America celebrated Martin Luther King Day this past week – and unveiled a new sculptural tribute to the African-American civil rights leader and his wife Coretta, named Embrace. Reactions were mixed to the bronze itself, created by Hank Willis Thomas, which depicted hugs without depicting human faces. But sometimes art has to be controversial or…
We’re no better than the Irish of the past who also preferred to turn away from inconvenient and uncomfortable facts, writes David Quinn Over the Christmas period, the master of the Rotunda Hospital revealed that 95% of parents in Down Syndrome cases choose abortion. The figure is horrific, the revelation stunning, but it caused almost…
Cardinal Pell’s 400 days in tough prisons in solitary can be seen as the best thing that happened to him, writes Fr Brendan Purcell When I was a philosophy lecturer at University College Dublin, our staff Newman group wanted to invite some notable figure or other to give a talk in the millennium year. We…
Building open and welcoming faith communities is seen as key to a vibrant future, writes Michael Kelly Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown has asked people across the 51 parishes to put their shoulder to the wheel and embrace the mission of renewal of the local Church. At the weekend, Bishop McKeown published a pastoral letter…
Cindy Wooden Pope Francis praised the late Australian Cardinal George Pell as a faithful servant of God and of the Catholic Church, who steadfastly followed the Lord even “in the hour of trial” when he was jailed for sexual abuse before his conviction was overturned by Australia’s highest court. Cardinal Pell died in Rome January…
Dear Editor, Without a doubt, a number of Irish politicians are continuously stoking up hatred for the Church in their poisonous, insidious speeches in the Dáil. Thank you for highlighting this [The Irish Catholic – January 12, 2023] and to the TDs who call it out. Not a day goes by when there isn’t another…
In the last 30 years I have worked in seven different parishes. They were a mixture of city, small town, and rural communities. The one thing they all have in common is the very strong presence of the GAA. The GAA is based on parish structures and the greatest strength of the organisation is that…
It would have been hard to avoid media coverage of Prince Harry’s all-too-revealing autobiography, Spare, out this week. Aside from the un-sparing details from his private life, there is serious official concern at his apparent boast that he killed 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. British security sources are dismayed that he may have made himself,…
Pope Francis seems to have a remarkable ability to drop people who were once senior aides, writes John L. Allen Jr In the 1999 film The Talented Mr Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel, Dickie Greenleaf is a charismatic and rich young socialite who’s in the habit of drawing people into his orbit and…
Catholic schools must be allowed to admit on the basis of religion, writes David Quinn From time to time, articles appear in newspapers using the extremely loaded term ‘Baptism barrier’. It refers to a policy, now outlawed, which allowed Catholic schools to admit Catholic children ahead of other children in the event of over-enrolment. All…
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
Michael Kelly
John L. Allen Jr.