In the run up to the Eucharistic Congress, David Cleary discusses his personal experience of the Eucharist   Eucharist is very important to me. I decided years ago as a teenager learning about the Reformation that I really needed to resolve the question of transubstantiation! Does Christ become really present or just symbolically so? I…

It’s ironic that a secularist is seeking to use the criminal law to prevent free speech, writes Rory Fitzgerald A remarkable story emerged this week: The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is considering prosecuting Bishop Philip Boyce of Raphoe for inciting hatred against secularists. This offence can carry a penalty of up to two years…

  Minister Alan Shatter has justifiably called attention to the horrible historical phenomenon known as The Holocaust – the cruel genocide by Nazi Germany against Jews as well so many other minorities – when he was opening an exhibition at the Department of Justice. Minister Shatter took the opportunity to criticise Irish neutrality during World…

The Dean of St Patrick’s Anglican Cathedral, Rev. Robert MacCarthy has criticised the Catholic Church for its ”lack of ecumenism” in his final sermon before retiring. Oh, yes, see how these Christians love one another! Lack of ecumenism is often something of a hazard. Consider the Armenian and Greek priests who came to blows over…

  Campaginers protesting against the closure of the Irish Embassy to the Holy See have expressed delight after dozens of Oireachtas members turned up at a briefing aimed at informing politicians of the value of the relationship. Ireland Stand Up invited members of the public who are opposed to the move by the Government to…

People who use the phrase ‘Ireland is a republic’ need to be clear on what they mean by the word, writes Fr Alan Hilliard   Shopping in the local shop many years ago left little room for choice. A tin of beans meant that you got whatever brand of beans was on the shelf. There…

A gay reader shares some uncomfortable questions aroundthe Church and a gay lifestyle.     As a practising gay Catholic (practising both my faith and my sexual orientation) one gets used, not entirely comfortably, to coping with ambiguity. The Catholic Church could never be described as a welcoming place for gay Catholics; this is despite…

  ”When grace enters, there is no choice — humans must dance.” W.H. Auden wrote those words and, beautiful as they sound, I wish they were true. When grace enters a room we should begin to dance but, sadly, more often than not we let some little thing, some minor mosquito bite, blind us to…

  Paddy Monaghan describes how theAlpha course is growing in Ireland   Pope Benedict XVI, announcing the forthcoming Synod on New Evangelisation, stated that ”the Church exists to evangelise”. But how do we evangelise? The Alpha course is certainly one way. It is a 10-week course on the basic truths of Christianity. It brings people…

  To live a chaste life is not easy, not just for celibates, but for everyone. Even when our actions are all in line, it is still hard to live with a chaste heart, a chaste attitude, and chaste fantasies. Purity of heart and intention is very difficult. Why? Chastity is difficult because we are…