Fr Donal Dorr Pope Francis, in his encyclical letter on the environment, Laudato Si’, makes a passionate appeal to us to protect the fragile Earth and the poorest of people. He warns us that our call to be protectors of God’s creation “is not an optional or a secondary aspect of Christian faith”. He says…

Dr Tom Finegan Catholic social and moral teaching affirms the central importance of marriage for both individual persons and wider society as the bedrock upon which society is built. Catholic social and moral teaching further affirms the duty of governments to protect and promote marriage and family life through law and policy. A general election…

The next Government should commit to ending family homelessness, writes Sr Stan Kennedy The housing and homeless crisis is one of the greatest social and economic challenges faced by our society and that the next Government will responsible for tackling. Focus Ireland wants to say loud and clear to every candidate standing in this General…

Election candidates should be committed to increasing aid, writes Eamonn Meehan It is important that Ireland’s new Government does what it can to protect the poorest and most vulnerable people in the developing world. As Ireland rebuilds itself after our economic crash we must ask what type of a society we want. I would hope…

Dr John Murray Who is the primary educator of children, their parents or the State? Is it wrong for the Catholic Church to have any control or input in schools that are publicly funded? Should Ireland’s schools, including Catholic schools, teach that all religions and belief systems are the same? Such questions are important at…

The detection of gravitational waves will provide for a better understanding of creation, writes Prof. William Reville Scientists working on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) made the stunning announcement recently that they had detected gravitational waves, confirming Albert Einstein’s prediction that these waves exist. The waves originated 1.3 billion years ago when two black…

The fun began early for Pope Francis on his trip to Mexico, writes Greg Daly Pope Francis’ trip to Mexico could hardly have had a more dramatic overture, with his flight from Rome’s Fiumicino airport stopping over in Cuba for a meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. The historic encounter between the…

Michael W. Higgins details how US presidential candidates have played the faith card to date The current Irish election cycle, the recent Canadian election, and the British election as well, were not without their ”values” discussions, but one would be very hard pressed to say that theological or philosophical matters held sway. Faith-specific matters were…

Vietnam presents two faces to the world, writes Paul Keenan Two recent events in Vietnam neatly illustrate current realities at play in the modern communist state. On January 21, the country’s Catholic Bishops announced that classes at the long-planned theological institute in Ho Chi Minh City will commence this coming September. Based on details offered…

“When someone objects to mandatory celibacy, it is because they imagine it to be a lonely life”, writes Editor, Michael Kelly The Pope’s right-hand man Cardinal Pietro Parolin this week cautioned against knee-jerk reactionary responses to problems facing the Church. Addressing a conference on the issue of priestly celibacy in Rome, the Vatican Secretary of…