An editorial in this newspaper, last week, reflected on the issue of engagement with the Synodal Pathway. Ultimately it posed the fairly fundamental question of ‘who exactly is this process for?’ It raised, in its analysis, the apparent “disengagement” of Irish priests. It implied an absence from the process on the part of The Irish…

Dr Margaret Connolly’s remarks following her detention by Israeli forces after participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla were widely reported. It is not difficult to understand how anger and fear may have shaped her language. She endured what was undoubtedly an extremely distressing experience. But while this may explain the tone of her rhetoric it…

I began writing this on Friday, May 15 – Nakba a Day, the day where we remember the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the early creation of the State of Israel. In 1948, more than 750,000 Palestinians (some 75-85% of the population) were forced from their homes. Towns and villages were depopulated or…

Simon Lewis wrote a challenging article in The Irish Times recently about First Holy Communion. He was chatting over a few drinks to a psychologist, who was preparing for the sacrament by spending weeks doing up the house and garden and securing a bouncy castle, no easy feat. The worst part, she told him, was…

Magnifica Humanitas poses the question: What does it mean to be a flourishing human being in a time of AI? This letter is not a neutral consideration of that question, any more than the technologies of today embody neutral worldviews. This encyclical brings the vision of the Gospel to bear on the cultures of AI.…

Pope Leo’s first encyclical was published last week. It is called Magnifica Humanitas, and the best English translation of that is probably ‘The Grandeur of Humanity’. The main topic of the encyclical is Artificial Intelligence (AI), although the lengthy document deals with a lot of other subjects as well, including, briefly, just war theory (is…

My current home in Victoria BC is at 740 View St, at the heart of downtown, just a half mile from the picturesque Inner Harbour (Google it!), dominated by the BC government building. I live in the rectory, a three-storey complex of apartments and offices, attached to St Andrew’s Cathedral. Rectory This rectory was re-fitted…

When he was elected Bishop of Rome on October 16, 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła had a rather limited experience of the Catholic Church in the United States. He had met American churchmen at the Second Vatican Council, and a few of them visited Poland in the ensuing years. The Cracovian cardinal had made two visits…

The final episode of the 2026 season of Education Nation brings listeners a rich and compelling conversation with one of the most authoritative voices in the world of Catholic education: Prof. Eamonn Conway, a priest of the Archdiocese of Tuam was appointed as the inaugural Professor of Integral Human Development at the University of Notre…

It seems like a huge understatement to say that we are living in uncertain times as a Church here in Ireland. Every parish, every religious community and every diocese across the country is grappling with social and ecclesial change that is happening at a faster rate than we can process. Despite our best efforts to…