The public should make prostitution and sex trafficking ‘doorstep issues’ in the upcoming election, writes Sarah Benson Since its foundation, Ruhama has supported thousands of women affected by prostitution and sex trafficking in Ireland. Every day in our work we see first-hand the harm that sexual exploitation does to women and girls. We support women…

Fr Donal Dorr Pope Francis, in his encyclical letter on the environment, Laudato Si’, makes a passionate appeal to us to protect the fragile Earth and the poorest of people. He warns us that our call to be protectors of God’s creation “is not an optional or a secondary aspect of Christian faith”. He says…

Dr Tom Finegan Catholic social and moral teaching affirms the central importance of marriage for both individual persons and wider society as the bedrock upon which society is built. Catholic social and moral teaching further affirms the duty of governments to protect and promote marriage and family life through law and policy. A general election…

The next Government should commit to ending family homelessness, writes Sr Stan Kennedy The housing and homeless crisis is one of the greatest social and economic challenges faced by our society and that the next Government will responsible for tackling. Focus Ireland wants to say loud and clear to every candidate standing in this General…

Election candidates should be committed to increasing aid, writes Eamonn Meehan It is important that Ireland’s new Government does what it can to protect the poorest and most vulnerable people in the developing world. As Ireland rebuilds itself after our economic crash we must ask what type of a society we want. I would hope…

Luca Attanasio It was 1984. In the aftermath of the terrible news report by the BBC on the effects of famine in Ethiopia, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure quickly brought together the top bands of the time and recorded the famous song Do They Know it’s Christmas.  They raised a lot of money and international…

The Latin American Pope faces a testing visit, writes Paul Keenan There could hardly have been a more diabolical challenge to the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to Mexico than the January 29 murder of baby Marcos Miguel Pano Colón. In a single violent incident among the many thousands perpetrated by the country’s drugs cartels…

The Church teaches that Confession to a priest is an essential part of the Sacrament of Penance, writes Cathal Barry The Church teaches that penance requires the sinner to “endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction” Among the penitent’s acts contrition occupies first…

A colleague of mine shares this story: recently, after presiding a Eucharist, a woman from the congregation came up to him with this comment: “What a horrible scripture reading today! If that’s the kind of God we’re worshipping, then I don’t want to go to Heaven!” The reading for that day’s liturgy was taken from…

“the God who calls is the God who loves, who forgives, the God who sees into our hearts and gently but very definitely coaxes us to be the very best person we can be”, writes Fr Martin Delaney Recently I returned to my home parish for the funeral of one of my neighbours, a Kiltegan…