The Hunger – RTÉ’s documentary on the Famine – certainly was a landmark achievement in television history, using resources with great skill. It was unsparing in some of its distressing detail – not flinching from mentioning incidents of cannibalism – and in attributing shocking behaviour to ordinary Irish people as well as to the British…

The View Recently, I was straightening a framed photograph of my mother which sits on my cluttered office desk at home. I noticed that the photo had slipped down in the frame and that something was visible behind it. Intrigued, I removed the backing and found an undated letter from my mother. I had absolutely…

The Church looks benignly at international organisations, but cannot do so uncritically writes David Quinn Is there a Catholic position on the European Union? By that I don’t mean does the Catholic Church believe in the EU or not. I mean is there a position all Catholics must adhere to like we must adhere to…

Letter from Rome The Gospel of Matthew never details how many Magi came from “the East,” but it makes it clear they travelled to pay homage to “the newborn king of the Jews” and “offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh”. Beyond their great monetary value, scholars say, the gifts had deep symbolic significance:…

With months to go still until his March 5-8 trip to Iraq, Pope Francis began shaping his message, urging a network of Catholic charities to help Christians who have fled the region to return home if they want to do so. In a video message sent to a Vatican-organised summit focused on the ongoing humanitarian…

Notebook Dear Santa, You were mentioned in the Dáil recently and I heard the Irish Ambassador to Finland say she had spoken to you and that you reassured her that you will be travelling this year.  Good news, for sure. You are, as you told her, an “essential worker”.  Locally I have heard children speak…

The American international magazine Time has designated 2020 as the worst year ever. This, arguably, emblemises the mentality of ‘presentism’ – that is, the notion that what we are experiencing right now is the worst (or the best) ever, without allowing for the perspective of history. There have been many worse years: we could start…

The View For the last 14 years, I have raised our children at home and educated them. It is wonderful, fulfilling, and often exhausting. I have a loving, supportive husband who – since the children were very small – has taken them almost every Saturday to allow me some time off and headspace. I like…

We should dream certainly but we should also be realistic, writes David Quinn Let Us Dream is the latest book by Pope Francis. More accurately, it is a distillation of conversations the Pontiff had with Catholic journalist and writer Austen Ivereigh, who will be familiar to many readers of this paper. Pope’s reflections Let Us…