Hiding one’s faith is a challenging reality for many committed Christians

''You are the most Catholic country in the world!” Msgr Giovanni Battista Montini (later Blessed Pope Paul VI) told Ireland’s Ambassador to the Vatican, Joseph Walshe, in 1946. Just two years later, the first act of the newly-formed interparty Government in 1948 was to send a message to Pope Pius XII in which Taoiseach John…

We hardly need reminding that in Italy, “la Mamma”, is a powerful figure, both in reality, and in symbol, image and metaphor. If you really want to upset an Italian, you insult his mother. The wildest Sicilian bandit has always retained the uttermost respect for “la Mamma”. There is even a civilised Italian tradition that…

Last Friday we established Ireland’s newest political party, Renua Ireland, because our Republic urgently needs renewal. The old structures of our State have failed us and have lost the confidence of our citizens. They have delivered us recessions, emigration, the arrival of the Troika and have rattled our faith in the political process. It is…

The old sexual norms could be cruel but so can the new ones, writes David Quinn

Cathal Barry takes a look at a new key document on inclusivity in Catholic schools

The Church is Catholic because she has a mission to the whole of the human race, writes Cathal Barry

Sometimes you can see a whole lot of things just by looking. That’s one of Yogi Berra’s infamous aphorisms. It’s a clever expression of course, but, sadly, perhaps mostly, the opposite is truer. Mostly we do a whole lot of looking without really seeing much. Seeing implies more than having good eyesight. Our eyes can…

It’s clear Pope Francis wants the teachings of the Church applied with mercy, writes David Quinn

Although he doesn’t mean to, it’s the Pope’s willingness to offend that makes him so authentic, writes Cathal Barry