Irish media make it appear simple and humane to give intended parents automatic legal rights, but surrogacy is complex, writes David Quinn A campaign in favour of the rights of Irish people who use international surrogacy to have children has been substantially stepped up in the last couple of weeks. As usual, the ethical pitfalls…

Religious families in the North could be disproportionately affected by the two-child policy, writes Chai Brady A decision to deny child welfare supports for the third or subsequent children born into families struggling financially may have gone unnoticed in the south of the island, but it is causing “deeper poverty” in the North, according to…

Letter from Rome Every kid knows that bringing a report card home to the parents is, to a large extent, a challenge in framing things your way. A disappointing C in English? “Everybody knows Mrs Smith is the toughest grader in school … that’s like an A from anybody else.” A surprising B+ in math?…

A leading German bishop says Pope Francis made the right decision when he refused the resignation of German Cardinal Gerhard Marx, who had asked the Pope to release him from his role as archbishop of Munich in an attempt to assume collective responsibility for the clerical sexual abuse scandals. “It creates security for the others:…

Notebook We are in a decade of centenaries marking one hundred years since our war of independence, the civil war and the establishment of the Irish State. These milestones and how we commemorate them provide opportunities for celebration but of course there are also many sensitivities to be aware of. The role religion and faith…

One of the most comforting aspects of Catholic Christianity is that its ethos is forgiving. Whatever sins or transgressions you may have committed, they will be forgiven (after due repentance). We have the words of the Saviour himself that it is a faith for sinners. Worldly practices How different from many of the worldly practices…

The View In 1993, the great American writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou wrote that “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be un-lived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again”. Northern Ireland has been trying to find ways to face its past for decades now. In 2020, the New Decade, New…

The demand for Catholic education remains strikingly high, but what is the value, asks Tracey Harkin Some 23 years after the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland is still not a society at ease with itself. Recent months saw substantial street violence. Frequently we hear integrated schools being heralded as the answer to these divisions. “Educate…

Ruadhán Jones hears about the successes and hardships of lockdown-life in Irish prisons By international standards, the Irish Prison Service have been very successful in containing Covid. While in the US, infection and death rates in prisons exceeded those of the general population, no deaths were recorded in Irish prisons and few Covid cases. “They…