) last Friday; the host’s introduction summed it up – “abortion of baby that did not have a fatal abnormality”.…
I’ve often wondered why Ireland doesn’t have a dedicated high-profile Christian arts festival. There was plenty of arts content during the Eucharistic Congress and the World Meeting of Families, but an annual event would be in order. A few years ago Glenealy, Co. Wicklow, had its MAD (‘Make a Difference’) festival thanks to the late…
Every now and then watching a programme on TV you might regret your initial reaction. Watching Panorama: Scandal in the Church of England, on BBC last week (BBC1 Monday, BBC2 Friday) I couldn’t help feeling a little relieved that for a change it wasn’t the Catholic Church under the microscope, or under the cosh. Unworthy…
Priests often have a prophetic role in the Church and society, and nowhere was this more evident than in the words of Fr Martin McGill at the funeral last week of Lyra McKee, tragically shot dead in Derry. Fr McGill’s words to the politicians assembled at her funeral (“Why in God’s name does it take…
You’d expect religious matters to figure more prominently in the media in Holy Week, and so they did, but I never reckoned on a major fire in Notre Dame Cathedral and the massacre at churches in Sri Lanka. It was blanket coverage of Notre Dame on the Monday night and through Tuesday, but as interest…