November 22, marked the 60th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy who was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in 1963. This Irish American was the first Catholic to be elected president of the United States and his rise to the highest office of American politics represented a moment of pride and triumph of…

The ‘gender pay gap’ – differences in earnings between men and women – must now be monitored by the authorities following the Gender Pay Gap Information Act of 2021. Irish companies with more than 250 employees must report on the differences between male and female average pay. Subsequently, smaller companies, first with 150 employees, and…

With little else in the news aside from wars and rumours of wars (Matthew 24:6), along with murder trials and extreme weather events, I freely admit to seeking escapism when I went with my husband, youngest son and his friend, Jacob, to see The Miracle Club, directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan. The fact that The Miracle…

From Islam to atheism to Christianity, David Quinn tells the story of a modern convert Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia in 1969 and was raised in an extremely strict Muslim environment. Aged five, she underwent female circumcision, otherwise known as female genital mutilation. This is not a requirement of Islam but is tolerated…

What has been happening in Israel and Gaza has horrified the world, writes Prof. Séamus Murphy The world has been following the horrors unfolding in the Middle East after the terrorist attack against Israel by Hamas on October 7 which saw 1,400 people killed, the vast majority being civilians. More than 240 hostages were taken…

A steady decline in priests self-describing as progressive has reached zero-point, writes Ruadhán Jones The number of priests in the United States self-describing as theologically ‘progressive’ has steadily declined, to the point that in younger generations the phenomenon has all but vanished, a new report shows. No priests surveyed by The Catholic Project who were…

Leaders often speak at least as loudly by what they don’t say as by what they do, and such would appear to be the case in recent days regarding Pope Francis’s approach to Israel and the broader Jewish world. A series of perceived papal slights began in late October, when a group of family members…

A new ruling from the Vatican’s doctrinal office says that transsexual individuals can be baptised, and also opens a cautious door to allowing transgender and homosexual couples to serve as godparents, while indicating that the “homosexual lifestyle” remains sinful and that more suitable options ought to be considered. The decision, which came in response to…

Priests and others in ministry in different parts of Ireland have asked me how our new funeral policy is working out. This policy was introduced in Cork and Ross in 2021, as we left Covid restrictions behind, enshrining some of our Covid learnings regarding funerary practice. Some local pastoral concerns that had been crying out…

According to that global innovator, Elon Musk, the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will mean that in the future no one will need to work. The robots will do everything, while men and women will go on to live the life of Riley, without the need to labour for their daily bread. Would such a…