“There are warning signs of the emergence of a growing secular zeal in this country”, writes Martin Mansergh The phrase in the Easter 1916 Proclamation least quoted in this centenary is the guarantee by the Republic of religious and civil liberty to all its citizens. While at one level sincerely intended as a reassurance to…

“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” I love that old Negro spiritual and I’m reminded of it every year during Holy Week. This year as I sing it I will be thinking of the beleaguered Christian communities in the Holy Land. The verses in the hymn ask: Were you there when they crucified…

Modern oral histories can shed light on the Gospel narratives, writes Greg Daly Looking back on the Easter Rising 33 years later when interviewed by the Bureau of Military History, Bobby Holland, an apprentice butcher and a member of the Volunteers during the rebellion, seemed slightly indignant. “I was brought down to kill another beast…

Addressing thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square at the weekend, Pope Francis told them: “God does not nail us to our sin.” The Pope went on: “He does not identify us with the evil we have done. We have a name, and God does not identify this name with the sin we have committed.”…

“time heals all wounds between nations, and history puts everything into a constantly changing perspective”, writes Mary Kenny The history of St Patrick’s Day in Britain is interesting. Up until 1916 – significantly – it was well-marked and well-observed in London, particularly, as a great day for the Irish. The tradition of a royal family…

“The commission has recognised its duty to create policies with global application, which send very clear messages about what must be done everywhere in the world. We have seen that it is capable of this”, writes Nuala O’Loan Pope Francis established the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, because, he said, “Many painful actions…

Faith in anything, once lost, is not easily restored, writes David Quinn Lately I’ve taken to calling myself a ‘lapsed’ or a ‘non-practicing’ Fine Gaeler. You might be the same, or else you might be a lapsed Fianna Fáil supporter who perhaps returned to the party at the recent election or maybe opted for one…

To abolish the right of parents to choose the kind of education for their children is the very contradiction of pluralism, writes Fr Pádraig McCarthy Fr Pádraig McCarthy Imagine for a moment that you are a parent, and you have a child ready to start school. You are Catholic, and there are two Catholic schools…

The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given to those who are seriously ill, writes Cathal Barry The Church teaches that Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn (Mt 10:38). “By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick,” according to the…

Fear is the heartbeat of the powerless. So writes Cor de Jonge. That’s true. We can deal with most everything, except fear. The late, Belgian, spiritual writer, Bieke Vandekerckhove, in a very fine book, The Taste of Silence, shared very honestly about the demons that beset her as she faced a terminal illness at age…