I am writing this article from Strasbourg where I am attending the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Most people are aware of the European Parliament and how it decamps each month from Brussels to Strasbourg (at great expense) to hold some of its sessions. That monthly convoy is a legacy of the establishment…
The real meaning of Easter has disappeared into a cataclysmic, calorific extravagance of chocolate eggs, George Hook tells Chai Brady In the ever-evolving landscape of Irish Catholicism, few voices articulate the generational shifts with the same candour as George Hook. A veteran broadcaster and commentator, Mr Hook’s reflections on faith, culture, and national identity are…
Veteran broadcaster Paul Clark speaks to Chai Brady about Easter, assisted suicide, women’s potential, and the meaning of journalism. For more than five decades, Paul Clark has been a familiar face and voice in the North of Ireland. Behind the calm presence on screen is a man whose life is anchored not only in journalism,…
In a devastated country, I am sure that this earthquake will open the way for peace Cardinal Charles Maung Bo tells Paolo Affatato Our people have a strong faith. They have suffered a lot. They are the people of Good Friday. But they also know that the silence of Holy Saturday will end in the…
The families of people who were murdered during the Troubles face new horrors too regularly, writes Nuala O’Loan Last Sunday I attended the annual Remembrance Mass for the Disappeared at Armagh Cathedral. As I listened to St Luke’s account of the seizing, interrogation, torture and crucifixion of Jesus, I contemplated the horror and terror of…
Earlier pilgrims of the faith donned sackcloth and ashes during the Lenten period, whereas in today’s Ireland it’s arguably more a question of giving up KitKats or Guinness and saying extra Hail Marys – which is not to trivialise the Lenten sacrifices of the faithful but rather to set them in context against the serious…
One of the most famous quips that Bernadette Devlin – as a young and fiery Member of Parliament at Westminster – ever made was: “There’ll be no rioting in the golf clubs!” She was responding to concerns about civil unrest in Northern Ireland, which arose to confront the discrimination that prevailed in its governance.…
The Rupnik case continues to shake the Vatican and the Jesuit order to this day. The priest and artist is alleged to have sexually and spiritually abused numerous women. The trial against him is progressing slowly. The head of the worldwide Jesuit order is hoping for a swift conclusion to the Vatican proceedings against the…
He is more important to the Pope than many a curial cardinal: his nurse Strappetti, who saved his life. Since the Pope’s serious lung disease, he has been more visible than ever. And makes decisions. When Pope Francis appeared in public for a few minutes on 23 March and 6 April, a man in a…
Bishop Donal McKeown has spent his life walking with the faithful of the North of Ireland, through conflict and peace, through shifting cultural landscapes, and now through the changing face of the Church. As he approaches retirement, his reflections are not those of a man looking backward, but of one still sowing seeds for the…
Senator Ronan Mullen
Chai Brady
Nuala O’Loan
Mary Kenny