I was in Carrickmacross last week, visiting my uncle, Brian Mac a’ Bhaird. You might have seen him on Prime Time earlier in the month, with his wife Sheila, and Romy, their youngest daughter. Romy has cerebral palsy, and faces severe limitations in living her daily life, limitations her extraordinary parents, siblings, and neighbours have…

Here’s a sad post-adoption story which emerged last week: a 60 year old man was informed by Tusla, the child and family agency, that the mother and father he believed were his birth parents were in truth his adoptive parents. They had never revealed this – they are now dead – and he was stunned…

The View It is remarkable how large a role faith still plays in American politics. There is not a single out-and-proud atheist among the very crowded field of Democratic hopefuls seeking nomination as the presidential candidate. As a non-observant Jew, Bernie Sanders would have been considered perhaps the least religious but even he said somewhat…

It is fundamentally wrong to politicise children, writes David Quinn The Dáil Chamber in Leinster House was handed over to children last week to discuss the issue of climate change. They were aged between 10 and 17 and it was part of RTÉ’s climate week, intended to raise aware of the effect humans are having…

Theresa Devlin Great progress has been made, but we must be wary of fatigue setting in around child safeguarding, writes Theresa Devlin The establishment of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (the national board) was announced in December 2005, and it held its inaugural meeting in May 2006. It…

Speaking to a group of lawyers last Friday, Pope Francis said that the Catholic Church is contemplating the introduction of “ecological sin” to the compendium of Church teaching. “We have to introduce, we are thinking about it, in the catechism of the Catholic Church, the sin against ecology, the sin against our common home, because…

Notebook November is almost done.  During the month we remembered in many ways and on many days,  those gone before us.  There is something very healing about that – remembering, naming, holding on to what remains of those we knew and loved. The old song talked about year after year, the numbers getting fewer, but…

The clerical church is dying, says Fr Brian D’Arcy, now marking 50 years as an ordained priest, “and it’s not such a tragedy.” The celibate priesthood is over: the male priesthood is over. This is “a gift of the Holy Spirit” and out of such a transformation can come new seeds of life. Well, he’s…