Ireland is the host for many international priests and missionaries who come to study, either for a long period or on short trips, Fr Simon (Young) Ye Yint Naing Saw, from Myanmar, is one of those foreign priests. Fr Young lived in Knock and Portlaoise during the Summer months to improve his English, and in…

If assisted suicide is legalised in Britain, “a key protection of human life falls away”, according to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and Archbishop of Westminster. In a statement that was read to all his parishes last weekend, the English cardinal says the right to die “can become…

John Lavenburg About five months after Pope Francis spoke of the responsibility political leaders have to ensure that artificial intelligence is used ethically, the University of Notre Dame has announced that it will develop faith-based frameworks for ethical uses of the technology. Notre Dame, one of the preeminent Catholic universities in the United States located…

Notebook This month I want to share three distinct reflections with a common thread.  The recent scoping enquiry into abuse perpetrated in schools run by Catholic religious orders revealed another very sad chapter in our Irish social history. The media follow up inevitably led to an avalanche of personal stories detailing the physical, emotional and…

Take a €14 billion Apple windfall. Mix in the best-ever corporation tax returns, and what do you get? Election speculation. Lots of it. With Government coffers so awash with cash, the temptation may be too great for the Taoiseach. We may be days, or possibly weeks away from starters’ orders. Why wait until the spring, when another overpriced bicycle…

Could there be straws in the wind of a mini-religious revival underway, not so much here in Ireland (yet), but in countries like the United States? Recent data seem to show that among young American men in particular there has been a small uptick in the numbers regularly attending church services. Some opinion polls can…

Next week, on October 16, the British parliament will once again debate ‘assisted dying’, following a private member’s bill to be introduced by Kim Leadbeater. Ms Leadbeater is the younger sister of the murdered MP Jo Cox – who was killed by a right-wing extremist in 2016 – and stepped forward to succeed her sister…

If a problem isn’t measured, it won’t be fixed, so the saying goes. It certainly rings true in politics – if there aren’t enough voices raised on an issue, no matter how fundamental it is, then politicians will ignore it. This has been the case when it comes to abortion and other life issues, where…

Today, October 10, is World Sight Day. This year, this important international day focuses the world’s attention on the importance of eye care in young people and inspiring children everywhere to love their eyes. World Sight Day is an opportunity to highlight the importance of protecting our eyes and vision, raise awareness of vision impairment and…

About four years ago, I received a telephone call from a priest who invited a friend and I to a meeting. The priest didn’t actually say what the meeting was about – he just wondered if we might be interested in learning about his mission. We travelled to the Donegal border, and the priest introduced…