By now, Pope Francis has denied that he’s on the brink of resigning so often that it’s virtually become part of his verbal “Greatest Hits” collection, akin to his rhetoric on the evils of clericalism or the dignity of migrants. Although he’s 85 and suffering from acute pain in the right knee related to osteoarthritis,…

Pope Francis’ plans to visit the central Italian city of L’Aquila and its basilica August 28 fuelled speculation of a possible announcement of his resignation, which he has firmly denied. L’Aquila’s basilica is the burial place of St Celestine V, who issued a decree declaring the right of a pope to voluntarily resign, and then…

I was mobbed in the churchyard after Mass on the August bank holiday. We had just celebrated the Sacrament of the Sick during Mass, and there was just one question on everyone’s lips: “Would this be the last such Mass in Newcestown?” When I arrived in the parish in 2012, a lovely tradition was handed…

Shannon Campbell The View People think that when a university breaks for summer, work stops and staff enjoy an (excessively) long holiday. Perhaps for some, but the vast majority of academics and support staff are on campus, reviewing the year that has past, and preparing for a new intake of students in autumn. The same…

I attended a funeral last week, which is not, in itself, an unusual event among my demographic. But this funeral was an illumination, for me, of the redemptive powers that are in our midst. She remembered him being great fun, telling her bedtime stories, singing Irish ballads and Wagnerian opera” The deceased was Heather Iandolo, aged…

Conservative Catholic communities offer tight-knit Catholic networks, writes Ruadhán Jones Raymond Friel, an English Catholic academic, caused a bit of a stir on Twitter recently when he questioned why young priests are drawn to what looks like a Church imagined from the 1950s “soutanes in the high street, etc.” It’s an interesting question, one which…

Surrogacy and gender reassignment surgery are the scandals of modern Ireland, writes David Quinn Different times produce different sorts of scandals, and they are often the product of the particular set of values a given society has at a given moment. As we are now well aware, in the past babies were frequently taken away…

The Pope’s call for young people to reduce meat intake comes at a time when Ireland is pushing for a more sustainable agriculture sector, writes Chai Brady The Government’s agreed set ceilings for greenhouse gas emissions for each sector have been dubbed a “positive step” by climate scientists, renewing hopes Ireland will reach its commitment…

A temptation to believe that we presume too much on God’s mercy dogs the spiritual progress of many Christians, writes Thomas Flowers SJ St Peter Faber (1506-1546) came to see his battle with scruples as an occasion for the mercy of God. As a young man, guilt overwhelmed him. He worried not only over every…