Many people were relieved to hear Taoiseach Micheál Martin indicate on RTÉ Radio that public Masses will likely begin again in the Republic by early December when level five restrictions are set to be eased. Under the original framework, public worship is currently also banned under level three (the restrictions we are expected to move…

The world has lost a great man in the death of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks at the weekend. I last met him in London in early March just before Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were imposed. He had just published a new book Morality and was as full of energy and ideas as ever. Lord Sacks – who…

The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) succinctly describes the Eucharist as “the source and summit of the Christian life”. It says that everything that we do as believers is bound up with the Eucharist and is oriented towards it. From the very beginning, the followers of Jesus gathered together on the Lord’s Day for the Eucharist.…

Before Covid-19, about a third of Irish people reported that they attended a religious ceremony at least once a week. Some 100,000 people went to Mass every single day before the pandemic restrictions were imposed. When we entered level three, all public worship was banned – the only country in Europe to do so (Wales…

Among the new restrictions announced by Taoiseach Micheál Martin this week was a limit of ten people at a funeral in the Republic. In the North, funerals are limited to 25. The restriction to ten people at a funeral was cruel and – mercifully – quickly changed. At the same time that only ten people…

In the Discworld novel Eric by Terry Pratchett, as the Wizard Rincewind and teenaged demonologist Eric Thursley escape Pandemonium, they notice that the individual cobbles on the ‘Road to Hell’ have good intentions written on them. These included “for the good of the kids”, “I meant it for the best” and “we are equal opportunities…

In the passage that recounts the disciples’ encounter with the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus, one of the most evocative lines is where Cleopas says plainly “our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free”. The despondency is palpable. It’s a feeling I am sure that many…

The list of priests who have died this year from the beginning of March until the end of August makes for grim reading (see page 19). There has been a dramatic rise in the number of Irish clerics who have died compared to the same period in previous years. Of course, not all of them…

I had just turned 18 when the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. I was on retreat for Holy Week at the time and therefore was forbidden to listen to the radio so as not to break the pattern of the retreat. I had the profound sense that something momentous was happening and figured that…

Dublin Diocese has announced that priests are taking a 25% pay cut on already low salaries and that it is looking for one third of its 82 lay staff to take redundancies.  Among those asked to consider redundancy are parish pastoral workers (see Page 4).  The bishops’ conference in Maynooth is also cutting back on…