Robert Runcie, who died in 2000, was a well-liked Archbishop of Canterbury who had warm ecumenical links with the Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Basil Hume. He participated in a joint service at Canterbury – on the spot where St Thomas More was murdered – with Pope John Paul II in 1982. Dr Runcie’s wife, Rosalind,…

Going against the grain has earned Poland an international media rebuke, writes Jason Osborne Poland has opted for the road less travelled by with its re-election of incumbent Andrzej Duda for a second term as president following a tight race against Warsaw mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski. Mr Duda’s victory was sealed with the reigning president securing…

We rightly mourn the deaths of over 1,700 people from Covid-19 but the loss of more than 7,000 little ones from abortion passes almost without comment As a Church, it’s the very least we can do in response to the deafening silence from the media and the majority of politicians who have largely ignored the…

What liberals really lament is that they didn’t have everything their own way in the past, writes David Quinn Jack Charlton was one of the most loved figures Ireland has seen in decades. It is a rare person who becomes a national hero to the extent that he did. He gave us the same sense…

Letter from Rome As museums and historical sites in Italy slowly begin opening their doors after several months of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, technology may prove to be the ‘Renaissance’ the country’s tourism industry desperately needs. Recently, countries within the European Union have opened their borders following months of lockdowns and restrictions. However,…

Notebook I know it’s early days and we have had just two weekends of congregations back at Mass but I have to confess the whole experience is leaving me as a priest somewhat cold. Like most people I was relieved when the authorities gave us the green light to begin to open our churches for…

In some ways, the saga of Jeffrey Epstein and his long-term girlfriend and associate Ghislaine Maxwell is almost a morality tale for our time. Epstein, who exploited young girls for sexual purposes, flying them to various spots in America on an airplane jokingly known as ‘The Lolita Express’ is, of course, dead. It’s widely known…

The View During the last four months the world as we knew it has stopped. Gone are many of the things we all took for granted. We know now that it will take years for our world to recover from the economic and social deprivation which have been the result of these months. Can you…

Covid-19 figures and the gender pay gap get the headlines when the tragedy of abortion is sidelined, writes David Quinn The figure of 6,666 abortions that took place in Ireland last year will be seared into the memories of anyone who read it because it is horribly symbolic. But how many will get to remember…