Faith in anything, once lost, is not easily restored, writes David Quinn Lately I’ve taken to calling myself a ‘lapsed’ or a ‘non-practicing’ Fine Gaeler. You might be the same, or else you might be a lapsed Fianna Fáil supporter who perhaps returned to the party at the recent election or maybe opted for one…

To abolish the right of parents to choose the kind of education for their children is the very contradiction of pluralism, writes Fr Pádraig McCarthy Fr Pádraig McCarthy Imagine for a moment that you are a parent, and you have a child ready to start school. You are Catholic, and there are two Catholic schools…

The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given to those who are seriously ill, writes Cathal Barry The Church teaches that Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn (Mt 10:38). “By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick,” according to the…

Fear is the heartbeat of the powerless. So writes Cor de Jonge. That’s true. We can deal with most everything, except fear. The late, Belgian, spiritual writer, Bieke Vandekerckhove, in a very fine book, The Taste of Silence, shared very honestly about the demons that beset her as she faced a terminal illness at age…

“A rough calculation, based on this exit poll, would put weekly Mass attendance among Catholic voters at about 40%”, analyses Andrew O’Connell The recent exit poll, conducted by Behaviour and Attitudes for RTÉ on election day, included questions on religious affiliation and church attendance. Voters were quizzed as they left their polling stations across the…

“It takes courage to stand up and be counted against someone like Mr Trump”, writes Editor Michael Kelly I spent some time last month in the United States where election fever has already gripped the country. Voters don’t actually go to the polls to elect a new president until November 8, but eight months out,…

It can be a source of comfort to know that while their child could not sustain life, the baby could give life to others, writes Mary Kenny Recently, the TV comedy writer Graham Linehan wrote a poignant article in the Sunday Independent magazine about the termination of a pregnancy. He and his wife Helen found…

Most of the loud voices pushing for more abortion were rejected by voters, writes Niamh Uí Bhriain Niamh Uí Bhriain Long before the general election was ever called, Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin insisted that if voters wanted abortion-on-demand legalised in Ireland, his was the party that would deliver. Mr Ó Ríordáin and his colleagues then…

It’s time the bishops commissioned a Catholic version of the sex education programme, writes David Quinn Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) has been part of primary and secondary school education for many years now. As is the case with other parts of the school curriculum, there seems to be wide variation between schools in terms…

The Pope’s imminent document will speak to couples and families struggling to cope with the pressures of society, writes Cathal Barry Just when you thought the buzz from last year’s family synod was petering out, it’s set to come back with a bang. The debate around Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics is set to…