Our new public holiday created to commemorate Imbolc/St Brigid has come and gone. In Leo Varadkar’s announcement last January, the emphasis was already clear. “This will be the first Irish public holiday named after a woman. It marks the half-way point between the winter solstice and the equinox, the beginning of spring and the Celtic…

Pope Francis warns that an addiction to the occult still plagues Africa, writes David Quinn Pope Francis was in Africa last week visiting two very troubled countries, namely the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, the newest nation on the continent. Congo has the biggest Catholic population in Africa, numbering 45 million in all.…

Even in the purest democracies, it’s a myth that elections are determined by the people. In reality, they’re determined by the people who actually vote – which, in the recent midterms in the US, was about 47% of those eligible to cast a ballot. Of course, the Catholic Church is not a democracy. Pope Francis,…

Jonathan Luxmoore Catholic religious orders have played a major role in channelling life-saving humanitarian aid across Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, keeping hopes alive while continuing to minister to the country’s much-depleted Catholic communities. “Although some have had to leave, most religious priests and sisters have stayed on – and their witness has been…

Last week, a phonecall changed the course of the day. A friend told me he had gone to see An Cailín Ciúin the previous evening and encouraged me to go. I said I would. Later, speaking with another friend, I mentioned this to him and wondered if he’d be free to go along with me.…

Discussing vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the Church in Ireland is a subject that oddly causes friction and exposes a lot of underlying sensitivity. This is evidenced by our front page story this week where some members of religious orders have expressed disappointment that the forthcoming ‘Year of Vocations’ will focus on…

The memory of 23-year-old Aidan McAnespie will surely live on in the annals of history: his life, and tragic death, have assumed considerable significance. A stone tablet has been erected on the spot at Auchnacloy, Co. Tyrone, which commemorates him, noting that he was ‘MURDERED at this spot by Crown Forces’ on February 21, 1988.…

Last June, in a boost to the pro-life movement worldwide, Roe v Wade was overturned by the US Supreme Court. As delighted right-to-life activists celebrated, much of the media commentary in Ireland expressed dismay and warned that women would suffer if abortion was made illegal. Those reports ignored the reality on the ground in the United…

We are moving towards a society that will no longer be liberal in any true sense, writes David Quinn Enoch Burke must by now be the most famous teacher in Ireland, and possibly in the history of the Irish State. Mr Burke has been in the news for weeks due to his showdown with his…

Politicians are shamefully trying to outsource life and death decisions, writes Eilis Mulroy As a representative democracy, we elect our TDs to represent our views and interests in the Dáil. There is a considerable degree of trust and confidence placed on the shoulders of our politicians, who are equally responsible to the wishes of their…