by Kate Scanlon The FBI is facing scrutiny after a leaked memo suggested some “radical traditionalist” Catholics pose threats of racial or ethnically motivated violence. The memo has since been retracted by the bureau, a spokesperson told OSV News. Robert A. Destro, a professor of law at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of…
Category: Opinion
Trust broken in the Holy land say ambassadors to Vatican
by Junno Arocho Esteves A series of deadly raids by Israeli authorities in the West Bank and attacks on Jewish civilians in the first month of the new year have made the goal of a lasting peace in the Holy Land seemingly unattainable. The January 26 raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, which…
‘Jesus lobbed a hand grenade of countercultural forgiveness’
Notebook Recently I turned on the TV and I happened upon a conversation between two children on a popular soap opera. I was intrigued and disturbed by the tone of the conversation but not fully understanding the context I had to do a little research. It seems that the girl’s pet chinchilla (which I have…
Fresh restrictions on the Latin Mass seem heavy-handed in a synodal Church
Editor’s Comment The Traditional Latin Mass is celebrated in about a half-a-dozen churches in Ireland. Where it is celebrated, it is well-attended and has attracted some considerable interest from devotees who say that the find that form of the Mass – celebrated widely before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s –…
State failures making the needy more impoverished
Dear Editor, Dublin City Centre is in a sorry state of affairs. Reading your front page [The Irish Catholic – February 9, 2023] brought home the challenges facing our inner city churches. Anyone who has been out in Dublin, particularly in the evening, can see first hand the homelessness and drugs epidemic that is causing…
Number of nuns in Ireland halved in just 20 years
Many religious sisters continue to do quiet and heroic work. Who will take up the challenge when they’re no longer able, asks Ruadhán Jones As we endure yet another winter where our hospitals seem to be in a permanent crisis mode, ask any person of a particular age about the time when religious orders were…
Now there is a diagnosis for us ‘giddy goats’…
I don’t mean to sound flippant about a mental disorder, but it does rather seem that everyone who is anyone is claiming to have, or has been associated with, the condition known as ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Celebrities who are listed as having ADHD include Justin Timberlake, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, the socialite…
We must pursue the truth about Omagh bombing
August 15 this year will be the 25th anniversary of the day on which the Omagh bomb exploded killing 29 people and two unborn babies. It was the single biggest incident of the Troubles. It was planted by the Real IRA in the little market town of Omagh as people, including visitors from Ireland and…
Jesus wanted us to call God ‘Father’ for a reason
Using gendered language for God goes back to Jesus himself, writes David Quinn It was inevitable that one day a concerted effort would be made to introduce gender-neutral language to describe God. It has already been the case in more radical religious circles that the names given to the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity,…
An independent judiciary…everywhere other than inside the Vatican
In the summer of 1971, no question before the US Supreme Court was as contentious as the Pentagon Papers case, in which the Nixon administration sought to prevent The New York Times and The Washington Post from publishing a classified report on the Vietnam War. In a 6-3 decision, the court eventually upheld the right…





Michael Kelly

Ruadhán Jones
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.