Hollywood can’t resist a good love story, but how do you make a movie about divine love and the most famous woman in the world? With great difficulty. Netflix has just spent US$70 million, making a film, simply entitled Mary. The film recounts the events around the birth of Jesus, through the eyes of Mary,…

If you wanted a book about saying Mass, would you turn to a professor of maths and computer science? My guess is that you wouldn’t — but I have come across one who writes well on the subject — and has a catchy title to his topical book to boot. How Not to Say Mass…

Boys are more boisterous than girls. Are we still allowed to say that, or has it fallen into the category of forbidden thoughts and utterances? A new study is being undertaken in the French city of Strasbourg which believes that yes, boys are more boisterous, and this is a bad thing, and boys must be…

It is not very long ago that people with disabilities were treated in an often callous and inhumane manner in Ireland and across the world. Often, we look at the past through the lens of ‘presentism’ where we judge the actions of the past through our current values, systems, resources and knowledge. It is easy…

I can recall, when living in the United States almost twenty years ago, listening to an interview on National Public Radio with Mary Robinson. The American interviewer enthusiastically introduced Mrs Robinson as the first ever woman to be President of Ireland. During the interview Mrs Robinson was asked if she could see the day when…

It’s the time of the Feast of Christ the King, which marks my annual one-woman Advent restoration campaign. In CS Lewis’ book,  The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe the reign of the White Witch in Narnia means that it is always winter and never Christmas. In our culture, we suffer from a similar problem, except…

Two bishops stood on Co. Down hillside, facing each other, both draped in blood red, the colour of the martyr. It was a poignant scene at the weekend, as the Bishop of Down and Connor pondered the stone monument of St Patrick, which was illuminated in red, as the sun went down at Saul, the…

We’re currently in full swing of the general election campaign, with the polling date set for Friday, November 29. In this election, the stakes are very high for the pro-life movement. In May 2023, we saw the passage at the second stage of a very extreme abortion bill, introduced by People Before Profit. This bill…

In case you hadn’t noticed, there are serious moves being made in the House of Commons to allow assisted suicide. Where Britain goes, we usually follow in due course. The bill to permit assisted suicide is not being sponsored by the new Labour Government, but by a member of the Labour party and there will…