This is one of those man-bites-dog stories. A survey has just been released by the Ombudsman for Children which shows that secondary school children want more, not less religion taught in class. This is the precise opposite of what we’ve been led to believe, which is to say, that secondary school pupils want less religion…
Courtney Mares Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, spoke on the phone last Monday morning with Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in a conversation that underlined the need for dialogue, negotiation, and peace. According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, the cardinal “expressed the Holy See’s serious concern about what is happening in the…
In a new interview with the Jesuit province of China, Pope Francis expressed his desire to visit the country and spoke of his admiration for the faith of the Chinese Church and culture, as well as various aspects of his papacy, including criticism and opposition. Asked by Jesuit Fr Pedro Chia, who conducted the interview,…
Letter from Rome Last week the Vatican’s Academy for Life issued a new text on a series of bioethical issues, including the provision of food and hydration for patients in a vegetative state, which marks a modest departure from the Vatican’s previously held position on the issue. Published Thursday by the Pontifical Academy for Life…
Notebook I have in my possession a copy of the Irish Catholic Directory 2018, printed just before COVID. There are over 4,000 priests named in its index, but only a handful of Co-PPs. An Irish Catholic Directory 2024 (if there were one) would include quite a few more. I am one myself, since 2022. But…
Celebrities can often shine a light on a personal, or social, problem, and bring more focus to a troubling issue. And this, it seems, is what Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, intends when she speaks about suicide. She has been publicly reflecting on her own experience of having suicidal thoughts when she was expecting her first…
Controversy has erupted at the Olympics over two competitors in women’s boxing. Imane Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-Ting from Taiwan were disqualified from the International Boxing Association Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last year after failing gender tests. However, both were cleared to compete in the Paris Olympics. Controversy One journalist with…
I hear it quite often at Mass now as part of the Prayers of the Faithful or the General Intercessions: ‘We pray particularly for the unborn…’ It struck me recently about how increasingly important this is becoming in a secular world. There are a shrinking number of areas where the unborn child is considered as…
A tweet from a Dubliner caught my eye the other day. “I’m an atheist,” he declared, “who grew up under the horrible yoke of Irish Catholic fundamentalism. Except here’s the thing: it was fine. Every Christian brother and priest I interacted with was perfectly decent.” He also declared that he much preferred the Ireland of…
Without wishing to re-hash the controversial tableau of the Last Supper at the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Paris, at least we can be thankful that it has focused attention on how important the Eucharist is to Catholics. Knowledge of the Catholic faith is shallow indeed in Ireland. But perhaps one of the most striking illustrations…
David Quinn
Mary Kenny
Martina Purdy
Breda O'Brien