God remains the key ingredient, young couples tell Jason Osborne Relationships have changed a lot in recent decades, with rates of dating, engagement and marriage plummeting amongst the young. According to the Central Statistics Office, the average age of marriage for a bride in Ireland is 34.8 years old, while it’s 36.8 for the groom.…

Ruadhán Jones explores how religious orders around the country celebrate Christmas We are blessed in Ireland by the presence of so many different religious orders, men and women. Cistercians, Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans and many, many more – each have a lively presence, even if it’s one we may not always see. The way in which…

Living with uncertainty is key for Christians, Alister McGrath tells Jason Osborne In his latest book, Through a Glass Darkly: Journeys through Science, Faith & Doubt, famed theologian and author Alister McGrath recalls a quote attributed to the mastermind behind the Manhattan Project – the American quest to create the atomic bomb during the Second…

For many young people, a journey of doubt leads them to the Church, writes Chai Brady Despite the decrease in Mass attendance across western Europe and fewer young people engaging with religion, there are still those who feel the call of the Church in later life and decide to wholeheartedly engage with the Catholic Faith.…

Ruadhán Jones explores a little-known Christmas treasure by JRR Tolkien JRR Tolkien exists in the minds of many as the creator the 20th century’s great epic, The Lord of the Rings. Epic in the breadth of its world building, epic also in the span of its action and, finally, epic in the scope of its…

Aontú leader and TD Peadar Tóibín opens up about faith, cancer and the future of the Church, writes Ruadhán Jones Aontú leader and Meath TD Peadar Tóibín made a name for himself in 2018 when he and one other Sinn Féin TD refused to toe the party line over the question of abortion. He was…

When we no longer see the natural world as something to be nurtured; the powerful seize and extract all they can from it while putting nothing back, writes Pope Francis In times of crisis and tribulation, when we are shaken out of our sclerotic habits, the love of God comes out to purify us, to…

Catholic comedienne and mother of six Jen Fulwiler speaks to Ruadhán Jones about Catholicism and comedy Militant atheist, computer programmer turned Catholic comedienne and mother of six – Jennifer (Jen) Fulwiler has led a busy life. To say the least, it wasn’t how she expected it to turn out. But now, having just released an…

Rather than cease operations in the face of this pandemic, Youth 2000 increased our ministry with young people writes Róisín O’Rourke One summer several years ago, I attended one of my first Youth 2000 retreats down in Clonmacnoise. It was Saturday evening during the healing and reconciliation service and I had received the Sacrament of…

The perceived key to happiness today is to change the world, but in reality the solution is to be transformed yourself writes Jason Osborne St Maximus the Confessor held that the world is a reflection of man, and man is a reflection of the world, and that has certainly been my experience. As the world…