The appalling abuse of girls by gangs of predatory men, or Tusla’s failure to protect vulnerable children in their care, makes for uncomfortable reading. That’s understandable. We’d all rather talk about the weather or RTÉ’s latest payments shenanigans. But there comes a point when it is incumbent on those in authority to take action –…

Over the coming months, the outcome of deliberations in Mary Immaculate College (MIC) will have far-reaching consequences for Catholic education in Ireland. As it stands, MIC is one of the last – if not the last – third level Catholic college that is entirely publicly funded. At the start of this year, there were three,…

There was a time when social policy was very strongly influenced by Catholic teaching. Now the opposite is often the case. It is a classic example of the pendulum swinging first one way and then the other. But when the Church had a great deal of influence in the country it was for a reason;…

Discussions in Ireland about Catholic education often occur between two people with deep-rooted ideals who are not listening to one another – this dilemma does not lead to the vital “shared understanding” a Dublin City University (DCU) academic is striving for in his new podcast. Dr David Kennedy, Assistant Professor of Religious Education in Dublin…

Judith Sudilovsky Cardinal-designate Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, expressed the need to respect and protect the life and dignity of Palestinians during a July 10 visit to Jenin, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the city July 5. “I see another face of resilience. I see people suffering, people experiencing the consequences of…

Kimberley Heatherington Those who minister to, or are part of, the community of people who identify as LGBTQ+ have observed a noted shift with respect to them and their concerns in the working document for the Church’s forthcoming synod of bishops convened by Pope Francis. The working document, or Instrumentum Laboris, was released June 20…

An irate mother of a First Communicant complained about all the hoops her family had to go through to participate in the ceremony: enrolment and Mass attendance and First Confession and everything. She might be the kind of parent so well titled by Fr Martin Delaney in these pages: a “bouncy castle Catholic”, i.e. one…

Stand with Ukraine’ is a slogan which has elicited much support across the political spectrum in all our European countries. We have nearly all backed Ukraine’s case against the Russian invader, admired its people’s resistance, and Volodymyr Zelensky’s courageous leadership. But the supply of cluster bombs to the Ukrainian war effort? Here is a dilemma…

Imagine if the day came when a highly credentialed US intelligence official publicly announced, “we are not alone”, and said the US government has proof in the form of alien spacecraft and the bodies of dead aliens. Imagine if a US Senator, sitting on the Senate Intelligence Committee, then confirmed that a number of other “serious”…

Tobias Winright My family and I moved to Maynooth from Saint Louis, Missouri, in the United States nearly a year ago. We had visited Ireland a dozen times during the past two decades, and we were attracted to the beauty of the Emerald Isle and the hospitality of its people. Also, although it had experienced…