All things considered, I believe that I grew up with a relatively healthy concept of God. The God of my youth, the God that I was catechised into, was not unduly punishing, arbitrary, or judgmental. He was omnipresent, so that all of our sins were noticed and noted, but, at the end of the day,…

Fr Conor McDonough OP As Catholics we all surely felt our faith was disrespected last month when the comedian David Chambers (‘Blindboy Boatclub’) described the Eucharist as ‘haunted bread’ on The Late Late Show. The celebration of the Eucharist is the raison d’être of the priesthood, so as a newly-ordained priest I felt particularly keenly…

“This inflated language is a signal of the anger. Our families did not commit ‘genocide’: they did, however, contribute to the social mores which produced Tuam and its ilk”, writes Mary Kenny It’s understandable – and right – that most people are deeply distressed and desperately upset about the uncovering of the Tuam babies’ remains.…

“marriage certainly needs ongoing support, and it often seems to need more preparation”, writes Mary Kenny In a season when there is much focus on weddings – spring brings us the ‘wedding fayres’ at which the Big Day is so lavishly marketed – it’s surely apt for Pope Francis to focus on marriage preparation, rather…

Greg Daly considers some aspects of Cardinal Connell’s handling of the abuse crisis “He was criticised at times for being less than diplomatic,” said Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in his homily during the funeral Mass for his predecessor Cardinal Desmond Connell, “just as I am criticised for being over diplomatic.” It will have been an…

We might fault Desmond Connell for his methods, but we cannot fault his sense of duty, writes David Quinn Commentary on the death of Cardinal Desmond Connell has been dominated, understandably, by the abuse scandals that came to light during his time as Archbishop of Dublin. Who Des Connell was got lost in the commentary.…

There’s an axiom which says: Nothing feels better than virtue. There’s a deep truth here, but it has an underside. When we do good things, we feel good about ourselves. Virtue is indeed its own reward, and that’s good. However, feeling righteous can soon enough turn into feeling self-righteous. Nothing feels better than virtue; but…

“There are burdens that we all carry, some are very obvious and others we take great care to hide…The invitation of Jesus on the cross is to hand over these burdens to him”, writes Fr Martin Delaney A Jesuit friend shared with me his experience of ministering in a detention centre in Malta some years…

Rudolph Otto famously described the religious sentiment as the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, “the tremendous and fascinating mystery”, but to be honest, that’s probably not how most Catholics experience it. For many Catholics, the faith may be primarily about community and worship, or about a set of doctrinal convictions, or an ethical code, even a…

Long before he assumed the highest office in the United States, President Donald Trump’s contradictory statements on everything from the war in Iraq to abortion were subjected to quizzically raised brows and prime-time debates. None of which has done the billionaire businessman any harm as he harangues and denounces anyone brazen enough to try and…