Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas and bureaucracies don’t support reform. The election of Pope Francis almost two years ago with a key mandate for reform of the Church’s central administration marked somewhat of a watershed. Neither St John Paul II nor Benedict XVI were particularly recognised as Popes who had much interest in governing the…

I was informally fostered by an uncle and aunt when I was seven, and I often feel this has given me a sense of identification with children who are fostered or adopted. Family fostering – an old Irish custom – is not quite the same as being placed with an unknown foster-family. Yet I did…

Martin Mansergh, The View

The DUP is starting to look like an attractive option for some Catholics in the North, writes David Quinn

It is easy to mistake piety for the genuine response that God wants of us, that is, to enter into a relationship of intimacy with Him and then try to help others have that same experience. We see this everywhere in Scripture. For example, in Luke’s Gospel, after witnessing a miraculous catch of fish, Peter…

The Church is the body of Christ, writes Cathal Barry

Recently, I was struck in a fresh way by a stale cliché. I heard someone opining that Massgoers are “voting with their feet” and, although I had heard those words many times before, on this occasion I was practically knocked off my own feet by the superficiality of the expression. The issues facing the Church…

Editor’s Comment, Michael Kelly

I think that quite a lot of sincere and good Catholics will feel minded to vote ‘Yes’ to the same-sex marriage referendum coming up on May 22. People want to be kind. People want to be respectful of others and of the nature of others. There are old Irish sayings which underline these sensibilities. Long…

Pope Francis made headlines around the world last month after drawing a reported six million people to the closing Mass of his visit to the Philippines. It was hailed as the largest ever turnout for a papal event and, possibly, the largest gathering in human history. While it’s a little crude to focus on crowd…