This is the time of year – the summer solstice – when we usually see various homages to pagan Celtic Ireland, with druidic figures revering the turning of the seasons on the longest day. The remarkable Newgrange tomb – 5,200 years old – in the Boyne Valley becomes a focus for marking the solstice event.…

We should read with concern last week’s National Safeguarding report. Aside from the rise in the number of allegations of abuse reported, the safeguarding body makes two references, small but significant, to children’s ministries. Twice the report states that, while 2022-23 saw the return of some children’s ministry, “in some places, this has been slow”.…

The Irish Government is radicalising how sex education is taught to the country’s pupils bit by bit, but not even it has yet been as bold as Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland Secretary, who has issued an order that all secondary schools in the North must teach pupils how to access abortion. This includes pupils…

The Latin language in the Catholic Church faces two major hurdles: the increasingly exclusive access to Latin instruction worldwide and the difficulty of transmitting the ancient language’s modern value to seminarians from non-European backgrounds, said the new president of the Vatican’s Latin academy. Though it is fighting an uphill battle, the Pontifical Academy for Latin,…

Leaders of the Church in France have appealed for patience and fairness in establishing the truth, after two more bishops were accused of sexual abuse while heading the Church’s main missionary organisation. “The charges are serious, and both categorically deny them,” said Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, the bishops’ conference president. “The voice of…

I spent a fortnight driving round Germany earlier this summer, taking in many interesting spots in central and northern Germany. These included the birthplace of Bach (Eisenach, where Martin Luther also studied), Buchenwald (with the remains of the WWII concentration camp) and Weimar. In northern Germany, I saw Kiel and the nearby Kiel Canal (which…

“I despise the Leaving Cert as an exam,” proclaims Ryan Tubridy. “I think it’s cruel and mean.” He says he despises the way that exams reduce books to bullet-points, while putting so much pressure on pupils and students. “There has to be a kinder way to test people’s knowledge.” Would it surprise Ryan to be…

The Irish Government is working to impose a new regime of censorship on its own people. Its proposed ‘hate speech’ legislation amounts to an unprecedented assault on the Irish people’s longstanding right to freedom of expression. Yet democracy simply cannot function if people cannot air their concerns freely, or express controversial opinions. Ms von der…

An extraordinary press conference was held right at the end of May by NASA which attracted weirdly little commentary or attention, given the topic under discussion, namely Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). Anyone over a certain age will have a vivid memory of NASA (the National Aeronautical and Space Administration) from the days of the moon…

Anew pope is elected with a history of health issues, who tells people early on he doesn’t expect to have a lengthy papacy. He reigns longer than anyone expected, but eventually faces a health crisis that requires a serious surgery, and which leads many people to assume the end is finally at hand. In fact,…