How successful the dream of the Rising has been realised can only be measured in terms of what kind of society we have now, writes Archbishop Diarmuid Martin Earlier this year RTÉ transmitted a television series about 1916 called Rebellion. It was a fictional re-enactment of the dramatic events of Easter Week 1916. It included…

We need to think about and pray for our brothers and sisters suffering and dying for what we take so casually for granted, writes Fr Martin Delaney Recently I returned to my alma mater, the Irish College in Rome. Some years ago the college chapel was extensively renovated by the Slovenian Jesuit artist, Mark Rupnik.…

In the movie based upon Jane Austen’s classic novel Sense and Sensibility, there’s a very poignant scene where one of her young heroines, suffering from acute pneumonia, is lying in bed hovering between life and death. A young man, very much in love with her, is pacing back and forth, highly agitated, frustrated by his…

We must remember, “our bodies, yours and mine, at the final judgement, will be raised from the dead and reunited with our souls”, writes Andrew O’Connell The Paschal Triduum, culminating in the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil, is a beautiful and profound spiritual experience. At its heart is the stunning reality of the Resurrection of…

The stone which rolled away from the tomb of Jesus continues to roll away from every sort of grave. Goodness cannot be held, captured or put to death. It evades its pursuers, escapes capture, slips away, hides out, even leaves the churches sometimes, but forever rises, again and again, all over the world. Such is…

Holy Orders is the sacrament of apostolic ministry, writes Cathal Barry Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. As such, the Church teaches that “it is the…

“If politicians believe in a particular cause, they should articulate it with honesty and clarity”, writes Editor Michael Kelly Acurious aspect of the centenary commemoration around the 1916 Easter Rising is the confidence with which many people claim to know the minds of the leaders. Take Leo Varadkar (acting-Minister for Health, at least for the…

“When it comes to the faith box, if you are an adherent of a faith, or a believer in any faith, say so”, writes Mary Kenny I detect a campaign starting up on social media to encourage people – perhaps agnostics, waverers, those uncertain of their spiritual values – to append ‘no religion’ on the…

“I would love if someone were to do some serious research on what being Irish means in this virtual world”, writes Breda O’Brien While the country has spent weeks discussing every aspect of 1916 and the implications for today, much more recent anniversaries, such as the 11-year anniversary of YouTube, or the nine-year anniversary of…