Working Groups prepare to wrap up discussions Conservative Catholic voices have told this paper that recent episcopal oversight of the Irish Synodal Pathway proceedings– what they describe as a “reigning in”-has transformed what they perceived as a potentially open-ended discernment exercise into a more practical and more “Catholic” structure for the National Irish Synod in…

The AI option on my smartphone, where I go to check things fairly often these days, tells me that Nokia is still in the business of making “brick” mobile phones or “flip phones” — the phones you use if you don’t want to bother with the internet, WhatsApp, photos and lots of other apps. If…

It was 1949 when Michael McErlain first set out for Knock. In those days, the journey from Belfast could take up to eleven hours involving a train to Dublin, a transfer at Claremorris, followed by a bone-shaker bus to the pilgrimage site. “I don’t remember much about it,” said Michael, “Other than the train –…

It’s funny how times change. The early 2000s were dominated by the Four Horsemen of the New Atheism, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins. Sam Harris wrote two books, The End of Faith (2004) and Letter to a Christian Nation (2006), and the others wrote one each, celebrating the end of religion…

A video has been doing the rounds online of an Italian priest at a funeral Mass here in Ireland interrupting a eulogy. It is not clear how long the man in question had been speaking for, but the priest suddenly announces: “That’s enough”. He said a boy near-by was sick and presumably the priest was…

I had a rather dull chicken dish last Sunday for my main meal, and, according to an Irish master butcher, Seán Kelly in Co. Mayo, this is increasingly typical. People are, he says, ditching lamb and roast beef in favour of chicken, because it’s cheaper (if more tasteless). Disappointingly, Mr Kelly suggests that the tradition…

Had the Reproductive Rights (Amendment) Bill 2026 passed last week it would have removed the three-day wait for women seeking an abortion in this country. Thankfully, only 30 TDs voted in favour, 85 against and 36 abstained. Like the Referendum of 2024, it was assumed that pushing further on abortion would be unquestioningly seen as…

The Irish Synodal Pathway has entered a significant new phase as seven newly established national ‘Working Groups’, comprising 64 lay, religious and clerical members, have begun applying years of prayerful, listening and communal discernment into practical proposals for the National Synodal Assembly on October 17 next at City North Hotel in Co. Meath. After five…

Last week, I was delighted to join the National Association of Diocesan Advisors (Post Primary) at their annual Conference in Athlone. In my presentation, I invited the DAs to look to the future. I walked them along a familiar path, examining trends in secularisation, demographic shifts and the changing and growing demands and expectations placed…