The View When The Irish Catholic is published this week, there will be just 18 days before abortion is imposed on Northern Ireland by the Westminster Parliament, unless the Northern Ireland Assembly is reformed by October 22. This will happen against the wishes of the elected MPs who take their seats in the House of…

We shall be hearing more about the euthanasia issue over the coming times, and the case for legalising what is euphemistically called ‘assisted dying’. Actually, every human being should be ‘assisted’ in their dying hours, in that they should be surrounded by comfort, care – both spiritual and physical – pain relief, and fellowship on…

Ireland now backs abortion in the developing world, writes David Quinn   Most readers of this paper will remember a time when we used to have collections for the ‘black babies’. As insensitive as that term is by today’s standards, the intention behind the collection was good. We wanted to help African children in war-torn…

Threats to Lyric FM endanger a heritage that should be especially dear to Catholics, writes Rachel Sherlock   It has emerged of late that RTÉ is allegedly considering the future of their classical music station Lyric FM in light of their ongoing financial crisis. While we will have to wait for the coming weeks to…

If I had the chance, I’d be yelling in the UN as well, writes Emma Tobin In the wake of her caustic speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City, Greta Thunberg has been the focus of intense international applause. Following the huge success of her global climate strike, with four…

Letter from Rome Speaking to a network of religious sisters that helps human trafficking victims, Pope Francis last Thursday told them to work closely with the local Church, because this is necessary for their project to be successful. “I want to reiterate that the journey of consecrated life, both female and male, is the path…

Proposed changes to Britain’s surrogacy laws would lead to the “further demeaning of pregnancy”, according to the leading Catholic bioethics centre in the country. Under current UK law, commercial surrogacy – that is, the hiring of a woman to bear a child for another person or couple – is illegal, although ‘altruistic surrogacy’ is not.…

Notebook Fr Bernard Healy   As October rolls around again, I return to Rome to resume my studies. My first fortnight back will coincide with two significant events. On Saturday October 5, Pope Francis will be creating 13 new cardinals, and a week later he will be canonising Blessed John Henry Newman, the subject of…