“Francis has changed much in the workings of the Holy See, and the traditional bishops’ visits are not immune from this”, writes Michael Kelly At the Vatican press office on Friday morning, dozens of journalists waited patiently for the script of what Pope Francis would say to the Irish bishops present for their ad limina…

“Mr Bruton and his Fine Gael colleagues seem determined to make a mountain out of a molehill”, writes Michael Kelly When it comes to education policy, Fine Gael seems to have adopted the policy of diversion as the best form of defence. In seeking to ban parish-owned schools from prioritising Catholic children when the school…

“An inspiring head and some exacting inspection regulations can turn around a failing school”, writes Mary Kenny One of Education Minister Richard Bruton’s proposals – in removing what is called the “baptism barrier” from faith schools – is to base schools more on a neighbourhood model, so that a child has an entitlement to attend…

The people of Northern Ireland have been through a very difficult time. For over 50 years (indeed longer) they have hoped for a better future and their hopes have appeared to be realised from time to time over the decades. Yet time and again, they have seen the collapse of all that they have aspired…

“Bruton set to pledge end of school ‘baptism barrier’”, read the headline in one newspaper on Monday. It was typical of the headlines in a number of news outlets. Reading those headlines you could be forgiven for thinking that Education Minister, Richard Bruton, has decided to altogether abolish the right of Catholic schools to admit…

It was the stuff of high drama and historic import. As the final minutes of 2016 ticked away in an expectant Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), New Year spectacles could do little to distract the eyes of the nation from talks taking place in the capital Kinshasa, the outcome of which would dictate the chances…

It says something of the state of the nation when a quiet day of non-events gains more column inches with the international media than a 5.3 magnitude earthquake just days before. An understanding of this apparent skewing of priorities comes when El Salvador is identified as the source for both stories. On January 4, media…

Recently a man came to me, asking for help. He carried some deep wounds, not physical wounds, but emotional wounds to his soul. What surprised me initially was that, while he was deeply wounded, he had not been severely traumatised either in childhood or adulthood. He seemed to have just had to absorb the normal…

When Cardinal Raymond Burke wrote in April that Pope Francis’ post-synodal exhortation on the family did not change Church teaching, he was predictably condemned by those who had been casting aspersions on the document released just three days earlier. “This is nothing less than a betrayal from one who should have offered hope,” tweeted one…

Next week will see the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th president of the United States of America. Few could have predicted, even six months ago, that Mr Trump would defeat the Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. In fact, I spent election results night at a party hosted by the wonderful US Ambassador to…