The portrayal of priests and nuns in ‘The Woman in the Wall’ is unfair and unjust, writes David Quinn There was a time when Catholic priests and nuns were depicted as kindly, charitable figures. Think of Bing Crosby as Fr Charles ‘Chuck’ O’Malley in Going My Way, or the Fr Brown mysteries by GK Chesterton which…
In just a little over a month, the curtain will rise on a keenly anticipated Synod of Bishops on Synodality in Rome. Though notoriously difficult to define, ‘synodality’ generally refers to the idea of the whole Church journeying together, with members listening to one another in establishing priorities and policies. To date, much of the…
In the foreword to a new booklet by a conservative group criticising Pope Francis’s looming Synod of Bishops on Synodality, American Cardinal Raymond Burke has slammed the process surrounding the synod, calling it deeply harmful and potentially schismatic. Cardinal Burke, a hero to the traditionalist wing of the Catholic Church, has been a frequent Francis…
The theme of this year’s ‘Season of Creation’ is ‘Let Justice and Peace Flow’ – inspired by the words of the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (5:24). What struck me from this image of flowing water is not only how water symbolises justice and peace but how…
Every August, when the Rose of Tralee festival comes around, there’s a breakout of demands calling for it to be brought to an end – on grounds that it’s outdated, sexist, judgmental of women and all the rest. I may even have voiced such an opinion myself back in the dim dark past. But in…
As you read this, a courageous bishop is sitting in solitary confinement in a Nicaraguan prison – Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa. We are so flooded with bad news that it can sometimes be hard to care about a country thousands of miles away. The Irish Catholic has played a valuable role in helping us…
Once again, reputation protection was deemed more important than victims and survivors, writes David Quinn This week, nurse Lucy Letby found out that she will spend the rest of her life behind bars. She was found guilty of the murder of seven babies in her care at the Countess of Chester hospital in Britain. She…
Rightfully deplored sins in the Church’s past have driven many into irrationality in the present, writes Jason Osborne Being both a Catholic and a journalist, I cannot help but notice the surging anti-Catholic sentiment sweeping Ireland at the moment. You don’t have to look far to see it, or strain your ears too hard to…
Cindy Wooden Pope Francis continually calls Catholics to go to the “peripheries,” and that is exactly what he will do August 31 when he boards a plane to Mongolia. Bordering both Russia and China, Mongolia is one of the few countries St John Paul II did not manage to visit, although plans were well underway…
Bishops in Pakistan have called for prayer after an angry mob vandalised several Christian homes and churches in the district of Faisalabad August 16 following allegations of blasphemy and desecration of the Koran. In a brief social media post, the Pakistani bishops on their “Catholics in Pakistan” Facebook page said that “on 16th August, an…
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien