A hundred years after Northern Ireland was established by an act of partition is a timely moment to look back over that historical development. And I think, if we are being honest, we on the southern side of the border had an ambivalent attitude over many decades. We deplored partition – naturally – and it was a…
The backlash to the bishops’ sexual education programme was eminently predictable, writes Ruadhán Jones Back in 2015, shortly before the passing of the Marriage Referendum which legalised gay marriage in Ireland, then Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan promised school curriculum would not be changed in the event of the Constitutional redefinition of marriage. She said: “Currently…
The View As churches begin to re-open, we are full of anxious questions. Will people come back? Will we have to close again? How are we going to live in a post-pandemic world, which has changed utterly? Everything that is revealed was always there but is only now fully visible” The greatest danger is that…
The landscape remains grim for those hoping to tie the knot with what remains of 2021, writes Jason Osborne Come Monday, 50 guests will be allowed to attend weddings, but indoor receptions will remain capped at six guests while 15 will be permitted for outdoor celebrations. It’s been alluded to that numbers for receptions will…
There is a real danger the Blessed Sacrament will be treated as if it were a magical instrument rather than the sacramental sign it is, writes Fr Fergus Ryan OP The Covid-19 pandemic has been a huge challenge for everyone. It has equally been an opportunity to develop new skills, especially in IT and online communications.…
The pause caused by coronavirus restrictions might be a moment to look again at how we celebrate important rites of passage in the Faith, writes Chai Brady The Government advice that Confirmation and First Holy Communion ceremonies should not be part of the plans when parishes re-open for public worship of May 10 creates quite…
We are witnessing an irrational demand for the endless purging of sin from the body politic, writes Kingsley Jones If you are reading this then you are concerned about ‘wokism’, about the fact that the tone of our political and social disagreements is growing ever more strident, that we seem to be on the verge…
Political parties determined to promote their ‘progressive credentials’ are intent on stoking fears of an imaginary Catholic threat to their vision of a secular Ireland, writes David Mullins From 2012 to 2017 the decision to relocate the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street to a site on the Elm Park campus of St Vincent’s Hospital…
Chimeras are moving out of the stories and into the world with the latest scientific advances but they appear no less monstrous, writes Jason Osborne Chimeras once stalked the landscape of legend and myth. In Greek mythology they were one of the more famous kinds of monster, composed of the parts of more than one…
Letter from Rome Perhaps no one was as startled this week when a 46-year-old woman was placed under house arrest for aggravated theft from a small church in the far southern Italian province of Reggio Calabria as the woman herself. Her name hasn’t been released by Italy’s military police, who made the arrest, but they…
Mary Kenny
Ruadhán Jones
Breda O'Brien
Chai Brady
John L. Allen Jr.