I’ve been following developments in French politics – and culture – for some years, and I’m not at all surprised at the victory for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) in the first round of the parliamentary elections. It’s all been brewing for a long time. As anyone who has read the writings of French…
Martina Purdy In the 1950s, Americans would tune in to a popular game show called Truth or Consequences. Contestants were required to answer an almost impossible question accurately or perform a silly stunt. Answering truthfully often led to even more complicated questions, so contestants often skipped the truth part and opted for the consequences, however ridiculous, even…
The United States is in the midst of a three-year Eucharistic Revival from 2022 to 2025, with four pilgrimage routes from right across the country culminating in a National Eucharistic Congress in mid-July. One of the inspirations for the Eucharistic Revival was a dispiriting 2019 poll from the highly regarded Pew Research Centre, which found…
Walking though the centre of Dublin last Friday, fans of Taylor Swift were much in evidence hours before the first of her three concerts in the Aviva stadium even started. They were mostly teenage girls, sometimes with their mothers along for the experience. A lot of the fans (both the teenagers and their mothers) were…
On Friday, American Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston issued a statement saying he has asked the heads of all offices in the Roman Curia to take down the artwork of a famed priest and artist accused of abusing dozens of adult women. The statement came from the Pontifical Commission for Protecting Minors (PCPM), for which…
Every so often I am made more acutely aware of how I live in a very changing Ireland. Our country is increasingly viewed across the world as a modern progressive republic which has shaken off the destructive influence and interference of institutional religion, particularly the Catholic Church. Sometimes this change happens in very public ways…
Momentum is building for the All Ireland Rally for Life which is taking place in Dublin on July 6. I’m sure it will be a very successful occasion, and a happy occasion too. What’s been remarkable about this annual event is the positive buzz around the gathering, the marches and speeches. It’s obviously all about…
Our President, Michael D. Higgins, let himself and the rest of us badly down with his recent comments about protests at public libraries. Sensible people are concerned about the highly inappropriate and sexualised, not to say obscene, material being pushed at children in the 12-17 year old children’s sections these days. Not the President, though. He referred…
The British General Election will take place on July 4. Labour is expected not only to win but may achieve the biggest majority ever seen in the House of Commons. The Conservatives, in power without interruption since 2011, are in for an almighty hammering. Since the last General Election in 2019, when the Tories won…
The first report of the Synod on Synodality was published last month and makes for very interesting reading. It was the first of two sessions. Of the 364 voting delegates who attended, 50 were women and they, with the lay men and others who attended, were able to vote on this report and on the…
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien
David Quinn
Senator Ronan Mullen
Nuala O’Loan