“It is in the interpretation of individual situations that there is scope for more generosity and more compassion”, writes Nuala O’Loan One of the things which has impressed itself upon me recently is the extent to which the Church in which I grew up has changed so much. That Church was manifestly different from the…

Ireland has to answer to international organisations overwhelmingly secularist and ‘liberal’ in their outlook, writes David Quinn The bishops will have to starting preparing themselves for a possible referendum on schools within the lifetime of the next government. The distinct possibility of such a referendum was flagged at an appearance by Ireland before the UN…

Fr Micheál Mac Gréil SJ Urban areas are being industrialised at the expense of many parishes and communities, writes Fr Micheál Mac Gréil SJ The growing concern of the relative deprivation of many communities in the West of Ireland is timely and I welcome the highlighting of the current crisis in last week’s edition of…

Fr Liam Power Fr Liam Power addresses some criticism of the Church’s pre-marriage course A charge that is sometimes – unfairly – made against Accord, the Catholic marriage care service, is that the pre-marriage preparation course is too ‘horizontal’ and therefore, by implication, not ‘vertical’ enough. As Priest-Director of Accord in the Waterford Centre serving…

David Quinn lays out what the Late Late Show should have asked the new Master of Rotunda hospital Professor Fergal Malone, the new Master of the Rotunda hospital in Dublin, has been making a big public impact since his recent appointment. He has been interviewed in several newspapers and on the Late Late Show last…

Religious fundamentalism is sweeping the globe with disastrous consequences for Christians, writes Michael Kelly Systematic religious cleansing is widespread across Africa and the Middle East, according to new figures published this week. The Open Doors 2016 World Watch List reveals that every year well over 100 million Christians are persecuted because of their beliefs. North…

Greg Daly investigates some recent arguments against the Easter Rising “No one is ever told,” Aslan cautions Lucy Pevensey in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books, “what would have happened”. It’s an observation that could fruitfully be borne in mind by those who proclaim that had the 1916 Rising never happened, Ireland would have attained independence anyway,…

Andrea Tornielli For Pope Francis, mercy is a personal encounter with God, writes Andrea Tornielli On March 13, 2015, as I listened to Francis’ homily for the penitential liturgy, at the end of which he was about to announce the Extraordinary Holy Year, I thought: it would be great to ask him some questions specifically…

Pope Francis wants Catholics to understand that the Church does not exist to condemn people, writes John L. Allen Jr In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and Americans ever since have pondered what might have been. Fifteen years later, the Catholic Church faced the same question about Pope John Paul I, the ‘Smiling…

Before he was elected Pontiff, Pope Francis had a reputation for not liking to do interviews. “Really, I don’t give interviews. But I don’t know why. I can’t, that’s just how it is. I find it a bit tiresome, but I’m grateful for your company,” he told the more than 70 journalists from all over…